(12) United States Patent
`Lehikoinen et al.
`
`(10) Patent N0.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 6,847,823 B2
`Jan. 25, 2005
`
`US006847823B2
`
`(54) SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ACCESSING
`LOCAL SERVICES WITH A MOBILE
`TERMINAL
`
`.
`-
`-
`-
`.
`-
`(75) Inventors‘ Juha Lehlkomen’Lak1a1a(FI)’Rlku
`Suomela, Tampere (Fl)
`
`(73) Assignee: Nokia Corporation, Espoo (FI)
`
`( * ) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 608 days.
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 09/742,844
`(22) Filed:
`Dec. 20, 2000
`
`(65)
`
`Prior Publication Data
`
`US 2002/0077060 A1 Jun. 20, 2002
`
`(51) Int. Cl.7 ................................................ .. H04Q 7/20
`(52) US. Cl. .............................. .. 455/456.1; 455/556.3;
`705/14
`(58) Field of Search ......................... .. 455/456.1, 556.3;
`705/ 14
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`6,122,530 A * 9/2000 Overy et a1. .............. .. 455/566
`6,208,866 B1 * 3/2001 Rouhollahzadeh et a1. .... .. 455/
`456-5
`6,327,535 B1 * 12/2001 Evans 618.1. .............. .. 701/300
`
`6,452,498 B2 * 9/2002
`340/5731
`6,505,046 B1 * 1/2003 Baker .................... .. 455/4563
`
`* cited by examiner
`
`Primary Examiner—Lee Nguyen
`Assistant Examiner—Minh D. Dao
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Cohen, Pontani, Lieberman
`& Pavane
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`In a mobile communication system, a method and system for
`obtaining location-dependent services information by using
`a mobile station. An information beacon containing services
`information pertaining to the location of the beacon is
`disposed in an environment. The beacon is capable of
`communicating With the mobile station When the mobile
`station is located Within the operating range of the beacon.
`The mobile station includes a services access key Which,
`When selected While the mobile station is Within the oper
`ating range of the beacon, Will transmit a query to the beacon
`requesting location-based services. In response to the query,
`location-based services information Will be transmitted to
`the mobile station.
`
`5,963,861 A * 10/1999 Hanson ................. .. 455/456.1
`
`35 Claims, 9 Drawing Sheets
`
`H92
`DISPLAY
`
`M61511? ‘30150
`
`Google_LG Exhibit 1014
`Google, et al. v. Core Wireless
`Trial IPR2015-01715
`
`Page 1 of 16
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`

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`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 25,2005
`
`Sheet 1 0f 9
`
`US 6,847,823 B2
`
`PSTN
`ISDN __________
`SC
`
`GMSC
`
`HLR
`
`MSC
`
`VLR- '
`
`BSS-\ '
`
`'7
`
`L
`BSC
`
`I
`BSC
`
`F1910}; Arr‘:
`
`Page 2 of 16
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`

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`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 25,2005
`
`Sheet 2 0f 9
`
`US 6,847,823 B2
`
`FIG. 1
`
`Page 3 of 16
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`

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`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 25,2005
`
`Sheet 3 0f 9
`
`US 6,847,823 B2
`
`314ANTENNA 31DsHoRT
`312i - —» mi.
`SHORT
`' CEIVER
`RANGE
`TRANS-
`CEIVER -
`
`so; SHORT _=.
`RANGE -< TRANs-
`
`-=.
