JP2586306B2 - Mobile station location tracking method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for identifying the location of a mobile station in a mobile communication system using a small zone configuration, and more particularly to a location for sequentially tracking the location of a mobile station in an empty state, that is, an unused state. Regarding tracking method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a system in which one radio base station covers the entire area and communicates with a mobile station in a service area when performing mobile communication in a wide service area is called a large zone system. On the other hand, the small zone method divides a service area into a plurality of small areas, installs radio base stations in each of the divided areas, and mobile stations in each area communicate with these radio base stations. It performs communication. The small zone system is used, for example, in a car telephone system currently in commercial service.
It is also adopted in the "premise mobile phone system" disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 428.

[0003] In such a small zone system, in order to enable incoming call connection regardless of where the mobile station moves within the service area, location registration processing for storing the area where the mobile station is located is performed. I do. However, in the small zone method, the wireless zone covered by one wireless base station is narrow, and movement between wireless zones occurs frequently. Therefore, in order to suppress the processing of the electronic exchange required for the location registration processing and the battery consumption of the mobile station, In addition, location registration is performed for each call area in which a plurality of wireless zones are bundled.

That is, a location information signal for location registration that differs for each paging area is transmitted from the radio base station to the control channel on which the mobile station is waiting, and the mobile station detects a change in the location information signal. Then, a location registration request is sent to the wireless base station to perform location registration. Therefore, the location of the mobile station can be identified on a per call area basis. For a call to a mobile station that moves within the service area, a method is used in which all wireless zones in the call area whose location is registered are simultaneously called.

Further, with the spread of mobile phones as one of such mobile communication systems, applications using location information of mobile phones are expected to go beyond the basic function of simply making and receiving calls anywhere. Has been sent. In a premises mobile phone system using a small zone system with a radius of about 30 m called a micro cell, for example, a system that automatically tracks a security guard who patrols a high-rise building and issues an alarm report when it does not move for a certain period of time, A system for searching for a destination such as an employee's presence, during a meeting, or going out has been considered.

[0006]

In the conventional mobile communication system using the small zone configuration, the location registration is performed as described above. Therefore, the location of the mobile station can be identified only in units of a call area where the wireless zones are bundled. Therefore, there is a problem that an application using the location information of the mobile station cannot be realized. In addition, in order to perform location registration in units of wireless zones, there is a problem that the processing load on the electronic exchange and the battery consumption of the mobile station must be sacrificed. An object of the present invention is to provide a location tracking method capable of identifying the location of a mobile station in wireless zone units without significantly increasing the processing load for location registration.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a method for tracking the location of a mobile station, wherein the mobile station moves between call areas.
Call, service activation, or wireless
When the mobile station moves between the wireless base stations or receives a silent ringing call signal through the wireless base station, the mobile station sends a position confirmation signal for confirming the location, and the line control means transmits the position confirmation signal from the mobile station via the wireless base station. When the position confirmation signal is received, the time and the wireless zone where the mobile station is located are stored as the position confirmation, and a non-ringing call signal is transmitted to the mobile station in which the position confirmation is not performed for a certain time or more. It is characterized by the following.

[0008] Further, when the mobile station moves between the calling areas, performs calling or service activation, moves between wireless zones during communication, or receives a silent ringing call signal via a wireless base station. Sends a position confirmation signal for confirming the location, and when the line control means receives the position confirmation signal from the mobile station via the radio base station, the time and the position of this mobile station are determined as the location confirmation. The wireless zone is stored and a non-ringing incoming signal is transmitted to a mobile station for which location confirmation has not been performed for a predetermined time or more than one predetermined time in one wireless zone, and the location is determined in response to the non-ringing incoming signal. For mobile stations that do not return a confirmation signal, location confirmation is stopped.

[0009]

According to the present invention, when the mobile station is in a predetermined state or when a non-ringing incoming call signal is received via the radio base station, a position confirmation signal is sent from the mobile station, and the line control means checks the position. When a signal is received, the time and the wireless zone where the mobile station is located are stored in the line control means, and the location is confirmed. The line control means sends a silent ringing call signal.

