U.S. patent application number 13/457533 was filed with the patent office on 2012-08-23 for method and device for providing the location of a mobile station.
This patent application is currently assigned to KONINKLIJKE KPN N.V.. Invention is credited to Franklin Selgert.
Application Number | 20120214508 13/457533 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35998449 |
Filed Date | 2012-08-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120214508 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Selgert; Franklin |
August 23, 2012 |
METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PROVIDING THE LOCATION OF A MOBILE
STATION
Abstract
The present invention provides a solution for providing the
location of a mobile device connected to a first mobile network to
a second mobile network. A mobile device receives information about
the geographic location of the base stations in its neighborhood.
Based on the identity of the base station the device is connected
to the device can determine its geographic location and provide
that to the second mobile network.
Inventors: |
Selgert; Franklin; (Berkel
en Rodenrijs, NL) |
Assignee: |
KONINKLIJKE KPN N.V.
The Hague
NL
|
Family ID: |
35998449 |
Appl. No.: |
13/457533 |
Filed: |
April 27, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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12086838 |
Jul 17, 2008 |
8190171 |
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PCT/EP2006/011644 |
Dec 5, 2006 |
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13457533 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
455/456.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 8/10 20130101; H04W
12/02 20130101; H04W 92/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/456.1 |
International
Class: |
H04W 24/00 20090101
H04W024/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 22, 2005 |
EP |
05078023.8 |
Claims
1. A method for providing the geographic location of a mobile
device roaming in a first cellular communication network to a
second cellular communication network, wherein the second cellular
communication network is a home network of the mobile device, based
on the geographic location of the base station of said first
network to which said mobile device is currently connected,
comprising: said first network providing geographic coordinates
indicating the geographic location with regard to at least one of
the base stations belonging to said first network to said mobile
device; said first network providing to said mobile device the
identity of the base station to which said mobile device is
currently connected; said mobile device determining the geographic
coordinates indicating the geographic location of the base station
to which said mobile device is currently connected; said mobile
device providing the geographic coordinates indicating the
geographic location of the base station to which said mobile device
is connected to said second network.
2. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the steps of:
said first network encrypting said geographic coordinates
indicating the geographic location with regard to said at least one
base station of said first network prior to providing said
geographic coordinates indicating the geographic location with
regard to said at least one base station of said first network to
said mobile device; said mobile device providing said encrypted
geographic coordinates indicating the geographic location of the
base station to which said mobile device is currently connected to
said second network; said first network providing the information
necessary to decrypt said encrypted geographic coordinates to said
second network; said second network decrypting said encrypted
geographic coordinates indicating the geographic location of the
base station to which said mobile device is currently
connected.
3. The method according to claim 1 wherein said geographic
coordinates indicating the geographic location with regard to at
least one of the base stations of said first network provided to
the mobile device is updated regularly while the mobile device is
moving within said first network.
4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the geographic
coordinates indicating the geographic location with regard to at
least one of the base stations of said first network comprises the
x,y coordinates indicating said geographic location and wherein the
first network further provides the Cell-ID of the base station with
said geographic coordinates.
5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the first network
further provides the value of the Timing Advance (TA) or the
Observed Time Difference (OTD) with said geographic
coordinates.
6. The method according to claim 1 whereby the geographic
coordinates indicating the geographic location of the base station
to which said mobile device is connected is provided to the second
network in a standard update location procedure.
7. A mobile device, roaming in a first cellular network, for
providing its geographic location to a second cellular
communication network, wherein the second cellular communication
network is a home network of the mobile device, based on the
geographic location of the base station of said first network to
which said mobile device is currently connected, the device
configured to: receive and store geographic coordinates indicating
the geographic location with regard to at least one of the base
stations belonging to said first network; receive from said first
network the identity of the base station to which said mobile
device is currently connected; determine the geographic coordinates
indicating the geographic location of the base station to which
said mobile device is currently connected; provide geographic
coordinates indicating the geographic location of the base station
to which said mobile device is connected to said second
network.
8. The device according to claim 7 whereby said geographic
coordinates indicating the geographic location information with
regard to at least one of the base stations of said first network
provided is updated regularly while said device is moving within
the first network.
