Cellular network-based geographic coverage area reporting method and apparatus

Abstract

In a cellular system configuration, the location of a mobile station is determined from the acquisition of cellular network data pertaining to the mobile station, and the translation of such network data into a corresponding geographical position profile. The cellular system includes a mobile station locator entity for receiving from a mobile switching center the network data such as cell and/or sector ID and trunk group member number. The mobile station locator translates the network data into position information such as geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude), resolution (radius), and angle values for sectorized cells.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. In a cellular system comprising a plurality of cell sites each including a plurality of mobile stations in communication with a base station, and comprising a plurality of interconnected mobile switching centers each in communication with the base stations of certain cell sites, wherein each mobile switching center maintains network identification data for each mobile station being served in said certain cell sites, a method of determining the location of a mobile station originating communications within a cell site, comprising the steps of: 
       acquiring the network identification data for said mobile station from the mobile switching center serving said cell site; and  
       translating said acquired network identification data into geographical location information using indexable tables generated from data of trunk groups and member numbers used by each cell site and data front geographic maps of radio coverage for said cell sites.  
     
     
       2. The method as recited in  claim 1  wherein the acquiring step includes the steps of: 
       transmitting from the mobile switching center a cellular channel including an identity code assigned to the communicating mobile station;  
       prompting the mobile switching center with said identity code to request network identification data for said communicating mobile station;  
       at the mobile switching center, responsively retrieving the requested network identification data using the identity code; and  
       transmitting the network identification data from said mobile switching center.  
     
     
       3. The method as recited in  claim 2  includes the step of: 
       developing an information array at the mobile switching center including entries for each mobile station in said cell site indexed by a respective identity code.  
     
     
       4. The method as recited in  claim 2  wherein: 
       said cellular channel further includes the mobile station communication.  
     
     
       5. In a cellular system comprising a plurality of cell sites each including a plurality of mobile stations in communication with a base station, and comprising a plurality of interconnected mobile switching centers each in communication with the base stations of certain cell sites, wherein each mobile switching center maintains network identification data for each mobile station being served in said certain cell sites, a method of determining the location of a mobile station originating communications within a cell site, comprising the steps of: 
       transmitting from the mobile switching center a cellular channel including the network identification data for said mobile station;  
       receiving the transmitted network identification data; and  
       translating the received network identification data into geographical location information using indexable tables generated from data of trunk groups and member numbers used by each cell site and data from geographic maps of radio coverage for said cell sites.  
     
     
       6. A location-finding assembly in a cellular system, said system servicing a plurality of mobile stations through a base station connected to a mobile switching center, comprising: 
       server means responsive to a location request for prompting the mobile switching center for network data on a base station;  
       said server means including means for receiving network data from the mobile switching center, and means for converting said network data into a corresponding geographical position profile using indexable tables generated from data of trunk groups and member numbers used by each cell site and data from geographic maps of radio coverage for said cell sites.  
     
     
       7. In a cellular telephone system, a method of providing to a desired location an identity of a mobile station and a geographic coverage area of a cell within which the mobile station is located, the method comprising the steps of: 
       
         obtaining from the cellular telephone system an identity code of the mobile station and an identity of the cell;  
       
       
         accessing a geographic information database containing geographic information relating to the cellular telephone system including geographic coordinate data and cell size data to obtain from the geographic information database geographic information corresponding to the geographic coverage area of the cell within which the mobile station is located; and  
       
       
         providing the identity of the mobile station and the geographic information corresponding to the geographic coverage area of the cell within which the mobile station is located to the desired location. 
       
     
     
       8. The method according to  claim 7 , wherein the geographic information database comprises at least one of geographic coordinates, resolution, and angle values for said cell. 
     
     
       9. A method of reporting to a called party an identity of a mobile station and information relating to a geographic coverage area of a cell of a radiotelephone system within which the mobile station is placing a call to a called party, the method comprising the steps of: 
       
         acquiring from the radiotelephone system the identity of the mobile station and an identity of the cell within which the mobile station is placing the call;  
       
       
         accessing a geographic information database containing geographic information for at least one cell of the radiotelephone system, wherein the geographic information database comprises geographic coordinates of the at least one cell at latitude and longitude data and resolution data;  
       
       
         retrieving from the geographic information database the geographic information corresponding to the identified cell, the geographic information including the geographic coverage area of the cell within which the mobile station is placing the call; and  
       
       
         delivering the geographic information including the geographic coverage area of the cell within which the mobile station is placing the call to the called party. 
       
     
     
       10. The method according to  claim 9 , wherein the geographic information database is created by integrating physical location information of at least one cell of the radiotelephone system with radiofrequency ( RF )  propagation data representing a communication coverage area of the at least one cell.   
     
     
       11. The method according to  claim 9 , wherein the geographic information database is indexed by the identity of the at least one cell. 
     
     
       12. The method according to  claim 9 , wherein the step of acquiring the identity of the cell site within which the mobile station is placing the call comprises the substep of querying a switching center of the radiotelephone system. 
     
     
       13. The method according to  claim 9 , wherein the step of acquiring the identity of the cell within which the mobile station is placing the call is automatically accomplished whenever a telephone number of the called party is a predetermined value. 
     
     
       14. The method according to  claim 9 , wherein the geographic information enables depiction of a circle when a serving base station is associated with an omni- directional cell.   
     
