WO2003105515A1

WO2003105515A1 - Communications apparatus, network and method for providing a location identifier associated with a location

Info

Publication number: WO2003105515A1
Application number: PCT/EP2003/003325
Authority: WO
Inventors: Matthew Jones
Original assignee: Roke Manor Research Limited
Priority date: 2002-06-11
Filing date: 2003-03-28
Publication date: 2003-12-18
Also published as: GB2389741A; GB0213290D0

Abstract

In a mobile telecommunications system such as GSM a user is able to provide meaningful location identifiers to be attributed to particular locations. The location identifier is transmitted to another subscriber eith automatically or on request. This avoids the need to either input or read cumbersome map co-ordinates since more meaningful identifiers such "Work", "Gym", "Home" may be transmitted.

Description

Communication apparatus , network and method for providing a location identifier associated with a location .

This invention relates to a communication apparatus for furnishing a location of a user to a person requesting the location. The invention also provides a method and a communications network.

GSM communications networks have the ability to locate mobile equipment. A request can be made to the network and the location of the subscriber using the mobile can be returned from the network. The location is given in terms of latitude and longitude.

The invention arose from a realisation by the inventor that the apparatus could be modified and augmented to provide a much more useful service.

According to the invention there is provided a communications apparatus comprising: a memory for, in use, storing thereon a location and associated location identifier; a location identifier input means to enable a user to enter a location identifier to be associated with a location; and a location request handler for handling a request for the location of the user to return to the requestor the location identifier associated with the current location.

By providing a memory holding a location and associated location identifier, and a location identifier input means for a user to enter an associated location identifier it is possible to use more useful and more user readily understandable location information than is available form prior arrangements. The location identifier could be text or symbols for example "Home", "Pub", "Gym", "Work", "Mum's", "Robbie's" or a more formal address such as "21 West Highland Way ". Instead of text or symbols a map of the location, a picture or photograph may be provided.

The location identifier input means may be the keypad of a mobile telephone or other terminal device such as a computer which permits the input of text, symbols or the scanning of maps or pictures for example over an Internet connection. It may be possible to furnish the scanning means on the mobile telephone or a camera that can provide a picture of the user's current location to be transmitted to the communications network. In this way let us say that a user is entering a particular location for example a pub in a particular street. Rather than type in a location descriptor such as "The Blue Swan the High Street Salisbury" a photograph of the outside of the pub could be taken and downloaded to the network to be associated with the location.

Whilst in the described embodiment the memory is held in the network it could also be provided at the mobile itself or a combination of the two. Where the memory is held in the mobile it will be necessary for the network to send a message to the mobile and the mobile to return the contents of the memory. This may be verified by the user being alerted by a visual or aural alert and the user entering a command at the keypad to release the location depending on the way in which privacy settings are enable by the user. The alert may indicate the calling number requesting the information by displaying the calling number or the caller's name by reference to stored internal numbers. Alternatively, the user may wish the system to release the location without being alerted. When the memory is held on the system instead of at the mobile the release of information may also be made in a manner which requires the user's consent by the system making a call to the user.

The permission may also be automatically granted by enabling the release of certain locations to certain or all callers. For example, the location "At Work" may be released to all callers whereas the location "At Pub" maybe released to persons defined as friends.

The invention also provides a method.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawing in which:

Figure 1 shows a communication network operating in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 shows a memory structure containing a user's location profile;

Figure 3 shows in block diagram form a mobile in accordance with the invention and for use in the network shown in figure 1;

Figure 4 shows the mobile of figure 3 in use for entering a location identifier into the subscriber's profile; and Figures 5 and 6 are explanatory diagrams.

With reference to figure 1, a communications network 1 is a cellular telecommunications network having a large number of base-stations 2 and 3 serving mobile cellphones 4 and 5 in different geographical areas or cells. The base-stations are interconnected by optical fibre to the rest of the network 6 and to a network manager 7. The network manager configures and runs services operated on the network and will be familiar to a person skilled in the art. The network manager is connected to a memory 8 which has one partition called the physical location memory. (This should not be confused with the home location register of conventional networks which contains information on the cell location of the mobile.) The physical location memory includes a set of location parameters in terms of a range of co-ordinates and corresponding location identifiers for different subscribers called subscriber location profiles. A location profile is shown in greater detail in figure 2. It can be seen that it has a number of locations held in terms of latitude and longitude and text descriptors having a meaning to a user and persons acquainted with the user.

The first location in the subscriber location profile has co-ordinates 187234 and this is the location of the home of the user. The second location has co-ordinates 199116 and this is the location of the user's place of work. The third location is that of the user's favourite hostelry and has a location 196331. A friend's house is the fourth location and has co- ordinates 143216. The user's mother's house is the last location shown having the coordinates 134321. There are further locations held in the memory but not shown in the figure.

One of the mobiles is shown in greater detail as a block diagram in figure 3. It comprises a processor 9, a memory 10, a microphone 11, a speaker 12, a transmitter section 13, a receiver section 14, an antenna 15, a battery 16 and a liquid crystal display 17 and a miniature video camera 18. All the components are connected to the processor and operate under its control. The program for the operation of the processor 9 is stored in the memory 10 in a read only region. The video camera and keypad are used to enter location identifiers into its local memory 10 and also the physical location memory 8 of the network allocated to the user. A SIM card is also provided not shown.

