Determining mobile station operating country to enable system selection or other location based device features without network assistance
First Claim
1. A method of automatic country dependent operation of a mobile station capable of wireless communications in accordance with protocols of at least two different standards, comprising steps of:
- in each of a plurality of locations as a user of the mobile station roams, scanning one or more frequencies on which the mobile station expects to find signals of a mobile communication network with which the mobile station may be able to communicate;
from each scanning, acquiring a signal of a respective mobile communication network in an area where the mobile station is operating or intends to operate;
from each acquired network signal, obtaining at least one system identifier of the respective mobile communication network;
at a first location wherein the obtained at least one system identifier comprises a mobile country code (MCC) in accord with a first of the protocols, using a first list or table stored in memory of the mobile station, mapping the MCC to an identification of a country in which the mobile station is operating or intends to operate;
at a second location wherein the obtained at least one system identifier comprises a system identifier (SID) in accord with a second of the protocols, using a second list or table stored in memory of the mobile station, determining whether the SID maps to more than one identification of a country in the second list or table, and mapping a combination of the SID and a parameter of the acquired network signal to an identification of a country in which the mobile station is operating or intends to operate upon determining that the SID maps to more than one identification; and
automatically adapting at least one operation of the mobile station responsive to the country identifications.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A mobile station automatically determines a country in which mobile station is or will operate from readily available information, without direct assistance from the local wireless communication network. A multimode mobile station, for example, capable of both 3GPP and CDMA operation, is programmed to detect both MCC type system identifiers (from 3GPP protocol) and SID type system identifiers (from CDMA protocol) and map both types of identifiers to country identifications. However, at some locations, the SID may not uniquely map to a country. In this later case, an exemplary mobile station may identify the country by determining a local time (LTM) offset and mapping a combination of the SID obtained at the current location and the LTM offset to an identification of the country. The mobile station may use the country determination to help select a preferred network or to enable a location based device feature.
8 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method of automatic country dependent operation of a mobile station capable of wireless communications in accordance with protocols of at least two different standards, comprising steps of:
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in each of a plurality of locations as a user of the mobile station roams, scanning one or more frequencies on which the mobile station expects to find signals of a mobile communication network with which the mobile station may be able to communicate; from each scanning, acquiring a signal of a respective mobile communication network in an area where the mobile station is operating or intends to operate; from each acquired network signal, obtaining at least one system identifier of the respective mobile communication network; at a first location wherein the obtained at least one system identifier comprises a mobile country code (MCC) in accord with a first of the protocols, using a first list or table stored in memory of the mobile station, mapping the MCC to an identification of a country in which the mobile station is operating or intends to operate; at a second location wherein the obtained at least one system identifier comprises a system identifier (SID) in accord with a second of the protocols, using a second list or table stored in memory of the mobile station, determining whether the SID maps to more than one identification of a country in the second list or table, and mapping a combination of the SID and a parameter of the acquired network signal to an identification of a country in which the mobile station is operating or intends to operate upon determining that the SID maps to more than one identification; and automatically adapting at least one operation of the mobile station responsive to the country identifications. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of automatic country dependent operation of a mobile station capable of wireless communications in accordance with protocols of at least two different standards, comprising steps of:
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in each of a plurality of locations as a user of the mobile station roams, scanning one or more frequencies on which the mobile station expects to find signals of a mobile communication network with which the mobile station may be able to communicate; from each scanning, acquiring a signal of a respective mobile communication network in an area where the mobile station is operating or intends to operate; from each acquired network signal, obtaining at least one system identifier of the respective mobile communication network; for a first country where the obtained at least one system identifier uniquely corresponds to the first country, identifying the first country from a direct mapping of the at least one system identifier to an identification of the first country; for a second country where the obtained at least one system identifier does not uniquely correspond to the second country, identifying the second country by; (a) determining a local time (LTM) offset at a current location of the mobile station; and (b) mapping a combination of the at least one system identifier obtained at the current location and the LTM offset to an identification of the second country; and automatically adapting at least one operation of the mobile station responsive to the country identifications. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method, in a mobile station capable of wireless communications in accordance with protocols of a code division multiple access (CDMA) protocol and a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) protocol, for determining a country in which the mobile station is operating or intends to operate, the method comprising steps of:
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(a) in each of a plurality of locations as a user of the mobile station roams, scanning one or more frequencies on which the mobile station expects to find signals of a mobile communication network with which the mobile station may be able to communicate; (b) from each scanning, acquiring a signal of a respective mobile communication network in an area where the mobile station is operating or intends to operate; (c) from each acquired network signal, determining if the acquired signal conforms to the CDMA protocol or the 3GPP protocol and obtaining a system identifier of the respective mobile communication network; (d) responsive to determining that any acquired signal conforms to the 3GPP protocol, mapping the system identifier of the respective mobile communication network directly to an identification of a country in which the mobile station is operating or intends to operate; (e) responsive to determining that any acquired signal conforms to the CDMA protocol, determining whether or not the system identifier of the respective mobile communication network is unique; (f) in a case in which an acquired signal conforms to the CDMA protocol and the system identifier of the respective mobile communication network is unique, mapping the system identifier of the respective mobile communication network directly to an identification of a country in which the mobile station is operating or intends to operate; and (g) in a case in which an acquired signal conforms to the CDMA protocol and the system identifier of the respective mobile communication network is not unique, determining a local time (LTM) offset at a current location of the mobile station, and mapping a combination of the system identifier of the respective mobile communication network and the LTM offset to an identification of a country in which the mobile station is operating or intends to operate. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification