Mobile communications system, mobile communications network controller, mobile communications terminal, and method of controlling mobile communications network

• US 7,454,196 B2
• Filed: 04/18/2007
• Issued: 11/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Yamazaki, Kenichi, Sakamoto, Kenji, Kikuta, Yoko, Yokoyama, Tsutomu
• Primary Examiner(s): Gauthier; Gerald
• Application Number:
  US11/737,008
• Publication Number:
  US 20070190989A1
• Time in Patent Office: 580 Days
• Field of Search: 455/426.1, 455/456.1, 455/556.1, 455/414.2
• US Class Current: 455/414.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/16 Central resource management; Negotiation of resources or communication parameters, e.g. negotiating bandwidth or QoS [Quality of Service]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/26 Resource reservation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• 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 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/00 Local resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/02 Processing of mobility data, e.g. registration information at HLR [Home Location Register] or VLR [Visitor Location Register]; Transfer of mobility data, e.g. between HLR, VLR or external networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/08 Mobility data transfer
• 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 mobile communications system of the present invention obtains in advance information on communications environments in a mobile communications system and provides users with the information on communications environments. The mobile communications system also predicts the movement of users and provides seamless services based on the predictions.

A mobile communications system of the present invention includes an information acquisition unit for obtaining information regarding resources of a given object, an information memory for storing the obtained information on resources of a given object, and an information provision unit for searching the information memory in response to a request for provision of the information on resources of a given object transmitted from a mobile communications terminal, and providing the information on resources of a given object found in the search to the mobile communications terminal.

Claims

1. A network controller comprising:

a resource management unit configured to manage an ID of a device, a function of the device and a location of the device, in association with one another, based on information obtained from the device via a radio interface; and

an information provision unit configured to obtain a location of an external information user terminal in accordance with a request transmitted from the external information user terminal for provision of information relative to the device having a desired function located in a vicinity of the external information user terminal, to extract an ID of said device which is associated with the desired function included in the request and to extract the location of said device which is associated with the extracted ID located in the vicinity of the obtained location of the external information user terminal from the resource management unit, and to provide the location of the device to the external information user terminal.

2. A network controller comprising:

a resource management unit configured to manage an ID of a radio communications channel, a sensing area of the radio communications channel and a radio bandwidth assigned to the radio communications channel, in association with one another, based on information obtained via a radio interface; and

an information provision unit configured to obtain a location of an external information user terminal in accordance with a request transmitted from the external information user terminal for provision of information relative to a radio communications channel having a desired radio bandwidth in a vicinity of the external information user terminal, to extract an ID of a radio communications channel which is associated with said desired radio bandwidth included in the request and to extract the sensing area of said radio communications channel which is associated with the extracted ID located in the vicinity of the obtained location of the external information user terminal from the resource management unit, and to provide the sensing area of the radio communications channel associated with the extracted ID of the radio communications channel to the external information user terminal.