Terminal equipment, positional information display method, positional information providing device and positional information providing method

• US 6,167,277 A
• Filed: 12/23/1996
• Issued: 12/26/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kawamoto, Yoji
• Primary Examiner(s): Urban, Edward F.
• Application Number:
  US08/772,405
• Time in Patent Office: 1,464 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456, 455/457, 455/524, 455/525, 455/517, 340/961, 340/995, 340/989, 342/357, 342/457
• US Class Current: 455/457
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• 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 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

In a terminal equipment, when a signal demanding for the detection of the present position of a mating second portable remote terminal is outputted from a first portable remote terminal, nearest a first base station transmits the signal to a server. The server, upon receiving the demand signal, receives the present position of the mating second portable remote terminal by way of a second base station, reads out a map data including the present positions for the first portable remote terminal and the second portable remote terminal from data base and transmits the same to the first and second portable remote terminals.

Claims

1. A terminal equipment connected together with other terminal equipment to a communication channel for communicating with base stations via a communication link, comprising:

detection means for detecting and updating a nearest base station identification received from the base station nearest said terminal equipment;

transmission means for transmitting said nearest base station identification to a server when the transmission of positional information for said terminal equipment is demanded by said other terminal equipment, said server having stored therein data cross-referencing the position of said base stations with respective base station identifications so that the position of said terminal equipment is determined by comparing said nearest base station identification to said data; and

receiving means for receiving and updating positional information of said other terminal equipment sent by way of said communication channel.

2. A terminal equipment as defined in claim 1, wherein

said transmission means transmits said positional information by way of said communication channel to said other terminal equipment;

and

said receiving means receives the positional information of said other terminal equipment transmitted from said other terminal equipment by way of said communication channel.

3. A terminal equipment as defined in claim 1, wherein said positional information includes map information indicating said present position.

4. A terminal equipment as defined in claim 1, wherein the equipment further comprising;

input means for inputting voice signals; and

output means for outputting the voice signals, in which

said transmission means and said receiving means can simultaneously transmit or receive both of the positional information and the voice signals.

5. A terminal equipment as defined in claim 1, wherein the equipment further comprises direction detection means for detecting the direction.

6. A terminal equipment as defined in claim 1, wherein said detection means detects said present position from radiowaves from a satellite.

7. A terminal equipment as defined in claim 1, wherein said detection means detects said present position from radiowaves of a beacon that transmits traffic information.

8. A terminal equipment as defined in claim 1, wherein said communication channel is a wireless communication network.

9. A terminal equipment as defined in claim 1, wherein said wireless communication network is a telephone circuit.

10. A positional information communication and display method for communicating positional information of terminal equipment and displaying positional information of other terminal equipment, wherein the terminal equipment and other terminal equipment are coupled to a communication channel for communicating with base stations via a communication link, wherein the method comprises the steps of:

detecting and updating a nearest base station identification received from the base station nearest said terminal equipment,

sending said nearest base station identification to a server when transmission of positional information for said terminal equipment is demanded by said other terminal equipment, said server having stored therein data cross-referencing the position of said base stations with respective base station identifications so that the position of said terminal equipment is determined by comparing said nearest base station identification to said data,

receiving and updating at said terminal equipment positional information of said other terminal equipment transmitted by way of said communication channel, and

displaying and updating at said terminal equipment the positional information of other terminal equipment based on the received positional information of said other terminal equipment.

11. A positional information providing device for communicating with base stations via a communication link comprising:

demand receiving means for receiving a positional information demand instruction from a first terminal equipment connected by way of a communication channel,

connection demand transmission means for transmitting a connection demand instruction to a second terminal equipment based on the positional information demand instruction from said first terminal equipment,

a server for receiving a first nearest base station identification from said first terminal equipment and a second nearest base station identification from said second terminal equipment, and determining positional information for said first and second terminal equipment based on said received identifications, wherein said server has stored therein data cross-referencing the position of said base stations with respective base station identifications so that the position of said first and second terminal equipment is determined by comparing said first and second nearest base station identifications to said data,

positional information receiving means for receiving and updating positional information indicating the present position of said second terminal equipment from said server.

12. A positional information providing method wherein terminal equipment is connected together with other terminal equipment to a communication channel for communicating with base stations via a communication link comprising the steps of:

receiving a positional information demand instruction from a first terminal equipment connected by way of a communication channel, transmitting a connection demand instruction to a second terminal equipment connected by way of a communication channel based on the positional information demand instruction from said first terminal equipment,

receiving at a server a first nearest base station identification from said first terminal equipment and a second nearest base station identification from said second terminal equipment, and determining positional information for said first and second terminal equipment based on said received identifications, wherein said server has stored therein data cross-referencing the position of said base stations with respective base station identifications so that the position of said first and second terminal equipment is determined by comparing said first and second nearest base station identifications to said data, and

receiving and updating positional information indicating the present position of the second terminal equipment from said server.