`
`CEIVER
`
`STORAGE
`
`1
`
`CPU
`
`-(——~—i
`
`. M MEMORY
`
`302
`
`-
`
`Fig.3 Beacon device
`
`Page 4 of 16
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`

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`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 25,2005
`
`Sheet 4 0f 9
`
`US 6,847,823 B2
`
`H12
`
`DISPLAY
`
`'
`
`r——‘>
`
`'
`
`‘ 404i
`SHORT
`RANGE
`TRANS-
`CEIVEH
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`was;
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`CEIVER
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`m5 g1.‘ 1Q ym-idv
`FIG'LI
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`m
`Pl
`
`Page 5 of 16
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`

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`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 25, 2005
`
`Sheet 5 0f 9
`
`US 6,847,823 B2
`
`Local
`Beacon
`
`Remote
`SMS
`Server
`500
`
`Mobile
`Station
`
`Services
`Access
`Key
`420
`
`FIG. 5
`
`Page 6 of 16
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`

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`U.S. Patent
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`Jan. 25, 2005
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`Sheet 6 0f 9
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`US 6,847,823 B2
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`Page 7 of 16
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`

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`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 25,2005
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`Sheet 7 0f 9
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`US 6,847,823 B2
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`Page 8 of 16
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`

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`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 25,2005
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`Sheet 8 0f 9
`
`US 6,847,823 B2
`
`Enter operating
`region of
`information beacon
`
`,._.. 7 _ \
`
`Select service access key on
`mobile station to activate local N '7 ‘ 1
`information request from beacon
`
`i
`
`Transmit available location
`dependant information from “- 7- a;
`beacon to mobile station
`
`1
`
`Scroll through received
`information on mobile
`
`
`
`station to select desired information
`
`r» 7
`
`Desired
`information
`located?
`
`7. 5
`
`Transmit short
`——'NO——> message to short
`message server
`along with
`geographic location
`of mobile station
`
`A 7' 7
`
`Transmit desired
`
`,7 6
`
`information from N '
`bcafion ‘0 mobllc
`Sumo"
`
`FIG. 7
`
`1'
`
`Transmit She"
`message from server
`to mobile station
`containing location
`dependent
`information
`
`"7. 8
`
`Page 9 of 16
`
`

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`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 25,2005
`
`Sheet 9 0f 9
`
`US 6,847,823 B2
`
`Select Services
`Access Key on M $ ' 1
`MS
`
`L’
`6
`
`I
`
`/\
`
`Enter Remote
`Server Mode
`
`Is MS Within
`Beacon Range?
`
`‘3.1
`
`45A.
`
`Accept Remote
`Server Mode?
`
`Go To Step
`7.3
`
`~ ‘5. 3
`
`Contact Remote Server
`6' 6 N (e-g.. GSM, SMS,
`GPRS, HSCSD)
`
`i
`
`Obtain List
`8 /\/ of Service
`Categories
`
`i
`
`Select Desired
`%' g A Category From
`List
`
`Receive Information on V
`
`g CIA Selected Category
`'
`Based on Approximate
`MS Location
`
`FIG. 8
`
`Page 10 of 16
`
`

`
`US 6,847,823 B2
`
`1
`SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ACCESSING
`LOCAL SERVICES WITH A MOBILE
`TERMINAL
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`1. Field of the Invention
`The present invention relates to a mobile communication
`network and, more particularly, to accessing local services
`pertaining to a geographic location of a mobile station.
`2. Description of the Related Art
`Various service announcements can be transmitted to
`mobile stations on the basis of a service request of a
`subscriber in mobile communication systems. Generally,
`these services are most often arranged to be provided from
`outside the actual mobile communication system. By plac
`ing a call to a required service number, a mobile subscriber
`is able to order a selected service announcement to be
`delivered to the display of the mobile station, for eXample.
`These individual services may include Weather forecast,
`traf?c announcements, local neWs and other local services,
`such as taXi information, automobile service station
`announcements, mass transportation announcements and
`schedule information and various other commercial service
`announcements Where the mobile subscriber seeks the
`desired announcement on the basis of the subscriber’s
`current geographical location. The mobile subscriber gen
`erally desires to have the service announcement related to
`the subscriber’s current location Which varies due to the
`mobile nature of the mobile subscriber.
`FIG. 1 shoWs a simpli?ed block diagram of the pan
`European GSM mobile communication system. It Will be
`understood that this is only an eXample of a GSM netWork.
`The mobile station MS is connected via the radio path to one
`of the base transceiver stations BTS, such as the base station
`BTSl in FIG. 1. The base station system BSS comprises a
`base station controller BSC and base stations BTS controlled
`by the BSC. Usually several base station controllers are
`controlled by a mobile services sWitching center MSC. The
`mobile services sWitching center is connected to other
`mobile services sWitching centers.
