Method and apparatus for processing a communication signal based on the geographical location of a communication device

• US 7,047,019 B1
• Filed: 05/26/2000
• Issued: 05/16/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Motorola Solutions, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gilbert, Stephen S., Cox, Gregory W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Trost, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): LE, DANH C
• Application Number:
  US09/579,746
• Time in Patent Office: 2,181 Days
• Field of Search: 455/414, 455/417, 455/415, 455/456.1, 455/422, 455/433, 455/456.2
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold

Abstract

An apparatus including a processor 42 coupled to a memory 44 resides in a location call filtering center 36 and cooperates with a gateway mobile location center 34 and a mobile switching center 22 to process a communication signal, based on the geographical location of a communication device 28, such as a mobile telephone. The processor 42 accesses a user location filter database 46 stored in the memory 44 which contains a set of subscriber conditions/preferences that may be used to identify a processing operation to be performed on the call. The processor 42 further operates as an Internet web page server to afford mobile subscribers Internet 56 access to the user location filter database 46 so that the mobile subscribers may enter and/or edit the set of conditions/preferences stored in the memory 44.

Claims

1. An apparatus that communicates with a communication system, wherein the communication system processes a communication signal by performing any of a plurality of operations on the communication signal, the apparatus comprising;

a processor that receives information regarding the availability of a geographical location of a primary communication device, wherein the information indicates whether the geographical location is available, and further wherein, if the information indicates that the geographical location is available, then the processor identifies one or more of the operations to be performed on the communication signal based on the geographical location of the primary communication device, and if the information indicates that the geographical location is not available, then the processor identifies one or more of the operations to be performed on the communication signal based on the information that the geographical location is not available.

2. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein the processor informs the communication system of the one or more identified operations.

3. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein the processor is adapted to process the communication signal by performing any of the plurality of operations on the communication signal and further wherein the processor performs the one or more identified operations.

4. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of the operations comprises forwarding the communication signal to a target communication device.

5. The apparatus defined in claim 4, wherein the target communication device is selected from the group consisting of a telephone, a voicemail program, a paging device, and a personal digital assistant.

6. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of the operations comprises forwarding the communication signal to one of a plurality of candidate communication devices.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the processor identifies one of the plurality of candidate communication devices as a target communication device to which the call shall be forwarded further based on information stored in the memory.

8. The apparatus defined in claim 7, wherein the information stored in the memory comprises a database, wherein the database comprises a list of the candidate communication devices and a list of one or more geographical regions, wherein each of the geographical regions is associated with one of the candidate communication devices, and further wherein the processor compares the geographical location of the primary communication device to the list of geographical regions to determine in which of the geographical regions the primary communication device is located, and further wherein the processor identifies the candidate communication device associated with the geographical region within which the primary communication device is located as the target communication device to which the communication signal is to be forwarded.

9. The apparatus defined in claim 7, wherein the information stored in the memory comprises a set of conditions that are associated with one of the candidate communication device and wherein the processor tests each of the conditions such that if all of the conditions are satisfied, then the processor identifies the candidate communication device associated with the set of conditions as the target communication device to which the communication signal is to be forwarded.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor comprises a first processor, and wherein the apparatus further comprises a communication network coupled to the first processor and further coupled to a plurality of second processors, wherein at least one of the second processors may be used to enter the information into the memory and further wherein at least one of the second processors may be used to edit the information stored in the memory.

11. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein the one or more operations to be performed on the communication signal further depends on a time at which the communication signal is processed by the communication system.

12. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein the one or more operations to be performed on the communication signal further depends on a rate of speed at which the primary communication device is traveling when the communication signal is processed by the communication system.

13. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein the communication signal includes an identification code that identifies a source from which the communication signal originated and further wherein the one or more operations to be performed on the communication signal further depends on the identification code.

14. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein the processor is disposed in a communication device.

15. The apparatus defined in claim 14, wherein a location determining apparatus that determines the location of the primary communication device is disposed in the communication device.

16. The apparatus defined in claim 14, wherein the communication system comprises a switching center and wherein a location determining apparatus that determines the location of the primary communication device is disposed in a mobile geographical location center that is coupled to the switching center and wherein the location determining apparatus informs the communication system of the geographical location of the primary communication device and wherein the switching center communicates the geographical location of the primary communication device to the processor disposed in the communication device.

17. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein the communication system comprises a switching center and wherein the processor is disposed in a location call filtering center that is coupled to the switching center.

18. The apparatus defined in claim 17, wherein a location determining apparatus that determines the location of the primary communication device is disposed in the primary communication device, and wherein the location determining apparatus informs the communication system of the geographical location of the primary communication device and further wherein the communication system informs the processor of the geographical location of the primary communication device.

19. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein the communication system is a circuit mode communication system.

20. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein the communication system is a packet-switched mode communication system and wherein the communication signal is packet-switched communication signal.

21. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein the communication signal is selected from the group consisting of a video signal, a voice signal, and a binary data signal.

22. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the communication system comprises a telephone communication system and wherein the communication signal comprises a telephone call.

23. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein the primary communication device is selected from the group consisting of a telephone, a paging device, and a personal digital assistant.

