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`USOU?9?039OBZ
`
`(12)
`
`United States Patent
`Fraccaroli
`
`(10) Patent N0.:
`(45; Date of Patent:
`
`US 7,970,390 32
`*Jun. 28, 2011
`
`(54)
`
`MO BI I .F. (T( )MMUNICA'I‘IO NS MATCHING
`SYSTEM
`
`(75)
`
`Inventor: Federico Fraccaroli. Irving. 'l‘X (U S)
`
`(73)
`
`Assignee: Nokia Corporation. Espoo (Fl)
`
`l * 1
`
`Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer. the term ot'thjs
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. l54(b)by [52 days.
`
`BF.
`
`This patent is subject to a tenninal dis«
`claimer.
`
`5.232.331 A *
`5.918.181 A *
`5.963.951 i
`6.052.122 A *
`6.061.681 A
`
`”-1995: Kanppi
`651999
`i-'ostcrctal.
`[0-1999 Collins
`4.?2000 Sutclit’fe ct at.
`592000 Collins
`
`451-2132.:
`455.-"456.l
`
`715-751
`
`(Continual)
`
`FOREIGN PA'I'HNT DOCUMENTS
`[010.909
`$1999
`
`(Cont inued)
`
`()‘l‘lllziR PUBLICA‘I'IONS
`
`(21}
`
`Appl. No; “£868,004
`
`(22)
`
`Filed:
`
`Oct. 5, 200’?
`
`(65}
`
`(63)
`
`(51)
`
`(52)
`
`(58)
`
`(56)
`
`Prior Publication Data
`
`US 2008f0026774 Al
`
`Jan. 31. 2008
`
`Related U.S.Applieation Data
`
`Continuation of application No. 10f4l 2.689. filed on
`Apr. 14. 2003. now Pat. No. 7.280.822. which is a
`continuation of application No. 091382.328. filed on
`Aug. 24, 1999, now Pat. No. 6.549.768.
`
`Int. (71.
`H04L 29/06
`HWQ 7.02
`11049 733
`U.S. (fl.
`
`(2006.01)
`(2006.01)
`(2006.01)
`45514143; 455K4l4.l: 455F4142;
`455i'445: 455i456.l: 455194565; 4551517:
`455518
`455i414.1—4.
`Field ofClassifieation Search
`453456.! —6. 45?—460.435.1---3. 436-439.
`4551445. 517-519
`
`See application file for complete search history.
`
`References Cited
`
`U .S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`Print out of Website page at “(http:.-"-'umwbesldalecom> dated Mar.
`24. [999 (4 pages).
`
`[Continued]
`
`Printer): Examiner — Tuan A Tran
`(74) Attormjt’, Agent. or Firm — Ditthavong Mori 8i. Steiner.
`RC.
`
`[57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A wireless comnnmications network comprises a server in a
`central location storing matching profiles for a plurality of
`users of the network. The matching profile for each user is
`stored in the server through the user’ 5 mobile unit or a secure
`page on the Internet. liach matching profile is corresponded
`with a respective mobile unit using the same identification
`information (ID) of the respective mobile unit utilized for
`carrying out phone calls. The server has a customizable vari—
`able matching algorithm and probes the matching profiles
`corresponding to the respective mobile units in a cell or group
`oi‘ceiis for a match every time a new mobile unit subscribes
`into the cell or group of cells. When there is a match of
`[Hatching profiles. the two persons are put
`in contact or
`advised of each other through a phone call or other commu-
`nications method.
`
`5.085.394 A *
`5.432.542 A
`
`2-1992 Shapira ............................. T055]
`”ii-"1995
`'l‘hibadeauetal.
