JP2010246015A - Mobile communication system and mobile communication method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To set a position registration area that coincides with a user's life pattern. <P>SOLUTION: A mobile communication system 1 includes: a receiving part 11 for receiving position information showing the position of a mobile device M and a time corresponding to the position information; a history storing part 12 for accumulating a history of position information corresponding to the mobile device M by storing the received position information; and a determining part 13 for calculating a residence time of the mobile device M in a prescribed area comprising one or more cells or sectors based on the accumulated history of the position information, and for determining the prescribed area as a position registration area being a transmission range of a paging signal to be transmitted to the mobile device M when the residence time is equal to or more than a prescribed threshold. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile communication system and a mobile communication method for managing a location registration area that is a transmission range of a paging signal.

  In a conventional mobile communication system, a location registration area that is a transmission range of a paging signal is determined in advance and applied uniformly to all terminals. In this case, for example, when a train carrying many users crosses the boundary of the location registration area, a location registration request is sent from each user's mobile device, which places a load on the mobile network. There is also a problem that a paging signal is transmitted unnecessarily over a wide range to a mobile device that remains in a limited range such as a house or office. As a technique for solving such a problem, a position registration system that efficiently manages a position registration area is described in Patent Document 1 below. This system sets the location registration area of the terminal using the moving speed and incoming frequency of the mobile device and the network information.

JP 2003-23656 A

  If the system of the above-mentioned patent document 1 is adopted, the location registration area is set larger as the terminal moves faster, or the location registration area is set smaller as the terminal has a higher incoming frequency. However, this alone may set a location registration area that does not match the actual life pattern of the user.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a mobile communication system and a mobile communication method capable of setting a location registration area that matches a user's life pattern.

  The mobile communication system of the present invention includes a receiving means for receiving position information indicating the position of a mobile device, and a history storage for storing a history of position information corresponding to the mobile device by storing the position information received by the receiving means. And a staying state of the mobile device in a predetermined area composed of one or more cells or sectors based on the history of the position information accumulated in the means and the history storage means, and based on the staying state, Determining means for setting a predetermined area as a location registration area that is a transmission range of a paging signal transmitted to a mobile device.

  In addition, the mobile communication method of the present invention is a mobile communication method executed by a mobile communication system, and receives a position information indicating the position of a mobile device, and stores the position information received in the reception step. A history storage step for storing a history of position information corresponding to the mobile device, and a mobile device in a predetermined area composed of one or more cells or sectors based on the history of the position information stored in the history storage step And a determining means for setting the predetermined area as a location registration area that is a transmission range of a paging signal transmitted to the mobile device based on the staying state.

  According to such a mobile communication system and mobile communication method, the history of the location information of the mobile device is accumulated, and the staying status of the mobile device in a predetermined area is calculated based on the history. Then, based on the staying status, it is determined whether or not the predetermined area is a position registration area. In this way, by determining the location registration area based on the past stay status of the mobile device, that is, the user's stay history, it becomes possible to set the location registration area that matches the user's life pattern.

  In the mobile communication system of the present invention, the location information includes information regarding the time at which the mobile device was present at the location indicated by the location information, and the determining means determines one or more cells or It is preferable to calculate the residence time of the mobile device in a predetermined area composed of sectors, and to set the predetermined area as a location registration area when the residence time is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold.

  In this case, the staying time of the mobile device in the predetermined area is calculated based on the history of the position information, and whether or not the predetermined area is set as the position registration area is determined based on the staying time. As a result, a location registration area is formed corresponding to a place or range where the user has stayed for a certain period of time or more, so that a location registration area that matches the user's life pattern can be set.

  In the mobile communication system of the present invention, the determining means calculates an average residence time of the mobile device in a predetermined area in a predetermined time zone, and positions the predetermined area when the residence time is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. A registration area is preferred.

  In this case, if the mobile device stays on average for a certain period of time in a specific time zone, a predetermined area corresponding to the location is set as the position registration area, so that the position registration area that matches the user's life pattern Can be set.

  In the mobile communication system of the present invention, it is preferable that the receiving means receives position information indicating a position when the mobile device and the base station are wirelessly connected.

  In this case, since location information can be acquired in the connection procedure used conventionally, a location registration area that matches the user's life pattern without newly introducing a special location information acquisition technique. Can be set.

  In the mobile communication system of the present invention, the area storage means for storing the location registration area information indicating the location registration area and the current location of the mobile device are indicated at a different time from when the mobile device performs the call connection process. When the location information is received from the mobile device, the location registration area information indicating the location registration area determined by the determination means is stored in the area storage means, and the location registration area corresponding to the mobile device is updated. It is preferable to further comprise update means for transmitting the location registration area information to the mobile device.

