Wireless communication terminal for accessing location information from a server

• US 6,813,503 B1
• Filed: 06/03/2002
• Issued: 11/02/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Zil{haeck over (l)}ikens, Frank, Hoyler, Stefan
• Primary Examiner(s): Corsaro, Nick
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gantt, Alan T.
• Application Number:
  US10/069,667
• Time in Patent Office: 883 Days
• Field of Search: 455/457, 455/456.1, 455/456.3, 455/456.4, 455/456.5
• US Class Current: 455/457
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0962 having an indicator mounted inside the vehicle, e.g. giving voice messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72445 for supporting Internet browser applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• 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 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/20 Manipulation of established connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data

Abstract

A system, a method, and a wireless communication terminal for accessing location information from at least one server. The terminal comprising a receiver and a transmitter arranged to receive and transmit data packets from/to at least one server comprising location means, through a wireless communication network connected to linking means. The linking means is arranged to forward the data packets between the terminal and the server. A memory is also provided in the terminal, which comprises at least one item, which is provided with an access point which indicates the site of the server to be accessed, wherein the server is accessed by sending a request through the wireless communication network as a data packet comprising the access point to the linking means to access and receive content from the server. A browser application is arranged in the terminal, to establish a session to the linking means.

Claims

1. A method of providing information from a server to a wireless communication terminal in response to a request sent from the terminal, said terminal being provided with a browser application, and the server being provided with location means, the method comprising the steps of:

generating a request by use of the browser application, the request comprising at least one access point indicating the site of the server to be accessed, and a query identifying requested location information, said query being independent of the position of the terminal;

initiating a session to linking means, by sending the request from the communication terminal via a wireless telecommunication network to the linking means;

identifying the request at the linking means, by means of said access point;

formatting the request at the linking means, which is a gateway from the wireless communication network to the server, into a format supported by the server, and sending the formatted request to the servers;

processing the query at the server by means of said location means;

sending a response to said formatted request from the server to the linking means, said response comprising an indication of the requested location information;

establishing a session between said terminal and said linking means by formatting the response into a format supported by the terminal, and sending the formatted response from the linking means, via the wireless telecommunication network, to the terminal; and

presenting said indication of the requested location information on said terminal, by means of said browser application; and

wherein

formulating the request, formatted request, response and formatted response is by using a markup language.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said terminal comprises security means, wherein said security means demands a confirmation of the request being sent to the server.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein said request, formatted request, response and formatted response are encrypted by the terminal, the linking means and the server, in order to provide a level of security when transmitting wireless information.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein said request, formatted request and formatted response are encoded by the terminal, the linking means and the server, in order to provide a transmission of the request, formatted request, response and formatted response.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein said location means performs the processing, by means of a database comprising the location information.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein formulating the request, formatted request, response and formatted response is by using WML, a WML-script, or a XML.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein said linking means optionally searches for position information of said terminal, which is requested by the server, and sends the requested position information from the linking means to the server.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the linking means searches for the position information by sending a cellular position request to the wireless telecommunication network, to obtain the position information requested by the server.

9. A method according to claim 7, wherein said server optionally searches for the position information of said terminal, and sends the requested location information from the server based on the retrieved position information through the linking means to the terminal.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the server searches for the position information by sending a cellular position request to the wireless communication network, to obtain the requested location information based on said position information.

11. A method according to claim 1, wherein said terminal comprises position means, to determine position information of the terminal, and optionally sends the position information to the server, upon a request from the server, in order to give an indication of the position of the terminal.

12. A method according to claim 1, wherein said terminal comprises position means, which determines position information of the terminal, and optionally sends the position information to the server in the request sent to the server, in order to give an indication of the position of the terminal.

13. A method according to claim 9, wherein the position information is obtained by providing the position means with cell identity information, using observed time difference information, and/or using time of arrival information, provided by the wireless communication network.

14. A method according to claim 11, wherein the position means comprises a satellite positioning system, which provides positioning information independent of the wireless communication network.

15. A wireless communication terminal for accessing location information from a server, the terminal comprising:

a receiver and a transmitter which receive and transmit data packets from and to at least one server comprising location means, through a wireless communication network connected to linking means, said linking means being a gateway from the wireless communication network to the server and formatting the data packets into a format supported by the server and forwarding the data packets between the terminal and the server;

a memory comprising at least one item, which is provided with an access point which indicates the site of the at least one server to be accessed, wherein the at least one server is accessed by sending a request through the wireless communication network as a data packet comprising the access point to the linking means to access and receive content from the server;

a browser application, which establishes a session to the linking means by reading the at least one item from the memory, to enable the transmitter to send the request as a data packet through the linking means to the server, and handle received content by means of said receiver; and

a user interface connected to the browser application, the user interface including a display for displaying content received from the server and user input means to provide an input to the browser application; and

wherein

said input comprises query of local information, which is independent of position of the terminal, wherein the input is provided in the request, and arranged to receive and present content comprising an indication of said location information from said at least one server by means of said location means;

wherein

the browser application formulates the request, formatted request, response and formatted response by using a markup language.