`The GSM is connected to other netWorks through a
`gateWay mobile services sWitching center GMSC, such as
`the public sWitched telephone netWork PSTN, to a public
`land mobile netWork PLMN, to an integrated services data
`netWork ISDN or to a service center SC, such as the short
`message service center SMSC. The operation and mainte
`nance center OMC monitors the operation of the entire
`system. The subscriber data of the mobile station MS is
`stored permanently in a home location register HLR and
`temporarily in a visitor location register VLR in the area of
`Which the mobile station MS is located at a particular time.
`The location information of the mobile station MS is stored
`in the visitor location register VLR. The geographical area
`monitored by the visitor location register is divided into one
`or more location areas LA. One or more base stations BTS
`can operate in each location area.
`The base stations BTS continuously broadcast informa
`tion on a broadcast channel concerning themselves and their
`environment, such as a base station identity code BSIC,
`adjacent cell information and a location area identi?er LAI
`broadcast on a paging channel. The cell broadcast center
`situated at the base station controller BSC, for eXample,
`manages the messages of the cell broadcast channels of the
`base stations BTS. The cell broadcast center transmits via
`the base station controller BSC the broadcast messages
`
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`assigned for each individual base station BTS on the basis of
`initial information supplied by the operator. The broadcast
`on paging channels and cell broadcast channels, for
`eXample, has no address, is not encrypted and is intended to
`be received by all mobile stations MS Within the geographi
`cal area covered by the transmission of the base station. The
`location information can then be used to solicit location
`based services, as more fully described in PCT Patent
`Document WO 98/19479.
`The availability of various types of Wireless communica
`tion devices produces a need to have these devices interact
`With each other in a manner Which is cost ef?cient and Which
`can be easily implemented. Such communication can occur
`in GSM systems using SMS Wherein short messages are
`communicated directly betWeen tWo or more terminal
`devices, such as mobile stations, e.g. telephones, PDAs, etc.
`Terminal devices can also communicate With each other
`using infrared signals or radio frequency (RF) signals.
`Recently, loW poWer RF systems have been proposed for
`providing communications betWeen a plurality of transceiv
`ers through a short-range radio link having a broadcast range
`of several meters. One such local RF system is currently
`under development and is referred to as “Bluetooth”. This
`system Will be commercially available in the near future and
`is designed to operate in the open spectrum, e.g., around 2.4
`gigahertZ. The Bluetooth system Will alloW for devices such
`as mobile phones, computers, and other types of terminal
`devices Which are located Within an operable range of the RF
`system to communicate With each other.
`Such local RF communication betWeen various types of
`Wireless devices has been proposed through the use of
`information beacons. For example, in commonly-oWned
`US. patent application Ser. No. 09/612,872, such informa
`tion beacons are used to store, forWard and receive short
`messages via local Wireless communication, such as Blue
`tooth. The information beacons are essentially Wireless
`transceiver devices capable of communicating Within an
`associated operating range and, in particular, With Wireless
`communication devices or other beacons located Within the
`associated operating range.
`There are dif?culties in accessing location dependent
`services from local RF communication systems and from
`SMS because the short message queries used to solicit such
`services information must be formulated, eg by depressing
`numerous keys on a mobile station keypad, etc. Moreover,
`the user Will not knoW, until such a service request is placed,
`Where such desired information is located, i.e. on a local RF
`server or on an SMS server. Thus, the user may be required
`to submit multiple inquiries and then select among the
`received transmissions, to obtain the desired information.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`To overcome limitations in the prior art described above
`and to overcome other limitations that Will become apparent
`upon reading and understanding the present speci?cation,
`the present invention discloses a system, apparatus and
`method for communicating services to a Wireless terminal
`operating Within a Wireless netWork. The Wireless device is
`not limited to any preset navigational structure, and provides
`the ability to remotely access services.