24. An apparatus that communicates with a telephone communication system for processing a telephone call, wherein the processing performed by the telephone communication system comprises forwarding the telephone call, the apparatus comprising:

a processor, in a wireless communication system, that receives information comprising a geographical location at which a primary communication device is located and that identifies a target communication device to which the call shall be forwarded based on the geographical location of the primary communication device;

a gateway mobile location center, in the wireless communication system and coupled to the processor, wherein the gateway mobile location center determines the geographical location of the primary communication device and delivers the geographical location to the processor and wherein the gateway mobile location center identifies the location of mobile subscriber units within the wireless communication system;

a memory coupled to the processor wherein data is stored,

wherein the data comprises a list of one or more candidate communication devices,

wherein the data further comprises a list of one or more geographical regions,

wherein each of the geographical regions is associated with one of the candidate communication devices,

wherein the processor compares the geographical location of the primary communication device to the one or more geographical regions in the memory to determine in which of the one or more geographical regions the primary communication device is located,

wherein the processor identifies the candidate communication device associated with the geographical region within which the primary communication device is located as the target communication device to which the call shall be forwarded,

wherein the processor comprises a first processor, and wherein the apparatus further comprises a communication network coupled to the first processor, and

wherein the communication network is further coupled to a plurality of second processors, and at least one of the second processors may be used to enter the data into the memory and to edit the data stored in the memory.

25. The apparatus as defined in claim 24, wherein the communication network comprises the Internet and wherein the plurality of second processors are capable of communicating with the first processor via the Internet.

26. The apparatus as defined in claim 25, wherein the first processor is adapted to operate as an Internet server that supports an Internet web page.

27. The apparatus as defined in claim 26, wherein the Internet web page comprises a set of data fields into which the data may be entered.

28. The apparatus as defined in claim 27, wherein the Internet web page comprises a geographical map, and wherein the portions of the geographical map may be highlighted to define the boundaries of one or more of the geographical regions for subsequent storage in the memory.

29. The apparatus as defined in claim 24, wherein the at least one of the second processors that may be used to enter the data into the memory and to edit the data stored in the memory is disposed in a communication device.

30. The apparatus defined in claim 24, wherein the telephone communication system comprises a switching center and wherein the apparatus is disposed in a location call filtering center that is coupled to the switching center.

31. The apparatus defined in claim 24, wherein the processor and the memory are disposed in a communication device.

32. The apparatus defined in claim 31, further comprising a geographical location determining apparatus disposed in the communication device, wherein the geographical location determining apparatus determines the location of the primary communication device.

33. The apparatus as defined in claim 24, wherein the primary communication device is selected from the group consisting of a telephone, and a paging device.

34. The apparatus as defined in claim 24, wherein the target communication device is selected from a group consisting of a paging device and a voicemail program.

35. The apparatus as defined in claim 24, wherein the data entered comprises a set of preferences, and further wherein the processor uses the set of preferences in conjunction with the geographical location of the primary communication device to identify the target communication device.

36. A method for processing a communication signal, wherein the communication signal is processed by performing any of a plurality of operations on the communication signal, the method comprising the steps of:

a) receiving information regarding the availability of a geographical location of a primary communication device, wherein the information indicates whether the geographical location is available; and

b) if the information indicates that the geographical location is available, then identifying one or more of the operations to be performed on the communication signal based on the geographical location of the primary communication device; and

c) if the information indicates that the geographical location is not available, then identifying one or more of the operations to be performed on the communication signal based on the information that the geographical location is not available.

37. The method as defined in claim 36, wherein the communication signal comprises a telephone signal.

38. The method as defined in claim 36, wherein the at least one of the plurality of operations comprises forwarding the communication signal to one of a plurality of candidate communication devices.

39. The method as defined in claim 38, wherein at least one of the candidate communication devices comprises a telephone and wherein the primary communication device comprises a telephone.

40. The method of claim 36, further comprising the step of querying a geographical location determining apparatus that determines the geographical location of the primary communication device, wherein the step of querying is performed before step a).

41. The method of claim 36, wherein the steps b) and c) further comprise the step of accessing a memory in which data is stored, wherein the data includes a list of geographical regions and further includes a list of candidate operations, wherein each of the geographical regions are associated with one of the candidate operations, and wherein the geographical region in which the primary communication device is located is determined, and further wherein the operation to be performed on the communication signal is identified as the candidate operation associated with the geographical region in which the primary communication device is located.

42. The method of claim 36, wherein the communication signal comprises information that identifies a subscriber and wherein the method further comprises a step of determining whether the subscriber identified in the communication signal is authorized, such that if the subscriber is authorized, then the steps of a), b) and c) are performed, and if the subscriber is not authorized, then the steps of a), b) and c) are not performed.

43. The method of claim 36, further comprising a step d) of providing the identity of the operation to be performed to a communication system so that the communication system may perform the identified operation on the communication signal, wherein the step d) is performed after the step c).

44. The method of claim 36, further comprising the steps of 1) querying a geographical location determining apparatus that determines the availability of the geographical location of the primary communication device, and 2) if the geographical location is available, then determining the geographical location of the primary communication device wherein the steps of 1) and 2) are performed before the steps of a), b) and c).

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the steps of 1) and a) and b) and c) are performed by a processor disposed in a communication device that communicates with a communication system and wherein the step 2) is performed by a processor that is disposed in a geographical mobile location center that is coupled to the communication system.

46. The method of claim 44, wherein the steps of 1) and a) and b) and c) are performed by a processor that is disposed in a location call filtering center that is coupled to a communication system, and wherein the step 2) is performed by a processor disposed in a communication device that communicates with the communication system.