FORM 2
The Patent Act 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
The Patent Rules  2005

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(SEE SECTION 10 AND RULE 13)

TITLE OF THE INVENTION

“Mobile Communication Networks For Providing Remote Location Information”

APPLICANT:

Name Nationality Address
Alcatel Lucent France 3 avenue Octave Greard 75007 Paris

The following specification particularly describes and ascertains the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:-

TECHNICAL FIELD

[001] The present invention relates to telecommunication networks and  more particularly  to providing remote location based information services in telecommunication networks.

BACKGROUND

[002] Information on remote locations may be required by different persons for different reasons. Due to this  several information providing systems have been employed to provide a person relevant information on any field as desired by him. There are mechanisms that provide a user with information on a different place or region of interest. For example  a user may be interested in fetching information on weather of a particular location  traffic information of a location  condition of the soil in a particular location for agriculture  places of interest around the chosen location and so on.
[003] Considering the example of weather information  when a person wants to plan a trip  he may want to check the information on weather conditions of the place he would like to visit so that he is prepared for the place and ensures that he carries proper clothing. In another example  an agriculturist may be interested in determining soil conditions of a particular location of interest as it may guide him to determine the crops that may be grown at the location and so on. Due to all these reasons during recent years the demand for information from remote locations has arisen sharply. Developments in communication devices have enabled the access to information as and when desired.
[004] In the current scenario  there exist some external entities that provide the location specific information. These entities place location based monitoring mechanisms at certain specific locations in a particular geographic area and from here the information is provided to entities such as radio stations  television channels  mobile service providers and the like. Although  these mechanisms provide decent information on the location they suffer from some drawbacks. For example  these systems have information only on the important cities of a county. If a person would like to know the information on some remote town or location within a country such information is not available. This is because of high cost of such mechanisms and the additional infrastructure requirements. These are only employed in prime areas or cities of interest. For example  monitoring mechanisms may be placed in capitals and few important cities of a country that may be important business centers and so on. Further  even in the prime city there is no information on every corner of the city.
[005] Further  there are no present day mechanisms to employ existing infrastructure and provide the user with detailed information on his location of interest. In an example  Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) serves to be one of the best locations for placement of the information monitoring mechanisms and providing information to the user as and when required. This is because; the BTS’s are located even in remote corners of the cities and hence provide a wide area of coverage. In addition  they do not involve any additional infrastructure costs as BTS are already located in every remote corner possible for communication purpose. As a result  these would serve as an ideal location for placement of the information monitoring and providing mechanisms. However  these areas haven’t still been explored as a means for housing information based systems.
[006] Further  some of the information provided by present day systems is very uncertain and not reliable. This is because these location based mechanisms generally cover a large area and the information provided is for this whole coverage. However  information may be specific to a particular location and may vary from region to region even within a city.
[007] Some location based information systems provide information to the mobile phone of a person. However  these systems provide a long selection list to the mobile user. As discussed above  the information on every area may also not be available. The entire process of manually ordering the information and searching through the available lists makes the process cumbersome. This also adds to the delay in fetching the information.
[008] Due to aforementioned reasons a highly reliable location based information system that provides updates on every area of interest at preferred periodic intervals is the need of the hour. The system must also ensure that the location information is customized as per the requirements of the user.

