KR20030046656A - Method and Device for Automatically Notifying Location-Information using Mobile Communication Terminal with GPS Receiving Function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for automatically informing of a position by using a mobile communication terminal having a GPS receiving function and a mobile communication terminal implementing the same are provided to make a message including terminal position information, and to transmit the message to a pre-registered terminal or a mail server, thereby informing a user of a self current position and informing a target of the current position information. CONSTITUTION: A mobile communication terminal stores informed targets and informing time selected by a user in a storage(1), and confirms that the informing time comes, then transmits a received GPS signal to an external GPS position confirming system(2). The GPS position confirming system calculates current position information of the terminal from the GPS signal, and transmits the information to the terminal(3). The terminal generates a message including the current position information, and transmits the message to all the informed targets by a text message or E-mail(4). If next informing time comes, the terminal repeats the steps '2-4', and periodically informs the targets of the message.

Description

Automatic location notification method using mobile communication terminal with GPS reception function and mobile communication terminal implementing same {Method and Device for Automatically Notifying Location-Information using Mobile Communication Terminal with GPS Receiving Function}

The present invention is an automatic location notification method using a mobile communication terminal equipped with a GPS receiving function, and a mobile communication terminal for implementing the same, more specifically, after extracting the current terminal location using a GPS receiver and an external GPS server provided in the terminal, The present invention relates to a method for notifying a user's current location by creating a message including location information and transmitting a message to a mobile communication terminal or a mail server of a pre-registered notification subject, and a terminal for implementing the same.

Recently, with the widespread use of mobile communication services, almost all citizens are provided with one or more mobile communication services. These mobile communication services are being expanded to include basic voice calls, text and voice message transmissions, wireless Internet services, and location tracking functions.

Among these, the location tracking function using a mobile communication terminal may be implemented by a method using a cell location registered in a home location register (HLR) and a method using location information by a global positioning system (GPS). .

The method using the cell location information with the terminal has a radius of the cell, that is, the error of about several km, so it is difficult to accurately track the position. However, if the GPS or DGPS (Differential GPS) system is used, the error of several m to tens of meters Branches can provide relatively accurate location information.

Recently, the GPS positioning function "gpsOne" has been added to Qualcomm's CDMA modem chip, the MSM 3300, so that terminals (mobile communication terminals and other portable computer systems) equipped with the CDMA modem can be connected to a reference station or GPS signals from satellites enable fast and accurate positioning (a few tens of meters).

However, until now, the GPS function provided to the terminal can only check the position information and the time of its own, and there are no proposals for various services using the same.

Meanwhile, a method of determining the location of another person having a mobile communication terminal using a conventional base station cell method or a GPS may be performed in the following two ways.

First, if a user named A wants to know the location of the user, he connects to a system that provides a location service (a mobile communication service system or a GPS server for positioning a mobile communication terminal), Enter it. At this time, the location of the unspecified person should not be informed, so the connected user "A" should check whether the authority to request the location of "B". Therefore, A must be authenticated by entering his password into the system. When the user is authenticated, the above-described system extracts the location of the terminal provided with the reference by using the home location register (HLR) or the GPS signal and notifies the terminal of the terminal.

Therefore, users who need to know their location should be informed of information such as their password. However, since these passwords are important identity information, they are reluctant to be leaked, and if they are known to friends, etc., they are very likely to leak to third parties.

In addition, the above-described service must wait until another user who informed the password requests confirmation of his location. However, in case of an emergency, you must actively inform others of your location. Of course, if you know your current location, you can write a message containing the location information to send a message to another terminal, but it is inconvenient because it takes a lot of time to write a message and enter a phone number, If the location of is unknown, sending a message is of no use.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above-mentioned drawbacks by identifying the exact current position of the user by using a mobile communication terminal having a GPS receiver and actively transmitting the location information to a mobile communication terminal or a mail server of another registered person. It is to overcome.

On the other hand, there are the following conventional GPS using services related to the present invention.

First of all, it's an E911 service in the United States. When calling emergency number 911 by a mobile communication device equipped with a GPS receiver, the current location of the terminal automatically informs the nearest police or fire department.

