Location-based broadcast messaging for radioterminal users

• US 20060135058A1
• Filed: 12/01/2005
• Published: 06/22/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ATC Technology Corporation (FedEx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: ATC Technology Corporation (FedEx Corporation)
• Inventors: Karabinis, Peter D.
• Granted Patent: US 8,594,704 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/3.60
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18513 Transmission in a satellite or space-based system
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18523 Satellite systems for providing broadcast service to terrestrial stations, i.e. broadcast satellite service arrangements specially adapted for satellite broadcast receiving H04H40/90; picture transmission via satellite H04N1/00103; television transmission via satellite H04N7/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18563 Arrangements for interconnecting multiple systems data switching networks H04L12/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/72 of terrestrial networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/70 characterised in that receivers can be addressed
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 40/27 specially adapted for broadcast systems covered by groups H04H20/53 - H04H20/95
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/51 of receiving stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

Methods, radioterminals, and broadcast message generation consoles provide location-based broadcast messaging for users. A method of operating a radioterminal can include receiving at the radioterminal over a wireless air interface a broadcast message that includes region information that defines a geographic region of applicability. A determination is made at the radioterminal whether the radioterminal is located in the region of applicability. A functional mode of the radioterminal is activated in response to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability. The functional mode may include activating a user interface of the radioterminal.

Claims

1. A method of operating a radioterminal, the method comprising:

receiving at the radioterminal over a wireless air interface a broadcast message that comprises region information that defines a geographic region of applicability;

determining at the radioterminal whether the radioterminal is located in the region of applicability; and

activating a functional mode of the radioterminal in response to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein activating a functional mode of the radioterminal in response to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability comprises activating a user interface of the radioterminal.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein activating a user interface of the radioterminal comprises displaying first payload information defined by the broadcast message on a display device of the radioterminal in response to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising displaying second payload information defined by the broadcast message, which is different than the first payload information, on the display device of the radioterminal in response to the radioterminal being outside the region of applicability.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein activating a user interface of the radioterminal comprises generating a first audible announcement by the radioterminal based on the broadcast message and in response to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising generating a second audible announcement, which is different than the first audible announcement, by the radioterminal based on the broadcast message and in response to the radioterminal being outside the region of applicability.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein activating a user interface of the radioterminal comprises generating a first ring tone from the radioterminal and/or generating a vibration having first characteristics to alert a user of the radioterminal.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising generating a second ring tone, which is different than the first ring tone, from the radioterminal and/or generating a vibration having second characteristics, which are different from the first characteristics, in response to the radioterminal being outside the region of applicability.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising deactivating the functional mode of the radioterminal in response to the radioterminal being determined to be outside the region of applicability.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein:

receiving at the radioterminal over a wireless air interface a broadcast message comprises obtaining region information from the broadcast message that defines a plurality of different geographic regions of applicability;

determining at the radioterminal whether the radioterminal is located within the region of applicability comprises determining whether the radioterminal is within one of the plurality of different geographic regions of applicability; and

activating a functional mode of the radioterminal comprises activating different ones of a plurality of functional modes of the radioterminal in response to the radioterminal being in different ones of the plurality of different geographic regions of applicability.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein activating different ones of a plurality of functional modes of the radioterminal comprises displaying different message content on a display device of the radioterminal based on the broadcast message and in response to the radioterminal being in different ones of the plurality of different geographic regions of applicability.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein activating different ones of a plurality of functional modes of the radioterminal comprises generating different audible announcements by the radioterminal based on the broadcast message and in response to the radioterminal being in different ones of the plurality of different geographic regions of applicability.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein determining at the radioterminal whether the radioterminal is located within the region of applicability comprises:

determining a geographic location of the radioterminal responsive to received global positioning system signals; and

comparing the determined geographic location of the radioterminal to the region of applicability defined by the broadcast message.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein comparing the determined geographic location of the radioterminal to the region of applicability defined by the broadcast message comprises determining whether the geographic location of the radioterminal is within a geographic boundary defined by the region of applicability.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein comparing the determined geographic location of the radioterminal to the region of applicability defined by the broadcast message comprises determining whether the geographic location of the radioterminal is within a defined radius of a geographic location defined by the region of applicability.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein determining at the radioterminal whether the radioterminal is located within the region of applicability comprises:

