System and method for locating a wireless local area network

• US 20040259546A1
• Filed: 06/17/2003
• Published: 12/23/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Koorapaty, Havish, Balachandran, Kumar, Ramesh, Rajaram
• Granted Patent: US 7,440,755 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/435.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

A system and method for finding a wireless local area network, WLAN, when a mobile terminal is connected to a cellular network. A position associated with each WLAN operating within the coverage area of the cellular network is stored in a database. At predefined intervals or conditions, the system determines a current position of the mobile terminal, and determines whether the current position of the mobile terminal is close enough to a stored WLAN position for the mobile terminal to connect to the WLAN corresponding to the stored WLAN position. If so, a notification is sent to the mobile terminal indicating that the mobile terminal is within range of the identified WLAN. The mobile terminal then scans for the identified WLAN.

Claims

1. A method of locating a wireless local area network, WLAN, when a mobile terminal is operating in a cellular communication network, said method comprising the steps of:

determining a position of the mobile terminal;

retrieving from a WLAN database, a position associated with a WLAN operating within the coverage area of the cellular network;

determining whether the position of the mobile terminal is close enough to the position of the WLAN for the mobile terminal to connect to the WLAN; and

if the position of the mobile terminal is close enough to the position of the WLAN for the mobile terminal to connect to the WLAN, sending a notification from the cellular network to the mobile terminal indicating that the mobile terminal is within range of the WLAN.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising scanning for the WLAN by the mobile terminal in response to receiving the notification.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of retrieving a position associated with the WLAN includes retrieving a Cell ID for a cell that overlaps the coverage area of the WLAN.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining a position of the mobile terminal includes determining the position of the mobile terminal utilizing a network-based positioning method.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of determining the position of the mobile terminal utilizing a network-based positioning method includes determining a Cell ID for a cell in which the mobile terminal is operating.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of determining the position of the mobile terminal utilizing a network-based positioning method includes calculating the position of the mobile terminal utilizing received signal strength (RSS) measurements from a plurality of base stations in the cellular network.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of determining the position of the mobile terminal utilizing a network-based positioning method includes calculating the position of the mobile terminal utilizing angle-of-arrival (AOA) information for signals that are transmitted by the mobile terminal, and that are received and measured at a plurality of base stations in the cellular network.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of determining the position of the mobile terminal utilizing a network-based positioning method includes calculating the position of the mobile terminal utilizing time-of-arrival (TOA) information for signals that are transmitted by the mobile terminal, and that are received and measured at a plurality of base stations in the cellular network.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of determining the position of the mobile terminal utilizing a network-based positioning method includes the steps of:

if received signal strength positioning is available in the network, and if at least a predefined RSS time period has elapsed since the position of the mobile terminal was last determined, calculating the position of the mobile terminal utilizing received signal strength (RSS) measurements from a plurality of base stations in the cellular network;

if received signal strength positioning is not available in the network, but angle-of-arrival positioning is available in the network, calculating the position of the mobile terminal utilizing angle-of-arrival (AOA) information for signals that are transmitted by the mobile terminal, and that are received and measured at a plurality of base stations in the cellular network if a predefined AOA time period has elapsed since the position of the mobile terminal was last determined; and

if RSS positioning and AOA positioning are not available in the network, but time-of-arrival (TOA) positioning is available in the network, calculating the position of the mobile terminal utilizing time-of-arrival information for signals that are transmitted by the mobile terminal, and that are received and measured at a plurality of base stations in the cellular network if a predefined TOA time period has elapsed since the position of the mobile terminal was last determined.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining a position of the mobile terminal includes calculating the position of the mobile terminal utilizing a network-based positioning method if a network-based position method is available, and calculating the position of the mobile terminal utilizing a terminal-based positioning method if a network-based positioning method is not available.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein a network-based positioning method is not available, and the method further comprises, before calculating the position of the mobile terminal utilizing the terminal-based positioning method, the steps of:

determining whether a service with bandwidth requirements that exceed a predefined bandwidth threshold has been requested for a session with the mobile terminal; and