Although similar in terms of notifying the position of the terminal using the GPS in an emergency, it is different from the object of the present invention in that only the police station or the fire station is notified and the user cannot personally designate a notification target. In other words, even if you use the E911 service, you do not notify the parents of the location of the disabled and infants, or in case of emergency do not inform their personal location, such as friends and parents.

Another service is the transport truck location service. This service is to use GPS to track the location of logistics truck in the logistics company automatically. Each truck is equipped with GPS receiver, and the GPS information received from GPS is connected to IWF or short message. The transmission system (SMS) is transmitted to the logistics server's GPS server, which uses the GPS server to track the current position of each truck in real time. This also has a disadvantage similar to that of the above-described E911 in that it is not possible to arbitrarily designate a subject to notify its location.

An object of the present invention is to provide a mobile communication terminal having a GPS receiver and a method for notifying other registered persons of their current location information by using an external GPS positioning system and a mobile communication terminal implementing the same.

Another object of the present invention is to register the other party and the notification time information to notify their location, the short message or e-mail to the other party registered their location information confirmed from an external GPS positioning system using a mobile communication terminal To provide a method for notification in the form of and a mobile communication terminal implementing the same.

1 is a functional block diagram of a mobile communication terminal for providing a location information service according to the present invention.

Figure 2 schematically shows the components of the overall system for implementing the method according to the invention and the data flow between them.

3 is an overall flowchart of a method for implementing a location notification method according to the present invention, FIG. 3A is a notification subject and notification time registration step, and FIG. 3B is a location information notification process.

Figure 4 shows an example of the user terminal screen in the process of implementing the location notification service according to the present invention.

The mobile communication terminal for achieving the object of the present invention as described above comprises a GPS receiver, a wireless transmitter and receiver for receiving GPS signals from an input unit, an output unit, a storage unit, a fixed station or a satellite. 1) a function of receiving the location notification counterpart information and notification time information input from the user and storing the information in a storage unit; and 2) transmitting the received GPS signal to an external GPS positioning system when the notification time arrives. 3) generate a message including the received location information, and send a text message or an e-mail to the registered communication device or mail server of the registered counterpart; have.

In addition, the control unit of the terminal may be provided with a function that can calculate the current position information directly from the GPS signal without sending the received GPS signal to the external GPS positioning system.

The self-location notification method using the mobile communication terminal with GPS reception function according to the present invention comprises the following steps.

As a method of using a mobile communication terminal having a GPS receiver, an external GPS positioning system, a mobile communication network,

The terminal receiving notification subject and notification time registration step of receiving the location notification counterpart information and notification time information input by the user and registering them in a database;

The terminal, when the current time corresponds to the notification time, a positioning request step of transmitting a GPS signal received by the GPS receiver to a GPS positioning system via a mobile communication network;

GPS positioning system is a location information specifying step of extracting the current location information of the terminal from the transmitted GPS signal, and transmits to the terminal via the mobile communication network;

The terminal generates a location notification message including the current location information received, and the location notification step of transmitting a location notification message to a mobile communication terminal of a registered subject or a mail server having a registered subject.

On the other hand, when the mobile communication terminal according to the present invention has the function of calculating the terminal position directly from the GPS signal, the method according to the present invention comprises the following steps.

The terminal receiving notification subject and notification time registration step of receiving the location notification counterpart information and notification time information input by the user and registering them in a database;

Calculating, by the terminal, location information of the terminal from a GPS signal received by the GPS receiver when the current time corresponds to a notification time;

The terminal generates a location notification message including the calculated current location information, and the location notification step of transmitting a location notification message to a mobile communication terminal of a registered subject or a mail server having a registered subject.

The notification subject registration is performed by storing the counterpart terminal's telephone number or e-mail account input by the user in the storage unit, or by selecting a specific group or individual among the subjects stored in the telephone directory of the storage unit and storing it as the notification subject. .

Notification time registration selects the current time or a specific time in the future as an initial time, selects a notification period which is a period to notify, and 1) a method of selecting a final time to notify each notification period from the initial time to the last time, 2) One or more methods of selecting the number of notifications may be used to notify each notification period by a predetermined number of times from the initial time.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail an embodiment of the present invention.