`In accordance With one embodiment of the invention, a
`method of providing location-dependent services informa
`tion to a mobile station is provided, the mobile station being
`capable of short range communication. The method includes
`determining Whether the mobile station is Within an oper
`ating range of a short range communication beacon for
`
`Page 11 of 16
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`

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`US 6,847,823 B2
`
`3
`effecting Wireless communication between the mobile sta
`tion and the beacon; establishing a communication link
`betWeen the mobile station and the beacon if it is determined
`that the mobile station is Within the operating range of the
`beacon; activating a services access key on the mobile
`station for transmitting a short range Wireless communica
`tion query to the beacon for requesting location-dependent
`services information pertaining to a location of the mobile
`station; and transmitting, from the beacon to the mobile
`station in response to the mobile station query, location
`dependent services information.
`In accordance With another embodiment, the mobile sta
`tion of the method contains a memory and Wherein the
`mobile station is capable of communicating With a base
`transceiver station, the method further includes broadcasting
`location information to the mobile station over the base
`transceiver station broadcast channel; storing the location
`information in the mobile station memory; sending a request
`along With the stored memory location from the mobile
`station to a remote service provider for location-dependent
`services information concerning services pertaining to the
`location information if it is determined that the mobile
`station is not Within the operating range of the beacon; and
`transmitting, from the service provider to the mobile station,
`location-dependent services information.
`According to yet another embodiment of the present
`invention a system for providing location-dependent ser
`vices information to a mobile station is described, the mobile
`station being capable of short range communication, includ
`ing a mobile station including at least a short range trans
`ceiver and a service access key, the mobile station located
`Within an operating range of a short range transceiver of a
`short range communication beacon; the service access key
`of the mobile station being selectable for requesting
`location-dependent services information pertaining to a
`location of the mobile station, and; the short range trans
`ceiver of the mobile station being capable of sending a
`request for location-dependent services information and
`receiving a reply from the short range transceiver of the
`short range communication beacon in response to the
`request for location-dependent services.
`According to yet another embodiment, the inventive
`system also includes a memory in the mobile station Which
`is capable of communicating With a base transceiver station,
`the system further including means for broadcasting to the
`mobile station over the base transceiver station broadcast
`channel, location information; means for storing the location
`information in the mobile station memory; means for send
`ing a request along With the stored memory location infor
`mation from the mobile station to a remote service provider
`for location-dependent services information concerning ser
`vices pertaining to the location information; and means for
`transmitting, from the service provider to the mobile station,
`location-dependent services information.
`According to yet another embodiment, the present inven
`tion is directed to a mobile station having an access key for
`requesting location based services. The mobile station may,
`according to another embodiment, include a processor; a
`memory unit; a short range transceiver enabling short range
`communication; a netWork transceiver enabling communi
`cation in a mobile netWork; an output device for outputting
`received content; and softWare means operative on the
`processor. The softWare means operates for maintaining in
`the memory unit a database including a communication
`response value and a threshold value and at least one
`predetermined message requesting for location-dependent
`services usable for short range communication and at least
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`one another predetermined message requesting for location
`dependent services usable for different type of communica
`tion; starting short range communication in response to
`selecting the service access key using the predetermined
`message requesting for location-dependent services usable
`for short range communication; periodically scanning the
`value of the communication response; and if the communi
`cation response value eXceeds the threshold value, starting
`communication using the predetermined message requesting
`for location-dependent services usable for different type of
`communication.
`Other objects and features of the present invention Will
`become apparent from the folloWing detailed description
`considered in conjunction With the accompanying draWings.