determining a geographic location of the radioterminal based on range estimates derived from cellular communication signals received from and/or transmitted to a plurality of cellular base stations having known geographic locations; and

determining at the radioterminal whether the determined geographic location of the radioterminal is located within the region of applicability.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein determining at the radioterminal whether the radioterminal is located within the region of applicability comprises:

determining a geographic location of the radioterminal based on range estimates derived from digital television signals received at the radioterminal from a plurality of digital television base station transceivers having known geographic locations; and

determining at the radioterminal whether the determined geographic location of the radioterminal is located within the region of applicability.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the received broadcast message further comprises a group address that defines a group of radioterminals for which the broadcast message is applicable;

determining at the radioterminal whether the radioterminal is located within the region of applicability further comprises determining at the radioterminal whether the radioterminal is a member of the group of radioterminals defined by the group address for which the broadcast message is applicable; and

activating a functional mode of the radioterminal further comprises activating the functional mode of the radioterminal in response to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability and being a member of the group of radioterminals for which the broadcast message is applicable.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving at the radioterminal over a wireless air interface a broadcast message comprises:

partially decoding the broadcast message to obtain the region of applicability; and

further decoding the broadcast message to obtain payload information defined by the broadcast message responsive to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein:

the received broadcast message comprises a header portion that defines the region of applicability and a payload portion that comprises the payload information;

partially decoding the broadcast message comprises decoding the header portion of the broadcast message to obtain the region of applicability; and

further decoding the broadcast message comprises decoding the payload portion to obtain the payload information in response to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving at the radioterminal over a wireless air interface a broadcast message comprises receiving a continuous broadcast message data stream that comprises region information that defines the region of applicability and which is encoded at multiple locations within the broadcast message data stream, and the broadcast message further comprises payload information between the region information.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein receiving at the radioterminal over a wireless air interface a broadcast message comprises:

decoding the region information received in the broadcast message data stream to obtain the region of applicability; and

decoding payload information received after the received region information in response to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability obtained from the decoded region information.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein:

the region information repeated within the received broadcast message data stream defines different geographic regions of applicability over time; and

receiving at the radioterminal over a wireless air interface a broadcast message further comprises ceasing decoding of the payload information in response to the radioterminal not being within a last obtained region of applicability.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the region information repeated within the received broadcast message data stream defines different geographic regions of applicability over time, and further comprising:

deactivating the functional mode of the radioterminal in response to the radioterminal not being within a last obtained region of applicability.

25. The method of claim 1, further comprising selectively storing at least a portion of the received broadcast message in a non-volatile memory within the radioterminal responsive to the determination of whether the radioterminal is located within the region of applicability.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the received broadcast message further comprises payload information, and further comprising:

displaying the payload information on a display device of the radioterminal in response to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability; and

storing at least a portion of the payload information and associated region of applicability in a non-volatile memory within the radioterminal in response to the radioterminal being outside the region of applicability.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

retrieving the stored payload information from the non-volatile memory in response to the radioterminal becoming within the region of applicability; and

displaying the retrieved payload information on the display device.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the received broadcast message further comprises payload information, and further comprising:

generating an audible announcement from the radioterminal based on the payload information and in response to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability; and

storing at least a portion of the payload information and associated region of applicability in a non-volatile memory within the radioterminal in response to the radioterminal being outside the region of applicability.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

retrieving the stored payload information from the non-volatile memory in response to the radioterminal becoming within the region of applicability; and

generating an audible announcement from the radioterminal based on the retrieved payload information.

30. A radioterminal comprising:

a user interface that is configured to communicate information to a user of the radioterminal;

a wireless transceiver that is configured to receive over a wireless air interface a broadcast message that comprises region information that defines a geographic region of applicability;

a location determination unit that is configured to determine a geographic location of the radioterminal; and

a controller that is configured to determine whether the radioterminal is located in the region of applicability based on the region information from the broadcast message and the determined location of the radioterminal, and to activate a functional mode of the radioterminal in response to being in the region of applicability.