1 is a functional block diagram of a mobile communication terminal for providing a location information service according to the present invention.

The mobile communication terminal 100 according to the present invention includes an input unit 110, an output unit 120, a storage unit 130, a wireless transmission / reception unit 140, and a controller 150 like a general mobile communication terminal. It further comprises a GPS receiver 160 for receiving a GPS signal. As described above, the GPS receiver may be implemented using, for example, a wireless communication chip having a GPS function, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The control unit 150 1) provides a user interface to enter the notification subject and notification time, and stores the input notification subject and notification time information, and 2) when the notification time arrives by identifying the time , A function of transmitting a GPS signal received by the GPS receiver to an external GPS positioning system, receiving and storing current location information calculated and retransmitted by the GPS positioning system, and 3) a text message including the current location information. It generates and transmits to the registered user system (mobile communication terminal or mail server).

In the second embodiment of the present invention in which the terminal directly calculates the position, the controller 150 has a function of calculating the terminal position information directly from the GPS signal without transmitting the received GPS signal to an external positioning system. Doing. These various functions may be implemented in some software.

Such a mobile communication terminal may have any form as long as it has a GPS receiver and a control unit of the aforementioned function. That is, it is a broad concept that includes all terminals such as cellular phones, PCS, IMT-2000, PDA, handheld PC of GSM or CDMA type.

Fig. 2 schematically shows the components of the entire system and the data flow between the components for implementing the method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The entire system includes a mobile communication terminal 100 having the above-described function, a mobile communication network 210 including a GPS positioning system 200, a mobile communication exchange (MSC) 211, and at least one target mobile communication terminal ( 220). In addition, the notification using the e-mail should be provided with at least one e-mail server 230, each terminal user has an account, and the Internet network 240 connecting the mobile communication network and the mail server.

The GPS positioning system 200 receives and demodulates a GPS signal transmitted from a terminal and calculates a current position of the terminal.

However, in the second embodiment of the present invention in which the terminal directly calculates the position, the GPS system is not included in the entire system, and the position calculation from the GPS signal is directly performed by the terminal.

The GPS signal received by the terminal includes signals from GPS satellites such as satellite identification code and signal transmission time, and the GPS positioning system obtains pseudo-range from the satellite to the terminal from the satellite signal. Errors, satellite orbit errors, multipath errors, etc.) to obtain accurate satellite-to-terminal distances. Knowing the pseudoranges of three or more satellites, the location of a point on the earth's surface can be determined by trigonometry. In the case of a single satellite navigation system using only pseudo distances, a large error of about 100 m is generated, but when the phase of a carrier wave can be accurately understood, accuracy of several cm can be secured.

Since the method of calculating the position of the antibody using the GPS signal corresponds to a general GPS technology, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The mobile communication network 210 is a system for providing a wireless communication service. The mobile communication network 210 includes a base station (BS), a wireless telephone exchange (MSC) 211, a home location register (HLR), and the like. The data is modulated by a CDMA or GSM method. Means a communication channel responsible for transmitting and receiving the. Since the GPS signal is a CDMA system, the mobile communication network in the present invention is preferably a CDMA system.

In addition, since the Internet network 240 and the e-mail server 230 and the like is currently used technology, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The data flow between these components is outlined below.

First, ① the mobile communication terminal stores the notification target and the selected time (including the notification period and the number of notifications) selected by the user in the storage unit, and ② checks that the notification time has arrived and then sends the GPS signal received from the GPS receiver. Transmit to an external GPS positioning system. ③ The GPS positioning system that receives the GPS signal from the terminal calculates the current location information of the terminal from the GPS signal and sends it to the terminal again. ④ The terminal which receives its current location information generates a message including the current location information and transmits the message to all notification subjects retrieved from the storage by text message or e-mail. ⑤ When the next notification time arrives due to the notification period, repeating the above steps ② to ④, the notification subjects can be periodically notified of the location information message.

