Method and apparatus for a nation-wide cellular telephone network

• US 5,983,108 A
• Filed: 05/02/1995
• Issued: 11/09/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Vehicle IP, LLC (Vehicle Safety & Compliance LLC)
• Original Assignee: Highway Master Communications Inc.
• Inventors: Westerlage, Kenneth R., Kennedy, III, William C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bost, Dwayne D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): TROST IV, WILLIAM GEORGE
• Application Number:
  US08/433,633
• Time in Patent Office: 1,652 Days
• Field of Search: 379/58, 379/59, 379/60, 379/63, 455/33.1, 455/33.2, 455/54.1, 455/56.1, 455/414, 455/422, 455/432, 455/435, 455/445, 455/456, 455/457, 455/433
• US Class Current: 455/456.5
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 4/004 Remote reading of utility meters to a fixed location
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18558 Arrangements for managing communications, i.e. for setting up, maintaining or releasing a call between stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/126 Anti-theft arrangements, e.g. protection against subscriber identity module [SIM] cloning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/183 Processing at user equipment or user record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 90/20 Smart grids as enabling technology in buildings sector smart grids supporting the management or operation of end-user stationary applications in general, or like technologies with no associated climate change mitigation effect Y04S20/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/30 Smart metering, e.g. specially adapted for remote reading

Abstract

A method and apparatus for a nation-wide cellular telephone network that controls access to cellular systems is provided in which a cellular system (14) includes a mobile unit (16), transmission towers (18), MTSO (20), and a clearinghouse link (22). The cellular system (14) is linked to a telecommunications platform (24). The telecommunications platform (24) is linked to central hosts (26 and 28). Calls to or from mobile unit (16) are directed through telecommunications platform (24), thereby reducing opportunities for cellular fraud and reducing cellular air usage charges.

Claims

1. Apparatus for communicating present messages using cellular telephone systems, comprising:

a plurality of mobile units, each mobile unit associated with a mobile identification number and operable to initiate communication of a present message by issuing a cellular system feature request without user intervention, wherein the cellular telephone systems deliver communications to the mobile unit using the same mobile identification number; and

a telecommunications platform coupled to a plurality of cellular telephone systems and operable to receive the present messages, the telecommunications platform operable to store the present messages in a plurality of chronological lists associated with the mobile units, each chronological list comprising a plurality of present messages received from an associated mobile unit, wherein the plurality of present messages includes present messages identifying at least two cellular telephone systems.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, and further comprising a host operable to receive at least part of the chronological lists.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each mobile unit initiates sending of the present message when the mobile unit enters the new cellular telephone system.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cellular system feature request corresponds to a request to clear roaming status.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the cellular telephone systems appends a cellular system identification number to the present messages.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the present messages includes a mobile identification number.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the present messages includes vehicle status information.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the present messages includes location information.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the location information is derived from a GPS positioning system.

10. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the host is operable to determine the route of each mobile unit in response to at least part of its associated chronological list.

11. A system for communicating a present message from a mobile unit to a telecommunications platform using a plurality of cellular telephone systems, comprising:

a mobile unit associated with a mobile identification number and operable to initiate communication of a present message by issuing a cellular system feature request without user intervention, wherein the cellular telephone systems deliver communications to the mobile unit using the same mobile identification number;

a clearinghouse coupled to the mobile unit, the clearinghouse operable to receive the present message from the mobile unit, the clearinghouse further operable to selectively communicate the present message if at least a portion of the mobile identification number of the mobile unit matches a number stored in a user database at the clearinghouse; and

a telecommunications platform coupled to a plurality of cellular telephone systems and the clearinghouse and operable to receive the present message communicated by the clearinghouse, the telecommunications platform further operable to store the present message in a chronological list of present messages generated by the mobile unit and received at the telecommunications platform, wherein the chronological list includes present messages identifying at least two cellular telephone systems.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the clearinghouse is a mobile telecommunications switching office of a cellular telephone system serving the mobile unit.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the mobile telecommunications switching office appends a cellular system identification number to the present message.