calculating the position of the mobile terminal utilizing a terminal-based positioning method only if a service with bandwidth requirements that exceed the predefined bandwidth threshold has been requested.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the WLAN is running an encryption or other access management procedure, and the method further comprises the steps of:

storing access information in the database for the WLAN; and

if the position of the mobile terminal is close enough to the position of the WLAN for the mobile terminal to connect to the WLAN, sending the access information for the WLAN to the mobile terminal.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the WLAN is running an encryption or other access management procedure, and the method further comprises the steps of:

if the position of the mobile terminal is close enough to the position of the WLAN for the mobile terminal to connect to the WLAN, identifying the mobile terminal to the WLAN;

sending access information from the WLAN to the cellular network; and

sending the access information for the WLAN from the cellular network to the mobile terminal.

14. A system for locating a wireless local area network, WLAN, when a mobile terminal is operating in a cellular communication network, said system comprising:

a database in the cellular network adapted to store a position for at least one WLAN operating within the coverage area of the cellular network;

a serving mobile positioning center that provides a position of the mobile terminal;

a WLAN retrieval unit that receives the position of the mobile terminal from the serving mobile positioning center and accesses the database to determine whether the position of the mobile terminal is close enough to the position of the WLAN for the mobile terminal to connect to the WLAN; and

a WLAN notification message generator that sends a notification from the cellular network to the mobile terminal indicating that the mobile terminal is within range of the WLAN, if the position of the mobile terminal is close enough to the position of the WLAN for the mobile terminal to connect to the WLAN.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the WLAN runs an encryption or other access management procedure, and wherein:

the database is adapted to store access information for the WLAN;

the WLAN retrieval unit includes means for retrieving the access information from the database; and

the WLAN notification message generator sends the retrieved access information for the WLAN to the mobile terminal.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the WLAN runs an encryption or other access management procedure, and wherein:

the WLAN includes means for sending access information to the cellular network in response to receiving identifying information from the mobile terminal; and

the cellular network includes means for sending the access information for the WLAN to the mobile terminal.

17. A method of locating a wireless local area network, WLAN, when a mobile terminal is operating in a cellular communication network, said method comprising the steps of:

storing in a database, a position for a WLAN operating within the coverage area of the cellular network;

obtaining by a server, a position of the mobile terminal;

accessing the database by the server to determine whether the obtained position of the mobile terminal is close enough to the position of the WLAN for the mobile terminal to connect to the WLAN; and

if the obtained position of the mobile terminal is close enough to the position of the WLAN for the mobile terminal to connect to the WLAN, sending a notification from the server to the mobile terminal indicating that the mobile terminal is within range of the WLAN.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of obtaining a position of the mobile terminal includes the steps of:

sending a request from the server to the cellular network requesting the cellular network to determine a position of the mobile terminal;

determining by the cellular network, the position of the mobile terminal upon receiving the position request from the server; and

forwarding the determined position to the server.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of sending a request from the server to the cellular network requesting the cellular network to determine a position of the mobile terminal includes periodically sending the position request to the cellular network.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of obtaining a position of the mobile terminal includes the steps of:

sending a request from the server to the mobile terminal requesting the mobile terminal to determine a position of the mobile terminal;

determining by the mobile terminal, the position of the mobile terminal upon receiving the position request from the server; and

forwarding the determined position to the server.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of sending a notification from the server to the mobile terminal indicating that the mobile terminal is within range of an identified WLAN includes sending an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, USSD, message from the server to the mobile station.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of sending a notification from the server to the mobile terminal indicating that the mobile terminal is within range of an identified WLAN includes sending a direct message to the mobile station using the wireless application protocol, WAP.

18. The method of claim 18, further comprising scanning for the WLAN by the mobile terminal in response to receiving the notification.

