Method and system for radio communications using mobile terminal moving route prediction

• US 7,257,405 B2
• Filed: 04/25/2001
• Issued: 08/14/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Toshimitsu, Kiyoshi, Yamato, Katsumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Trost; William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ewart; James D
• Application Number:
  US09/841,042
• Publication Number:
  US 20010034239A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,302 Days
• Field of Search: 455436-433, 455/445, 455/446, 455/447, 370/328, 370/331, 370/334, 370/339, 340/988, 340/989, 340/990, 340/993, 340/994, 340/995, 342/367, 342/368, 342/371, 342/372, 701/200, 701/202, 701/204, 701/207, 701/208, 701/209, 701/210, 701/213
• US Class Current: 455/445
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0968 Systems involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096822 where the segments of the route are transmitted to the vehicle at different locations and times
• 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

In a radio communication system formed by a plurality of radio base stations having respective service areas and a mobile radio terminal configured to transmit a data transmission request through one radio base station and receive requested data through at least one radio base stations, a radio control station is provided to predict a moving route of the mobile radio terminal according to a terminal location information obtained from the mobile radio terminal upon receiving the data transmission request from the mobile radio terminal through the one radio base station, select those radio base stations which have service areas containing at least a part of the predicted moving route, and deliver requested data to the selected radio base stations.

Claims

1. A radio communication system, comprising:

a plurality of radio base stations having respective service areas;

a mobile radio terminal configured to transmit a data transmission request through one radio base station and receive requested data through at least one radio base stations; and

a radio control station connected with the radio base stations and having;

a moving route prediction unit configured to predict a moving route of the mobile radio terminal according to a terminal location information obtained from the mobile radio terminal upon receiving the data transmission request; and

a server unit configured to select those radio base stations which have service areas containing at least a part of the moving route predicted by the moving route prediction unit, and deliver the requested data to selected radio base stations, wherein each radio base station has;

a beam formation unit configured to simultaneously form a plurality of space dividing beams; and

an antenna device having a plurality of antenna elements configured to send the requested data to the mobile radio terminal by transmitting one of the plurality of space dividing beams toward the mobile radio terminal, the antenna device of each radio base station controlling a directivity of one of the antenna elements toward a direction of a location at which the mobile radio terminal will stop when a service area of each radio base station contains the location at which the mobile radio terminal will stop.

2. A radio control station in a radio communication system formed by a plurality of radio base stations having respective service areas and a mobile radio terminal configured to transmit a data transmission request through one radio base station and receive requested data through at least one radio base station, the radio control station comprising:

a moving route prediction unit configured to predict a moving route of the mobile radio terminal according to a terminal location information obtained from the mobile radio terminal upon receiving the data transmission request from the mobile radio terminal through the one radio base station; and

a server unit configured to select those radio base stations which have service areas containing at least a part of the moving route predicted by the moving route prediction unit, and deliver requested data to selected radio base stations,

wherein the server unit estimates a transmittable data amount indicating an amount of data that can be transmitted to the mobile radio terminal at each selected radio base station, and determines a delivery data amount indicating an amount of data to be delivered to each selected radio base station according to the transmittable data amount estimated for each selected radio base station.

3. The radio control station of claim 2, wherein the server unit estimates the transmittable data amount according to a product of a time for which the mobile radio terminal stays within the service area of each selected radio base station and a data transmission speed between each selected radio base station and the mobile radio terminal.

4. The radio control station of claim 2, wherein the server unit also judges whether the mobile radio terminal will stop on the moving route predicted by the moving route prediction unit or not, and estimates additional transmittable data amount indicating an amount of data that can be transmitted to the mobile radio terminal at each selected radio base station while the mobile radio terminal is stopping, when it is judged that the mobile radio terminal will stop.

5. The radio control station of claim 4, wherein the server unit increases the delivery data amount for a radio base station having a service area that contains a location at which the mobile radio terminal will stop, according to the additional transmittable data amount.

6. The radio control station of claim 4, wherein the server unit delivers all the requested data to a radio base station having a service area that contains a location at which the mobile radio terminal will stop, when the additional transmittable data amount is sufficient to transmit all the requested data to the mobile radio terminal.

7. The radio control station of claim 4, wherein the server unit judges whether the mobile radio terminal will stop on the moving route or not, according to information on a signal change pattern of a traffic signal existing on the moving route.

8. The radio control station of claim 2, wherein the server unit estimates the transmittable data amount by accounting for a time required for a re-transmission control and/or a redundant transmission control.

9. The radio control station of claim 2, wherein the server unit delivers to each selected radio base station a part of the requested data corresponding to the delivery data amount for each selected radio base station and any non-received data of the requested data that were transmitted from other selected radio base stations earlier but not correctly received by the mobile radio terminal.