  In this case, the location registration area of the mobile device is updated upon reception of location information at a time different from the call connection process, and the updated location registration area information is notified to the mobile device. Thereby, since the mobile device can acquire the latest location registration area information at the timing of location registration processing other than at the time of call connection, it is possible to prevent an excessive load from being applied to the mobile device at the time of call connection.

  In the mobile communication system of the present invention, the position information received by the receiving means is cell / sector information comprising cell information for identifying a cell covered by a base station and sector information for identifying a sector constituting the cell. Preferably there is.

  In this case, since the position of the mobile device is specified based on the cell and sector information indicating the communication range of the base station, the position registration area is determined without using a positioning system such as the global positioning system (GPS). be able to.

  According to such a mobile communication system and mobile communication method, since a location registration area corresponding to a place or range where the user stayed for a certain period of time or more is formed, a location registration area that matches the user's life pattern is set. Can do.

It is a figure which shows the whole structure of the mobile communication system which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the position management server shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the position management server shown in FIG. (A), (b) is a figure which shows the example of the positional information which the log | history memory | storage part shown in FIG. 2 memorize | stores. It is a figure which shows the example of the location registration area information which the area memory | storage part shown in FIG. 2 memorize | stores. It is a sequence diagram which shows the process at the time of the mobile communication system shown in FIG. 1 determining a location registration area. It is a sequence diagram which shows the process at the time of the mobile communication system shown in FIG. 1 performing a paging process. It is a figure which shows the example of distribution of the location registration area when not applying this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of distribution of the position registration area at the time of applying this invention with respect to the example of FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same or equivalent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  First, the function and configuration of the mobile communication system 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The mobile communication system 1 is a wireless network system that controls call connection and data communication of the mobile device M. As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile communication system 1 controls a call connection between a mobile station M and a base station B wirelessly connected to the mobile station M (for example, transmits a paging signal to the mobile station M via the base station B). Switch) and a location management server 10 that sets and stores a location registration area that is a transmission range of a paging signal transmitted to the mobile device M. In FIG. 1, only necessary portions are illustrated in the following description. However, the mobile communication system 1 can include a larger number of exchanges S, base stations B, and mobile stations M. A communication control device is also included.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the location management server 10 includes a reception unit 11, a history storage unit 12, a determination unit 13, an area storage unit 14, an update unit 15, and a response unit 16 as functional components.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the location management server 10 includes a CPU 101 that executes an operating system, application programs, and the like, a main storage unit 102 that includes a ROM and a RAM, and an auxiliary storage unit 103 that includes a hard disk and the like. The communication control unit 104 includes a network card, an input unit 105 such as a keyboard and a mouse, and an output unit 106 such as a monitor. Each function of the location management server 10 reads predetermined software on the CPU 101 and the main storage unit 102, operates the communication control unit 104 under the control of the CPU 101, and stores data in the main storage unit 102 and the auxiliary storage unit 103. This is realized by reading and writing.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the receiving unit 11 is a part that receives position information indicating the position of the mobile device M. When call connection processing (outgoing processing or incoming processing) is executed in the mobile device M, a wireless connection is established between the mobile device M and the base station B. At this timing, the base station B detects the location information of the mobile device M. To get. The location information obtained at this time is cell / sector information including cell information for identifying a cell covered by the base station B and sector information for identifying a sector constituting the cell, and the current time (corresponding to the location information). Time). With this cell / sector information, the position of the mobile device M at a certain point in time can be known in detail in units of sectors. The base station B transmits the terminal ID for identifying the mobile device M and the location information acquired by the location registration process as described above to the location management server 10. The receiving unit 11 receives these pieces of information sent from the base station B and outputs them to the history storage unit 12.

  The history storage unit 12 is a part that accumulates the position information history corresponding to the mobile device M by storing the position information received by the receiving unit 11. When the terminal ID and the position information are input, the history storage unit 12 stores these pieces of information in association with each other.

  The format of the position information stored in the history storage unit 12 is not limited. For example, the history storage unit 12 may store the data in the form of raw data as shown in FIG. 4A or the form of statistical data as shown in FIG. The history shown in FIG. 4 (b) is based on the input information and totals the sector where the mobile device M stays in each time slot divided every hour, and the total result is shown. I remembered it. From the location information in FIG. 4B, the mobile terminal “terminal A” stays at the location indicated by the location information “cell A sector 4” at 7-8, or the location information “cell” at 8-9. It can be seen that the position indicated by “A sector 4” and the position indicated by position information “cell B sector 1” stay for 30 minutes each.