     
       15. A method of reporting to a called party an identity of a mobile station and information relating to a geographic coverage area of a cell of a radiotelephone system within which the mobile station is placing a call, the method comprising the steps of: 
       
         acquiring from the radiotelephone system the identity of the mobile station and an identity of the cell within which the mobile station is placing the call;  
       
       
         accessing a geographic information database containing geographic information for at least one cell of the radiotelephone system, wherein the geographic information database comprises angle data;  
       
       
         retrieving from the database the geographic information corresponding to the identified cell, including the geographic coverage area of the cell within which the mobile station is placing the call; and  
       
       
         delivering the geographic information including the geographic coverage area of the cell within which the mobile station is placing the call to the called party. 
       
     
     
       16. The method according to  claim 15 , wherein the geographic information database comprises sector information for at least one sectored cell of the radiotelephone system. 
     
     
       17. The method according to  claim 15 , wherein the geographic information database is created by integrating physical location information of at least one cell of the radiotelephone system with radiofrequency ( RF )  propagation data representing a communication coverage area of the at least one cell.   
     
     
       18. The method according to  claim 15 , wherein the geographic information database is indexed by the sector information of the at least one cell. 
     
     
       19. The method according to  claim 15 , wherein the step of acquiring the identity of the cell site within which the mobile station is placing the call comprises the substep of querying a switching center of the radiotelephone system. 
     
     
       20. The method according to  claim 19 , wherein the step of acquiring the identity of the cell within which the mobile station is placing the call is automatically accomplished whenever a telephone number of the called party is a predetermined value. 
     
     
       21. The method according to  claim 15 , wherein the geographic information enables depiction of a section of a circle when a serving base station is associated with a sector of a sectorized cell. 
     
     
       22. A cellular network- based location system configured to provide to a desired location an identity of a mobile station and a geographic coverage area of a cell within which the mobile station is located, the system comprising:    
       
         a mobile switching center for providing an identity code of the mobile station to a mobile station locator;  
       
       
         a first interface, within the mobile station locator, for retrieving and storing information regarding the cell;  
       
       
         a geographic information database, within the mobile station locator, for translating the information regarding the cell into geographic coverage area information regarding the cell including geographic coordinate data and cell size data; and  
       
       
         a second interface, within the mobile station locator, for providing the geographic coverage area information regarding the cell to a desired location. 
       
     
     
       23. The system according to  claim 22 , wherein the desired location is an assistance center dispatch station. 
     
     
       24. The system according to  claim 22 , wherein the geographic information database comprises at least one of geographic coordinates, resolution, and angle values for said cell. 
     
     
       25. A cellular network- based location system configured to provide to a desired location an identity of a mobile station and a geographic coverage area of a cell within which the mobile station is placing a call to a called party, the system comprising:    
       
         means for acquiring from the radiotelephone system the identity of the mobile station and an identity of the cell within which the mobile station is placing the call;  
       
       
         means for accessing a geographic information database containing geographic information for at least one cell of the radiotelephone system, wherein the geographic information database comprises geographic coordinates of the at least one cell as latitude and longitude data and resolution data;  
       
       
         means for retrieving from the database the geographic information corresponding to the identified cell, including the geographic coverage area of the cell; and  
       
       
         means for delivering the geographic information including the geographic coverage area of the cell to the called party. 
       
     
     
       26. The system according to  claim 25 , wherein the geographic information database is created by integrating physical location information of at least one cell of the radiotelephone system with radiofrequency ( RF )  propagation data representing a communication coverage area of the at least one cell.   
     
     
       27. The system according to  claim 25 , wherein the geographic information database is indexed by the identity of the at least one cell. 
     
     
       28. The system according to  claim 25 , wherein the means for acquiring the identity of the cell site within which the mobile station is placing the call comprises means for querying a switching center of the radiotelephone system. 
     
     
       29. The system according to  claim 25 , wherein the identity of the cell within which the mobile station is placing the call is automatically acquired whenever a telephone number of the called party is a predetermined value. 
     
     
       30. The system according to  claim 25 , wherein the geographic information enables depiction of a circle when a serving base station is associated with an omni- directional cell.   
     
     
       31. A cellular network- based location system configured to provide to a desired location an identity of a mobile station and a geographic coverage area of a cell within which the mobile station is placing a call to a called party, the system comprising:    
       
         means for acquiring from the radiotelephone system the identity of the mobile station and an identity of the cell within which the mobile station is placing the call;  
       
       
         means for accessing a geographic information database containing geographic information for at least one cell of the radiotelephone system, wherein the geographic information database comprises angle data;  
       
       
         means of retrieving from the database the geographic information corresponding to the identified cell, including the geographic coverage area of the cell; and  
       
       
         means for delivering the geographic information including the geographic coverage area of the cell to the called party. 
       
     
     
       32. The system according to  claim 31 , wherein the geographic information database comprises sector information for at least one sectored cell of the radiotelephone system. 
     
     
       33. The method according to  claim 31 , wherein the geographic information database is created by integrating physical location information of at least one cell of the radiotelephone system with radiofrequency ( RF )  propagation data representing a communication coverage area of the at least one cell.   
     
     
       34. The system according to  claim 31 , wherein the geographic information database is indexed by the sector information of the at least one cell. 
     
     
       35. The system according to  claim 31 , wherein the means for acquiring the identity of the cell site within which the mobile station is placing the call comprises means for querying a switching center of the radiotelephone system. 
     
     
       36. The system according to  claim 35 , wherein the identity of the cell within which the mobile station is placing the call is automatically acquired whenever a telephone number of the called party is a predetermined value. 
     
     
       37. The system according to  claim 31 , wherein the geographic information enables depiction of a section of a circle when a serving base station is associated with a sector of a sectorized cell.