16. A wireless communication terminal according to claim 15, wherein said terminal comprises security means, wherein said security means demands a conformation of the request being sent to the server.

17. A wireless communication terminal according to claim 15, wherein said browser application comprises encryption/decryption means which sends the request and receives the content in an encrypted format, in order to provide a level of security when transmitting wireless information.

18. A wireless communication terminal according to claim 15, wherein said browser application comprises encoding/decoding means which send the request and receive the content in a coded format, in order to provide a transmission of data packets.

19. A wireless communication terminal according to claim 15, wherein browsing application formulates the request, formatted request, response and formatted response by using WML, a WML-script, or a XML.

20. A wireless communication terminal according to claim 15, wherein the terminal comprises position means, which determines position information of the terminal, and optionally sends the position information to the server, upon a request from the server, in order to give an indication of the position of the terminal.

21. A wireless communication terminal according to claim 15, wherein said terminal comprises position means, which determines position information of the terminal, and optionally sends the position information to the server in the request sent to the server, in order to give an indication of the position of the terminal.

22. A wireless communication terminal according to claim 20, wherein said position means comprises the wireless communication network, which receives cell identity information, using observed time difference information, and/or using time of arrival information.

23. A wireless communication terminal according to claim 20, wherein said position means comprises a satellite positioning system, which receives the position information independent of the wireless communication network.

24. A wireless communication terminal according to claim 15 wherein said terminal is a cellular phone.

25. A system for accessing location information from a server, the system comprising:

a wireless communication terminal including, a receiver and a transmitter which receive and transmit data packets from and to at least one server comprising location means, through a wireless communication network connected to linking means, said linking means being a gateway from the wireless communication network to the server and formatting the data packets into a format supported by the server and forwarding the data packets between the terminal and the server;

server is accessed by sending a request through the wireless communication network as a data packet comprising the access point to the linking means to access and receive content from the server;

a browser application, which establishes a session to the linking means by reading the at least one item from the memory, enabling the transmitter to send the request as a data packet through the linking means to the at least one server, and handle received content by means of said receiver,

an input providing an input to the browser application, in order to access location information from the server;

a wireless communication network, which establishes a connection between the wireless communication terminal and linking means;

linking means which enables a session for said wireless communication terminal and forwards data packets between the terminal and a server; and

the at least one server comprising location means, which receives and transmits data packets from and to the terminal, wherein

said input, provided by the input means of the terminal, comprises query of location information, which is independent of the position of the terminal, wherein the input is provided in the request, and receives and presents content comprising an indication of said location information from said at least one server by means of the location means; and

wherein

the terminal, linking means and server formulate the request, formatted request, response and formatted response, by using a markup language.

26. A system according to claim 25, wherein said terminal comprises security means, wherein said security means demands a conformation of the request being send to the server.

27. A system according to claim 25, wherein said system comprises encryption/decryption means coupled to said terminal, linking means, and/or server which sends the request and receives the content in an encrypted format, in order to provide a level of security when transmitting wireless information.

28. A system according to claim 25, wherein said system comprises encoding/decoding means coupled to said terminal, linking means, and server which sends the request and receives the content in a coded format, in order to provide a transmission of data packets.

29. A system according to claim 25, wherein said terminal comprises position means, which determines position information of the terminal, and optionally sends the position information to the server upon a request from the server, in order to give an indication of the position of the terminal.

30. A system according to claim 25, wherein said terminal comprises position means, which determines position information of the terminal, and optionally sends the position information to the server in the request sent to the server, in order to give an indication of the position of the terminal.

31. A system according to claim 29, wherein the position means comprises the wireless communication network, which receives cell identify information, using observed time difference information, and/or using time of arrival information.

32. A system according to claim 29, wherein the position means comprises a global satellite system, which receives the position information independent of the wireless communication network.

33. A system according to claim 29, wherein communication between the at least one server, the linking means and the terminal are in accordance with the Wireless Application Protocol.

34. A system according to claim 29, wherein the terminal, linking means and server formulate the request, formatted request, response and/or formatted response, respectively, by using WML, a WML-script, or a XML.