Method for tracking mobile users in a cellular network
US6236861A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 30, 1998 |
| Grant date | May 22, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 30, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04W48/08
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method for tracking users of a cellular communications network in which the network pages users according to registration messages received from the users. Within each location area of the network, the cells are assigned identities. The cells broadcast codes representative of those identities to the users. In a first preferred embodiment, the identities facilitate the computation, by the users, of distance traveled. Each user transmits a registration message only after traveling a certain distance. In a second preferred embodiment, neighboring cells have different identities. Each user transmits a registration message only after exceeding a threshold number of transits from one cell to another. In a third preferred embodiment, each cell is assigned a unique identity. Each user transmits registration messages periodically, but only if the cell in which the user is located has changed since the last registration transmission.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.