9. The device according to claim 7, wherein the geographic
coordinates indicating the geographic location with regard to at
least one of the base stations of said first network comprises the
x,y coordinates indicating said location, and wherein the mobile
device is further configured to receive and store the Cell-ID of
the base station with said geographic coordinates.
10. The device according to claim 7 wherein the mobile device
further configured to receive and store the value of the Timing
Advance (TA) or the Observed Time Difference (OTD) with said
geographic coordinates.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE AND PRIORITY CLAIM TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation application of co-pending
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/086,838, which was filed on
Dec. 5, 2006, entitled "METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PROVIDING THE
LOCATION OF A MOBILE STATION", and is a U.S. National Stage
Application of International Application No. PCT/EP2006/011644. The
International Application claims priority to European Patent
Application No. 05078023.8, which was filed on Dec. 22, 2005 and
entitled "Method and device for providing the location of a mobile
station". All of the applications referred to above are
incorporated herein by reference and made a part hereof in its
entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention pertains to cellular communication
systems and, more specifically, to providing the location of a
mobile station in a cellular communication system.
[0004] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0005] Nowadays the use of wireless communication devices like for
example mobile phones or personal digital assistants (PDA) is
widespread. With the emergence of new technologies the use of these
devices is not limited to voice applications.
[0006] Of the new types of services that is expected to be broadly
accepted in the near future are services providing enhanced
functionality to the end user of a mobile device based on the
location of the user of the mobile device, so called Location Based
Services (LBS). Services that can be provided if the location of
the device is known are e.g., directing the user of the device to a
specific destination, providing the local weather forecast or
providing information with regard to the nearest relevant shop or
point of interest.
[0007] Depending on the type of service to be provided different
methods of determining the location of a device can be applied.
Some services require a very accurate location; other services like
the local weather forecast can function with a less accurate
location. Well-known methods of determining the location of a
device are based on the location of the base station of the radio
cell the mobile device is connected to. The location of the base
station is of course known to the operator of the network to which
those base stations belong. Those methods of determining the
location of the mobile device based on the location of the base
station the device is connected to, function correctly as long as
the mobile device is connected to its home network. The identity of
the relevant base station is known from the standard signaling
traffic in the network and the location, for instance expressed in
x-y coordinates, can be retrieved from a database and provided to
the service provider as the location of the mobile device. However,
as soon as the mobile device is connected to a base station of
another network, the problem arises that based on the Cell-ID
(which is always disclosed to the home network of the subscriber,
to enable the mobile device to function in the visited network) the
location of the relevant base station can only be derived based on
the Cell-ID if the location information of all base stations of the
visited is available to the operator of the home network. For a
variety of reasons operators are reluctant to disclose the exact
location of their network's base stations. Another problem is the
maintenance of the database; base stations might be added to the
networks. Therefore location-provisioning methods based on the
location of the base station do not provide interoperability
between different network providers. Therefore there is a need for
a method of providing the location of a mobile device without
publicly disclosing the location of all the base stations of a
network.
[0008] The prior art fails to disclose a method and system for
providing the location of a mobile station based on Cell-ID in a
secure and simple manner between different networks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The present invention provides a solution for providing the
location of a mobile device connected to a cellular network to
another network.
[0010] In particular, the present invention aims to provide a
system and method for providing the location of a mobile station in
a secure and simple manner, without publicly disclosing the
location of all the base stations of the cellular network.