  The determination unit 13 calculates the residence time of the mobile device M in a predetermined area composed of one or more cells or sectors based on the history of position information accumulated in the history storage unit 12, and the residence time When the value is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the predetermined area is a portion that is a location registration area.

  First, if there is one sector with a past average residence rate exceeding a predetermined threshold for a certain mobile device M in all time zones (24 hours), the determination unit 13 designates the sector as a position unique to the mobile device M. It is determined as a registration area (hereinafter also referred to as “individual area”). Here, the retention rate is a value indicating a certain amount of time during which the mobile device M is located at a specific location within a certain time, that is, the retention time. For example, assuming that the threshold is 10%, a sector that covers the home of the user A who owns the mobile device Ma has an average daily residence rate of the mobile device Ma of 50%, or a sector that covers the workplace of the user A When the average daily residence rate of the mobile device Ma at 25 is 25%, the determination unit 13 sets these sectors as individual areas of the mobile device Ma.

  Then, the determination part 13 sets the further separate area in the area except the range made into the individual area by the said method. Specifically, the determination unit 13 determines the past average residence in a specific time zone (for example, a time zone divided every hour) in an area (cell / sector group) composed of a plurality of continuous cells / sectors. If there is an area where the rate exceeds a predetermined threshold, the area is determined as an individual area of the mobile device M. For example, when the threshold is 50% and the average stay rate from 8 to 9 o'clock in an area composed of a plurality of cells / sectors covering the user A's commuting route is 60%, the determination unit 13 Let that area be the individual area of the mobile device Ma.

  The determination unit 13 outputs the location registration area information indicating the individual area determined in this way and the terminal ID to the update unit 15. In addition, you may determine arbitrarily the timing which the determination part 13 performs the said determination process. For example, the determination unit 13 may start the process when the reception unit 11 receives the position information, or may execute the process every time a certain time elapses.

  The area storage unit 14 is a part that stores the location registration area information determined by the determination unit 13. The area storage unit 14 is also a part that stores current position information input from the update unit 15 described later and a terminal ID in association with each other.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of information stored in the area storage unit 14. In FIG. 5, the area storage unit 14 stores “individual area 1a” as position information indicating the current position for the mobile device “terminal A”, and includes two pieces of information “individual area 1a” and “individual area 2a”. Location registration area information is stored. Here, the individual area 1a is composed of two sectors "cell A sector 4" and "cell B sector 1", and the individual area 2a is composed of one sector "cell C sector 2". ing. In addition, a common area such as “common area X” associated with “terminal C” in FIG. 5 is a location registration area that is applied uniformly to each mobile device M, which is a conventional area. Thus, it is determined in advance and stored in a predetermined database (not shown). Common areas and individual areas can coexist.

  The update unit 15 is a part that updates the location registration area information stored in the area storage unit 14 with the location registration area information determined by the determination unit 13. When the location registration area information and the terminal ID are input, the updating unit 15 first compares the input information with the location registration area information stored in the area storage unit 14 and moves identified by the terminal ID. It is determined whether or not the individual area of the machine M has been changed.

  When it is determined that the individual area has been changed, the updating unit 15 waits until a location registration request for the mobile device M is sent via the base station B while holding the input information as it is. Here, the location registration request includes the terminal ID of the mobile device M and the current location information (identifier of the location registration area corresponding to the current location), and when the mobile device M enters a location registration area. Or, it is a signal transmitted from the mobile device M periodically.

  When the location registration request is received from the mobile device M corresponding to the location registration area information held, the update unit 15 includes the current location information in the area storage unit 14 for the mobile device M in the request. In addition to updating with the current position information, the position registration area information in the area storage unit 14 is updated with the position registration area information. Subsequently, the update unit 15 generates a location registration response including the updated location registration area information and transmits the response to the mobile device M.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the input location registration area information is the same as the location registration area information in the area storage unit 14, the update unit 15 ends the process at that time.

  The response unit 16 is a part that transmits information related to the location registration area of the mobile device M to the switch S in response to a request from the switch S that intends to transmit a paging signal to the mobile device M. The response unit 16 reads the location registration area information and the current location information corresponding to the terminal ID included in the location registration area request received from the exchange S from the area storage unit 14, and generates a location registration area response including these pieces of information. To the exchange S.