`It is to be understood, hoWever, that the draWings are
`designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a
`de?nition of the limits of the invention, for Which reference
`should be made to the appended claims. It should be further
`understood that the draWings are not necessarily draWn to
`scale and that, unless otherWise indicated, they are merely
`intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and proce
`dures described herein.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`In the draWings:
`FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a prior art GSM mobile
`communication system according to one embodiment of the
`invention;
`FIG. 2 is a graphical representation of a beacon commu
`nication system according to one embodiment of the inven
`tion;
`FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a short range loW poWer
`beacon for use in the communication system of FIG. 1
`according to one embodiment of the invention;
`FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a mobile station for use in the
`communication system according to one embodiment of the
`invention;
`FIG. 5 is a graphical representation of a local service
`access system in accordance With one embodiment of the
`invention;
`FIGS. 6A and 6B depict an illustrative usage scenario
`according to one embodiment of the invention;
`FIG. 7 is a ?oWchart illustrating a communication method
`in accordance With one embodiment of the present inven
`tion; and
`FIG. 8 is a ?oWchart illustrating a communication method
`in accordance With one embodiment of the invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
`
`In the folloWing description of the various embodiments,
`reference is made to the accompanying draWings Which
`form a part hereof, and in Which is shoWn by Way of
`illustration various embodiments in Which the invention
`may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodi
`ments may be utiliZed, and structural and functional modi
`?cations may be made Without departing from the scope of
`the present invention.
`FIG. 2 depicts, according to one embodiment of the
`invention, an information beacon 14 operable in an operat
`ing range 5 for communicating With one or more mobile
`stations or terminal devices, such as PDAs or mobile phones
`P1, P2 Which are located Within the operating range 5. The
`term “beacon” refers herein to a Wireless store/forWard
`
`Page 12 of 16
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`

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`US 6,847,823 B2
`
`5
`transceiver relay device, as explained more fully below, for
`storing messages and transmitting the stored messages to
`one or more terminal devices. It should be noted that beacon
`14 can also serve as a netWork node or connection point
`Which provides access to and communication With a
`network, such as a host device, as more fully described in
`US. patent application Ser. No. 09/614,508, ?led on Jul. 11,
`2000, the entire content of Which is hereby incorporated by
`reference.
`The beacon 14 is a relatively small, portable transceiver
`device Which communicates data betWeen itself, neighbor
`ing beacons, and mobile stations Within the respective
`beacon operating range. Each beacon 14 includes an RF
`receiver and transmitter capable of receiving and transmit
`ting data over the operative range of the RF receiver. For
`example, if Bluetooth technology is employed, the operating
`range of each beacon and, consequently, the distance
`betWeen a beacon and a mobile station or an adjacent beacon
`in a netWork (i.e. the length of each link) using current
`technology is in the range of approximately 10 meters for a
`normal poWer mode and 300 meters for a high poWer mode.
`Adetail of a preferred beacon device 14 according to one
`embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 3. The
`beacon includes a central processing unit (CPU) 302 inter
`faced With one or more short range (e.g., Bluetooth) trans
`ceivers 308, 310, 312 for communicating With other beacons
`14 or With a host in a netWork. If the beacon 14 serves as a
`host, the beacon Will include means (not shoWn) for com
`municating With other netWorks. A memory 304 and storage
`area 306 are provided for storing application softWare as
`Well as data to be communicated to intended recipients. Each
`beacon functions as a transceiver device and is operable in
`the corresponding region 5 (shoWn in FIG. 2), typically
`de?ned by the radius of its transmission range. Thus, for a
`10 meter operating range, each beacon 14 Will be able to
`communicate With devices contained Within a relatively
`circular geographic area de?ned by the operating range and
`centered at the location of the beacon 14. Such communi
`cation may be betWeen a subject beacon and one or more
`neighboring beacons or betWeen a subject beacon and one or
`more mobile stations. The operation of beacons 14 is more
`fully described in US. patent application Ser. No. 09/612,
`872, the entire content of Which is incorporated by reference.
`A detail of a preferred mobile station and, particularly, a
`mobile phone P1 according to one embodiment of the
`invention is illustrated in FIG. 4. As shoWn, the mobile
`phone includes a display 402, such as an LCD display as is
`knoWn in the art, a central processing unit (CPU) 408 and a
`memory 410. Standard mobile transmission and reception
`occurs via a netWork transceiver 406 connected to an
`antenna 412, a keypad 418 and short range transmission for
`communication With a subject beacon 14 in a local RF
`environment is conducted via a short range transceiver 404
`connected to the antenna. The keypad typically contains
`numerous function keys such as alpha-numeric keys an
`directional (arroW) keys for scrolling among contents con
`tained in memory or displayed on the display 402. The
`mobile station also includes one or more services access
`function keys 420 (also referred to herein as a “context” key)
`Which may be separate from or part of the keypad 418 for
`transmitting a short range transmission request to a neigh
`boring beacon for soliciting location based information
`pertaining to the geographic location of the requesting
`mobile station, as explained more fully beloW.
