Method for making inquiry about cellular phone user's location

• US 20040116128A1
• Filed: 05/28/2003
• Published: 06/17/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Lite-On Technology Corporation
• Original Assignee: Lite-On Technology Corporation
• Inventors: Chen, James
• Application Number:
  US10/445,921
• Publication Number:
  US 20040116128A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/20 Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel
• 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 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data

Abstract

A cellular phone is used to transmit a short message preset by a cellular base station through an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) function to activate or stop accepting a function for making inquiry about the position of a cellular phone user. A user of another cellular phone sends a USSD brevity code to the base station to inquire where is the cellular phone user now; the inquiry is refused if the position inquiry acceptation is stopped. If the position inquiry acceptation is activated, the base station uses a positioning technology to calculate a position coordinate of the inquired cellular phone user. And then, the base station compares the position coordinates with a location data in a position coordinate database stored in a computer of the base station and transfers the location to a closest address and then to inform the inquirer by a short message.

Claims

1. A method for making an inquiry about a cellular phone user'"'"'s location, used for a cellular phone user B to inquire a location of another cellular phone user A, mainly comprising the following steps:

(1) said user B sending out a USSD brevity code to a cellular base station to inquire said user A'"'"'s current location;

(2) said base station using a positioning technology to calculate said user A'"'"'s coordinates;

(3)said base station comparing said user A'"'"'s coordinates with a coordinate position stored in a location coordinate data base belonging to said base station and converting said coordinates to a closed address; and

(4) said base station sending a short message back to said user B'"'"'s cellular phone.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein if said user A sends out a brevity code preset by said base station to activate a location inquiry acceptation, said short message comprises said address.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein if said user A sends out a brevity code preset by said base station to stop a location inquiry acceptation, said step (2) and (3) are skipped and said step (4) is directly processed after said step (1) is completed.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein said short message is “

Location inquiry is not allowed”

.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said positioning technology is Global Positioning System (GPS), Triangular Positioning Technology or Base Station Positioning Technology.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein said positioning technology is Global Positioning System (GPS), Triangular Positioning Technology or Base Station Positioning Technology.

6. A method for making an inquiry about a cellular phone user'"'"'s, used for a cellular phone user B to inquire a location of another cellular phone user A, mainly comprising the follow steps:

(1) a cellular phone user A sending a USSD brevity code preset by a base station to activate or stop a location inquiry acceptation on him;

(2) a cellular phone user B sending another USSD brevity code preset by said base station to inquire where is the location of said user A, if said location inquiry acceptation is stopped, directly going to process the following step (5), otherwise;

(3) said base station using a positioning technology to calculate said user A'"'"'s current position;

(4)said base station comparing said user A'"'"'s coordinates with a coordinate position stored in a location coordinate database belonging to said base station and converting said coordinates to a closed address; and

(5) said base station sending a short message back to said user B'"'"'s cellular phone, if said user A sends out said brevity code preset by said base station to activate a location inquiry acceptation, said short message comprising said address, if said user A sends out said brevity code preset by said base station to stop a location inquiry acceptation, said short message being “

Location inquiry is not allowed”

.