Group communication service method, mobile terminal using the same, and group communication service system thereof

• US 7,945,272 B2
• Filed: 09/07/2005
• Issued: 05/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Kim, Sung Chul
• Primary Examiner(s): BALAOING, ARIEL A
• Application Number:
  US11/221,462
• Publication Number:
  US 20060063548A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,078 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561-4566, 455/518, 455/519, 455/566
• US Class Current: 455/456.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4061 Push-to services, e.g. push-to-talk or push-to-video
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/186 Processing of subscriber group data

Abstract

A method of performing a group communication service with respect to a plurality of pushto service subscribers using mobile terminal location information is provided. The method includes acquiring location information of each of the plurality of pushto service subscribers, the location information indicating a current location of at least one of the plurality of pushto service subscribers with respect to a specific area; generating group member list information corresponding to the plurality of pushto service subscribers and including a member list in which the current location of the at least one of the plurality of pushto service subscribers is classified with respect to the specific area; and displaying the group member list information including a list of the group members within the specific area.

Claims

1. A method of performing a group communication service with respect to a plurality of pushto service subscribers using terminal location information in a mobile terminal, the method comprising:

acquiring location information of each of the plurality of pushto service subscribers, the location information indicating a current location of at least one of the plurality of pushto service subscribers;

receiving a user selection command for generating a group member list, the user selection command comprising selection of one subscriber among the plurality of pushto service subscribers to designate a specific area with reference to a location of the selected one subscriber, the one subscriber being a subscriber other than a user of the mobile terminal;

generating the group member list based upon the specific area;

displaying the group member list comprising group members relative to the specific area and current status information of each of the group members, the current status information comprising at least on line and off line status; and

selectively communicating with at least one of the group members in the displayed group member list,

wherein the specific area is defined by a predetermined distance from the location of the selected one subscriber.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

initiating a group communication request for performing a specific group communication function with respect to the at least one of the group members in the displayed group member list; and

performing the specific group communication function in response to the group communication request.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the group member list comprises the at least one of the plurality of pushto service subscribers that are determined to be inside the specific area according to the location information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the location information is provided through at least one of a presence service providing a location-based service or a global positioning service.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of pushto service subscribers operates a mobile terminal provided with the location information and a group communication request is initiated by one of the plurality of pushto service subscribers.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the one of the plurality of pushto service subscribers operates as an inviter terminal or a master terminal.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the master terminal has authority to establish group communication.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the one of the group members is the master terminal.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the one of the group members is the inviter terminal.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined distance is determined by one of the user, the mobile terminal, or a mobile communications system of the mobile terminal.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the group member list is periodically updated by refreshing the terminal location information.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the group member list is sorted according to a relation to the user.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the group communication service provides at least voice, text, or image data transmission service.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a name of the specific area with the group member list.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the user selection command is selected from a menu comprising:

grouping the group members according to a specific area;

sorting the group members according to a specific area;

grouping the group members according to a specific area defined by the user;

grouping the group members according to a specific area determined with respect to the one of the group members selected by the user; and

grouping the group members according to a specific area determined with respect to the user.

26. The method of claim 10, wherein the predetermined distance is preset by the mobile terminal.

27. The method of claim 10, wherein the predetermined distance is set by the user.

14. A mobile terminal, comprising:

a transceiver for receiving location information of a plurality of pushto service subscribers, the location information indicating a current location of at least one of the plurality of pushto service subscribers, and for performing a selective group communication function with respect to each of the plurality of pushto service subscribers;

a user input unit for receiving a user selection command for generating a group member list, the user selection command comprising selection of one subscriber among the plurality of pushto service subscribers to designate a specific area with reference to a location of the selected one subscriber, the one subscriber being a subscriber other than a user of the mobile terminal;

a controller for generating and outputting the group member list based upon the specific area; and

a display for displaying the group member list comprising group members relative to the specific area and current status information of each of the group members under control of the controller, wherein the current status information comprises at least on line and off line status,

wherein the mobile terminal is configured to selectively communicate with at least one of the group members in the displayed group member list, and

wherein the specific area is defined by a predetermined distance from the location of the selected one subscriber.

