JP3266993B2 - Base station position guidance device and mobile station - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates, in a mobile communication system, a base station position guiding apparatus and a mobile station for guiding the position information of the neighbor base stations to a user of the mobile station.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, mobile communication systems such as a mobile phone and a mobile phone have been put into practical use due to the development of communication technology and the increasing demand for a communication tool capable of obtaining information quickly and moving in space. . In such a mobile communication system, each mobile station such as a telephone is connected to a communication network by performing wireless communication with a base station connected to a predetermined communication network such as a telephone exchange network. Therefore, the mobile station can make and receive calls only within the communication area of the base station.

[0003]

However, the base stations are scattered over a wide area, and the communication area of each base station is narrow, so that the mobile station can make and receive calls only at a limited place around the base station. If this is not possible, the user must search for the communication area of the base station and move to that location, but since the location of the base station is not always clear, in such a case the base station Unless the map is shown, it is difficult to find the communication area of the base station, and there is a problem that the mobile station cannot be used freely.

[0004] In order to solve such a problem, the present invention provides location information of a neighboring base station in a mobile communication system in response to a request from a mobile station, and provides a user of the mobile station with a neighboring base station. base station position guiding apparatus and for guiding the position
It aims to provide mobile stations .

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems To solve the above problems, the structure of the invention according to claim 1 is, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of base stations having a predetermined communication area, and A communication network that is connected to all of the base stations by a signal line and enables communication between the base stations, and a mobile station communicates with the base station in a communication area of the base station to communicate through the base station. In a mobile communication system capable of receiving services provided by a communication network,
A base station that can communicate with the mobile station.
Providing location information in response to a request from the mobile station,
Informing the user of the mobile station of the location of the neighboring base station
A base station located guide device that, before Symbol mobile station, Ri by the external operation, to request the location information to the group destination station
Is notified from the base station in response to the position information requesting means for transmitting a request signal, the request signal from the position information requesting means
Provided the position information informing means for informing the location information to the user, before Symbol base station, upon receiving the request signal from the mobile station, it adds the identification information of those base station to the request signal, Base station information provided in the communication network;
And transfers to the providing means, provided position information transferring means for transferring the location information notified as a response to the request signal from the base station information providing unit to the requesting mobile station, further, before
The base station information providing means stores position information of each base station.
Location information storage means, and the identification information is added from the base station.
When the received request signal is received, it is regarded as a response to the request signal.
The base station indicated by the identification information
The position of the base station related to the neighboring base station read from the storage means
The present invention provides a base station position guidance device comprising: a position information notifying unit for notifying the position information . Also, billing
The configuration of the invention described in Item 2 is a multi-function having a predetermined communication area.
Number of base stations and all of them are connected by signal lines
And a communication network that enables communication between the base stations,
Communicate with the base station within the communication area of the base station
Service provided by the communication network via the base station.
Mobile station that can receive
Relative to the base station relative to the base station
Location information request to send a request signal to request information
Means and a base in response to a request signal from the position information requesting means.
Position to inform to the user the location information notified from Chikyoku
A mobile station characterized by comprising
To the effect.

[0006]

In the base station position guidance apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, first, in the communication area of the base station, an external operation for requesting position information on a base station adjacent to the base station is added to the mobile station. Then, the mobile station transmits a request signal to the base station that is currently in a communicable state by the position information requesting means.

On the other hand, the base station which has received the request signal from the mobile station adds the identification information of the base station to the request signal by the information transfer means and transfers the request signal to the base information providing means provided in the communication network . In this base information providing means, the base station
Receiving the request signal to which the identification information has been added, the location information notifying means sends the base station read from the location information storage means to the base station indicated by the identification information based on the identification information. notify the positional information about the neighbor base stations.

