PROVIDING A LOCATION SERVICE IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK USING AN INDICATION OF WHETHER THE LOCATION SERVICE IS AN EMERGENCY-RELATED LOCATION SERVICE OR A LAW ENFORCEMENT-RELATED LOCATION SERVICE

• US 20100178935A1
• Filed: 03/26/2010
• Published: 07/15/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Wang, Chung-Ching, Jang, Ke-Chi, Denman, Robert E.
• Granted Patent: US 9,351,139 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 4/025 using location based information parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

In a wireless communications network, a method of performing a location service with respect to a mobile station includes communicating a paging message containing an indication of whether the paging message is related to at least one of an emergency-related location service and a law enforcement-related location service. In another aspect, a mobile station in a wireless communications network communicates messaging to move the mobile station to a traffic channel in response to a callback by at least one of an emergency services entity and a law enforcement entity. The mobile station also receives a location request on the traffic channel, the location request containing an indication of whether the location request is related to at least one of an emergency-related location service and a law enforcement-related location service.

Claims

1. A method of performing a location service with respect to a mobile station, comprising:

communicating, to the mobile station, a paging message containing an indication of whether the paging message is related to at least one of an emergency-related location service and a law enforcement-related location service, the indication having a first state to indicate that the paging message is related to at least one of the emergency-related location service and the law enforcement-related location service; and

receiving information regarding the location of the mobile station.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the paging message containing the indication comprises sending one of a general page message (GPM) containing the indication and a universal page message (UPM) containing the indication.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein communicating the paging message comprises sending a page containing a first information element to identify service option 35 or service option 36, and a second information element to indicate whether the page is related to the emergency-related location service or law enforcement-relate location service.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising a base station setting a state of the second information element based on a state of a field in a paging request from a mobile switching center indicating, whether the paging request is related to the emergency-related location service or the law enforcement-related service.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a position determination data message (PDDM) containing an indication of whether the PDDM is related to at least one of an emergency-related location service and a law enforcement-related location service.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein sending the PDDM message comprises sending an TIA/EIA/IS-801 PDDM message.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving a position request containing a field indicating whether the position request is related to at least one of the emergency-related location service and the law enforcement-related location service; and

setting a state of the indication in the PDDM based on a state of the field in the position request.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the paging message to the mobile station comprises communicating a page from a base station to the mobile station, the page containing the indication of whether the page is related to the at least one of the emergency-related location service and a law enforcement-related location service, and the page sent by the base station to the mobile station to initiate a call with the mobile station.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the paging message is performed by a base station in response to receipt by the base station of a paging request from a system controller, wherein the paging request contains an indication of whether the paging request is related to at least one of the emergency-related location service and the law enforcement-related location service.

10. A method comprising:

receiving a paging message by a mobile station that is not on a traffic channel and that is configured to accept an emergency-related location service or a law enforcement-related location service but not a value-added service location service, the paging message containing an indication that the paging message is related to at least one of the emergency-related location service and the law enforcement-related location service; and

the mobile station responding to the paging message by sending a page response indicating acceptance of a location service-related service option specified in the paging message.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the mobile station determining, by examining the paging message, that the location service-related service option requested in the paging message should be accepted, based on association of the paging message with either an emergency-related location service or a law enforcement-related location service.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

the mobile station communicating position determination data messages (PDDMs) on the traffic channel with a position determination entity (PDE);

the mobile station determining whether one or more received PDDMs are related to the emergency-related location service or law enforcement-related location service; and

in response to determining that the one or more received PDDMs are related to the emergency-related location service or law enforcement-related location service, the mobile station accepting request elements in the one or more received PDDMs.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving the paging message comprises receiving a page from a base station to initiate a call with the mobile station, the page containing the indication that the page is related to at least one of the emergency-related location service and the law enforcement-related location service.

14. An article comprising at least one machine-readable storage medium containing instructions that when executed cause a mobile station in a wireless communications network to:

receive messaging to cause the mobile station to move to a traffic channel of the wireless communications network in response to a callback by at least one of an emergency services entity and a law enforcement entity;

receive a location request on the traffic channel containing an indication that the location request is related to at least one of an emergency-related location service and a law enforcement-related location service; and

send location information of the mobile station in response to the location request.

15. The article of claim 14 wherein the mobile station has been configured to accept an emergency-related location service or a law enforcement-related location service but not a value-added service location service,

the instructions when executed causing the mobile station to determine whether to accept the location request based on the indication contained in the location request,

wherein sending the location information is performed in response to determining that the location request is to be accepted.

16. The article of claim 14, wherein the instructions when executed cause the mobile station to further:

receive a page from a base station, the page containing an indication that he page is associated with at least one of an emergency-related location service and a law enforcement-related location service; and

respond to the page by accepting a service option of the page based on the indication.

17. A system comprising:

an interface to communicate a paging message to a mobile station; and

a controller to set an indication in the paging message for indicating that the paging message is related to at least one of an emergency-related service and a law enforcement-related location service.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the controller is adapted to send the paging message to the mobile station in response to an idle-mode query initiated by an emergency services entity to the mobile station.

19. The system of claim 17, comprising a base station including the interface and controller, wherein the paging message comprises a page from the base station to the mobile station to initiate a call with the mobile station.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the controller is adapted to send data over a traffic channel, the data comprising a position determination data message (PDDM) containing an indication of whether the PDDM is related to emergency services.

21. A mobile station comprising:

an interface to receive a page containing an indication that the page is related to at least one of an emergency-related location service and a law enforcement-related location service; and

a controller to respond to the page based on the indication.

22. The mobile station of claim 21, wherein the mobile station is configured to accept a service option specified by a page relating to an emergency-related location service or a law enforcement-related location service, but not to accept another service option specified by a page relating to a value-added location service,

the controller to accept the received page in response to the indication indicating that the page is related to the emergency-related location service or law enforcement-related location service.

23. The mobile station of claim 22, wherein the received page contains a first information element to indicate that the page is location-related, and a second information element to indicate that the page relates to an emergency service or a law enforcement service.

24. The mobile station of claim 21, comprising one of a mobile phone, a portable computer with a wireless modem, a wireless-enabled personal digital assistant (PDAs), and a global positioning system (GPS) device.

25. The mobile station of claim 21, wherein the page received by the mobile station is sent by abuse station to initiate a call with the mobile station.