However, the above data flow is limited to the first embodiment of the present invention using a separate GPS positioning system, and the process of calculating the current position information of the terminal from the GPS signal received by the terminal instead of ② and ③ during the above process. Include.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a location notification method according to the present invention. FIG. 3A is a notification subject and notification time registration step. FIG. 3B is a location information notification process.

First, the user enters the location notification service menu of the terminal and selects "environment setting" (S311). Then, a screen inquiring whether to designate a notification subject is provided, and the predetermined notification subject information is used as it is (S312), or a new notification subject is designated (S313).

The designation of the notification subject includes: 1) a method of inputting notification subject information including a mobile communication terminal number or an e-mail account using a keypad; and 2) notifying an individual or a group member in a group searched or extracted from a stored record such as a phone book. One or more of the methods of selecting a subject may be used.

Next, a notification start time, that is, an initial time, is selected. In this embodiment, as an initial time, 1) a method of making the current time an initial time (current time setting mode; S316), and 2) a method of making an initial time when a period specified by the user has elapsed from the present time (the setting mode after a designated period) S317), 3) One of the methods (designated time setting mode; S318) of directly setting a user-specified time as an initial time is used. For example, according to the method of 2), if the specified period is entered as 1 hour while the current time is 13:00, the notification service starts from 14:00, and in the method of 3), the notification start time (initial time) is directly set. Enter 14:00.

Next, a notification period is input (S319). This notification period is used to repeatedly notify the location of the terminal during the notification time, and is useful when, for example, the user wants to inform the user of the movement path of the terminal. Of course, it is not necessary to enter a notification period, in which case only one position notification is made at the notification start time.

Next, the notification deadline is set (S320). In this embodiment, in order to designate a notification deadline, 1) designate the number of notifications (count setting mode; S321), 2) designate a period (notice period) for performing notification from the initial time (notice period setting mode; S322), 3) a method of specifying a direct notification deadline time (notification deadline setting mode; S322) or the like may be used. Of course, if you did not set the notification period above, you would not need to specify a notification deadline (since one notification would be sufficient).

When the notification deadline time is determined, it is preferable that the terminal control unit calculates and stores the number of notifications necessary to facilitate the notification process and stores it as a variable value. This is for facilitating program implementation. For example, the notification frequency variable may be decreased by one for each notification, and may be repeatedly performed until the value is finally zero.

The calculation of the required number of notifications depends on the method of setting the notification deadline time. In the method of 1), the number of input notifications can be regarded as the required number of notifications directly (S323). It is calculated based on the notification period / notification period (S324), and in the method of 3), it is possible to calculate the required number of notifications = (notification deadline time-notification start time) / notification period (S325).

As described above, the environment setting process is terminated by storing the input or calculated information of the notification subject, the notification start time, the notification closing time, the notification period, and the required number of notifications in the storage unit (S326).

3B illustrates the flow of the positioning and notification process according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The terminal controller checks whether a notification start time has arrived (S351), and when the notification start time reaches the GPS receiver. Transmitting the GPS signal received from the GPS positioning system (S353), and receives the current position information of the terminal from the GPS positioning system (S354). Generate a (text) message containing the received location information (S355), and send a text message to the terminal of each subject of notification, until there are no subjects of notification, or each subject has an e-mail server. Send an e-mail to (S356, S357).

After notifying all the notification subjects of the message, the required number of notifications is decreased by one (S358), and then waits for the notification period. When the notification period passes and the next notification time arrives, the above steps S352 to S358 are repeated. This repetition is continued until the required number of notifications becomes zero (S359, S360).

However, the flow according to the second embodiment of the present invention in which the terminal directly calculates a position from the GPS signal may proceed similarly to that of FIG. 3B, and detailed description thereof will be omitted to avoid duplication.

Figure 4 shows an example of the user terminal screen in the process of implementing the location notification service according to the present invention.

Figure 4a is the initial screen of the environment setting, "1. Notification subject registration", "2. Notification time registration" items are provided, "2. Notification time registration", "1. Notification start time setting", "2 Submenus of "Notification Period Setting", "3. Notification Deadline Time and Time Setting" are provided.