SUMMARY

[009] In view of the foregoing  an embodiment herein provides a system for providing location information by employing condition sensors at Node B of a communication network. The network sends the location information as a part of internal message of the network and further comprising the Node B configured for housing at least one condition sensor for recording location information on areas that fall under the coverage of the Node B  decoding the location information recorded on the condition sensor  and sending the location information recorded by the sensor to an information server through a Radio Network Controller (RNC). The RNC configured for receiving the location information from the Node B of the communication network and sending the location information to the information server. The information server configured for receiving the location information from the radio network controller  updating the location information on a condition storage module and sending the location information to a user on obtaining a request from the user. The system is configured for sending the location information that includes at least one of weather updates  traffic updates  soil condition. The information server is configured for updating location information on occurrence of a trigger event  wherein the trigger event is one among a periodic update interval and location state change event. The system is further configured for providing the location information to the user by one of: SMS  push message.
[0010] Embodiments further disclose a method for providing location information by employing condition sensors at Node B of a communication network. The network sends the location information as a part of internal message of the network  the method comprising decoding the condition sensor’s recorded location information by the Node B  sending recorded location information by the condition sensor to a radio network controller  sending the location information to an information server for storage by the radio network controller  storing the location information on a condition storage module by the information server  and sending the location information to a user on receiving a request for the information by the information server. The method sends location information on at least one of weather updates  traffic updates  soil condition. The method further comprises updating information on occurrence of a trigger event  wherein the trigger event is one among a periodic update interval and location state change event. The method further comprises providing the location information to the user by one of: SMS  push message.
[0011] Embodiments herein also disclose an information server for storing and providing location information to users in a communication network. The server configured for receiving location information periodically from a Node B of a communication network  storing the location information on a condition storage module within the information server and sending the location information to the users as per configurations of the users. The information server is configured for receiving the location information from the Node B through radio network controller. The information server is configured for sending the location information to the users at one of: periodic intervals  on obtaining request  receiving an SMS  updates in the location information. The information server is configured for sending the location information to the users where the information includes details on one of: weather updates  traffic updates  soil condition.
[0012] Also  disclosed herein is a Node B for providing location information by housing condition sensors for monitoring the location information in a communication network. The Node B configured for decoding the location information recorded on the condition sensor and sending the location information recorded by the sensor to an information server through a Radio Network Controller (RNC). The Node B is configured for sending the location information to the radio network controller through internal messages of the communication network. The Node B is configured for sending the location information where the information includes details on one of: weather updates  traffic updates  soil condition.
[0013] These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings.
[0014]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0015] The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following detailed description with reference to the drawings  in which:
[0016] FIG. 1 illustrates architecture of the network for providing remote location information  according to embodiments disclosed herein;
[0017] FIG. 2 illustrates a Node B  according to embodiments disclosed herein;
[0018] FIG. 3 illustrates an information server  according to embodiments disclosed herein;
[0019] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram depicting an example implementation of storing location information on the information server  according to embodiments disclosed herein; and
[0020] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting a method of fetching remote location information from the information server  according to embodiments disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0021] The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly  the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
[0022] The embodiments herein disclose system and method for obtaining remote location based information on the mobile phone of a user by incorporating condition sensors within a Node B of the mobile communication network. The method thus facilitates obtaining location based information from the condition sensors and storing the information on an information server. The location information is passed as a part of the internal messages of the mobile communication network. Referring now to the drawings  and more particularly to FIGS. 1 through 5  where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the figures  there are shown embodiments.
[0023] System and method for obtaining remote location based information on a mobile communication network is disclosed. Mobile communication networks provide wide coverage in various geographic locations. They cover the most remote areas of a particular location. Node B of the mobile communication network serves as the ideal location for the placement of condition sensors to ensure that the coverage provided is maximum. The condition sensors employed in the system are placed within the Node B of the mobile communication network. These condition sensors may be employed for monitoring various factors of a location such as weather condition  traffic update  soil conditions and so on in their area of coverage continuously. The monitored location information is then sent by the Node B to a Radio Network Controller (RNC) that controls the Node B. The RNC then sends the location information to an information server that is configured for storing the location information. The information server stores the location information within it and sends the same to the user when requested.