  Next, the operation of the mobile communication system 1 shown in FIG. 1 and the mobile communication method according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, processing for determining and updating an individual area will be described with reference to FIG. When the call connection process in the mobile device M is executed and the mobile device M and the base station B are wirelessly connected (step S11), the base station B acquires location information indicating the sector where the mobile device is located ( Step S12), and transmits to the location management server 10 (step S13).

  In the position management server 10, the receiving unit 11 receives the position information (step S13, receiving step), and the history storage unit 12 stores the information (step S14, history storing step). As a result, a history of position information indicating the detailed position of the mobile device M is accumulated in the position management server 10.

  Thereafter, at a predetermined timing (for example, immediately after execution of step S14 or at regular intervals), the determination unit 13 determines an individual area based on the history of position information stored in the history storage unit 12 (step S15). , Decision step). Specifically, the determination unit 13 determines, for a certain mobile device M, a sector whose average residence rate in all time zones is a certain value or more, or an area (cell / sector group) whose average residence rate in a certain time zone is more than a certain value. ) As an individual area. Subsequently, the update unit 15 compares the location registration area information determined by the determination unit 13 with the location registration area information stored in the area storage unit 14. Waits for a location registration request from (step S16).

  Assuming that the update unit 15 is on standby, the location registration processing is subsequently executed at a predetermined timing (such as when entering the area, periodically) in the mobile device M (step S17), and the location registration request including the current location information is transmitted to the base station. When sent via B (step S18), the location registration area information held by the updating unit 15 is stored in the area storage unit 14 to update the individual area of the mobile device M (step S19). . Subsequently, the update unit 15 transmits a location registration response including the latest location registration area information to the mobile device M (step S20). Thereby, the mobile device M can acquire the latest location registration area information.

  Next, the paging process for the mobile device M will be described with reference to FIG. When the exchange S receives an incoming request for calling the mobile device M (step S31), the exchange S transmits a location registration area request including the terminal ID of the mobile device M to the location management server 10 (step S32). In the location management server 10, the response unit 16 reads location registration area information and current location information corresponding to the terminal ID included in the request (step S33), and transmits these information to the exchange S as a location registration area response (step S33). Step S34). Based on this response, the exchange S transmits a paging signal to one or more base stations B that manage the location registration area corresponding to the current location (step S35). Thereafter, each base station B that has received the paging signal transmits the paging signal to the mobile device M, and finally the mobile device M receives the signal from one base station B, thereby completing the paging process ( Step S36).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the history of the location information of the mobile device M is accumulated, and the average residence rate of the mobile device M in a predetermined area is calculated based on the history. Then, based on the retention rate, it is determined whether or not the predetermined area is an individual area. As a result, a location registration area unique to the mobile device is formed corresponding to the place or range where the user stayed for a certain period of time or more, so it is possible to set a location registration area that matches the user's life pattern. Specifically, if the mobile device M stays on average for a certain time in a specific time zone (for example, 8-9 o'clock or 1 day (0-24 o'clock), etc.), it corresponds to the place. Since the predetermined area is the position registration area, it is possible to set a position registration area that matches the user's life pattern.

  When the location registration area is broadened as a whole, the number of location registration requests executed when the mobile device M enters the location registration area decreases, but the amount of paging signal per operation increases. When the position registration area is narrowed as a whole, the opposite decrease occurs. That is, the amount of paging signal and the number of location registration requests in the mobile device M are a trade-off. By setting the location registration area as in the present embodiment, it is possible to balance between these two processes.

  Such an effect will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 8, it is assumed that there is a commuting route T connecting the user's home H and the workplace W, and this range is covered by five common areas C1 to C5. Further, it is assumed that the common area C1 is composed of 100 sectors. When a user makes a call while at home H, 100 paging signals are transmitted in the common area C1. Also, assuming that the location registration process is executed when entering the location registration area, the location registration process is executed four times in the mobile device while the user moves from the home H to the workplace W.

  According to the present embodiment, the situation shown in FIG. 8 can be improved to the situation shown in FIG. 9, for example. In FIG. 9, the individual area D1 is a location registration area composed of only one sector covering the home H, and the individual area D2 is a location composed of a plurality of cells / sectors covering the commuting route T. It is a registration area, and the individual area D3 is a location registration area composed of only one sector that covers the workplace W. Under such circumstances, when a call is made when the user is at home H, only one paging signal is transmitted and the transmission amount of the paging signal is 1/100 compared to the case of FIG. become. Further, the number of position registration processes executed while the user moves from home H to work W is suppressed to twice. However, in the situation shown in FIG. 9, when a phone call is made during a user's commute, the amount of paging signal may be larger than that shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 9, three individual areas D1 to D3 are shown. However, these individual areas are grouped into one individual area, or the individual areas D1 and D3 that are separated from each other are grouped into one individual area. It may be done.