The way in which the mobile telephone is used to establish calls to and from the network is conventional in nature and will not be described further. The method of entering the location identifiers involves the establishment of a call to a service supported by the network called subscriber location. In the subscriber location service the subscriber must first populate a location profile in memory structure 8. This structure is allocated to a user when the mobile telephone first connects to the network after purchase of the mobile and its activation and may be modified for as long as the subscription is maintained. The network will send a number of options to the user to advise of the various supported services which the user might care to use. Included in this set of options to be selected from the menu on the display 17 will be the location service. If selected a submenu will then present the option to enter the current location. If the user selects this option then an invitation for the user to enter a location identifier will be displayed. The more common selections typically used by subscribers will be displayed as a pick list for example, "Home", "Work", "College", "Mum's". The keypad may then be used to pick the choice from the list. Selection of the other choice will enable text to be entered. A further choice will be to take an electronic photograph using the camera 18 as shown in figure 4.

The identifier is then transmitted back via the call to the network and stored by the service application supporting the location service in the memory 8 against the mobiles current detected location. This location is determined by use of a positioning application monitoring the position of the mobile using current triangulation techniques (GSM location service).

In this way as a subscriber travels from place to place he or she may chose to add locations to their location profile held in the network as they are visited without the need to determine their current co-ordinates since the network determines this for them. This is a major advantage of the invention.

The method is further illustrated in figure 5. In step 50 the call is established to the network in the conventional manner and in step 51 the location service is chosen by the user. The identifier to be allocated to the current location is entered in step 52. The location service 53 sends a request 54 to the positioning application 55 controlled by the network manager 7 to obtain the current location of the mobile. The positioning application performs a triangulation technique and derives the position in terms of coordinates. (A suitable technique is shown in international patent application WO9929130 the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.) The application returns the detected current location in message 56 to the location service. The location service then accesses the user profile held in the memory 8 and writes the location and the identifier into the memory.

The way in which location of a first subscriber is furnished to another subscriber will now be explained with reference to figure 6. In a first step 60, a call is set up between the second subscriber and the network. The service selected by the user in step 61 is to locate a user. The second subscriber sends the first subscriber's number to the network. The network initiates the positioning application 55 and this returns a current location. The location service 53 then compares this current location with those stored in the subscriber's position profile held in memory 8. If there is a match (or a match within predefined level of accuracy) then the identifier associated in memory with the matching location identifier is downloaded to the calling mobile in step 64. The location identifier is then displayed on the mobile's display for example "Home" .

The service shown in figure 6 is a basic service. In an enhancement of the basic service the location could be withheld if the calling subscriber is not within a set of subscribers to which the location should be released. This set could be established by the user entering the numbers to which the location may be released during the initial setting up of the service in figure 5. In a further enhancement of the service the network could call the mobile to be located to inform them that a second subscriber was attempting to obtain a location. By use of the keypad the network could be granted or refused permission to release the location to the calling subscriber.

It will also be appreciated that when a first subscriber is engaged in a call with another the location of the subscribers may be automatically as a matter of course displayed. All these various options may be offered to all or some subscribers depending on service packages paid for. The location service could be offered as a premium service the calls of which yielding a higher call tariff than "normal" speech calls.

In the above described embodiments the mobile is located by use of a triangulation technique using the reception of the signal transmitted by the mobile at a number of base- stations. It is envisaged that the position may also be provided by including a GPS (Global Positioning System) in the mobile and the mobile transmitting to the network its current location or other current, or future, measurement technique.

Claims

1. Communications apparatus comprising: a memory for, in use, storing thereon a location and associated location identifier; a location identifier input means to enable a user to enter the location identifier to be associated with the location; and a location request handler for handling a request for the location of the user to return to the requestor the location identifier associated with the current location.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 comprising: means to determine a current location of the user.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 comprising means to determine from the current location of the user the closest match of locations in memory and to send to the location request handler the associated location identifier.

4. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim comprising security means to check whether the location should be released to the requestor.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein the security means compares the requestor with a set of subscribers to whom the location identifier may be released.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 including means to enable the user in use to enter the location identifiers into memory.

7. A communications network including apparatus as claimed in any proceeding claim.

8. Mobile communications equipment for use in apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 or a communications network as claimed in claim 7.

9. A communication method for providing a location identifier of a first subscriber to a second subscriber comprising the steps of: step (a) for the first subscriber storing at least one location and an identifier to be associated with that location; step (b) determining a current location of the first subscriber; and step(c) transmitting to the second subscriber the identifier associated with the current location of the first subscriber.

10. A method as claimed in claim 9 comprising in step(a) detecting a current location of the first subscriber and storing that location and an identifier to be associated with that location.

11. A method as claimed in claim 9 or 10 comprising a step of providing an option to the first subscriber of naming a current location and then performing step(a).

12. A method as claimed in any preceding claim including a security step before carrying out step (c) of verifying that the second subscriber is a subscriber to whom the location identifier may be transmitted.

13. A method as claimed in claim 12 comprising in the security step obtaining verification from the first subscriber.

14. A method as claimed in claim 13 wherein the verification is obtained in real time.

15. A transmission produced by a method as claimed in any preceding claim.

16. Communication apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and or as illustrated by the drawings.

17. A communications network substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and or as illustrated by the drawings.

18. A method substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and or as illustrated by the drawings.