`
`123 Claims, 2 Drawing Sheets
`
`
`
`
`
`
`USER PAGE
`
`MATCHING PROFILE
`
`REQUEST PROFILE
`
`LOGBOOK
`
`MATCHING PARAMETERS
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`201
`
`202
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`203
`
`204
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`LYFT 1013
`
`LYFT 1013
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`1
`
`

`

`US 7,970,390 B2
`Page 2
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`73200] Stephens
`6.256.503 BI
`4.-"2003 Fraccaroli
`6.549368 BI ‘V
`7.280.322 B2 ‘V 10f200? Fraccaroli
`
`.................. 45534563
`.................. 4550-1143
`
`DE
`131’
`EP
`El’
`EP
`EP
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`
`FOREIGN PATIENT IXXTUMENTS
`19732574 A]
`2II999
`0717545 A2
`6"1996
`0795 991
`9-" 199'}I
`0 699 330 BI
`43 I998
`0853287 A2
`”#1993
`1434459 A2
`6.32004
`9216934
`5.31997
`9821913 AZ
`51998
`9911078 A]
`3-1999
`W0 00.311793 Al
`3.52000
`0019344
`4:"2000
`WO 00330329 A]
`532000
`0115480 A]
`8.32000
`
`UTE-IER PUBI..-ICATIONS
`
`Print out of Website page at <http:madesignphilipscom> dated
`Mar. 25. [999(1page).
`Martin Kropat. “Mobile Dating". Siemens Technology Report. vol.
`2. No. 3. Apr. 1999.
`
`European Search Report Ibr Application No. 041005505 completed
`Jun. 30. 2004.
`Intcmational Search Report for International Application No. PCT!
`USOUI'22533. mailed Apr. 12. 2000. 6 pages.
`Written Opinion for
`International Application No. PC'I'IUSUO!
`22533. mailed Jul. 27. 200]. 6 pages.
`International
`for
`International Preliminary Examination Report
`Application No. PC1!’USOU.-"22533. trialled Nov. 16. 2001. 7 pages.
`European Office Action for Application No. 041005505. mailed
`Aug. 8. 2005. 5 pages.
`Jessica E. Vascellaro. “Mobile Dating". The Wall Street Journal
`online. downloaded on Jul. 11. 2007. from <http:r’r"finance.yahoo.
`cnln-“TEImin—hofllefm‘liale"103099.9'1mbile—dating1
`Qualcoinm CDMA 'I'cchnologics. "gpsOne for Community”. down-
`loaded on Jun. 27. 2009.
`from (http:fiwwwcdmatecheoml
`10cationsewicesshowcaseteormnunily.jsp>. 2 pagesj pages.
`Office action for related US. App}. No.
`l2.-"553,308 dated Sep. 1?.
`2010. pp. 1-16.
`Agents for Expertise Location. Vivacqua. Adriana 5.. AAAI Techni-
`ca] Report 88-99-03. American Association for Artificial Intelli-
`gence.
`I999. https:x'r'www.aaai.orgf'Papers.-’Symposiaf$pringr'1999-"
`SS-99-o3x'8399-o3-003pdt‘. pp. 1-5.
`
`’3 cited by examiner
`
`2
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Jun. 28, 2011
`
`Sheet 1 of 2
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`US 7,970,390 B2
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`firmer
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`2:““223f‘4:
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`3
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`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Jun. 28, 2011
`
`Sheet 2 of2
`
`US 7,970,390 B2
`
`H6112
`
`USER PAGE
`
`MATCHING PROFILE
`
`REQUEST PROF! LE
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`LOGBOOK
`
`MATCHING PARAMETERS
`
`201
`
`202
`
`203
`
`204
`
`4
`
`

`

`US ?,970,390 B2
`
`1
`MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS MATCHING
`SYSTEM
`
`PRIORITY CLAIM
`
`This application is a continuation ofand claims the benefit
`of U S patent application Ser. No. 101412.689. filed Apr. 14.
`2003. which in turn is a continuation ofand claims the benefit
`of U.S. Pat. No. 6.549.768. filed Aug. 24. 1999: the entire
`contents of both which are incorporated herein by reference.
`
`10
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`1. l-‘ield of the Invention
`This invention relates generally to computerized methods
`and systems for providing location-sensitive services in con-
`junction with a wireless communications network. A particu-
`lar aspect of the present invention relates to a computerized
`method and system of matching persons through their mobile
`stations on the network.
`
`2. Description ofthe Related Art
`In general. telephone calls over a wireless communications
`network must he initiated by a user who dials another per-
`son’ 3 phone number. Although the calls may be subsequently
`forwarded to different phone numbers using call forwarding,
`etc. without the caller‘s knowledge. the caller usually must
`know the phone number of the person he or she wishes to call
`and must initiate the call. See. for example. US. Pat. No.
`5,610.9}? to Emery et al. There is no known method or
`system for matching persons on a wireless network.