  Further, in the present embodiment, location information indicating the location where the call connection process is executed, that is, the location where the user of the mobile device M is highly likely to make a call is accumulated. An area can be set.

  In the present embodiment, the individual area of the mobile device M is updated in response to the reception of the position information at a time different from the call connection process (for example, when entering the location registration area or at regular intervals). The location registration area information is notified to the mobile device M. Thereby, since the mobile station M can acquire the latest location registration area information at the timing of the location registration process other than during call connection, it is possible to prevent the mobile station M from being overloaded during call connection.

  In the present embodiment, since the position of the mobile device M is specified based on the information about the cell and sector indicating the communication range of the base station B, without using a positioning system such as the global positioning system (GPS), Individual areas can be determined.

  The present invention has been described in detail based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The present invention can be modified in various ways as described below without departing from the scope of the invention.

  In the above embodiment, the cell / sector information is used as the position information. However, the configuration of the position information is not limited to this, and may be, for example, latitude / longitude information calculated from a radio wave delay, base station coordinates, or the like.

  In the above embodiment, the location management server 10 accumulates location information at the time of call connection processing (outgoing processing or incoming processing). However, if the location information is when the mobile station M and the base station B are wirelessly connected, the location information The information acquisition time is not limited. For example, the location management server 10 may store location information when a predetermined data transmission / reception process such as email transmission / reception or content reception is executed or a location registration process is executed in the mobile device. Since such position information is acquired by a conventionally used technique, it is not necessary to newly introduce a special position information acquisition technique.

  In the embodiment described above, the determination unit 13 determines the individual area based on the average residence rate in the entire time zone and the average residence rate in the specific time zone. The location registration area may be determined based only on this. Further, the determining means may determine the location registration area based not on the staying rate but on the staying status indicated by other numerical values such as the accumulated staying time and the number of times position information is recorded for each cell / sector. Further, the determining means may set an individual area composed of a plurality of sectors / cells that exist apart from each other.

  In the above embodiment, the update unit 15 updates the location registration area information when the location registration request is received. However, the update unit executes the update process immediately after the location registration area is determined without waiting for this request. May be.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Mobile communication system, 10 ... Location management server, 11 ... Reception part (reception means), 12 ... History storage part (history storage means), 13 ... Determination part (determination means), 14 ... Area storage part (area storage means) ), 15... Update unit (update means), 16... Response unit, B... Base station, M.

Claims (7)

Receiving means for receiving position information indicating the position of the mobile device;
History storage means for storing the position information received by the receiving means to store a history of position information corresponding to the mobile device;
Based on the history of the location information stored in the history storage means, the retention status of the mobile device in a predetermined area composed of one or more cells or sectors is calculated, and the predetermined status is calculated based on the retention status. Determining means as a location registration area that is a transmission range of a paging signal transmitted to the mobile device;
A mobile communication system comprising: The location information includes information about the time when the mobile device was present at the location indicated by the location information,
When the determination means calculates a residence time of the mobile device in a predetermined area composed of one or more cells or sectors based on the location information history, and the residence time is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. The predetermined area is the location registration area.
The mobile communication system according to claim 1. The determining means calculates an average residence time of the mobile device in the predetermined area in a predetermined time zone, and when the residence time is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the predetermined area is set as the position registration area. ,
The mobile communication system according to claim 2. The receiving means receives position information indicating a position when the mobile station and a base station are wirelessly connected;
The mobile communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. Area storage means for storing location registration area information indicating the location registration area;
Indicates the location registration area determined by the determining means when location information indicating the current location of the mobile device is received from the mobile device at a time different from when call connection processing is performed in the mobile device. Updating the location registration area corresponding to the mobile device by storing location registration area information in the area storage means, and transmitting the location registration area information to the mobile device;
The mobile communication system according to claim 4, further comprising: The location information received by the receiving means is cell / sector information including cell information for identifying a cell covered by a base station and sector information for identifying a sector constituting the cell.
The mobile communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 5. A mobile communication method executed by a mobile communication system, comprising:
A receiving step for receiving position information indicating a position of the mobile device;
A history storage step of storing a history of position information corresponding to the mobile device by storing the position information received in the reception step;
Based on the history of the location information accumulated in the history storage step, calculate the retention status of the mobile device in a predetermined area composed of one or more cells or sectors, and based on the retention status, A determination unit that sets the area as a location registration area that is a transmission range of a paging signal transmitted to the mobile device;
A mobile communication method comprising:

Images