`To communicate With the beacons 14, the mobile stations
`include a loW poWer infrared or RF communication feature,
`such as Bluetooth. It is presently contemplated that com
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`munication betWeen a mobile device and a particular beacon
`Will be limited to relatively short text messages in a manner
`analogous to the Short Message Service available in present
`GSM systems, but may also include audio messages and
`larger text messages. To forWard a message from a particular
`beacon to a mobile station, the mobile station (MS) must be
`capable of communicating With the particular beacon. This
`is accomplished by activating a loW poWer RF communica
`tion feature of the mobile station P1 (eg a Bluetooth chip).
`In the preferred embodiment, this is accomplished by select
`ing the services access key 420 on the MS When the MS is
`positioned Within the operating range of the beacon. This
`Will automatically transmit an information request to the
`receiving beacon for requesting location-based services
`information. Thus, by simply selecting the services access
`key, a service request query Will be transmitted to a beacon
`located Within the reception range of the query. As the
`request for services information is made via the loW poWer
`short range RF communication feature (Bluetooth) of the
`MS, by de?nition, the general geographic location of the
`requesting MS is knoWn. In other Words, the location of the
`requesting MS is Within the operating range of the receiving
`beacon. In response to the query, the beacon Will Wirelessly
`transmit short range messages in response to the service
`request query.
`As an example, one or more beacons disposed in a train
`station may receive continuous updates on train schedule
`information such as arrivals, departures and track changes.
`Atraveler entering the train station (and the operating ranges
`of the train station beacons), Will be able to obtain the stored
`train schedule information by simply selecting the services
`access key 420 on the user’s mobile station. This Will cause
`a service request to be Wirelessly communicated to a beacon
`disposed in relative close proximity to the mobile station,
`Whereupon available location-based information Will be
`transmitted to the requesting mobile station for conveyance
`to the user, e.g., as a text or audio message, etc. This is
`graphically shoWn in FIG. 5 embodying the invention.
`In certain instances location based information may be
`stored in beacons by category or topic to facilitate transmis
`sion to the requesting mobile station. In the train station
`example discussed above, for example, information may be
`categoriZed as schedule information, traf?c information
`(e.g., traf?c in locations proximate the train station) and
`Weather information (eg Weather conditions surrounding
`the train station). When a local services query is submitted
`by a requesting MS to a beacon, the beacon Will transmit the
`categories of information available (eg schedule, traf?c,
`Weather) Whereupon the user Will select, using functionality
`on the MS, the category of desired information. The selected
`information Will then be Wirelessly transmitted (e.g., by
`Bluetooth transmission) to the mobile station for revieW by
`the mobile station user. As a further illustrative example, and
`With reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B embodying the
`invention, the inventive system may be used to obtain
`information pertaining to a cinema by entering an operating
`range of a cinema beacon and requesting information stored
`on the cinema beacon by depressing or selecting the context
`key 420 on a user’s phone P1. The stored content is then
`transmitted to the phone such as by Bluetooth technology
`and the user can then use the phone keypad (e.g., the scroll
`up and doWn keys, etc.) to broWse a category of the
`doWnloaded information. In this manner movie schedules,
`selection, prices, playing duration, etc. may be readily
`obtained.
