Location system and method for client terminals which provide location-base service to mobile terminals
First Claim
1. A location system for a client terminal which provides a location-based service by sending a location request message requesting location information of a target mobile terminal, comprisinga gateway which receives said location request message including service coverage information from said client terminal, and returns an error message to said client terminal if said gateway finds out that a serving node for said target mobile terminal determines from said service coverage information that the target mobile terminal is outside of a service coverage area of said client terminal;
- wherein said gateway is arranged to forward said location request message to a visited gateway which is visited by said target mobile terminal if said gateway finds out that said serving node determines that said target mobile terminal is inside said service coverage, wherein said visited gateway is other than said gateway.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In one of multiple mobile communication networks, a serving node responsible for locating mobile terminals is responsive to a registration request from a mobile terminal for storing the serving node identity in a home location database to which the mobile terminal is subscribed. In response to a location request message from a client terminal requesting the location of a target mobile terminal, a serving node identity is retrieved from the home location database of the target mobile terminal. The serving node identity represents the current location of the target mobile terminal. If the current location area is within the coverage area of location-based service provided by the client terminal, the location request message is forwarded to a serving node identified by the retrieved serving node identity. Otherwise, an error message is transmitted to the client terminal to indicate that the target mobile terminal is roaming outside of the coverage area.
17 Citations
65 Claims
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1. A location system for a client terminal which provides a location-based service by sending a location request message requesting location information of a target mobile terminal, comprising
a gateway which receives said location request message including service coverage information from said client terminal, and returns an error message to said client terminal if said gateway finds out that a serving node for said target mobile terminal determines from said service coverage information that the target mobile terminal is outside of a service coverage area of said client terminal; wherein said gateway is arranged to forward said location request message to a visited gateway which is visited by said target mobile terminal if said gateway finds out that said serving node determines that said target mobile terminal is inside said service coverage, wherein said visited gateway is other than said gateway. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A gateway connected to a client terminal which provides a location-based service by sending a location request message requesting location information of a target mobile terminal, comprising:
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receiving means for receiving said location request message including service coverage information from said client terminal; and transmitting means for returning an error message to said client terminal if said gateway finds out that a serving node for said target mobile terminal determines from said service coverage information that said target mobile terminal is outside of a service coverage area of said client terminal; wherein said transmitting means is arranged to forward said location request message to a visited gateway which is visited by said target mobile terminal if said gateway finds out that said serving node determines that said target mobile terminal is inside of said service coverage area, wherein said visited gateway is other than said gateway. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of locating a target mobile terminal for a client terminal which requests for location information of said target mobile terminal to provide a location-based service, comprising the steps of:
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a) receiving, at a gateway which is connected to said client terminal, a location request message including service coverage information from said client terminal; and b) returning, from said gateway, an error message to said client terminal if said gateway finds out that a serving node for said target mobile terminal determines from said service coverage information that said target mobile terminal is outside of a service coverage area of said client terminal; wherein step (b) comprises the step of forwarding, in said gateway, said location request message to a visited gateway which is visited by said target mobile terminal if said gateway finds out that said serving node determines that said target mobile terminal is inside of said service coverage area, wherein said visited gateway is other than said gateway. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A client terminal which requests for location information of a target mobile terminal to provide a location-based service, wherein said client terminal sends a location request message including service coverage information to a gateway connected to said client terminal, and receives an error message from said gateway if said gateway finds out that a serving node for said target mobile terminal determines from said service coverage information that said target mobile terminal is outside of a service coverage area of said client terminal;
wherein said client terminal is arranged to send said location request message to a requesting gateway which forwards said location request message to said gateway, wherein said requesting gateway is other than said gateway. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A tangible computer-readable storage medium storing thereon a computer program executed by a processor to perform a method for locating a target mobile terminal requested by a client terminal, which provides a location-based service, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) receiving, at a gateway which is connected to said client terminal, a location request message including service coverage information from said client terminal; and b) returning, from said gateway, an error message to said client terminal if said gateway finds out that a serving node for said target mobile terminal determines from said service coverage information that said target mobile terminal is outside of a service coverage area of said client terminal; wherein step (b) comprises the step of forwarding, in said gateway, said location request message to a visited gateway which is visited by said target mobile terminal if said gateway finds out that said serving node determines that said target mobile terminal is inside of said service coverage area;
wherein said visited gateway is other than said gateway. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A location system for a client terminal which requests for location information of a target mobile terminal to provide a location-based service, comprising a gateway which receives a location request message including service coverage information from said client terminal, and returns an error message to said client terminal if said gateway finds out that a serving node for said target mobile terminal locates out of said service coverage;
wherein said gateway forwards said location request message to a visited gateway which is visited by said target mobile terminal if said gateway finds out that said serving node locates within said service coverage, wherein said visited gateway is other than said gateway. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. A gateway connected to a client terminal which requests for location information of a target mobile terminal to provide a location-based service, comprising:
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receiving means for receiving a location request message including service coverage information from said client terminal; and transmitting means for returning an error message to said client terminal if said gateway finds out that a serving node for said target mobile terminal locates out of said service coverage; wherein said transmitting means forwards said location request message to a visited gateway which is visited by said target mobile terminal if said gateway finds out that said serving node locates within said service coverage, wherein said visited gateway is other than said gateway. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A method of locating a target mobile terminal for a client terminal which requests for the location information of said target mobile terminal to provide a location-based service, comprising the steps of:
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a) receiving, at a gateway which is connected to said client terminal, a location request message including service coverage information from said client terminal; and b) returning, from said gateway, an error message to said client terminal if said gateway finds out that a serving node for said target mobile terminal locates out of said service coverage; wherein step (b) comprises the step of forwarding, in said gateway, said location request message to a visited gateway which is visited by said target mobile terminal if said gateway finds out that said serving node locates within said service coverage, wherein said visited gateway is other than said gateway. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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59. A client terminal which requests for location information of a target mobile terminal to provide a location-based service, wherein said client terminal sends a location request message including service coverage information to a gateway connected to said client terminal, and receives an error message from said gateway if said gateway finds out that a serving node for said target mobile terminal locates out of said service coverage;
wherein said gateway forwards said location request message to a visited gateway which is visited by said target mobile terminal if said gateway finds out that said serving node locates within said service coverage, wherein said visited gateway is other than said gateway. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65)
Specification