[0010] Further, when the mobile station moves between the calling areas, performs calling or service activation, moves between wireless zones during communication, or receives a silent ringing call signal via a wireless base station. The mobile station transmits a position confirmation signal when the line control unit receives the position confirmation signal, and the time and the wireless zone where the mobile station is located are stored in the line control unit. Is performed, and a non-ringing call signal is transmitted from the line control means to the mobile station which has not been located for a predetermined time or more than a predetermined time in one wireless zone, and the non-ringing call signal is transmitted. For mobile stations that do not return a location confirmation signal, location confirmation is stopped.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a location tracking method of a mobile station according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 to 6 are radio base stations, 1
Reference numerals 1 to 16 denote wireless zones formed by the wireless base stations 1 to 6, respectively, reference numeral 20 denotes a paging area that bundles the wireless zones 11 to 13, and reference numeral 21 denotes a paging area that also bundles the wireless zones 14 to 16. Reference numerals 30 to 32 denote mobile stations such as mobile telephones, when the mobile station moves between the call areas 20 and 21, when a call or service is started, when the mobile station moves between wireless zones during communication, and when the wireless base stations 1 to 6 move. When a non-ringing incoming call signal is received via, a position registration signal, a calling signal, a position change signal, and a response signal, which are position confirmation signals for position confirmation, are respectively transmitted.

Numeral 40 denotes an electronic exchange which is a line control means, which stores the time and the wireless zone where the mobile station is located when the location confirmation signal is received from each of the mobile stations 30 to 32, and confirms the location. Then, a non-ringing incoming call signal is transmitted to a mobile station that has not been located for a predetermined period of time or has been in one wireless zone for a predetermined period of time. 4
Reference numeral 1 denotes a general communication network which is a fixed telephone network or a dedicated telephone network if the mobile stations 30 to 32 are portable telephones, and reference numeral 42 denotes a maintenance terminal for performing maintenance operation of this system.

The electronic exchange 40 accommodates wireless base stations 1 to 6 and a general communication network 41. In the internal storage device, location information indicating which zone each of the mobile stations 30 to 32 is in the wireless zone 11 to 16 and a location confirmation time which is a time when the location is confirmed are stored.

Each of the radio base stations 1 to 6 is a radio zone 1
Nos. 1 to 16 are formed, and the mobile stations 30 to 32 transmit position information signals at predetermined cycles to control channels on which they are waiting. The calling areas 20 and 21 are configured by changing the position information signal between the radio base stations 1 to 3 and the radio base stations 4 to 6.

Next, a method of tracking the location of a mobile station in such a mobile communication system will be described. An idle mobile station that is not communicating, for example, mobile station 30 is in wireless zone 1
When moving from 3 to the wireless zone 14, the calling area changes from 20 to 21 and the position information signal changes. The mobile station 30 monitors this position information signal, detects that the call area has changed to 21 by detecting a change in the position information signal, and sends a position registration signal requesting position registration to the wireless base station 4.

When the electronic exchange 40 receives the location registration signal from the mobile station 30 via the radio base station 4, the electronic exchange 40 interprets the corresponding radio zone 14 from the number of the radio base station 4 that has been relayed and performs radio communication as location information. The zone 14 is stored, and at the same time, the time at this time is stored as the position confirmation time.

Subsequently, when the vacant mobile station 30 moves from the wireless zone 14 to the wireless zone 16, the location registration signal is not sent from the mobile station 30 because the mobile station 30 is in the same calling area 21, and the location information and the location confirmation time are not sent. Is not stored.

Next, when a call is received from the general communication network 41 to, for example, the mobile station 32, the electronic exchange 40 reads out the wireless zone 11 where the mobile station 32 is located from the location information of the storage device, and calls the wireless zone 11 including the wireless zone 11. All the radio base stations 1 to 3 constituting the area 20 make a simultaneous call to the mobile station 32 to call a desired mobile station 32 and connect to the general communication network 41.

Next, an empty mobile station, for example, mobile station 3
1 is a call to the general communication network 41 or call waiting,
When starting a service such as transfer, the mobile station 31 automatically selects a radio base station 4 having a good communication state and sends a call signal to the radio base station 4. And the electronic exchange 40
A connection is established between the mobile station 31 and the general communication network 41 via the wireless base station 4 to establish communication, and the wireless zone 14 corresponding to the number of the wireless base station 4 is stored as location information. The confirmation time is stored.