In the base station, the position information on the neighboring base station notified from the base information providing means is transferred to the requesting mobile station by the information transfer means. The user is notified by the notification means.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 shows base stations CS1-CS3 and mobile stations PS1-P.
By transmitting and receiving a 1.9 GHz band signal modulated by the π / 4 shift QPSK method to and from S3, bidirectional communication is performed by the 4-channel multiplexing TDMA / TDD method.
1 shows a mobile communication system constituted by a PHP system known as a so-called second generation cordless telephone.

As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile communication system of the present embodiment has a plurality of (three in FIG. 2) base stations CS1 to CS3 having a communication area with a radius of about 50 to 100 meters.
CS3 and base station C connected to each base station by wire, respectively.
A plurality of exchanges XS, which form a communication network with S1 to CS3, and cordless telephones capable of receiving services provided by the communication network and communicating with each other by performing wireless communication with these base stations CS1 to CS3 (FIG. 2 mobile stations PS1 to PS3).

In FIG. 2, E1 to E3 represent communication areas of the respective base stations CS1 to CS3.
Since the base stations CS1 to CS3 are scattered in a wide range, the communication areas E1 to E3 are arranged so as not to overlap with each other.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the mobile stations PS1 to PS3, the base stations CS1 to CS3, and the exchange XS. First, the mobile stations PS1 to PS3 are connected to the microphone 2 and the speaker 4 for making a call with another telephone via the base stations CS1 to CS3 and the exchange XS.
And a display unit 6 for displaying an operation state of the apparatus, an input unit 8 for inputting a telephone number and various instructions, and the like. Then, the mobile stations PS1 to PS3 are connected to the base stations CS1 to CS3.
An antenna 10 for transmitting and receiving radio waves between the
A radio unit 12 for modulating and demodulating a signal transmitted / received at 0, a gate array unit 14 for extracting a control signal from a digital signal output from the radio unit 12 and controlling a radio channel used for communication with a base station; The audio signal input from the microphone 2 is converted into an ADPCM signal to convert the signal into an ADPCM signal.
A voice processing unit 24 for inputting the data for communication (communication data) to the communication data 4 and converting the communication data in the reception data demodulated by the gate array unit 14 into a voice signal and outputting the voice signal to the speaker 4; Receiving level detecting section 16 for detecting the receiving level of the signal received by
18, a ROM 20, a RAM 22 and a base station CS1 according to a command from the input unit 8 and a preset communication procedure.
And a control unit that performs processing for various control messages exchanged with the control unit CS3 to CS3, processing for displaying a communication state, an operation state of the apparatus, and the like on the display unit 6, and the like.

Next, the base stations CS1 to CS3 communicate with the mobile station P
Similarly to S1 to PS3, the antenna 30 and the radio unit 32
, A gate array unit 34, a CPU 38, a ROM 40,
A control unit comprising a RAM 42 for processing various control messages exchanged with the mobile stations PS1 to PS3 or the exchange XS, and the like.
And an interface unit 44 for connecting to a public communication network.

On the other hand, the exchange XS is connected to the base stations CS1 to CS
Interface unit 54 for connecting to the network 3 or a public communication network
An exchange processing unit 66 for exchanging communication data sent from each of the base stations CS1 to CS3;
To an external storage device 68 for storing data for providing various services to the mobile stations PS1 to PS3 via the mobile stations PS1 to CS3, and a voice module for providing voice information to the mobile station using a communication channel. 70, CPU 58, R
A control unit comprising the OM 60 and the RAM 62 is provided for performing processing and the like for various control messages exchanged between the base stations CS1 to CS3 in accordance with a preset communication procedure.

Here, the mobile stations PS1 to PS3 and the base station C
In communication between S1 and CS3, different frequencies are allocated as control and communication carriers. Further, a signal on one frequency is divided into eight slots, and four slots are assigned to the downlink (base station → mobile station) and four slots to the uplink (mobile station → base station), whereby four-channel multiplexed TDMA / Two-way communication by the TDD system is realized.