`In the event the mobile station desires location-based
`services other than the services provided by the information
`
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`US 6,847,823 B2
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`beacon, or in the event such information is unavailable from
`the beacon, location-based services can also be requested
`using knoWn mobile phone communication techniques, such
`as short messaging, by communicating With a remote server
`500 (FIG. 5) such as an SMS server via a short range
`message communication as is knoWn in the art. For example,
`after the mobile station has attempted, for a period of time
`(e.g., 20 seconds, etc.) to access a beacon via Bluetooth
`transmission, an attempt to contact the remote server Will
`occur automatically. To provide location based services that
`are relevant to the geographic location of the mobile station
`user, hoWever, the position of the user must be knoWn to the
`remote server. This may be accomplished through knoWn
`GPS location identi?cation techniques or, in the case of
`SMS, by including the base station identity code (BSIC) of
`the base station currently in contact With the mobile station
`and attaching the code With the location based services short
`message request. This latter technique is more fully
`described in US. patent application Ser. No. 09/101,041, the
`entire content of Which is incorporated by reference. For
`privacy and security reasons, access to the BSIC codes
`and/or the GPS location information should be restricted so
`that the general location of particular mobile stations Will
`not be divulged.
`With reference noW to FIG. 7, the inventive location
`based information method is performed according to one
`embodiment of the invention by positioning a mobile station
`Within an operating broadcast region of an information
`beacon (step 7.1). This may be accomplished, for example,
`When a mobile station user enters a location serviced by the
`information beacon, e.g., an airport, train station, shopping
`mall, etc. Once Within the beacon operating range, the
`mobile station service access key 420 is selected Whereupon
`a local Wireless information request is transmitted by the MS
`short range transceiver 404 to the beacon 14 (step 7.2). In
`35
`response to the request, the receiving information beacon
`Will transmit location based information relevant to the
`general geographic position of the mobile station via a local
`Wireless transmission (e.g., Bluetooth) (step 7.3). The trans
`mitted information may be information categories (e.g.
`departure schedule information, arrival schedule
`information, track information, etc.) Whereupon the receiv
`ing MS Will be used to scroll through and select the desired
`information category, for example, by using function keys
`on the keypad 418 of the MS (step 7.4). The desired
`information category Will be selected and the information
`pertaining to the selected category Will be transmitted from
`the beacon to the MS (step 7.6). Alternatively, all available
`information may be doWnloaded and the recipient can then
`use a terminal device keypad to broWse through the infor
`mation and revieW the desired information categories. If the
`desired information category is not located, an SMS or other
`transmitted request along With an indication of the general
`geographic location of the MS can be transmitted from the
`MS to a service provider server, e.g., an SMS server (step
`7.7). In response, the SMS server Will transmit, either
`directly or through a service provider server in communi
`cation With the SMS server, one or more short messages
`containing location service information relevant to the MS
`location (step 7.8). In this manner, a user Who is urgently
`60
`seeking location information services (such as train schedule
`information), can simply select the services access key 420
`as the user enters the train station for receiving location
`based information.
`Another possibility is using WAP communication tech
`niques to communicate With the remote server 500. This
`process is illustrated in FIG. 8 according to one embodiment
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`of the invention. After a services access key is selected on
`the mobile station (step 8.1), a determination is made as to
`Whether the mobile station is Within a communication range
`of a beacon and/or Whether such communication is possible,
`ie within Bluetooth communication range (step 8.2). If the
`ansWer to the query is “yes”, the process goes to step 7.3 in
`FIG. 7 to commence Bluetooth communication (step 8.3).
`In the event Bluetooth communication is not possible,
`such that the ansWer to the query in step 8.2 is “no”, the
`mobile station Will enter a remote server mode (step 8.4) to
`attempt to connect to a mobile station netWork, e.g., GSM,
`SMS, etc. The user Will then be prompted on the mobile
`station to accept of reject the remote server mode (step 8.5).
`If rejected, the process simply ends Without obtaining loca
`tion information. If accepted, a remote server Will be con
`tacted using any variety of techniques such as GSM, SMS,
`GPRS or HSCSD (step 8.6). Thereafter, a list of available
`service categories (e.g., shoe stores, grocery stores,
`restaurants, etc.) is doWnloaded to the mobile station (step
`8.7) Whereupon the user Will select the desired category
`from the list (step 8.8) such as via use of a scroll key or other
`selection function. After the category is selected, informa
`tion pertaining to the selected category Will