[0011] According to one aspect of the invention a method for
providing the location of a mobile device in a first cellular
communication network to a second cellular communication network,
based on the location of the base station of said first network to
which said mobile device is currently connected. The method can
comprise the following steps or a subset of the following steps:
the first network provides location information of at least one of
the base stations of its network to the mobile device; the first
network also provides the identity of the base station to which the
mobile device is currently connected to the mobile device; the
mobile device determines the location of the base station to which
it is currently connected; the mobile device provides the location
information of the base station to which it is connected to the
second network. This is advantageous because the second network
does not need to maintain information with regard to the location
of all base stations of the first network. The mobile device can
e.g., be a mobile telephone, a PDA, but also a laptop with
communication means. The cellular network can be a network
according to presently known standards like e.g., GSM, GPRS, UMTS,
WiFi, but also any other known or new type of cellular network. The
location information of at least one of the base station of the
first network can, in case the cellular network is a GSM network,
for example contain information about all the Base Transceiver
Stations, BTS, of one Base Station Controller, BSC, when the mobile
device enters the area covered by this BSC. The BTS and the
elements in the BSC controlling this particular BTS are
collectively called a "base station". The method can further
comprise the steps of: the first network encrypting the location
information of at least one base station of its network prior to
providing the location information of at least one base station to
the mobile device; the mobile device providing the encrypted
location information of the base station to which said mobile
device is currently connected to the second network; the first
network providing the information necessary to decrypt said
encrypted location information to said second network; the second
network decrypting the encrypted location information of the base
station to which the mobile device is currently connected. This has
the advantage that the location of the base station is not publicly
disclosed and remains a secret between the first and the second
network. The first and the second network operators need to agree
on the provision of the encryption key. The operators might agree
on a payment for the encryption key. Several known methods of
encryption can be used for the purposes of the invention.
Encryption of the location information and agreements about the
provisioning of the encryption-decryption key and method to be
used, can also be combined with encryption for other purposes,
e.g., for Digital Rights Management. The location information about
at least one of the base stations of the first network that is
provided to the mobile device is updated regularly while the mobile
device is moving within the first network. This has the advantage
that only a small amount of data has to be kept in the mobile
device. The location information with regard to at least one of the
base stations of said first network that is send to the mobile
device can for instance comprise of a table or database comprising
the Cell-ID of the BTS's in a BSC area and the x,y coordinates
indicating the location of the BTS's. It can additionally comprise
the value of the Timing Advance (TA) or the Observed Time
Difference (OTD). Both values enhancing the accuracy of the
location information. Preferably the location information of the
base station to which the mobile device is connected is provided to
the second network in the standard update location procedure. This
has the advantage that standard signaling messages can be used, and
the adaptations, and hence investments, are limited. However other
known methods of sending the location information to the second
network, like SMS or OTA are also possible. The invention can also
be applied when the subscriber is in his own network.
[0012] According to a second aspect of the invention a mobile
device is disclosed for providing its location in a first cellular
communication network to a second cellular communication network,
based on the location of the base station of the first network to
which the mobile device is currently connected. The device can
comprise: means for receiving and storing location information with
regard to at least one of the base stations of the first network;
means for receiving from the first network the identity of the base
station to which the mobile device is currently connected; means
for determining the location of the base station to which the
mobile device is currently connected; means for providing location
information of the base station to which the mobile device is
connected to said second network. The location information with
regard to at least one of the base stations of the first network
provided is updated regularly while the device is moving within the
first network. The location information with regard to at least one
of the base stations of the first network can comprise the Cell-ID
of the base station and the x,y coordinates indicating said
location. The location information of the base station to which
said device is connected can also comprise the value of the Timing
Advance (TA) or the Observed Time Difference (OTD).
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] The invention will be explained in greater detail by
reference to exemplary embodiments shown in the drawing, in
which:
[0014] FIG. 1 schematically shows an exemplary network architecture
in which the method and device according to the invention can be
implemented.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0015] For the purpose of teaching of the invention, preferred
embodiments of the method and system of the invention are described
in the sequel. It will be apparent to the person skilled in the art
that other alternative and equivalent embodiments of the invention
can be conceived and reduced to practice without departing from the
true spirit of the invention, the scope of the invention being only
limited by the claims as finally granted.
[0016] The exemplary network architecture of FIG. 1 comprises a
first network (1) from a first network operator, a second network
(2) from a second operator, a service provider (3) and one or more
mobile devices (4) from subscribers of the second network (1) but
connected to the first network (1). The service provider (3) can
provide location-based services to mobile device (4). Therefore the
service provider (3) requests from the second network (2) the
location of mobile device (4). So the second network is the HPLMN
of the mobile device (4), and the first network is the VPLMN.