14. The system of claim 11, further comprising a mobile telecommunications switching office coupled to the mobile unit and the clearinghouse, the mobile telecommunications switching office operable to receive the present message from the mobile unit and to communicate the present message to the clearinghouse.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the mobile telecommunications switching office appends a cellular system identification number to the present message.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the clearinghouse compares the mobile identification number to an area code and a prefix stored in a memory to determine whether to communicate the present message to the telecommunications platform.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the cellular system feature request corresponds to a request to clear roaming status.

18. A method for communicating a present message from a mobile unit to a telecommunications platform coupled to a plurality of cellular telephone systems, comprising:

generating the present message at the mobile unit, wherein the present message includes a mobile identification number of the mobile unit;

communicating the present message to a clearinghouse by issuing a cellular system feature request without user intervention;

delivering communications from the cellular telephone systems to the mobile unit using the mobile identification number;

reading, at the clearinghouse, the mobile identification number included in the present message;

selectively communicating the present message to the telecommunications platform if at least a portion of the mobile identification number of the mobile unit matches a number stored in a user database at the clearinghouse; and

storing the present message in a chronological list of present messages generated by the mobile unit and received at the telecommunications platform, wherein the chronological list includes present messages identifying at least two cellular telephone systems.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the clearinghouse is a mobile telecommunications switching office of the new cellular telephone system serving the mobile unit.

20. The system of claim 19, comprising the step of appending the cellular system identification number to the present message at the mobile telecommunications switching office.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the stop of communicating the present message to a clearinghouse comprises:

communicating the present message from the mobil unit to a mobile telecommunications switching office; and

communicating the present message from the mobile telecommunications switching office to the clearinghouse.

22. The method of claim 21, comprising the step of appending the cellular system identification number to the present message at the mobile telecommunications switching office.

23. The method of claim 18, comprising the step of comparing the mobile identification number to an area code and a prefix stored in a memory at the clearinghouse.

24. The method of claim 18, wherein the cellular system feature request corresponds to a request to clear roaming status.

25. A system for determining the route of a mobile unit equipped with a cellular telephone, comprising:

the mobile unit associated with a mobile identification number and operable to initiate communication of a plurality of present messages by issuing a plurality of cellular system feature requests without user intervention, wherein a plurality of cellular telephone systems deliver communications to the mobile unit using the same mobile identification number;

a telecommunications platform coupled to the cellular telephone systems, the telecommunications platform operable to receive the present messages communicated by the mobile unit, the telecommunications platform further operable to accumulate the present messages into a chronological list, wherein the chronological list includes present messages identifying at least two cellular telephone systems; and

a host coupled to the telecommunications platform, the host operable to receive at least a portion of the chronological list from the telecommunications platform, the host further operable to determine the route of the mobile unit over time in response to at least a portion of the chronological list.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the present messages received by the telecommunications platform include information on the new cellular telephone system providing service to the mobile unit.

27. The system of claim 25, comprising a positioning system on the mobile unit operable to generate location information, wherein the present messages include location information generated by the positioning system.

28. The system of claim 25, wherein the cellular system feature requests correspond to requests to clear roaming status.

29. The system of claim 25, comprising a plurality of mobile telecommunications switching offices within the plurality of cellular telephone systems, the mobile telecommunications switching offices operable to receive the present messages from the mobile unit and to communicate the present messages to the telecommunications platform.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the mobile telecommunications switching offices append cellular system information to the present messages received from the mobile unit.

31. The system of claim 25, comprising:

a plurality of mobile telecommunications switching offices within the plurality of cellular telephone systems, the mobile telecommunications switching offices operable to receive the present messages from the mobile unit, the mobile telecommunications switching offices further operable to append cellular system information to the present messages received from the mobile unit; and

a clearinghouse coupled to the plurality of cellular telephone systems and operable to receive the present messages from the mobile telecommunications switching offices, the clearinghouse further operable to communicate the present messages to the telecommunications platform.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the clearinghouse selectively communicates the present messages to the telecommunications platform in response to the content of the present messages.