Further, when the mobile station 31 starts moving during such communication and moves from the radio zone 14 to the radio zone 15 and finally enters the radio zone 15, the mobile station 31 communicates with the radio base station 4 with the movement. The condition worsens. Therefore, mobile station 3
1 is the best radio base station 5 by comparing the communication qualities of the position information signals transmitted from the plurality of radio base stations 1 to 6.
Is automatically selected, and a position change signal is sent to the wireless base station 5 to request a position change (communication channel switching).

The electronic exchange 40 switches communication from the channel currently being communicated to the channel of the destination wireless base station 5 to continue communication, and, as the location information, the wireless base station 5 corresponding to the number of the wireless base station 5. The zone 15 is stored, and the position confirmation time at this time is stored. In this manner, the electronic exchange 40 stores the location information, which is the number of the wireless zone 11 to 16 in which each of the mobile stations 30 to 32 is located, and the location confirmation time at which the location was confirmed, thereby confirming the location of the mobile station. Do.

Next, a description will be given of the location confirmation for sequentially tracking the moving free mobile station. For an empty mobile station, the calling area 20,
The location is confirmed when moving between the stations 21. However, in this method, the location is not confirmed when traveling between wireless zones. Therefore, the location of a mobile station which is likely to be moving is confirmed as follows.

The electronic exchange 40 searches the contents of the storage device at a fixed cycle, for example, one second, and when the location is confirmed last time, there is a change in the wireless zone, and a certain time T1 ( For example, a mobile station in an empty state where T1 = 10 seconds or more has passed is searched for.

For example, when the mobile station 30 in an empty state moves from the wireless zone 13 to the wireless zone 14, its location is confirmed. If a certain period of time T1 elapses from this location confirmation, the mobile station 30 starts to operate. The above condition is satisfied. When the electronic exchange 40 finds the mobile station 30 that satisfies the above condition, all of the radio base stations 4 constituting the calling area 21 including the radio zone 14 in which the mobile station 30 is supposed to be located.
6 to 6 simultaneously transmit an incoming call signal (hereinafter referred to as a non-ringing incoming call signal) for position confirmation without ringing to the mobile station 30.

The mobile station 30 compares the communication qualities of non-ringing incoming signals transmitted from the radio base stations 4 to 6, automatically selects a radio base station 6 having good communication quality, and returns a response signal. I do. At this time, since the mobile station 30 does not perform any ringing or display, the user of the mobile station 30 is not conscious of the operation.

Then, the electronic exchange 40 returns the response signal to the radio base station 6 as the location information.
Is stored, and the position confirmation time at this time is stored. In this way, the location of an unoccupied mobile station that is considered to be moving can be sequentially confirmed by a method such as storing the location information and the history of the location confirmation time.

Next, a description will be given of how to confirm the location of a mobile station that has stayed in a certain wireless zone after moving once.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a method for confirming the location of such a mobile station. P0 to P4 are the position confirmation times when the location is confirmed, and particularly P0 is the position confirmation time when the wireless zone changes.

The electronic exchange 40 searches the contents of the storage device at a constant period in the same manner as described above, and searches for an empty mobile station that has passed a predetermined time T3 or more since the previous location check. Here, the elapsed time from the position confirmation time P0 when the wireless zone is last changed in the past location confirmation to the previous location confirmation is T2, and for example, the predetermined time T3 is T3 = T2 / 10.

Assuming that the mobile station 32 has once moved to an empty mobile station currently staying in the wireless zone 11 and the current time is P2 in FIG. 2, the elapsed time T2 is the time when the wireless zone was last changed. It is the time from the position confirmation time P0 to the previous position confirmation time P1, and T2a is the time. Then, at time P2 when a predetermined time T3a based on the elapsed time T2a has elapsed, the location is confirmed in the same manner as described above.

That is, the electronic exchange 40 is connected to the mobile station 32 from the radio base stations 1 to 3 constituting the calling area 20 including the radio zone 11 where the mobile station 32 is assumed to be located.
, The mobile station 32 automatically selects the radio base station 1 and returns a response signal. Then, the electronic exchange 40 determines the location information and the location confirmation time P.
2 is stored.

Next, as time elapses, the elapsed time T2 becomes T2b, which is the time from the position confirmation time P0 to the previous position confirmation time P2, and the current time becomes the time P3 at which the predetermined time T3b based on the elapsed time T2b has elapsed. , The location is confirmed in the same manner as described above. The same applies to time P4.