On the control carrier, each of the base stations CS1 to CS3 includes the mobile station PS such as information for location registration.
A broadcast channel for broadcasting control information required by each of the mobile stations PS1 to PS3 and some common control channels that can be commonly used by the mobile stations PS1 to PS3 are set in advance. Each of the mobile stations PS1 to PS3 uses the broadcast channel and the common control channel to
3 obtains a control channel or a communication channel which can be exclusively used on the communication carrier. In addition,
In the control channel, various control messages for performing location registration, call setting, etc. are transmitted and received.
Information such as call data between mobile stations is transmitted and received.

In the mobile communication system of the present embodiment configured as described above, each of the mobile stations PS1 to PS3 first performs a location registration process when the power is turned on. In this location registration process, the mobile stations PS1 to PS3 are connected to a predetermined base station CS1.
~ CS3, each mobile station PS1 ~ PS
3 and the base stations CS1 to CS3 always recognize each other's communication partner and promptly make a call when calling from the mobile stations PS1 to PS3 and when calling the mobile stations PS1 to PS3 from the base stations CS1 to CS3. Is to be able to start.

In the location registration process, the mobile station PS1
~ PS3 first fetches a control signal periodically transmitted from each of the base stations CS1 to CS3 using a broadcast channel on a control carrier, and detects the reception level of each of the base stations CS1 to CS3. Select a base station with a high reception level. Then, a link establishment request is transmitted to the selected base station using the common control channel on the control carrier. The link establishment request indicates information such as the type of the channel to be set (here, the control channel).

On the other hand, the base station receiving the link establishment request allocates a channel on the communication carrier to the mobile station based on the information indicated in the link establishment request, and notifies the mobile station of information on the allocated channel. . And
On the channel of the communication carrier set in this manner, the mobile station and the base station mutually transmit synchronization bursts to establish synchronization. Thereafter, the mobile station and the base station use the allocated channel to establish synchronization. Various messages and data are exchanged between the mobile station and the base station, and various processes are realized.

In this case, a control channel is set on the communication carrier, and both parties confirm a telephone number and a predetermined ID code on the control channel, and perform various function settings to establish a mutual communication partner. Upon recognition, the location registration process ends. The mobile station periodically checks the reception level from the base station with which the location registration has been performed, and as the mobile station moves, the reception level of the radio wave from the base station with which the location registration has been performed falls below a predetermined level. Then, the mobile station searches for another base station having a higher reception level, and newly performs a location registration process with the base station having the higher reception level.

Further, even when there is no base station whose radio wave reception level is equal to or higher than a predetermined level, if the mobile station is powered on, the broadcast channel is periodically inspected and communication with any of the base stations is performed. When you enter the area again, immediately register your location. Thereafter, the mobile station whose location has been registered in this way can make and receive calls via the base station that has performed the location registration.

Next, the base station position guidance processing will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In FIG.
(A) shows processing for requesting base station position guidance in the mobile stations PS1 to PS3, and (b) shows processing for providing position information in the exchange XS in response to a request from the mobile station.

First, when the user operates the input unit 8 of the mobile station to request base station position guidance, the mobile station performs S
At 110, it is determined whether the mobile station currently belongs to any base station communication area. If the mobile station does not belong to any of the communication areas of the base stations and cannot perform communication, the display unit 6 displays that communication is not possible because the mobile station is out of the communication area, and ends the processing. .
If the mobile station belongs to the communication area of one of the base stations and is in a communicable state, the process proceeds to S120.

Here, whether or not the mobile station belongs to the communication area is determined by periodically transmitting from the respective base stations by the broadcast channel, as in the case of selecting the base station for performing the position registration in the position registration processing. Control signal is received, and it is determined whether there is a base station whose reception level is equal to or higher than a predetermined level. If there is a base station whose reception level is equal to or higher than the predetermined level, the base station belongs to the communication area of the base station. It is assumed that

At S120, the mobile station transmits a position information request message to the base station that owns the communication area to which the mobile station currently belongs. The transmission of the position information request message is performed using the control channel on the communication carrier obtained by executing a series of processing starting from the link establishment request, as in the case of the position registration processing described above. .