15. The mobile terminal of claim 14, wherein the group member list is sorted according to a relation to the user.

24. The mobile terminal of claim 14, wherein the user selection command is selected from a menu comprising:

grouping the group members according to a specific area;

sorting the group members according to a specific area;

grouping the group members according to a specific area defined by the user;

grouping the group members according to a specific area determined with respect to the one of the group members selected by the user; and

grouping the group members according to a specific area determined with respect to the user.

16. A group communication service system utilizing a location based service function, the group communication service system comprising:

a location information provider for determining locations of each of a plurality of mobile terminals and for registering a plurality of service subscribers; and

a terminal for;

performing a selective group communication function according to a user selection command designating a specific area by continuously exchanging status information with a network and updating location information of at least one of the plurality of service subscribers, the user selection command comprising selection of one subscriber among the plurality of service subscribers to designate a specific area with reference to a location of the selected one subscriber, the one subscriber being a subscriber other than a user of the mobile terminal,

generating a group member list based upon the specific area; and

displaying the group member list including group members relative to the specific area, the user selection command designating whether the group members are inside the specific area, and current status information of each of the group members, the current status information comprising at least on line and off line status,

wherein the terminal is configured to selectively communicate with at least one of the group members in the displayed group member list, and

wherein the specific area is defined by a predetermined distance from the location of the selected one subscriber.

17. The group communication service system of claim 16, wherein the location of any one of the plurality of mobile terminals is determined by at least one of a mobile communication network or a satellite signal.

18. The group communication service system of claim 16, wherein the user selection command is selected from a menu comprising:

grouping the group members according to a specific area;

sorting the group members according to a specific area;

grouping the group members according to a specific area defined by the user;

grouping the group members according to a specific area determined with respect to the one of the group members selected by the user; and

grouping the group members according to a specific area determined with respect to the user.

19. The group communication service system of claim 16, wherein the predetermined distance is set by the user.

20. The group communication service system of claim 16, wherein the predetermined distance is predefined by the system or the terminal.

21. The group communication service system of claim 18, wherein the menu is displayed in a pop-up menu form.

25. A method of performing a group communication service with respect to a plurality of group communication service subscribers using terminal location information in a mobile terminal, the method comprising:

acquiring location information of each of the plurality of group communication service subscribers, the location information indicating a current location of at least one of the plurality of group communication service subscribers;

receiving a user selection command, the user selection command comprising selection of one subscriber among the plurality of group communication service subscribers to designate a specific area with reference to a location of the selected one subscriber, the one subscriber being a subscriber other than a user of the mobile terminal;

generating group member list based upon the specific area;

displaying the group member list comprising group members relative to the specific area and current status information of each of the group members, the current status information comprising at least on line and off line status; and

selectively communicating with at least one of the group members in the displayed group member list,

wherein the specific area is defined by a predetermined distance from the location of the selected one subscriber.

28. The method of claim 25, further comprising displaying a name of the specific area with the list of group members.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein the predetermined distance is set by the user.

30. A method of performing a group communication service with a plurality of service subscribers using terminal location information in a mobile terminal, the method comprising:

displaying a contact list;

receiving an input for selecting a target member in the contact list;

acquiring location information of the selected target member, the location information indicating a current location of the target member;

displaying the location information of the target member;

defining a specific area with respect to the target member;

grouping the plurality of service subscribers according to the defined specific area;

generating a group member list including the grouped plurality of service subscribers as group members;

displaying the group member list with a current location of each of the group members classified with respect to the specific area and current status information of each of the group members; and

selectively communicating with at least one of the group members in the displayed group member list,

wherein the specific area is defined by a predetermined distance from the current location of the target member.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the predetermined distance is set by a user.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the predetermined distance is set by the mobile terminal.

33. The method of claim 30, wherein the predetermined distance is set by a mobile communication system.