`Several methods and systems currently exist for generally
`matching people having similar interests or other reason for
`willing to be put in contact with each other. For example.
`computer dating services match people using a large database
`having a profile for each one of their customers. Each cus—
`tomer‘s profile contains personal information such as age.
`race, marital status, gender. sexual orientation, religion.
`height. weight. color of eyes andfor hair. smoking habits.
`education. interests. etc. This matching profile is used to
`match the customer with others. In addition to their own
`matching profile. each customer can also submit a request
`which contains their preferences for a match with the match—
`ing profiles of other customers. In response to the request. the
`computer dating service searches the database for matching
`profiles which match the preferences in the request and then
`informs the requesting customer ofthe selected matches, if
`any. The match is typically recorded by seine sort of a printed
`report.
`Similar computer dating services currently exist on the
`Internet. These services receive profile data and display infor-
`mation over the Internet and contact their customers via
`
`e-mail. They also may give their customers screen names so
`that matched persons can initially correspond with each other
`via e-mail without revealing their identities. An example of
`such an Internet dating service is BestDate.com. (The date on
`which BestDatecom was first publicly used is not known and
`is not admitted to be prior art.)
`Unfortunately. there is a lack of immediacy to such com-
`puter dating services. Although geographical
`infomration
`such as each person’s address is stored and a matching request
`can specify a geographical area. the dating services caiutot
`ensure that a person is located in the requested geographical
`area at the day or time of the request or that the person is
`available and desires to be matched at the time of the request.
`There is also a problem that matches are only selected in
`response to a request therefore from a customer.
`
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`A possible real-time alternative is a wearable device which
`detects when another similar device is nearby. For example,
`Phillips Electronics N. V’.. has proposed so-called “hot
`badges" which are pre-loa tied with personal information. It is
`described that the badges signal each other when they store
`Similar personal information and are within short radio range
`ofeach other. It is apparently intended by the short radio range
`that the wearers will be close to each other and can initiate a
`
`conversation with each other. These hot badges appear to be
`conceptual and futuristic in nature and not adequately dis-
`closed in the mamrer necessary for one to design and mariti-
`facture the badges.
`Belgium Patent Application No. 09700119 filed by Linda
`van (Tappcllen appears to describe similar devices. l'lovvever.
`these devices also suffer the disadvantages that they have a
`limited radio range and must contain enough memory to store
`the personal infomiation and the processing circuitry neces-
`sary to operate the device and to determine whether nearby
`devices store similar personal information.
`
`BRII‘EI’ SUMMARY
`
`An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is
`directed to initiating contact through the handset of a person
`in a manner sensitive to the location of the person in a cell or
`other area of a wireless communications network. In a par-
`ticular aspect of the invention. persons are matched with each
`other.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`The foregoing and a better understanding of the present
`invention will become apparent li'om the following detailed
`description of example embodiments and the claims when
`read in connection with the accompanying drawings. all
`forming a part of the disclosure of the invention. While the
`foregoing and following written and illustrated disclosure
`focuses on disclosing example embodiments ofthe invention.
`it should be clearly understood that the same is by way of
`illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of
`limitation, the spirit and scope of the present invention being
`limited only by the terms ofthe claims in the patent issuing
`from this application.
`FIG. I is a generalized block diagram providing a basic
`illustration of the major elements of a cellular network in
`which an exemplary embodiment of the invention can be
`implemented.
`FIG. 2 is a table illustrating the profile and other informa-
`tion of a user page suitable for use in the exemplary embodi-
`ment.
`
`Dli'l'Al l'.l.il') DIESCRlP’l‘ION
`
`An exemplary embodiment of the present invention seeks
`to provide a method of initiating contact between persons
`utilizing a wireless communications network on the basis of
`their physical
`location and the similarity of inibrmation
`which they have stored in the network. In one possible appli—
`cation of the invention. contact is initiated between people
`who don’t personally know each other but who have both
`indicated an interest in meeting. or at least being put in contact
`with, other people with similar interests. In another possible
`application of the invention. contact
`is initiated between
`people who might know each other but who don’t know that
`they are both present at the same time in a certain area and
`who have indicated a willingness to be put in contact with
`each other when they are in a certain area at the same time.
