System and method for reporting the number and/or duration of positioning requests for terminal-based location calculation

• US 6,516,197 B2
• Filed: 03/18/1999
• Issued: 02/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ericsson, Inc. (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson)
• Original Assignee: Ericsson, Inc. (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson)
• Inventors: Boltz, David, Havinis, Theodore
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin, Vivian
• Assistant Examiner(s): Moore, James K
• Application Number:
  US09/272,693
• Publication Number:
  US 20020077116A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,419 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456, 455/404, 455/435, 455/412, 455/413, 455/414, 455/433, 455/436, 455/553, 455/457
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A telecommunications system and method is disclosed for requiring a mobile station (MS) to notify the network of the number and/or duration of positionings performed by the MS. A service program or API (Application Program Interface), e.g., JAVA program, which is responsible for collecting information regarding the requests for location information, is either included in a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card, or other memory, of the MS, or downloaded to the SIM card in the MS. As a result of performing a location calculation, the API within the MS initiates a mobile originated reporting Short Message Service (SMS) or Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) message to the serving network, which includes a time stamp of the time and date the positioning request was received, the number and/or duration of the positioning(s) and the final location of MS.

Claims

1. A mobile station for reporting positioning information to a network in wireless communication with said mobile station, comprising:

a transceiver unit for receiving a positioning request for said mobile station and sending a reporting message including at least said positioning information to said network;

a positioning measurement module connected to said transceiver unit for obtaining at least one positioning measurement for said mobile station;

a location calculation module for receiving said at least one positioning measurement for said positioning measurement module and calculating at least one location information identifying the location of said mobile station within said network, using said at least one positioning measurement; and

a reporting module for receiving said location information from said location calculation module and initiating said reporting message towards said transceiver unit, said positioning information comprising the number of said at least one location information calculated by said mobile station and/or the duration of time over which all of said at least one location information were calculated.

2. The mobile station of claim 1, further comprising:

a memory for storing said positioning information and each said calculated location information until said reporting module initiates said reporting message.

3. The mobile station of claim 2, wherein said reporting module has a reporting frequency stored therein, said positioning information and each said calculated location information being stored in said memory until said reporting frequency indicates that said reporting module should initiate said reporting message.

4. The mobile station of claim 2, wherein said reporting message further includes a last calculated one of said at least one location information.

5. The mobile station of claim 1, wherein said reporting message further comprises a time stamp indicating the date and time that said positioning request was received by said mobile station.

6. The mobile station of claim 1, wherein said reporting message is a Short Message Service message.

7. The mobile station of claim 1, wherein said reporting message is an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data message.

8. The mobile station of claim 1, wherein said reporting message is a Wireless Application Part interface.

9. The mobile station of claim 1, wherein said positioning measurement module and said location calculation module comprise a Global Positioning System transceiver unit.

10. The mobile station of claim 1, wherein said at least one positioning measurement is an enhanced-observed time difference measurement.

11. A method for reporting positioning information by a mobile station to a network in wireless communication with said mobile station, comprising the steps of:

receiving, by said mobile station, a positioning request for said mobile station;

obtaining at least one positioning measurement by said mobile station;

calculating, by said mobile station, at least one location information identifying the location of said mobile station within said network, using said at least one positioning measurement; and

sending, by said mobile station, a reporting message, including at least said positioning information, to said network, said positioning information comprising the number of said at least one location information and/or the duration of time over which all of said at least one location information were calculated.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of:

storing, within a memory within the mobile station, said positioning information and each said calculated location information.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said step of sending further comprises the steps of:

sending said reporting message, including at least said positioning information and a last calculated one of said at least one location information, to said network.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein said step of sending further comprises the step of:

sending said reporting message, including at least said positioning information and a time stamp indicating the date and time that said positioning request was received by said mobile station, to said network.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein said step of obtaining further comprises the step of:

obtaining at least one Global Positioning System positioning measurement.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein said step of obtaining further comprises the step of:

obtaining at least one enhanced-observed time difference positioning measurement.