[0024] FIG. 1 illustrates architecture of the network for providing remote location information  according to embodiments disclosed herein. The architecture depicts a Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) network. The network comprises of various network elements that include plurality of mobile phones 101a  101b  101c and 101d  Node B 102a  102b; a Radio Network Controller (RNC) 103 for controlling the Node B 102 and an information server 104.
[0025] The mobile phones 101a  101b  101c  101d may be employed by different users who may want to access the service of getting location information from the mobile network. The users may employ their mobile phones 101 to send requests to the information server 104 to get information on the location of interest. In an embodiment  mobile phones 101 may be also replaced by communication devices such as Laptops  PDA  desktops and so on. In such a case  the information on location may also be obtained from the information server 104 through the internet.
[0026] The Node B 102 serves various mobile phone 101 users. For illustration purposes Node B 102a  102b are indicated however the same may be extended to several Node B’s. In an embodiment  the Node B 102 may also be a Base Transceiver Station or a Remote Radio Head hosted on a cellular Tower. The Node B 102 serves as the core component of the network as it houses the condition sensors within itself. Along with other modules of Node B 102 the condition sensor sits in and does the monitoring action. Due to the wide coverage provided by the Node B condition sensors are placed within it. This ensures that the location information of every remote area falling within the coverage area of Node B are monitored. Further  the condition sensor continuously monitors the location conditions and updates it regularly. The information recorded is then sent to the RNC 103 by the Node B 102 through internal messages.
[0027] The RNC 103 is responsible for controlling the functioning of Node B 102. The RNC receives regular updates on location information from Node B 102 and sends it to the information server 104. The RNC 103 is provided with the capability to fetch the location information and send it to the information server 104 for storage of the information. In an embodiment  the RNC 103 may be replaced by a Base Station Controller or any similar Node of 4th Generation cellular Networks. The RNC 103 is also responsible for providing the location details of the user to the information server 104.
[0028] The information server 104 is responsible for storing location information obtained from the Node B 102 through the RNC 103. The information server 104 also interacts with users and sends the required information to the users. On receiving requests from the user  the information server fetches the current location information of the user from the RNC and then sends the requested information to the user. The information server 104 may be configured to send regular updates on information collected to the mobile phone of user  to an email id configured and so on. In an embodiment  the information may be sent to the mobile phone 101 of the user on receiving a request from the user. In an embodiment  the location information may include weather information  traffic information  and soil information and so on. Further  for weather information details such as temperature  humidity  pressure  wind velocity  rainfall  and precipitation of the location may also be provided.
[0029] In an embodiment  for accessing the location based information from the information server 104 a user may have to subscriber for the service with a service provider. In another embodiment  a user may access the location information without any subscription by sending a message for the same to the service provider. In such a case  the request may be directed to the information server 104 for obtaining the location information and the user may be then charged for the service. The configuration for location updates may be dependent on the user and he may ask for regular updates after frequent intervals on his mobile phone  email id and so on.
[0030] In another embodiment  the service may address users when they are mobile. In such a case  as the mobile user moves from one area to the other area  he may choose to receive the location information as and when he moves into a new area (into a different cell site). In this case  the service provider detects the current location of the user and sends the more appropriate local information to the user.
[0031] In another embodiment  if a user is identified as Traveling on Highway/Train  the current location information and the information of the next location that he might enter based on the current direction of his travel may also be provided to him.
[0032] FIG. 2 illustrates a Node B  according to embodiments disclosed herein. As depicted Node B 102 comprises of sub modules such as condition sensor 201  transceiver 202  power amplifier 203  combiner 204  duplexer 205  antenna 206  alarm extension system 207  control function 208 and baseband receiver unit 209. The condition sensor 201 sits in with other modules and performs the location based monitoring function. The condition sensor 201 may be configured for monitoring weather  traffic  soil conditions and so on depending on the type of sensor employed. In case of weather it may take into account various atmospheric factors such as temperature  humidity  wind velocity  precipitation  rainfall and the like.
[0033] The transceiver 202 is referred to as the driver receiver (DRX). DRX are either in the form of single (sTRU)  double (dTRU) or a composite Double Radio Unit (DRU). It basically does transmission and reception of signals. Also  does sending and reception of signals to/from higher network entities like the RNC 103.
[0034] The power amplifier 203 amplifies the signal from DRX for transmission through antenna; may be integrated with DRX.
[0035] The combiner 204 combines feeds from several DRXs so that they could be sent out through a single antenna. Also  allows for reduction in the number of antenna used.
[0036] The duplexer 205 is responsible for separating sending and receiving signals to/from antenna. Duplexer 205 performs sending and receiving signals through the same antenna ports (cables to antenna).
[0037] The antenna 206 provides means for transmission and reception of information.
[0038] The alarm extension 207 system collects working status alarms of various units in the Node B 102 and extends them to operations and maintenance (O&M) monitoring stations.
[0039] The control function 208 controls and manages the various units of Node B including any software. On-the-spot configurations  status changes  software upgrades  etc. are done through the control function.
[0040] The baseband receiver unit (BBxx) receives frequency hopping  signal DSP  etc.