24. A system for locating a wireless local area network, WLAN, when a mobile terminal is operating in a cellular communication network, said system comprising:

a database that stores a position for each of a plurality of WLANs operating within the coverage area of the cellular network;

a server external to the cellular network that communicates with the cellular network and has access to the database, said server comprising;

a position request unit that requests the cellular network to determine a position of the mobile terminal;

a WLAN retrieval unit that receives the determined position of the mobile terminal from the cellular network and accesses the database to determine whether the determined position of the mobile terminal is close enough to the position of an identified WLAN for the mobile terminal to connect to the identified WLAN; and

a WLAN notification message generator that sends a notification from the server to the mobile terminal indicating that the mobile terminal is within range of the identified WLAN, if the determined position of the mobile terminal is close enough to the position of the identified WLAN for the mobile terminal to connect to the identified WLAN; and

means within the cellular network for determining the position of the mobile terminal upon receiving a position request from the server, and for forwarding the determined position to the server.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the server also includes a timer that periodically instructs the position request unit to request the cellular network to determine the position of the mobile terminal.

26. A method performed by a mobile terminal for locating a wireless local area network, WLAN, when the mobile terminal is operating in a cellular communication network, said method comprising the steps of:

determining whether a predefined time period has elapsed since a position of the mobile terminal was last determined;

if the predefined time period has elapsed, determining the current position of the mobile terminal;

accessing a database that stores positions for corresponding WLANs operating within the coverage area of the cellular network, said accessing step determining whether there are any stored WLAN positions in the database that are close enough for the mobile terminal to connect to the corresponding WLAN; and

if there is a stored position in the database that is close enough for the mobile terminal to connect to the corresponding WLAN, scanning for the corresponding WLAN.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein, the step of accessing a database includes accessing a database internal to the mobile terminal.

28. The method of claim 26 wherein, the step of accessing a database includes accessing a database external to the mobile terminal using a Bluetooth interface.

29. The method of claim 26 wherein, the step of accessing a database includes accessing a database external to the mobile terminal using an infrared port.

30. The method of claim 26, further comprising, if the accessing step determines there are not any stored positions in the database that are within a predefined range of the current position of the mobile terminal, the steps of:

scanning for WLANs; and

if a WLAN is found, updating the database by entering the mobile terminal'"'"'s current position and an indication that there is a WLAN corresponding to the position entry.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising, if a WLAN is not found, updating the database by entering the mobile terminal'"'"'s current position and an indication that there is no WLAN corresponding to the position entry.

32. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of determining whether there are any stored WLAN positions in the database that are close enough for the mobile terminal to connect to the corresponding WLAN includes determining whether any of the stored WLAN positions are within a predefined range of the current position of the mobile terminal.

33. A method performed by a mobile terminal for locating a wireless local area network, WLAN, when the mobile terminal is operating in a cellular communication network, said method comprising the steps of:

determining whether the mobile terminal has moved at least a predefined distance since the position of the mobile terminal was last determined;

determining the current position of the mobile terminal if it is determined that the mobile terminal has moved at least the predefined distance since the position of the mobile terminal was last determined;

accessing a database that stores positions for corresponding WLANs operating within the coverage area of the cellular network, said accessing step determining whether there are any stored WLAN positions in the database that are close enough for the mobile terminal to connect to the corresponding WLAN; and

if there is a stored position in the database that is close enough for the mobile terminal to connect to the corresponding WLAN, scanning for the corresponding WLAN.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of determining whether the mobile terminal has moved at least a predefined distance includes the steps of:

obtaining an average speed for the mobile terminal from a Doppler estimator;

multiplying the average speed of the mobile terminal by a time period since a position of the mobile terminal was last determined, to estimate a distance the mobile terminal has moved; and

comparing the estimated distance the mobile terminal has moved with the predefined distance.

35. A mobile terminal that locates a wireless local area network, WLAN, said mobile terminal comprising:

a positioning unit that determines a current position of the mobile terminal;

a WLAN retrieval unit that receives the current position of the mobile terminal from the positioning unit and accesses a database that stores positions for corresponding WLANs operating within the coverage area of the cellular network, said WLAN retrieval unit determining whether there is a stored position in the database that is close enough to the determined position of the mobile terminal for the mobile terminal to connect to the WLAN corresponding to the stored position; and

a WLAN scanner that scans for WLANs upon being notified by the WLAN retrieval unit that there is a stored position in the database that is close enough to the determined position of the mobile terminal for the mobile terminal to connect to the WLAN corresponding to the stored position.