42. The system of claim 25, wherein the host comprises a display operable to display the location of the mobile unit in response to at least a portion of the chronological list.

33. A method for determining the route of a mobile unit equipped with a cellular telephone, comprising:

generating a plurality of present messages at the mobile unit, wherein the mobile unit is associated with a mobile identification number;

communicating the present messages to a telecommunications platform coupled to a plurality of cellular telephone systems by issuing a plurality of cellular system feature requests without user intervention;

delivering communications from the cellular telephone systems to the mobile unit using the mobile identification number;

accumulating the present messages into a chronological list, wherein the chronological list includes present messages identifying at least two cellular telephone systems;

communicating at least a portion of the chronological list to a host; and

determining the route of the mobile unit at the host in response to at least a portion of the chronological list.

34. The method of claim 33, comprising the step of appending cellular telephone system information to the present messages.

35. The method of claim 33, comprising the steps of:

generating location information at the mobile unit using a positioning system; and

including the location information in the present messages generated at the mobile unit.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein the cellular system feature requests correspond to requests to clear roaming status.

37. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of communicating the present messages to the telecommunications platform comprises:

communicating the present messages from the mobile unit to a plurality of mobile telecommunications switching offices; and

communicating the present messages from the mobile telecommunications switching offices to the telecommunications platform.

38. The method of claim 37, comprising the step of appending cellular system information to the present messages before communicating the present messages from the mobile telecommunications switching offices to the telecommunications platform.

39. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of communicating the present messages to the telecommunications platform comprises:

communicating the present messages from the mobile unit to a plurality of mobile telecommunications switching offices;

communicating the present messages from the mobile telecommunications switching offices to a clearinghouse;

a

communicating the present messages from the clearinghouse to the telecommunications platform.

40. The method of claim 39, comprising the step of appending cellular system information to the present messages before communicating the present messages from the mobile telecommunications switching offices to the clearinghouse.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein the clearinghouse selectively communicates the present messages to the telecommunications platform in response to the content of the present messages.

43. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of tracking the location of the mobile unit comprises displaying the location of the mobil unit at the host in response to at least a portion of the chronological list.

44. A telecommunications platform coupled to a cellular telephone network having a plurality of cellular telephone systems, comprising:

a telecommunications trunk coupled to the cellular telephone network, the telecommunications trunk operable to receive a plurality of present messages communicated by a mobile unit using a cellular system feature request without user intervention, wherein the mobile unit is associated with a mobile identification number and the cellular telephone systems deliver communications to the mobile unit using the same mobile identification number; and

a memory coupled to the telecommunications trunk, the memory operable to store the received present messages in a chronological list associated with the mobile unit, wherein the chronological list includes present messages identifying at least two cellular telephone systems in the cellular telephone network.

45. The telecommunications platform of claim 44, comprising a second telecommunications trunk coupled to the memory, the second telecommunications trunk operable to communicate at least a portion of the chronological list to a host.

46. The telecommunications platform of claim 44, wherein each of the present messages includes vehicle status information.

47. The telecommunications platform of claim 44, wherein each of the present messages includes location information.

48. The telecommunications platform of claim 44, wherein the memory stores the chronological list indexed by the mobile identification number of the mobile unit.

49. The telecommunications platform of claim 44, wherein the telecommunications trunk is operable to link the telecommunications platform to a clearinghouse.

50. The telecommunications platform of claim 44, wherein the telecommunications trunk is operable to link the telecommunications platform to a mobile telecommunications switching office.

51. The telecommunications platform of claim 44, comprising a display coupled to the memory, the display operable to display the location of the mobile unit in response to at least a portion of the chronological list.

52. A method for accumulating a plurality of present messages communicated from a mobile unit using a cellular telephone network having a plurality of cellular telephone systems, the method comprising:

receiving, at a telecommunications trunk coupled to the cellular telephone network, the present messages communicated by the mobile unit using a cellular system feature request without user intervention, wherein the mobile unit is associated with a mobile identification number and the cellular telephone systems deliver communications to the mobile unit using the same mobile identification number; and

storing the present messages in a chronological list of present messages generated by the mobile unit and received at the telecommunications platform, wherein the chronological list includes present messages identifying at least two cellular telephone systems in the cellular telephone network.