[0041] FIG. 3 illustrates an information server  according to embodiments disclosed herein. The information server 104 is responsible for storing the location information obtained from the Node B 102 through the RNC 103. In addition  the information server 104 also interacts with the mobile phones 101 of the users and sends the required information on location. The information server 104 can also get the current location of the user from RNC 103 or any other cellular network element such as Home Location Register & Visitor Location Register. The information server 104 comprises of sub modules such as condition storage module 301 and a management module 302.
[0042] The condition storage module 301 is responsible for storing location information received from the Node B 102 through the RNC 103. On receiving the location information by the information server 104 the information is directed toward the condition storage module 301 for storage. Further  at frequent intervals of time or as and when the conditions change the information on the condition storage module 301 is updated. This ensures that the users receive more accurate information on the location of interest.
[0043] The interactions between the users and the information server 104 are carried out through the management module 302. The management module 302 receives the requests from the user’s mobile phone 101 and decodes the request to determine the requirements of the information. Further  the requested location information is fetched from the condition storage module 301 by the management module 302 and sent to the mobile phone 101 of the user. In an embodiment  the information may also be sent to a laptop  email id of user and so on. This will further depend on the configuration of the user.
[0044] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram depicting an example implementation of storing location information on the information server  according to embodiments disclosed herein. Consider a case where a user requests for weather based information of a particular location of interest. In such a case  the condition sensor 201 employed may be a weather monitoring sensor. The condition sensor 201 placed at Node B 102 is responsible for continuously monitoring weather information. The updates in the weather conditions are monitored (401) continuously. The monitored factors may be atmospheric factors such as temperature  humidity  wind velocity  precipitation  rainfall and the like. At regular intervals  the Node B 102 sends (402) weather updates to the RNC 103. The RNC 103 then forwards (403) the weather updates to the information server 104. The information server 104 stores the information on to the condition storage module 301. At a later point in time  when a user who wants to access the information  user makes a request for the information  the information server 104 contacts the RNC 103 to fetch (404) the current location information of the user. The RNC 103 sends the location information of the user to the information server 104. The information server 104 then sends (405) the requested weather information to the user. The information may be sent in a manner as specified by the user to his mobile phone 101  laptop or the like. The various actions in method 400 may be performed in the order presented  in a different order or simultaneously. Further  in some embodiments  some actions listed in FIG. 4 may be omitted.
[0045] In an embodiment  a user may be required to register with his service provider for accessing the location information. In such a case  at the time of registration the user may prefer to specify if the information is to be sent at periodic intervals or at specific times when request is made and so on. The user may also be offered a choice to get discounts on subscriptions.
[0046] In another embodiment  a user may not require any registration and may send an SMS and get the information. The SMS service would be a paid service where operator charges the end user. If the sensors are owned and operated by independent unit then the revenue from end user could be shared between the owner of the sensor and the operator. For web access  user may have to pay one time for the information or could subscribe to the service and get discount. Even for subscription  the end user could subscribe to a regular update or get a discount for the access.
[0047] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting a method of fetching remote location information from the information server  according to embodiments disclosed herein. Consider a scenario  where a user is not registered for the weather information service but wants to access the service. The user makes (501) a request to the information server 104 to obtain weather information. The request may be in the form of an SMS  USSD message and so on. In another embodiment  the user may make a request from a web service. The information server 104 obtains the request. The information server 104 then decodes (502) the request and determines the requirements of the user. The information server then contacts its condition storage module 301 and fetches the required weather information of the specified area. The information may be the weather information on the area covered by any one of the cell sites where the sensors are located. The information server 104 may send (503) a message to the service provider to charge the user for the service. Accordingly  the amount may be deducted from the user’s mobile balance (if prepaid service) or a debit may be added to his account (post paid service). The information server 104 then sends (504) the weather information to the user. The information may be sent to the device requested by the user that may be his mobile phone 101 in form of SMS or push message  laptop by sending it to his email id and so on. The embodiment above is described with reference to accessing weather information however; the scope of the application is not limited to the same and may be applied for scenarios where a sensor is employed at the Node B or cell site for accessing any kind of location based information. Further  the information may be soil conditions  traffic updates and so on. The various actions in method 500 may be performed in the order presented  in a different order or simultaneously. Further  in some embodiments  some actions listed in FIG. 5 may be omitted.
[0048] The embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented through at least one software program running on at least one hardware device and performing network management functions to control the network elements. The network elements shown in Fig. 1  2 and 3 include blocks which can be at least one of a hardware device  or a combination of hardware device and software module.
[0049] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can  by applying current knowledge  readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept  and  therefore  such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore  while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments  those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the claims as described herein.