`
`5
`
`

`

`US ?,970,390 BZ
`
`3
`The invention is not limited to these embodiments. It is
`
`more broadly directed to a diverse set of useful, helpful and
`intonnation services in a mobile terminal utilizing basic loca-
`tion information. It improves any existing or forthcoming
`service by utilizing basic location information through the
`network as an immediate answer to the “Where am I?" ques-
`tion.
`
`An exemplary embodiment of the invention can be incor—
`porated into a GSM cellular phone network. Such a system
`has a plurality ol‘cells which transmit calls to and from mobile
`stations. Although the GSM system is a preferred implemen-
`tation of an exemplary embodiment, the invention is not lirn~
`ited in its implementation to the GSM cellular radio network
`disclosed in this application or any other cellular network
`such as,
`for example, a code division multiplex access
`[CUB/1A) system, Nordic Mobile Telephone (N MT) system,
`DCS 1800. Personal Communication Network (PCN). Uni-
`versal Mobile Communication (UMC), Universal Mobile
`'lelecommunication System (UM’I‘S), or Future Public Land
`Mobile Telecommunication System (FPLMTS), etc. Indeed.
`the various embodiments of the invention are generally useful
`for any wireless communication network having, or hereafter
`developed to have. a location capability. Presently available
`and future capabilities of location services will enable differ-
`ent embodiments of this invention. For example, an embodi-
`ment of the invention may be used in a PCS system. a micro-
`cellular system or a wireless local area network (WLAN)
`such as bluetooth to provide location—sensitive information. A
`bluetooth embodiment could be used, for example,
`in a
`museum or other building so that. when a person is standing
`in an area in the vicinity of an object of interest. infonnation
`concerning the object is automatically provided or provided
`upon request to the mobile station of that person. As the
`person moves from one area to another area, diilerent infor—
`rnation is so provided.
`Other features of the invention may be apparent to those
`skilled in the art from the detailed description of the example
`embodiments and claims when read in connection with the
`
`accompanying drawings. While the foregoing and following
`written and illustrated disclosure focuses on disclosing
`example embodiments of the invention, it should be tinder—
`stood that the same is by way of illustration and example only.
`is not to be taken by way of limitation and may be modified in
`learned practice of the invention.
`In the application of the exemplary embodiment to a GSM
`network illustrated in FIG. 1.. the geographical area covered
`by a cellular network is divided into smaller separate radio
`areas called cells. (While shown in FIG. 1 as tron—overlapping
`hexagons.
`in practice, the cells are partially overlapping
`circles or ellipses.)
`When in a cell 101. a mobile radio station. preferably a
`handset l 02. communicates with the network via a fixed radio
`station. called a base station (not shown). located in cell 101.
`flach base station communicates by means of a bi-directional
`radio link with the mobile radio stations in the corresponding
`cell. For clarity’s sake. FIG. 1 shows only two handsets next
`to service area 103—4. it being understood, as known in the art.
`that there may be thousands of mobile stations which may
`travel freely from any cell 101 to another and between and
`among service areas 103-] to 103-4.
`In the cellular radio system shown as an example in PK}. 1,
`each service area 103 has its own VLR~msc 104. Merely for
`purposes of illustration. four service areas are provided in
`FIG. 1, each ofwhich comprises a respective VLR—msc 104.
`For each V’I..R-msc 104. one or more base station controllers
`BSC (not shown) are provided, controlling several base sta-
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`tions. Each base station controller controls the base stations of
`a number of adjacent cells 101.
`The cellular radio network must know the cell 1 01 in which
`the mobile radio station is located in order to be able to route
`
`calls to it. The process by which the cell location of mobile
`stations is made known to the cellular system is referred to as
`registration. Some cellular systems also use registration of
`mobile stations as a means to. for example. page the mobile
`stations for reasons other than routing calls or to balance the
`load between the access channel and the paging channel.
`Without any type of registration. mobile stations would need
`to be paged over the entire cellular system, resulting in the
`transmission ofa number of pages per call delivery equal to
`the [lumber of base stations in the system. Registering a
`mobile station every time it moves to the coverage area of a
`new base station tints substantially reduces the number of
`pages per call delivery.
`The exact details of the registration method used in a cel-
`lular system is determined as a function o {various parameters
`such as the cellular system size. the expected mobility of
`mobile stations within the system. and call delivery statistics
`or predictions. Since cellular systems can vary substantially
`with respect
`to these parameters.
