System and method for providing location information of a terminal

• US 8,275,894 B2
• Filed: 01/15/2009
• Issued: 09/25/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Oh, Jae-Kwon, Kim, Wuk, Kim, Joo-Young
• Primary Examiner(s): BAROT, BHARAT
• Application Number:
  US12/354,521
• Publication Number:
  US 20100180039A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,349 Days
• Field of Search: 709202-203, 709227-229, 455/404.2, 4554561-4563
• US Class Current: 709/228
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1104 Session initiation protocol [SIP]
• 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

Abstract

A common location service request/response method between various types of clients and location servers. A location request and a location estimate are delivered between a terminal and a location server using messages defined in a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) protocol. In this manner, the terminal and server using the SIP protocol can easily send a request/response for location information, making it possible to provide a new service associated with the location service.

Claims

1. A location server in a system for providing location information of a terminal, the location server comprising:

a location server for receiving a location request message for requesting a location of a target terminal from a client, determining if a location request condition set by the client is included in the location request message, calculating location information of the target terminal, determining if the location request condition is satisfied when the location request condition is included in the location request message, and sending a location response message including the calculated location information to the client, when the location request condition is satisfied;

wherein the location request message includes at least one target terminal ID, an accuracy of the location information, and a location request condition; and

wherein the location request condition comprises at least one of a number of times the client intends to receive the location information, and a time at which the client intends to receive the location information.

2. The location server of claim 1, wherein the location request message comprises a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) SUBSCRIBE message, and the location response message comprises a SIP NOTIFY message.

3. The location server of claim 1, wherein when the location request condition is not included in the location request message, the location server includes the calculated location information in the location response message.

4. The location server of claim 1, wherein the system includes:

a SIP core for forwarding the location request message from the client to the location server, and forwarding the location response message from the location server to the client.

5. The location server of claim 1, wherein the location server comprises:

a requesting location server for receiving the location request message, authenticating the client, checking if the client is authorized to receive a location of the target terminal, and sending a message indicating success in the authentication to the client, when the authentication is successful; and

a home location server for calculating the location information of the target terminal by performing a positioning process with the target terminal, when a location request of the target terminal is received from the requesting location server, and transmitting the calculated location information to the requesting location server;

wherein the requesting location server generates the location response message including the calculated location information, when the calculated location information is received from the home location server.

6. The location server of claim 1, wherein the location request message and the location response message each comprise a SIP MESSAGE.

7. A method for providing location information of a terminal in a system by a location server, the method comprising:

receiving, by the location server, a location request message for requesting a location of the target terminal;

determining, by the location server, if a location request condition set by the client is included in the received location request message;

calculating, by the location server, location information of the target terminal;

determining whether the location request condition is satisfied, when the location request condition is included in the location request message;

sending, by the location server, a location response message including the calculated location information to the client, when the location request condition is satisfied,

wherein the location request message includes at least one target terminal ID, an accuracy of the location information, and a location request condition; and

wherein the location request condition comprises at least one of a number of times the client intends to receive the location information, and a time at which the client intends to receive the location information.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the location request message includes a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) SUBSCRIBE message, and the location response message includes a SIP NOTIFY message.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining, by the location server, if the location information of the target terminal is calculated, when the location request condition is not included in the location request message; and

including, by the location server, the calculated location information in the location response message and sending the location response message, when the location information is calculated.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

upon receipt of the location request message, authenticating, by the location server, the client;

checking if the client has authorization to acquire a location of the target terminal; and

sending a message indicating success in the authentication to the client, when the authentication is successful.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the location request message and the location response message each include a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) MESSAGE.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the client server includes a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) application server.

13. A location server in a system for providing location information of a terminal, the location server comprising:

a requesting location server for receiving the location request message for requesting a location of a target terminal from a client, and sending the location request message depending on information on a target terminal designated in the location request message; and

a home location server for receiving the location request message from the requesting location server, and transmitting location information acquired by location calculation with the designated target terminal to the requesting location server using a location response message, determining if a location request condition set by the client is included in the location request message;

wherein the requesting location server forwards the location response message to the client;

wherein the location request message includes at least one target terminal ID, an accuracy of the location information and a location request condition; and

wherein the location request condition includes at least one of a number of times the client intends to receive the location information, and a time at which the client intends to receive the location information.

14. The location server of claim 13, wherein the location request message comprises a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) SUBSCRIBE message, and the location response message comprises a SIP NOTIFY message.

15. The location server of claim 13, wherein the requesting location server and the home location server exchange messages through a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) core.

16. The location server of claim 13, wherein the information on the designated target terminal comprises an IDentifier (ID) or a group Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) of the designated target terminal.

17. The location server of claim 16, wherein when the information on the designated target terminal is a group URI, the requesting location server sends the location request message to each home location server managing at least one target terminal corresponding to the group URI.

18. A method for providing location information of a terminal in a system by a location server, and a home location server, the method comprising:

receiving a location request message for requesting a location of a target terminal from a client from a client;

analyzing, by the requesting location server, information on a target terminal designated in the location request message;

sending the location request message to a home location server managing the designated target terminal depending on the analysis result;

sending, by the home location server, location information acquired by location calculation with the designated target terminal, to the requesting location server using a location response message;

determining if a location request condition set by the client is included in the location request message;

forwarding, by the requesting location server, the location response message to the client;

wherein the location request message includes at least one target terminal ID, an accuracy of the location information and a location request condition; and

wherein the location request condition includes at least one of a number of times the client intends to receive the location information, and a time at which the client intends to receive the location information.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the location request message includes a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) SUBSCRIBE, and the location response message includes a SIP NOTIFY.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the location request message from the requesting location server and the location response message from the home location server are exchanged through a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) core.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the information on the designated target terminal includes an IDentifier (ID) or a group Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) of the designated target terminal.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein sending the location request message to the home location server managing the designated target terminal comprises:

when the information on the designated target terminal is a group URI, sending, by the requesting location server, the location request message to each home location server managing at least one target terminal corresponding to the group URI.

23. A client in a system for providing location information of a terminal, the client comprising:

a client for selecting at least one target terminal for requesting location information from a user, setting at least one of a number of times which the client intends to receive the location information, and a time at which the client intends to receive the location information, generating a location request message for requesting a location of the target terminal and transmitting the location request message to a location server,

wherein the location request message includes at least one target terminal ID, at least one of the number of times which the client intends to receive the location information, and the time at which the client intends to receive the location information.

24. The client of claim 23, wherein the location request message comprises a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) SUBSCRIBE message, and the location response message comprises a SIP NOTIFY message.

25. The client of claim 24, wherein the client comprises a client terminal or a client server.

26. The client of claim 25, wherein the client server comprises a SIP application server.