36. The mobile terminal of claim 35, further comprising:

a timer connected to the positioning unit that determines whether a predefined time period has elapsed since a position of the mobile terminal was last determined, wherein the positioning unit determines the current position of the mobile terminal whenever the timer indicates that the predefined time period has elapsed.

37. The mobile terminal of claim 35, further comprising:

a distance determining unit connected to the positioning unit that determines whether the mobile terminal has moved at least a predefined distance since the position of the mobile terminal was last determined, wherein the positioning unit determines the current position of the mobile terminal whenever the distance determining unit indicates that the mobile terminal has moved at least the predefined distance since the position of the mobile terminal was last determined.

38. The mobile terminal of claim 35, wherein the database is internal to the mobile terminal.

39. The mobile terminal of claim 35, wherein the database is external to the mobile terminal, and the WLAN retrieval unit includes a Bluetooth interface for accessing the external database.

40. The mobile terminal of claim 35, wherein the database is external to the mobile terminal, and the WLAN retrieval unit includes an infrared port for accessing the external database.

41. The mobile terminal of claim 35, further comprising a database update unit that updates the database by entering the mobile terminal'"'"'s current position and an indication that there is a WLAN corresponding to the position entry.

42. The mobile terminal of claim 41, wherein the database update unit updates the database by entering the mobile terminal'"'"'s current position and an indication that there is not a WLAN corresponding to the position entry.

43. A method of locating a wireless local area network, WLAN, when a mobile terminal is connected to a cellular communication network, said method comprising the steps of:

storing in a database in the cellular network, a Cell Identification, Cell ID, for each cell within the coverage area of the cellular network in which a corresponding WLAN is operating;

determining the Cell ID for the cell through which the mobile terminal is connected to the cellular network;

determining whether the Cell ID for the mobile terminal matches any of the Cell IDs stored in the database; and

if the Cell ID for the mobile terminal matches one of the Cell IDs stored in the database, sending a notification from the cellular network to the mobile terminal indicating that the mobile terminal is within range of a WLAN.

44. The method of claim 43, further comprising scanning for the WLAN by the mobile terminal in response to receiving the notification.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein the step of storing a Cell ID for each cell within the coverage area of the cellular network in which a corresponding WLAN is operating includes storing multiple Cell IDs for a corresponding WLAN that can be accessed from more than one cell.

46. The method of claim 43, wherein the step of determining the Cell ID for the cell through which the mobile terminal is connected to the cellular network includes determining the Cell ID whenever the mobile terminal selects or is handed off to a new cell.

47. A system for locating a wireless local area network, WLAN, when a mobile terminal is connected to a cellular communication network, said system comprising:

a database in the cellular network that stores a Cell Identification, Cell ID, for each cell within the coverage area of the cellular network in which a corresponding WLAN is operating;

means for determining the Cell ID for the cell through which the mobile terminal is connected to the cellular network;

a WLAN retrieval unit that determines whether the Cell ID for the mobile terminal matches any of the Cell IDs stored in the database; and

a WLAN notification message generator that sends a notification from the cellular network to the mobile terminal indicating that the mobile terminal is within range of a WLAN, if the Cell ID for the mobile terminal matches any of the Cell IDs stored in the database.

48. A system for locating a wireless local area network, WLAN, when a mobile terminal is operating in a cellular communication network, said system comprising:

a database in the cellular network adapted to store a position for at least one WLAN operating within the coverage area of the cellular network;

a mobile terminal having means for determining a position of the mobile terminal;

a WLAN retrieval unit that receives the position of the mobile terminal from the mobile terminal and accesses the database to determine whether the position of the mobile terminal is close enough to the position of the WLAN for the mobile terminal to connect to the WLAN; and

a WLAN notification message generator that sends a notification from the cellular network to the mobile terminal indicating that the mobile terminal is within range of the WLAN, if the position of the mobile terminal is close enough to the position of the WLAN for the mobile terminal to connect to the WLAN.