`the specifications for
`(.‘DMA and GSM systems allow for multiple different regis-
`tration procedures. The different registration procedures can
`be independently enabled or disabled to allow any subset of
`registration methods to be tailored to optimize the use of a
`cellular system.
`Although the registration procedures can vary, in a typical
`implementation. the base stations of the cellular network
`constantly broadcast
`information on themselves or their
`neighborhood. such as base station identifier B S]. base station
`type identifier EST] and so-called neighboring cell infomia-
`tion. 011 the basis of neigrboring cell information broadcast
`by a respective base station, a mobile station registered in a
`cell 101 served by that base station recognizes those neigh—
`boring cells 101 the base-station transmission of which the
`mobile station should monitor. When the signal strength of
`the current base station weakens. the mobile station registers
`into the best of these monitored neighboring base stations
`(e.g. the one for which. from the viewpoint of the mobile
`station. the signal strength is then currently the strongest).
`Cells 101 can be organized into groups ol'cells. each group
`of cells being identified by a cell group identifier. Each base
`station that is in conununication with a mobile station uses the
`
`cell group identi tier to indicate to that mobile station the
`group of cells to which the base station belongs. lt‘the mobile
`station observes that the cell group identifier changes as the
`base station is changed, i.e. that the group ofcells changes. the
`mobile station initiates a location updating by transmitting a
`location updating request to the cellular radio network. If the
`location area does not change when the base station changes,
`no location updating is carried out by the mobile station.
`The location updating for each mobile station preferably
`initiates subscriber data updating of the respective subscriber
`in a subscriber location registexfs) ofthe cellular network. For
`instance. the exemplary cellular radio network shown in FIG.
`1 includes home location registers (MR) 105, visitor loca-
`tion registers and mobile switching center (V’LR-msc) 104.
`and base station controllers (BSC) (not shown} connected to
`the base stations of the network. The location area data ofthe
`subscriber is stored in a visitor location register of the respec~
`tive VLR—msc 104. and an HLR 105 communicates with that
`respective VLR—msc 104 in order to receive the location area
`data indicating the cell and cell group wltere each subscriber
`is located.
`
`6
`
`

`

`5
`
`6
`
`US ?,970,390 B2
`
`In a preferred embodiment. each individual handset is
`identifiable by unique identification information (USER ID).
`For example. in GSM or TDMA systems, there is a registra-
`tion ofthe handset within the base station which relates to one
`
`base station or group of base stations depending on the net-
`work configuration. llowever. usually the registration of the
`handset can generally be forced to one base station. When the
`handset registers into the base station. the ID of the handset
`can be sent to the MSC and formed into groups of mobile
`stations registered in the same base station. These groups of
`mobile station IDs can be sent to the HLR 105 and its respec-
`tively co-located server 106. This server 106 performs the
`function of trying to match and couple the profiles belonging
`to the same groups of IDs (located in the same base station
`area} together using matching engine 107.
`The USER ll) ofeach handset is stored in a variable loca-
`
`tion register of the respective VLR-msc 104. along with the
`cell and cell group of the location of each handset, in its
`respective service area 103. This infonualion. as well as tran-
`sition data. can be transferred from each VLR-msc 104 to its
`corresponding HLR 105 where corresponding server 106 is
`located.
`Consequently, each corresponding 1- 1 LR 105 ofthe cellular
`radio network knows the location of each active mobile radio
`
`station within an accuracy of an area consisting of one cell,
`this area generally being called a location area. This cell and
`cell group are provided to server 106 for each mobile station
`and is stored in the matching profile for the corresponding
`USER ID.
`In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, each I-ILR
`105 has a server 106 with a matching engine 107. {Although
`shown simply as a block in FIG. 1 for the sake of simplicity.
`matching engine l0'lr is preferably composed of software
`executing on server 1 06.) Each server 106 receives and stores
`matching profiles for each USER ID corresponding to an
`active mobile station in service area 103. Preferably, the
`matching profile is retrieved and stored by server 106 when
`the mobile station first becomes active in service area 103 and
`is maintained as long as the mobile station remains active in
`service area 103.