53. The method of claim 52, comprising the step of communicating at least a portion of the chronological list to a host.

54. The method of claim 52, comprising the steps of:

receiving a request from a host for at least a portion of the chronological list; and

communicating at least a portion of the chronological list to the host in response to the request.

55. The method of claim 52, wherein each of the present messages includes vehicle status information.

56. The method of claim 52, wherein each of the present messages includes location information.

57. The method of claim 52, wherein the step of storing the present sages comprises:

reading a mobile identification number of the mobile unit included in the present messages; and

storing the present messages in a chronological list associated with the mobile identification number of the mobile unit.

58. The method of claim 52, wherein the step of receiving the present messages comprises receiving the present messages from a clearinghouse.

59. The method of claim 52, wherein the step of receiving the present messages comprises receiving the present messages from a plurality of mobile telecommunications switching offices.

60. An apparatus for communicating a present message using a plurality of cellular telephone systems, comprising:

a mobile unit associated with a mobile identification number and operable to initiate communication of a present message without user intervention, wherein the cellular telephone systems deliver communications to the mobile unit using the same mobile identification number; and

a telecommunications platform operable to receive the present message, the telecommunications platform further operable to store the present message indexed by the mobile identification number.

61. The apparatus of claim 60, wherein the mobile unit initiates communication of the present message by issuing a cellular system feature request.

62. The apparatus of claim 60, wherein the telecommunications platform is further operable to store the present message in a chronological list associated with the mobile unit, the chronological list comprising a plurality of present messages received from the mobile unit.

63. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the telecommunications platform is coupled to a plurality of cellular telephone systems, and the plurality of present messages includes present messages identifying at least two cellular telephone systems.

64. A method for communication using cellular telephone systems, comprising:

operating a mobile unit in a first cellular telephone system using a mobile identification number;

entering a second cellular telephone system;

initiating communication of a present message from the mobile unit to the telecommunications platform without user intervention; and

delivering communications to the mobile unit using the same mobile identification number upon entering the second cellular telephone system.

65. The method of claim 64, further comprising communicating the present message by issuing a cellular system feature request.

66. The method of claim 64, further comprising:

communicating the present message to a clearinghouse;

reading, at the clearinghouse, the mobile identification number included in the present message; and

selectively communicating the present message to the telecommunications platform if at least a portion of the mobile identification number of the mobile unit matches a number stored in a user database at the clearinghouse.

67. The method of claim 64, further comprising receiving and storing in a chronological list at the telecommunications platform the present message indexed by the mobile identification number of the mobile unit.

68. The method of claim 64, wherein the telecommunications platform is coupled to a plurality of cellular telephone systems, the method further comprising storing the present message in a chronological list of present messages generated by the mobile unit and received at the telecommunications platform, wherein the chronological list includes present messages identifying at least two cellular telephone systems.

69. An apparatus for communicating present messages using cellular telephone systems, comprising a mobile unit associated with a mobile identification number and operable to initiate communication of a present message upon entering cellular telephone systems without user intervention, wherein the cellular telephone systems deliver communications to the mobile unit using the same mobile identification number.

70. The apparatus of claim 69, further comprising a telecommunications platform coupled to a plurality of cellular telephone systems and operable to receive the present message, the telecommunications platform further operable to store the present message indexed by the mobile identification number.

71. The apparatus of claim 69, wherein the mobile unit initiates communication of the present message by issuing a cellular system feature request.

72. The apparatus of claim 70, wherein the telecommunications platform is further operable to store the present message in a chronological list associated with the mobile unit, the chronological list comprising a plurality of present messages received from the mobile unit.

73. The apparatus of claim 72, wherein the chronological list includes present messages identifying at least two cellular telephone systems.