If the elapsed time T2a is 10 seconds, T3a is 1 second. As a result, T2b is 11 seconds, T3b is 1.1 seconds,
T2c is 12.1 seconds, and T3c is 1.21 seconds. As described above, for the mobile station that has stayed in a certain wireless zone after moving once, the predetermined time T3 for performing the location confirmation is used.
Is gradually becoming longer.

If the mobile station is out of the service area or the power supply is shut off and the mobile station does not return a necessary response signal to a normal incoming call signal or a non-ringing incoming call signal, the electronic exchange 40 is out of the service area. This is stored as location information, and the location tracking process is suspended until the mobile station registers its location next time.

As described above, the radio zones 11 to 16 where all the mobile stations 30 to 32 are located can be automatically tracked. Therefore, in a mobile communication system in which movement between radio zones occurs frequently and mobile stations that are vacant move more than mobile stations that are communicating with each other, the mobile stations that are vacant are sequentially checked for their location. By doing so, it is not necessary to frequently check the location of the mobile station even if the location of the mobile station is identified for each wireless zone.

In a private mobile telephone system, a calling area is generally set in units of several floors.
Since human behavior patterns in a company often remain in a certain place, it is particularly effective to apply the present invention to a private mobile phone system. A maintenance terminal 42 for carrying out the maintenance operation of this system is connected to the electronic exchange 40, a mobile station to be tracked is designated from the maintenance terminal 42, and only the mobile station to which the electronic exchange 40 is designated is located. If confirmation is made, only an arbitrary mobile station can be tracked.

[0036]

According to the present invention, the location is confirmed when the location confirmation signal is transmitted from the mobile station. Since the location is confirmed by sending a ringing call signal, there is no need to frequently confirm the location of the mobile station, and the processing capacity of the line control means and the battery of the mobile station are not wasted and the wireless zone unit is not wasted. Can identify the location of the mobile station. Further, since the location of the mobile station can be identified for each wireless zone, various applications based on the location of the mobile station can be realized.

When a location confirmation signal is transmitted from the mobile station, the location is confirmed. If the location is not confirmed for a predetermined time or more, or if the mobile station is in a wireless zone for a predetermined time or more, The location control is performed by sending a silent ringing signal from the line control means, and the mobile station that does not return a location confirmation signal in response to the silent ringing signal stops the location checking, so it moves in wireless zone units. The location of the station can be identified, and the processing load on the line control means and the battery consumption of the mobile station can be further reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a location tracking method of a mobile station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a location confirmation method of a mobile station staying in a certain wireless zone after moving.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 to 6 wireless base station 11 to 16 wireless zone 20, 21 calling area 30 to 32 mobile station 40 electronic exchange 41 general communication network

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A wireless base station installed in each of a plurality of wireless zones constituting a call area, a mobile station communicating with the wireless base station, a mobile station via the wireless base station, and another communication network In a mobile communication system having line control means for performing line connection, in a location tracking method for tracking the location of a mobile station, the mobile station transmits a call when it moves between call areas.
Or when starting a service, communication between wireless zones
When moving or receiving a non-ringing call signal via the radio base station, sends a position confirmation signal for position confirmation, the line control means, the position from the mobile station via the radio base station, When the confirmation signal is received, the time and the wireless zone where the mobile station is located are stored as the location confirmation, and the silent ringing call signal is transmitted to the mobile station in which the location confirmation is not performed for a certain time or more. A location tracking method for a mobile station. 2. A radio base station installed in each of a plurality of radio zones constituting a call area, a mobile station communicating with the radio base station, a mobile station via the radio base station, and another communication network. In a mobile communication system having line control means for performing line connection, in a location tracking method for tracking the location of a mobile station, when the mobile station moves between paging areas, a call or service activation is performed. When transmitting between wireless zones during communication, or when receiving a non-ringing incoming call signal via a wireless base station, sends a position confirmation signal for location confirmation, the line control means, When a position confirmation signal is received from the mobile station via the base station, the time and the wireless zone where the mobile station is located are stored as the position confirmation, and if the position confirmation is not performed for a predetermined time or more, Sending the silent ringing signal to a mobile station that has been in one wireless zone for a predetermined time or more, and canceling the location determination for a mobile station that does not return a position confirmation signal in response to the silent ringing signal. Characteristic mobile station location tracking method.