`
`The matching engine 107 implements a matching algo-
`rithm by carrying out a comparison of matching profiles for
`each USER ID having equivalent cell or cell group informa—
`tion. For example. the matching may be performed only for
`profiles which are in the same cell or it may be performed for
`profiles which are in the same cell group. The location area
`may be expanded into any one of a number ofdifferent loca-
`tion area sizes comprised ofa plurality ofcells as disclosed in
`U.S. Pat. No. 5.832.381 to Kauppi. the disclosure ofwhich is
`hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
`In a preferred embodiment. the location area is reduced in
`size to be smaller than a single cell. This embodiment is
`especially advantageous when implemented with wideband
`CDMA handsets complying with Federal Communications
`Commission (FCC) requirements for the handling of 911
`emergency calls by cellular system operators. The FCC
`requirements utilize a combination of location services and
`91] emergency services so that a user is able. by pushing a
`button on the handset, to make their location promptly avail-
`able to the police or other appropriate personnel within an
`accuracy of about 125 meters. This is a natural extension for
`the I'i‘nhanced 911 (1391 1) system for fixed phones in the
`United States.
`
`The FCC requirements state that by Oct. 1 _. 2001 the system
`operators mu st be able to identify the latitude and longitude of
`a mobile unit making a 911 call within a radius of no more
`than 125 meters in 67 percent of all 911 emergency calls.
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`using Root Mean Square calculations (success rate approxi-
`mately 67 percent). The system operators mttst process and
`transmit to the appropriate PSAP {Public Services Answering
`Point) emergency center all 91 1 calls made from a wireless
`mobile station. including calls initiated by a roaming mobile
`station or a mobile station without authentication. At the same
`time, the information of a caller‘s Automatic Number Iden—
`tification (ANI) and the location ofthe base station or cell site
`must be relayed to the designated PSAP. Also, call-back and
`tracking of emergency 9] 1 calls is required and the process-
`ing and cormection of emergency 911 calls have highest pri-
`ority.
`The telecommunications standardization bodies in Europe
`(ETSI) and .lapan (ARIB) have set their own requirements on
`location services. ETSI specification UMTS 22.05. version
`3.2.0, states requirements for location features in UM'I‘S:
`“Location features shall also be supported. to allow new and
`innovative location based services to be developed".
`In Japan and other countries in the Far East. navigation
`services have become very popular. The addressing style in
`Japan is unclear since there are no geographically logical
`addresses. no street names or numbers. and no cumulative
`building and apartment numbers. Blocks ofhous es are named
`and houses within the block are numbered according to the
`order of construction. So even local peopleare often as lost as
`foreigners in their neighboring city.
`Car navigation systems. tralfic telematic and handheld
`GPS receivers are now commercially available. However. the
`GPS positioning system is not ideal in Japan and other urban
`areas because most buildings are very tall and a lot of urban
`and especially suburban traveling is made by subway. In both
`of these cases, the GPS satellite signals are often blocked.
`The realization ofa positioning service in the invention can
`be determined by any one of several di iferent methodologies:
`network—based positioning, mobile—based positioning, or a
`hybrid position architecture. The most straight
`forward
`method for obtaining location information where the location
`area size is smaller titan the area ol‘one cell is a network-based
`
`positioning method using triangulation of base station signals
`on the ground since triangulation does not require any modi-
`fication of the mobile station. One possible method of using
`triangulation to achieve a position fix in a UMTS cellular
`network measures the strength of the signal coming from the
`different base station pilot signals.
`l-lowever, handsets in GSM and other so-called 2.sup.nd
`generation cellular systems are presently required to be
`capable of providing information about the user‘s location
`and thus facilitate mobile-based positioning. Such a capabil-
`ity is also expected to be included in most 3.sup.rd generation
`handsets in conjunction with emergency 911 services. These
`handsets use location methods other than triangulation. such
`as adoption of a global positioning system (GPS) receiving
`device, to determine, or assist in the detenuination of. loca-
`tion. GPS is more accurate than triangulation systems and
`requires less computational power. But incorporating GPS
`into a handset carries the aforementioned drawback that GPS
`doesn’t work within rooms and houses and outside the line of
`
`sight of sortie satellites.