31. The radioterminal of claim 30, wherein the controller is further configured to activate a functional mode of the user interface in response to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability.

32. The radioterminal of claim 30, wherein the user interface comprises a display device, and the controller is further configured to display first payload information defined by the broadcast message on the display device in response to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability.

33. The radioterminal of claim 32, wherein the controller is further configured to display second payload information defined by the broadcast message, which is different from the first payload information, on the display device in response to the radioterminal being outside the region of applicability.

34. The radioterminal of claim 30, wherein the user interface comprises a speaker, and the controller is further configured to generate an audible announcement through the speaker based on the broadcast message and in response to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability.

35. The radioterminal of claim 34, wherein the controller is further configured to generate a second audible announcement, which is different than the first audible announcement, through the speaker based on the broadcast message and in response to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability.

36. The radioterminal of claim 30, wherein the user interface comprises a vibration device, and the controller is further configured to generate a vibration having first characteristics to alert a user of the radioterminal in response to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability.

37. The radioterminal of claim 36, wherein the controller is further configured to generate a vibration having second characteristics, which are different from the first characteristics in response to the radioterminal being outside the region of applicability.

38. The radioterminal of claim 30, wherein:

the broadcast message received by the wireless transceiver comprises region information that defines a plurality of different geographic regions of applicability; and

the controller is further configured to activate different functional modes of the radioterminal in response to the radioterminal being in different ones of the plurality of different geographic regions of applicability.

39. The radioterminal of claim 30, wherein:

the controller is further configured to determine whether the determined geographic location of the radioterminal is within a geographic boundary defined by the region of applicability.

40. The radioterminal of claim 30, wherein:

the controller is further configured to determine whether the determined geographic location of the radioterminal is within a defined radius of a geographic location defined by the region of applicability.

41. The radioterminal of claim 30, wherein:

the location determination unit comprises a global positioning system (GPS) receiver that is configured to determine the geographic location of the radioterminal responsive to GPS signals received by the GPS receiver; and

the controller is further configured to compare the determined geographic location of the radioterminal to the region of applicability defined by the broadcast message.

42. The radioterminal of claim 30, wherein:

the wireless transceiver comprises a cellular transceiver that is configured to communicate with cellular base station transceivers;

the location determination unit is configured to determine the geographic location of the radioterminal based on range estimates derived from cellular communication signals received from and/or transmitted to a plurality of cellular base stations having known geographic locations; and

the controller is further configured to determine whether the determined geographic location of the radioterminal is located within the region of applicability.

43. The radioterminal of claim 30, wherein:

the wireless transceiver comprises a digital television transceiver that is configured to receive digital television signals from digital television base station transceivers;

the location determination unit is configured to determine the geographic location of the radioterminal based on range estimates derived from digital television signals received from a plurality of the digital television base station transceivers having known geographic locations; and

the controller is further configured to determine whether the determined geographic location of the radioterminal is located within the region of applicability.

44. The radioterminal of claim 30, wherein the received broadcast message further comprises a group address that defines a group of radioterminals for which the broadcast message is applicable, and the controller is further configured to determine whether the radioterminal is a member of the group of radioterminals defined by the group address for which the broadcast message is applicable and to activating the functional mode of the radioterminal in response to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability and being a member of the group of radioterminals for which the broadcast message is applicable.

45. The radioterminal of claim 30, wherein the wireless transceiver is further configured to partially decode the broadcast message to obtain the region of applicability, and to further decode the broadcast message to obtain payload information defined by the broadcast message responsive to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability.

46. The radioterminal of claim 45, wherein the received broadcast message comprises a header portion that defines the region of applicability and a payload portion that comprises the payload information, and the wireless transceiver is further configured to partially decode the header portion of the broadcast message to obtain the region of applicability and to further decode the payload portion to obtain the payload information in response to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability.

47. The radioterminal of claim 30, further comprising a non-volatile memory, and wherein the controller is further configured to store at least a portion of the received broadcast message in the non-volatile memory responsive to the determination of whether the radioterminal is located within the region of applicability.

