Apparatus and method for managing message in a mobile communication system

• US 20070213072A1
• Filed: 03/01/2007
• Published: 09/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Ahn, Jae-Sung, Lim, Seok-Hun, Kim, Seung-Eop
• Granted Patent: US 8,041,366 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.100
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

Provided are an apparatus and a method for transmitting and deleting a regional information message that is available and effective only in a specific zone in a mobile communication system. A Base Station (BS) communicates with an Mobile Station (MS) using a radio resource and transmits information about whether the MS is located in a service zone of the BS to an Home Location Register (HLR). The HLR transmits location information of the MS to a message control server. The location information indicates whether the MS is located in a zone for transmitting the regional information message. The message control server transmits the regional information message or a deletion request message for deleting the regional information message to the MS depending on the location information of the MS.

Claims

1. An apparatus for transmitting and deleting a regional information message that is available and effective only in a specific zone, the apparatus comprising:

a base station (BS) for communicating with a mobile station (MS) using a radio resource and transmitting information about whether the MS is located in a service zone of the BS to a home location register (HLR);

the HLR for transmitting location information of the MS to a message control server, the location information indicating whether the MS is located in a zone for transmitting the regional information message; and

the message control server for transmitting the regional information message or a deletion request message for deleting the regional information message to the MS depending on the location information of the MS.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the MS selectively receives the regional information message depending on whether a regional information message RX mode is set.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein when receiving the deletion request message, the MS deletes only the region information message among messages stored therein.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the MS discerns the regional information message using a teleservice ID of the message.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the MS discerns the regional information message using a teleservice ID of the message.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the message control server transmits the regional information message to the MS when the MS is located in the specific zone and transmits the deletion request message to the MS when the MS leaves the specific zone, the location of the MS being determined using the location information received from the HLR.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the message control server sets a teleservice ID of the deletion request message to a predetermined value.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the message is one of an SMS message, an e-mail message, an MMS message, and an EMS message.

9. A method for selectively receiving a regional information message at a mobile station (MS) in a mobile communication system, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a message and determining whether the received message is a regional information message;

determining whether a regional information message RX mode is set if the received message is a regional information message; and

informing the receipt of the regional information message using a New Message alert sound or message if the regional information message RX mode is set.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the regional information message is discerned using a teleservice ID of the received message.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the message is one of an SMS message, an e-mail message, an MMS message, and an EMS message.

12. A method for deleting a regional information message that is available and effective only in a specific zone in a mobile communication system, the method comprising the steps of:

transmitting, from a base station (BS) to a home location register (HLR), an information signal indicating that a mobile station (MS) leaves a service zone of the BS;

informing a message control server that the MS has left the specific zone upon receipt of the information signal; and

transmitting, from the message control server to the MS, a deletion request message for deleting the regional information message from the MS.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein a teleservice ID of the deletion request message is set to a predetermined value.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

selecting only the regional information message using teleservice IDs of messages stored in the MS upon receipt of the deletion request message; and

deleting the selected regional information message from the MS.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the regional information message is one of an SMS message, an e-mail message, an MMS message, and an EMS message.

16. A method for deleting a regional information message from a mobile terminal (MS) in a mobile communication system, the method comprising the steps of:

detecting a zone ID of a region where the regional information message is received upon receipt of the regional information message;

periodically measuring the zone ID to determine whether the zone ID is changed; and

selecting and deleting only the regional information message among messages stored in the MS if the zone ID is changed.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising detecting teleservice IDs of the stored messages to select only the regional information message.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the regional information message is one of an SMS message, an e-mail message, an MMS message, and an EMS message.

19. A Base Station (BS) for transmitting a deletion request message for a regional information message comprising:

an apparatus for transmitting a deletion request message for a regional information message to a Mobile Station which moved from a service area covered by a previous BS to a service area covered by the BS when the apparatus receives the deletion request message for the regional information message from a message control server via a Mobile Switching Center.