Then, the base station that has received the location information request message adds the identification information of the base station to the location information request message and transfers it to the exchange XS. On the other hand, the switching center XS that has received the position information request message via the base station (S210), in subsequent S220, based on the identification information added by the base station, stores the base station stored in the external storage device 68. Search the position guidance information database.

Here, the base station location guidance information database includes, for each base station, an identification number of a neighboring base station within 500 meters of the base station, a distance to the neighboring base station, and a neighboring base station. Location information such as a building, a sign, etc., which is a landmark near a base station, is stored. The audio module 70 stores these pieces of position information as audio information.
An address indicating the location where the audio information is stored is also stored.

At S230, as a result of searching the base station position guidance information database, it is determined whether or not there is position information of a neighboring base station for the base station indicated by the identification information. If information exists, S2
The process proceeds to S40, where a location information notification message including information read from the base station location guidance information database is transmitted.
The process proceeds to 250, where a position information notification message indicating that there is no position information is transmitted.

Note that these location information notification messages are:
Sent to the base station that received the location information request message,
The base station transfers the location information notification message transmitted from the exchange XS to the mobile station that is the source of the location information request message. Next, after transmitting the location information request message, the mobile station in the standby state receives the location information notification message from the base station in S130,
At 140, the information indicated in the position information notification message is displayed on display unit 6, and the process ends. By reading the information displayed on the display unit 6 by the user in this manner, the user can know the information of the neighboring base station.

When the user desires to provide information by voice, the mobile station performs an operation of requesting information provision by voice when requesting base station location guidance, so that the mobile station can provide information by voice. A location information request message requesting provision is transmitted. Upon receiving the position information request message requesting the provision of information by voice via the base station, the exchange XS not only transmits the position information notification message but also moves the voice information to the base station in S240. The communication channel is set for transmission to the station, and voice information is output from the voice module 70 based on the address indicated in the base station position information database, and the voice information is transmitted to the base station.

At this time, the base station sets up a communication channel for transmitting voice information to the mobile station.
By calling the mobile station by displaying the telephone number of the mobile station on the common control channel on the control carrier, in response to this call, the mobile station transmits a link establishment request to the base station whose location is registered, Thereafter, the same procedure as in the case of location registration is performed, and a communication channel capable of transmitting and receiving voice information is set on the communication carrier.

Then, the base station transfers the voice information transmitted from the switching center XS to the mobile station using this communication channel. In this way, the voice information provided to the mobile station is output as voice through the speaker 4, and the user can know the location information of the neighboring base station by listening to the voice information.

For example, as shown in FIG.
~ CS3 are scattered in a wide range, and the base station C
In the case where the communication area of S1 to CS3 is as small as about 50 to 100 meters, once the user leaves the communication area of the base station E1 to E3, the user can perform another communication that can send and receive the mobile stations PS1 to PS3. It is very difficult to find an area.

In such a case, when the user of the mobile station PS1 in the communication area E1 of the base station CS1 moves and leaves the communication area E1, first, the input unit 6 inputs the position information of the neighboring base station. Perform the operation that requires At this time, an operation for requesting information provision by voice is also performed.

Then, a position information request message is transmitted from the mobile station PS1 to the base station CS1 with which communication is possible at present, and in response to the request, the base station PS1 transmits the position information request message to the mobile station PS1.
, A communication channel is set between the base station CS1 and the mobile station PS1, and voice information is provided.

For example, “Three base stations are installed within a radius of 500 meters. The first is a gas station about 200 meters southwest, and the second is about 2 meters east.
.. Is displayed on the display unit 6 and output from the speaker 4 by voice. From the information provided in this way, the user selects information on the base station located in the area to be moved.

When heading east, if the user moves using the public telephone box as a mark based on the obtained information, the communication area of a nearby base station can be found without hesitation. Mobile station P
Although transmission and reception by S1 cannot be performed, transmission and reception by mobile station PS1 can be performed again at the destination.