48. The radioterminal of claim 47, further comprising a display device, and wherein:

the received broadcast message further comprises payload information; and

the controller is further configured to displaying the payload information on the display device in response to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability, and to store at least a portion of the payload information and associated region of applicability in the non-volatile memory in response to the radioterminal being outside the region of applicability.

49. The radioterminal of claim 48, wherein the controller is further configured to retrieve the stored payload information from the non-volatile memory in response to the radioterminal becoming within the region of applicability, and to display the retrieved payload information on the display device.

50. The radioterminal of claim 47, further comprising a speaker, and wherein:

the received broadcast message further comprises payload information; and

the controller is further configured to generate an audible announcement through the speaker based on the payload information and in response to the radioterminal being in the region of applicability, and to store at least a portion of the payload information and associated region of applicability in the non-volatile memory in response to the radioterminal being outside the region of applicability.

51. The radioterminal of claim 50, wherein the controller is further configured to retrieve the stored payload information from the non-volatile memory in response to the radioterminal becoming within the region of applicability and to generate an audible announcement through the speaker based on the retrieved payload information.

52. A broadcast message generation console comprising:

a communications interface communicatively coupled to a base station radio-transmitter; and

a controller that is configured to generate a broadcast message that comprises payload information and region information that defines a geographic region of applicability for the payload information, and to communicate the broadcast message through the communications interface for broadcast by the base station radio-transmitter to a geographic region that includes the geographic region of applicability.

53. The broadcast message generation console of claim 52, wherein the controller is further configured to generate within the broadcast message a group address that defines a group of radioterminals for which the broadcast message is applicable.

54. The broadcast message generation console of claim 52, wherein the controller is further configured to encode the region information within a header portion of the broadcast message.

55. The broadcast message generation console of claim 52, wherein the controller is further configured to generate a continuous broadcast message data stream that comprises the broadcast message, to encode the region information that can vary over time within multiple locations in the broadcast message data stream, to encode the payload information at defined locations in the broadcast message data stream between the locations of the encoded region information, and to communicate the broadcast message data stream through the communications interface for broadcast by the base station radio-transmitter.

56. The broadcast message generation console of claim 52, wherein the controller is further configured to communicate the broadcast message through the communications interface to a satellite base station transceiver for broadcast by a satellite to the geographic region that includes the geographic region of applicability.

57. The broadcast message generation console of claim 52, wherein the controller is further configured to communicate the broadcast message through the communications interface to a terrestrial cellular base station transceiver for broadcast to the geographic region that includes the geographic region of applicability.

58. The broadcast message generation console of claim 52, wherein the controller is further configured to communicate the broadcast message through the communications interface to a terrestrial digital television base station transmitter for broadcast to the geographic region that includes the geographic region of applicability.

59. The method of claim 58, wherein the generated broadcast message further comprises a group address that defines a group of radioterminals for which the broadcast message is applicable.

60. The method of claim 58, wherein generating a broadcast message comprises encoding the region information within a header portion of the broadcast message.

61. The method of claim 58, wherein generating a broadcast message comprises:

generating a continuous broadcast message data stream that comprises the broadcast message;

encoding the region information that can vary over time within multiple locations in the broadcast message data stream;

encoding the payload information at defined locations in the broadcast message data stream between the locations of the encoded region information; and

communicating the broadcast message data stream to the base station radio-transmitter for broadcast to the geographic region that includes the geographic region of applicability.

62. The method of claim 58, wherein communicating the broadcast message to a base station radio-transmitter comprises communicating the broadcast message to a satellite base station transceiver for broadcast by a satellite to the geographic region that includes the geographic region of applicability.

63. The method of claim 58, wherein communicating the broadcast message to a base station radio-transmitter comprises communicating the broadcast message to a terrestrial base station transceiver for broadcast to the geographic region that includes the geographic region of applicability.

64. The method of claim 58, wherein communicating the broadcast message to a base station radio-transmitter comprises communicating the broadcast message to a terrestrial digital television base station transmitter for broadcast to the geographic region that includes the geographic region of applicability.

58-1. A method of generating a broadcast message, the method comprising:

generating a broadcast message that comprises payload information and region information that defines a geographic region of applicability for the payload information; and

communicating the broadcast message to a base station radio-transmitter for broadcast to a geographic region that includes the geographic region of applicability.