CLAIMS
We Claim 
1. A system for providing location information by employing condition sensors at Node B of a communication network  wherein said network sends said location information as a part of internal message of said network  said network further comprising:
said Node B configured for:
housing at least one condition sensor for recording location information on areas that fall under the coverage of said Node B;
decoding said location information recorded on said condition sensor; and
sending said location information recorded by said sensor to an information server through a Radio Network Controller (RNC);
said RNC configured for:
receiving said location information from said Node B of said communication network; and
sending said location information to said information server;
said information server configured for:
receiving said location information from said radio network controller;
updating said location information on a condition storage module; and
sending said location information to a user on obtaining a request from said user.

2. The system as in claim 1  wherein said system is configured for sending said location information that includes at least one of weather updates  traffic updates  soil condition.

3. The system as in claim 1  wherein said information server is configured for updating location information on occurrence of a trigger event  wherein said trigger event is one among a periodic update interval and location state change event.

4. The system as in claim 1  wherein said system is further configured for providing said location information to said user by one of: SMS  push message.

5. A method for providing location information by employing condition sensors at Node B of a communication network  wherein said network sends said location information as a part of internal message of said network  said method comprising:
decoding said condition sensor’s recorded location information by said Node B;
sending recorded location information by said condition sensor to a radio network controller;
sending said location information to an information server for storage by said radio network controller;
storing said location information on a condition storage module by said information server; and
sending said location information to a user on receiving a request for said information by said information server.

6. The method as in claim 5  wherein said sending of said location information includes at least one of weather updates  traffic updates  soil condition.

7. The method as in claim 5  wherein said method further comprises updating information on occurrence of a trigger event  wherein said trigger event is one among a periodic update interval and location state change event.

8. The method as in claim 5  wherein said method further comprises providing said location information to said user by one of: SMS  push message.

9. An information server for storing and providing location information to users in a communication network  said server configured for:
receiving location information periodically from a Node B of a communication network;
storing said location information on a condition storage module within said information server; and
sending said location information to said users as per configurations of said users.

10. The information server as in claim 9  wherein said server is configured for receiving said location information from said Node B through radio network controller.

11. The information server as in claim 9  wherein said server is configured for sending said location information to said users at one of: periodic intervals  on obtaining request  receiving an SMS  updates in said location information.

12. The information server as in claim 9  wherein said server is configured for sending said location information to said users where said information includes details on one of: weather updates  traffic updates  soil condition.

13. A Node B for providing location information by housing condition sensors for monitoring said location information in a communication network  said Node B configured for:
decoding said location information recorded on said condition sensor; and
sending said location information recorded by said sensor to an information server through a Radio Network Controller (RNC).

14. The Node B as in claim 13  wherein said Node B is configured for sending said location information to said radio network controller through internal messages of said communication network.

15. The Node B as in claim 13  wherein said Node B is configured for sending said location information where said information includes details on one of: weather updates  traffic updates  soil condition.

30th Day of January  2012 Dr. Kalyan Chakravarthy
Patent Agent

ABSTRACT
Mobile communication networks for providing location information are disclosed. The present invention relates to telecommunication networks and  more particularly  to providing remote location services in telecommunication networks. Node B of the mobile communication network serves as the ideal location for the placement of condition sensors to ensure that the coverage provided is maximum. The condition sensors employed in the system are placed within the Node B of the mobile communication network. These condition sensors monitor the location conditions in their area of coverage continuously. The monitored location information is then sent by the Node B to a Radio Network Controller (RNC) that controls the Node B. The RNC then sends the location information to an information server that is configured for storing the location information. The information server stores the location information within it and sends the same to the user when requested.
FIG. 1