[0017] The first and the second network (1, 2) are cellular
networks, for the purpose of the teaching of the invention the
networks (1, 2) in this exemplary embodiment are GSM networks. The
networks comprise known network elements; the elements that are not
relevant for the present invention are not depicted in FIG. 1. The
relevant elements include a home location register, HLR (21), in
the second network (2) that is actually a database comprising
details of the subscribers of the second network (2), including the
current location of the subscribers. The relevant elements of the
first network (1) include one or more Mobile Switching Centers, MSC
(11), connected to one or more base station controllers, BCS (12)
that are connected to one or more base transceiver stations, BTS
(13). The BTS provides the radio connection with one or more mobile
devices (4) that are in the coverage area of the BTS (13). One BTS
(13) and the elements in the BSC (12) controlling this particular
BTS are collectively called a "base station". The MSC (11)
comprises a Visitor Location Register, VLR (14), which is a
database containing all relevant information with regard to all
mobile devices connected to the coverage area of the MSC (11).
[0018] The first network (1) from a first operator is connected to
the second network (2) from a second network operator. This
connection facilitates e.g., that subscribers of the first network
(1) can use the second network (2) and vice versa when they are out
of reach of their own network. Networks are connected physically
but the operators of the networks also have business agreements, so
called roaming agreements, comprising details on how a customer of
one network should be handled by the other network, and e.g.,
billing details. Usually one cellular network is connected to a
number of other networks, both within the same country and in
different countries.
[0019] According to the method and system of the present invention
when a mobile device (4) that belongs to a subscriber of second
network (2) enters the coverage area of a BSC (12) it receives from
the network information with regard to the location of all the BTS'
(13) within that area. This information might take the form of a
small table or database comprising for all BTS' the unique identity
of the radio cell covered by the BTS, the Cell-ID, and the x-y
coordinates of the location of the BTS. This information can also
comprise the Time Advance (TA), which is already known in the
network and improves the accuracy of the location determination.
Another parameter that can be comprised in this information is the
Observed Time Difference (OTD), which also enhances the
accuracy.
[0020] This information can be sent to the mobile device in several
different ways, e.g., by SMS or by OTA message, but preferably as
part of the normal signaling traffic between a MSC, BCS, BTS and a
mobile device. This has the advantage that standardized signaling
protocols are used, and the invention can be utilized without major
adaptations of the normal flow of traffic. The information can be
stored in the mobile device, e.g., on the SIM card, or in the
internal memory of the mobile device. If the mobile device moves
around and enters the coverage area of another BSC, the table is
updated.
[0021] When the mobile device enters a new BTS area, his home
network and more specifically his home network HLR needs some
minimal information with regard to the location of the mobile
device in order to ensure that calls to the mobile devices can be
routed correctly. The mobile device has to provide this
information, and does so in GSM networks by the standardized
location update procedure. The information necessary to perform
this location update is received from the VPLMN, including the
identity (Cell-ID) of the BTS the mobile device is connected to.
Based on the Cell-ID the mobile device can consult the table or
database he previously received from the network and look up the
location of the BTS. Additionally the TA and OTD can be retrieved
from the network. By adding the location information to the
standard location update message to the home network, the home
network now has access to the relevant location information, but a
comprehensive list of all BTS locations of a network does not need
to be publicly disclosed.
[0022] According to an advantageous embodiment of the present
invention the information in the table or database comprising the
location of all the BTS' is encrypted before it is sent to the
mobile device.
[0023] The operator of the home network can only read the encrypted
location information if he has the key necessary to decrypt the
information. This key might be provided by the operator of the
visited network as part of a roaming agreement, possibly including
billing arrangements.
[0024] The information, whether encrypted or not, with regard to
the location of the subscriber is always present in his home
network, but will only be disclosed to a location based services
provider if other criteria are met, e.g., with regard to the
privacy of the subscriber. Solutions for safeguarding the privacy
of the subscriber are known in the prior art.
[0025] Each network can handle the provisioning of the location of
both its own subscribers and visiting subscribers in the same
way.
* * * * *