LOCATION INFORMATION COLLECTION METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DUAL SIM MOBILE TERMINALS

• US 20120149372A1
• Filed: 11/03/2011
• Published: 06/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: LEE, Jun Woo
• Granted Patent: US 9,121,921 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/435.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0263 by combining or switching between positions derived from two or more separate positioning systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• 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 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

A location information collection method and system for dual SIM mobile terminals are provided. The method includes sending, by a mobile terminal, a request for location information of the dual Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) terminal to at least one of multiple service centers providing communication services related respectively to SIM cards of the dual SIM terminal, collecting, by the at least one service center, information regarding multiple base stations in which identification information elements of the SIM cards are respectively last registered, and generating tentative location information of the dual SIM terminal based on the collected base station information, and sending, by the at least one service center, the base station information or the tentative location information to the mobile terminal.

Claims

1. A system for collecting location information of dual Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) terminals, the system comprising:

a dual SIM terminal having multiple SIM cards;

a plurality of base stations for managing camping on of the SIM cards and for providing communication services according to registration information of the SIM cards; and

at least one service center for generating tentative location information of the dual SIM terminal based on information regarding multiple base stations in which the SIM cards are last registered.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a mobile terminal for receiving the tentative location information of the dual SIM terminal from the service center and for outputting the received tentative location information.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the mobile terminal comprises:

a wireless communication unit for sending a request for location information of the dual SIM terminal to the service center;

a display unit for outputting the tentative location information received from the service center;

a storage unit for storing the tentative location information; and

a control unit for controlling a process of sending the location information request, and for receiving and outputting the tentative location information.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the at least one service center comprises:

a first service center for supporting communication services related to a first SIM card of the dual SIM terminal; and

a second service center for supporting communication services related to a second SIM card of the dual SIM terminal.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the first service center collects, in response to the request for location information of the dual SIM terminal, first location information of a first base station in which identification information of the first SIM card is last registered, and sends a request for second location information of a second base station in which identification information of the second SIM card is last registered to the second service center.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the second service center collects, in response to the request for the second location information from the first service center, the second location information of the second base station in which identification information of the second SIM card is last registered and sends the collected second location information to the first service center.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the first service center, in addition to the first location information, provides map information and coverage area information of the first base station to the mobile terminal, and the second service center, in addition to the second location information, provides map information and coverage area information of the second base station to the mobile terminal.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the first service center generates the tentative location information of the dual SIM terminal by applying information on the location and wireless coverage area of the first base station contained in the first location information to map data and by further applying information on the location and wireless coverage area of the second base station contained in the second location information to the map data.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the mobile terminal outputs an overlap region between the wireless coverage area of the first base station and the wireless coverage area of the second base station on the map displayed on the display unit.

10. A system for collecting location information of dual Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) terminals, the system comprising:

a dual SIM terminal having multiple SIM cards;

a plurality of base stations for managing camping on of the SIM cards and for providing communication services according to registration information of the SIM cards;

at least one service center for collecting information regarding multiple base stations in which the SIM cards are respectively last registered; and

a mobile terminal for receiving base station information from the service center, for generating tentative location information of the dual SIM terminal based on the received base station information, and for storing or outputting the generated tentative location information.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the mobile terminal comprises:

a wireless communication unit for sending a request for location information of the dual SIM terminal to the service center;

a storage unit for storing the received base station information and map data; and

a control unit for generating tentative location information of the dual SIM terminal by applying the base station information to the map data, and control output of the tentative location information.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the base station information comprises information regarding the location and wireless coverage area of a first base station in which identification information of a first SIM card of the dual SIM terminal is last registered, and information regarding the location and wireless coverage area of a second base station in which identification information of a second SIM card of the dual SIM terminal is last registered.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the mobile terminal further comprises a display unit for outputting an overlap region between the wireless coverage area of the first base station and the wireless coverage area of the second base station on the map data.

14. A method for collecting location information of a dual Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) terminal, the method comprising:

sending, by a mobile terminal, a request for location information of the dual SIM terminal to at least one of multiple service centers providing communication services related respectively to SIM cards of the dual SIM terminal;

collecting, by the at least one service center, information regarding multiple base stations in which identification information elements of the SIM cards are respectively last registered, and generating tentative location information of the dual SIM terminal based on the collected base station information; and

sending, by the at least one service center, the base station information or the tentative location information to the mobile terminal.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the base station information comprises information regarding the location and wireless coverage area of a first base station in which identification information of a first SIM card of the dual SIM terminal is last registered, and information regarding the location and wireless coverage area of a second base station in which identification information of a second SIM card of the dual SIM terminal is last registered.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

generating, when the base station information is received, by the mobile terminal, tentative location information of the dual SIM terminal by applying the base station information to pre-stored map data; and

displaying, by the mobile terminal, an overlap region between the wireless coverage area of the first base station and the wireless coverage area of the second base station on a map according to the tentative location information.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising storing, by the mobile terminal, the tentative location information in a storage unit.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the collecting of information regarding multiple base stations comprises:

collecting, by a first service center receiving the request for location information of the dual SIM terminal, first location information of a first base station in which identification information of a first SIM card is last registered; and

sending, by the first service center, a request for second location information of a second base station in which identification information of a second SIM card is last registered to a second service center.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the collecting of information regarding multiple base stations further comprises:

collecting, by the second service center, the second location information of the second base station in which identification information of the second SIM card is last registered; and

sending, by the second service center, the second location information to the first service center.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the collecting of information regarding multiple base stations further comprises:

sending, by the first service center, the first location information to the mobile terminal; and

sending, by the second service center, the second location information to the mobile terminal.