Method and system for radio communications using mobile terminal moving route prediction

• US 8,374,594 B2
• Filed: 02/09/2007
• Issued: 02/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Yamato, Katsumi, Toshimitsu, Kiyoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Nay A
• Assistant Examiner(s): FLEMING-HALL, ERICA L
• Application Number:
  US11/673,002
• Publication Number:
  US 20070129072A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,195 Days
• Field of Search: 455/45, 455/39
• US Class Current: 455/422.1
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0968 Systems involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096822 where the segments of the route are transmitted to the vehicle at different locations and times
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

In a radio communication system formed by a plurality of radio base stations having respective service areas and a mobile radio terminal configured to transmit a data transmission request through one radio base station and receive requested data through at least one radio base stations, a radio control station is provided to predict a moving route of the mobile radio terminal according to a terminal location information obtained from the mobile radio terminal upon receiving the data transmission request from the mobile radio terminal through the one radio base station, select those radio base stations which have service areas containing at least a part of the predicted moving route, and deliver requested data to the selected radio base stations.

Claims

1. A radio communication system, comprising:

a plurality of radio base stations having respective service areas;

a mobile radio terminal configured to transmit a data transmission request through one radio base station and receive requested data through at least one of the plurality of radio base stations;

a radio control station connected with the plurality of radio base stations and including;

a moving route prediction unit configured to predict a moving route of the mobile radio terminal according to a terminal location information obtained from the mobile radio terminal upon receiving the data transmission request; and

a server unit configured to select radio base stations which have service areas containing at least a part of the moving route predicted by the moving route prediction unit, and to estimate an amount of the requested data to be delivered to the selected radio base stations according to a signal change pattern to be predicted of traffic signals within the service areas of the selected radio base stations.

2. The radio communication system of claim 1, wherein the terminal location information is an identifier of the one radio base station through which the data transmission request is transmitted, which is contained in the data transmission request;

and the moving route prediction unit predicts the moving route of the mobile radio terminal from information on a location of the one radio base station identified by the identifier.

3. The radio communication system of claim 1, wherein the mobile radio terminal has a global positioning system function, and periodically transmits the terminal location information containing a longitude and a latitude of a current location of the mobile radio terminal obtained by the global positioning system function, to the radio control station.

4. The radio communication system of claim 1, wherein each radio base station has:

a beam formation unit configured to simultaneously form a plurality of space dividing beams; and

an antenna device having a plurality of antenna elements configured to send the requested data to the mobile radio terminal by transmitting one of the plurality of space dividing beams toward the mobile radio terminal.

11. The radio communication system of claim 1, wherein the server unit estimates an amount of the requested data to be delivered to the selected radio base stations according to a signal change pattern to be predicted of traffic signals within the service areas of the selected radio base stations such that a data communication speed increases when a traffic signal is predicted to indicate a stop.

5. A radio control station in a radio communication system formed by a plurality of radio base stations having respective service areas and a mobile radio terminal configured to transmit a data transmission request through one radio base station and receive requested data through at least one of the plurality of radio base stations, the radio control station comprising;

a moving route prediction unit configured to predict a moving route of the mobile radio terminal according to a terminal location information obtained from the mobile radio terminal upon receiving the data transmission request from the mobile radio terminal through the one radio base station; and

a server unit configured to select radio base stations which have service areas containing at least a part of the moving route predicted by the moving route prediction unit, and to estimate an amount of the requested data to be delivered to the selected radio base stations according to a signal change pattern to be predicted of traffic signals within the service areas of the selected radio base stations.

6. The radio control station of claim 5, wherein the terminal location information is an identifier of the one radio base station through which the data transmission request is transmitted, which is contained in the data transmission request;

and

the moving route prediction unit predicts the moving route of the mobile radio terminal from information on a location of the one radio base station identified by the identifier.

7. The radio control station of claim 5, wherein the moving route prediction unit periodically receives the terminal location information containing a longitude and a latitude of a current location of the mobile radio terminal obtained by a global positioning system function provided in the mobile radio terminal.

8. The radio control station of claim 5, wherein the moving route prediction unit predicts the moving route according to the terminal location information and traffic information including at least one of a moving speed of the mobile radio terminal, a legal speed limit on the moving route, and a current moving speed of vehicles existing on the moving route.

12. The radio control station of claim 5, wherein the server unit estimates an amount of the requested data to be delivered to the selected, radio base stations according to a signal change pattern to be predicted of traffic signals within the service areas of the selected radio base stations such that a data communication speed increases when a traffic signal is, predicted to indicate a stop.

9. A radio communication method in a radio communication system formed by a plurality of radio base stations having respective service areas and a mobile radio terminal configured to transmit a data transmission request through one radio base station and receive requested data through at least one of the plurality of radio base stations, the radio communication method comprising;

predicting a moving route of the mobile radio terminal according to a terminal location information obtained from the mobile radio terminal upon receiving the data transmission request from the mobile radio terminal through the one radio base station at a radio control station;

selecting radio base stations which have service areas containing at least a part of the moving route predicted by the predicting at the radio control station; and

estimating an amount of the requested data to be delivered to the selected radio base stations according to a signal change pattern to be predicted of traffic signals within the service areas of the selected radio base stations.

13. The radio communication method of claim 9, wherein an amount of the requested data to be delivered to the selected radio base stations is estimated according to a signal change pattern to be predicted of traffic signals within the service areas of the selected radio base stations such that a data communication speed increases when a traffic signal is predicted to indicate a stop.

10. A non-transitory computer usable medium having computer readable program codes embodied therein for causing a computer to function as a radio control station in a radio communication system formed by a plurality of radio base stations having respective service areas and a mobile radio terminal configured to transmit a data transmission request through one radio base station and receive requested data through at least one of the plurality of radio base stations, the computer readable program codes include:

a first computer readable program code for causing said computer to predict a moving route of the mobile radio terminal according to a terminal location information obtained from the mobile radio terminal upon receiving the data transmission request from the mobile radio terminal through the one radio base station; and

a second computer readable program code for causing said computer to select those radio base stations which have service areas containing at least a part of the moving route predicted by the moving route prediction unit, and for estimating an amount of the requested data to be delivered to the selected radio base stations according to a signal change pattern to be predicted of traffic signals within the service areas of the selected radio base stations.

14. The non-transitory computer usable medium of claim 10, wherein the second computer readable program code causes said computer to estimate an amount of the requested data to be delivered to the selected radio base stations according to a signal change pattern to be predicted of traffic signals within the service areas of the selected radio base stations such that a data communication speed increases when a traffic signal is predicted to indicate a stop.