`Although numerous implementations of location capabil-
`ity in the handset are pessiblc. the location implementation is
`preferably autonomous so that the handset itselfcan ask for its
`location or the location of the handset can be requested by a
`base station and supplied by the handset in response to the
`request. In any event, the location information so obtained is
`associated with the USER ID and can be automatically sent to
`the base station during handset registration or whenever the
`USER ID infonnation is sent to the base station. Alterna-
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`tively. the location information can be delivered to the base
`station when it is requested irrespective of handset registra-
`tion or transmission of the USER ID. In the exemplary
`embodiment shown in FIG. 1. the location information is then
`transferrtxl to “IR .105. provided to server 106 for each
`mobile station and stored in the data profile for the corre-
`sponding USER ID.
`In addition to the decision to provide location services for
`an area smaller than a cell, the network operator can also
`choose the precision ofthe location services. with the location
`precision even varying froth one part of the network to
`another. For example. it may be chosen to be hundreds of
`tneters in some places and as accurate as 5 meters in other
`places. It should be possible to specify the area as a circular
`zone (center and radius) up to the highest resolution made
`possible by the accuracy capability of the part of the serving
`network where the user is registered. This accuracy can be
`improved by the usage of higher frequencies in the network
`which will shrink the sire of the cells. The achievable accu-
`
`racy also varies from place to place in different environments.
`It is preferred that a minimum precision ofaround 50 meters
`be achieved in all types of environments.
`It is preferable that the precision of the location can be
`dynamically determined by the network operator. The net-
`work operator preferably may be able to set the precision
`requirement to vary from one part of the network to another.
`The location precision may also be detennined by the par-
`ticular application or service and is one ofthe network opera—
`tor selectable Quality of Service (Q05) parameters.
`The location method is preferably, but not necessarily.
`independent ofmobilc station status so that there is a location
`fix even when the mobile is idle. Several other design fea-
`tures. such as adaptive antenna technique, path loss estima-
`tion technique, etc.. are optional in order to allow the network
`operator to conduct a service effectively.
`The mobile station user shall preferably be able to restrict
`access to the location information {either permanently or on a
`per call ba sis) . The restriction can preferably be overridden by
`the network operator when appropriate (e.g.. emergency
`calls}.
`It is also preferably possible to optionally set the frequency
`of position information updates in applications where the
`location information is automatically and repeatedly pro—
`vided or the amount of delay experienced before location
`information is received in applications where there must be a
`specific request for location information. The frequency of
`tlte information update or delay in providing location in for-
`tnation will of course influence the performance of the net-
`work. It
`is preferred that there be a minimal delay for the
`preferred automatic matching embodiment described in this
`application.
`In a UM’I‘S network. location information can be catego-
`rized to two levels of accuracy. The basic level of location
`information is what the network obtains without extra signal-
`ing front the mobile station. 'l‘he advanced level of location
`information is obtained through extra signaling.
`A locations services server is preferably provided in the
`network to obtain the horizontal location ofthe calling mobile
`station in terms of universal latitude and longitude co-ordi-
`notes. The location services in the network preferably allow a
`location services client to specify or negotiate the required
`horizontal accuracy. The location services client shall prefer-
`ably nonnally attempt to satisfy or approach as closely as
`possible the requested or negotiated accuracy when other
`quality of service parameters are not in conflict. To provide
`for more stringent service requirements. the location services
`server may provide higher accuracy. The locations services
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`the
`server provides the location service capabilities but
`mechanism by which location information is reported to a
`location services client is dependent on the desired perfor-
`mance ofthe application or service as described above.
`Specific details of another location method suitable for use
`in an embodiment of the invention are described by Draft
`Location Parameters and Message Structure—Vet 2.0. Loca—
`tion Parameters Ad Hoc Group. Mar. 15~l9. 1999 and the
`website of the US Wireless Company (wwwuswcorpcomf
`USWCMainPagestlabthtm).
`Preferably. the handset used in a mobile-based positioning
`method embodiment ofthe i nvention is a combination ofCiPS
`and trilatcration
`(time of arrival measure of the signal com-
`ing from the different base stations) in the ltandset. The hand—
`set operates in a dual mode system in which GPS is normally
`used and trilateration (time of arrival measurement or differ-
`ence of time ofarrival measurement) is used instead if GPS is
`not available with full accuracy because, for example. the
`handset is inside a building.
`In any event. in an embodiment having a location area size
`less than the area of a cell, instead of searching for a match
`between two handsets which are within the same cell or cell
`group. matching engine It}? is programmed and controlled
`using. for example. software stored with server 106. to search
`for handsets where the difference between the positio