4B illustrates an example of a location information message received on a terminal screen of a notification subject. "The current location of Hong Gil-dong (011-9234-2314) on November 15, 2001, 14:00 is 126.12.23 and 34.34.23 north latitudes. (Yeoksam-dong 123, Yeoksam Station). "

In the above, the first embodiment of the present invention, i.e., the terminal merely receives a GPS signal from a satellite and transmits it to an external GPS positioning system, and the actual position calculation is described by an external GPS positioning system. However, if the performance (storage performance, processing speed, etc.) of the terminal is improved as in the second embodiment, both the GPS signal reception and location calculation may be performed inside the terminal.

In addition, the position calculation does not necessarily use GPS, and other means such as an inertial measurement unit may be used as long as the exact position of the terminal can be calculated.

By using the method and the terminal of the present invention as described above, it is possible to notify the person who needs to inform the location of his / her current location in the form of a text message or an e-mail. It can be used in many places, such as emergency notifications that can not be called.

In particular, it is not necessary to inform the notification subject of his or her own password in order to inform the location of his or her personal information, there is no fear of leakage, it is possible to notify a relatively accurate location by GPS.

In addition, since the notification is simply performed by using a text message or an e-mail, the system (terminal, computer) of the notification recipient does not have to have a GPS function.

Also, instead of passively waiting for someone else to identify you, you can actively notify your location of the person you want to follow, as described above. It can be usefully used for notification in case of emergency.

Claims (6)

It consists of a GPS receiver, a radio transmitter and receiver for receiving a GPS signal from an input unit, an output unit, a storage unit, a fixed station or a satellite, The control unit 1) to receive the location notification subject information and notification time information input from the user and to store in the storage, and 2) when the notification time comes to transmit the received GPS signal to the external GPS positioning system, 3) a function of receiving the current location information provided by the GPS positioning system, 3) generating a message including the received location information, and sending a text message or an e-mail to a mobile communication terminal or a mail server of a registered counterpart. Position communication mobile communication terminal, characterized in that it comprises. The method of claim 1, The control unit has a function of calculating the terminal position information directly from the GPS signal received by the GPS receiver, instead of the function of 2) characterized in that the mobile communication terminal for location notification. A method implemented as a system including a mobile communication terminal having a GPS receiver, an external GPS positioning system, and a mobile communication network, The terminal receiving notification subject and notification time registration step of receiving the location notification counterpart information and notification time information input by the user in a database; A positioning request step of transmitting, by the terminal, the GPS signal received by the GPS receiver to the GPS positioning system when the current time corresponds to the notification time; GPS positioning system is a location information specifying step of extracting the current location information of the terminal from the transmitted GPS signal and transmitting to the terminal; The terminal generates a location notification message including the current location information received, and the location notification step of transmitting a location notification message to a mobile communication terminal of a registered subject or a mail server having a registered subject. Automatic location notification method using a GPS function mobile communication terminal characterized in that. A mobile communication terminal having a GPS receiver, and a method using a mobile communication network, The terminal receiving notification subject and notification time registration step of receiving the location notification counterpart information and notification time information input by the user in a database; A location information specifying step of calculating, by the terminal, current location information of the corresponding terminal from a GPS signal received by the GPS receiver when the current time corresponds to a notification time; And, The terminal generates a location notification message including the calculated terminal location information, and the location notification step of transmitting a location notification message to a mobile communication terminal of a registered subject or a mail server having a registered subject. Automatic location notification method using a GPS function mobile communication terminal characterized in that. The method according to claim 3 or 4, The notification subject registration is performed by storing a counterpart terminal's telephone number or an e-mail account input by the user with a keypad in a storage unit, or by selecting a specific group or an individual among those stored in the telephone directory of the storage unit as a notification subject. , The notification time registration selects a current time or a specific time in the future as an initial time (notification start time), selects a notification period which is a period for notification, and 1) sets a final time to notify every notification period from the initial time to the last time. A method of selecting, 2) an automatic location notification method using a GPS function mobile communication terminal, characterized in that at least one of a method of selecting a number of notifications so as to be notified for each predetermined period of time from an initial time is used. The method of claim 5, And performing the remaining steps except for the notification subject and notification time registration step at every notification period set during the notification period from the notification start time to the notification dead time.