As described in detail above, in the base station position guidance apparatus of the present embodiment, the base station provided in the exchange station is prepared based on the identification number of the requested base station in response to the request of the mobile station. By searching the station location guidance information database, the mobile station is provided with location information about the base station nearby the base station with which the mobile station is currently communicating.

Therefore, even if the base stations are scattered in a wide range and it is not possible to know where the communication area in which the mobile station can make and receive calls can be obtained, the base station position guide information of this embodiment can be used. Since the user can know the position information of the neighboring base station through the base station that can currently communicate, the user can find the area where the mobile station can make and receive calls without hesitation.

In the present embodiment, the base station guide information database is configured to provide information on neighboring base stations within 500 meters of the designated base station. About 3 to 10 pieces of neighboring base station information may be provided.

Also, when requesting the location information of the neighboring base station, the mobile station can add information indicating the area to be moved to the location request message, and the information of the neighboring base station in the indicated area can be added. Only the position information may be provided. Further, the notified information may be stored in the mobile station at the time of reception, and may be repeatedly read.

In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to the PHP system in which the communication area of the base station is as small as a radius of 50 to 100 meters, but may be applied to other mobile communication systems such as a car telephone and a portable telephone.

[0043]

As described above, according to the base station position guidance apparatus of the present invention, in response to a request from a mobile station, the base station receiving the request receives position information on a neighboring base station in response to the request. To the mobile station.

Therefore, according to the base station position guidance apparatus of the present invention, even if the base stations are scattered and it is not possible to know where the mobile station can make or receive calls, the user of the mobile station can use it. By acquiring the location information of a neighboring base station from a base station that can currently communicate before moving, it is possible to easily find an area where communication is possible at the destination, and improve the usability of the mobile station. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the overall configuration of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a mobile station, a base station, and an exchange according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a base station position guidance process.

[Description of Signs] 2 ... Microphone 4 ... Speaker 6 ... Display
8 Input unit 10, 30 Antenna 12, 32 Radio unit 1
4, 34 gate array section 16 reception level detection section 18, 38, 58
CPUs 20, 40, 60 ... ROMs 22, 42, 62 ...
RAM 24 voice processing unit 44, 54 interface unit 66 exchange processing unit 68 external storage device
70 ... Voice module

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04Q 7/38 H04Q 7/34

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A communication system comprising: a plurality of base stations having a predetermined communication area; and a communication network connected to all of the base stations by signal lines to enable communication between the base stations. In a mobile communication system in which a mobile station can receive a service provided by a communication network through the base station by communicating with the base station,
A base station that can communicate with the mobile station.
Providing location information in response to a request from the mobile station,
Informing the user of the mobile station of the location of the neighboring base station
A base station located guide device that, before Symbol mobile station, Ri by the external operation, the position information requesting means for transmitting a request signal for requesting the position <br/> location information to the base fabric station When the position information informing means for informing the user of the position information notified from the base station in response to a request signal from said position information requesting unit provided before Symbol base station, said request signal from said mobile station Upon receiving the adds the identification information of those base station to the request signal, the base station information providing hands provided the request signal in said communication network
And transfer the location information notified as a response to the request signal from the base station information providing means to the requesting mobile station, and further provide the base station information providing means, Location information of each base station
Location information storage means for storing the identification information from the base station.
When a request signal to which the information is added is received, the request signal
In response, the base station indicated by the identification information
To the neighboring base station of the base station read from the location information storage means.
And a position information notifying unit for notifying position information relating to the base station. 2. A plurality of base stations having a predetermined communication area
And a base station connected to all of the base stations by signal lines.
A communication network enabling communication between the base stations;
By communicating with the base station within the communication area of
Receive services provided by the communication network via the base station.
A mobile station that can By an external operation, a base station adjacent to the base station is
Send request signal to request location information about
Location information request means; From the base station in response to a request signal from the position information requesting means.
A position information report for notifying the user of the notified position information.
With intelligence A mobile station comprising: