Abstract:
The present invention relates to a method of transmitting area specific content to a mobile terminal via a wireless network covering at least two areas, each area having at least one access point, the method comprising: transmitting data being indicative of an assignment of the mobile terminal to one of the access points to a first network component, identifying one of the areas in which the mobile terminal is located on the basis of a logical mapping of access points to areas, receiving of area specific content, pushing of content being specific to the one of the areas to the mobile terminal.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The invention is based on a priority application EP03027600.0 which is hereby incorporated by reference.  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to the field of telecommunication, and more particularly to location based services.  
         [0003]     Location based services focus on the problem of providing value-added services to subscribers based on the location of a wireless device within a wireless network.  
         [0004]     According to one type of location based wireless service, subscribers obtain information on businesses located in the vicinity of the wireless device. As subscribers move throughout the wireless network with their wireless device, they may enter requests for location information related to particular types of businesses.  
         [0005]     The requests for the location of the wireless device are processed in the Gateway Mobile Location Center or another network platform to determine the location area, cell identity with geographical coordinates or the like, of the requesting wireless device. The device location information is provided to a relational database that identifies businesses located within or near the location of the wireless device and provides the business location information to the wireless device. In some cases, the service provider may use information provided by the subscriber to provide the business location information to the device.  
         [0006]     For example, a subscriber could specify certain preferred business, such as a preferred hotel chain. When the location request is received, the subscriber information is used to retrieve and provide information about the preferred hotels matching the subscriber&#39;s information.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The present invention provides a method of transmitting area specific content to a mobile terminal via a wireless network that covers at least two areas. Each are of the network has at least one access point that provides coverage for that area. The term ‘access point’ as used herein encompasses all network components that provide radio coverage for a given area or cell, such as base stations, Node-B&#39;s and the like.  
         [0008]     When the mobile terminal is activated the user logs in and a network registration procedure is performed. As a result of the registration procedure the mobile terminal is assigned to one of the access points that provides radio coverage to the location where the mobile terminal is presently located. Data being indicative of the assignment of the mobile terminal to one of the access points is transmitted to a network component, such as a location server. The various areas covered by the wireless network are defined by a logical mapping of access points to areas. The area in which the mobile terminal is presently located is determined on the basis of its assignment to one of the access points and the logical mapping.  
         [0009]     Area specific content that is received from a content server is transmitted to the mobile terminal by means of a push service. The push service can be triggered when the mobile terminal enters a given area, exits from a given area or is provided at random or periodic time intervals while the mobile terminal stays within a given area. For example the area specific content is pushed concurrently or sequentially to all mobile terminals that are located within a given area.  
         [0010]     The present invention is particularly advantageous in that a single network component, such as a location server, can provide subscriber location information to an instant messaging server which enables the instant messaging server to push area specific content to the active mobile terminals of subscribers in the various areas.  
         [0011]     In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention the identification of an area in which a mobile terminal is located is performed by the location server. The result of the identification is transmitted to the instant messaging server. Alternatively the location server forwards the data being indicative of the assignment of the mobile terminal to the instant messaging server which performs the identification of the respective area.  
         [0012]     In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention the location server generates area specific lists of subscribers. The area specific lists are provided from the location server to the instant messaging server as a basis for the push service. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]     In the following preferred embodiments of the invention will be described by way of example only with reference to the drawings in which:  
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a wireless network of the invention,  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  is a flow diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of a method of the invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0016]      FIG. 1  shows network  100  that provides wireless coverage to areas A, B, C, . . . Each one of the areas A, B, C, . . . has at least one access point  102  that is coupled to a network  100 . For example, access points  102  coupled to network  100  provides a wireless local area network (WLAN) in compliance with the Wi-Fi standard provided by the Wi-Fi alliance.  
         [0017]     Network  100  has IP backbone  104  through which location server  106 , instant messaging server  108 , and content server  110  can communicate.  
         [0018]     Location server  106  has storage  112  and processor  114  for running program  116 . Program  116  controls operation of location server  106 . Mapping table  118  that maps access points  102  to area names A, B, C, . . . is stored in storage  112 . For example each one of the access points AP i    102  has a unique identifier i. The identifiers i of access points that belong to the same area are entered in the row of that area in mapping table  118 . For example access points  102  with identifiers  1  and  2  are assigned to area A whereas access points  102  with the identifiers  3  and  4  are assigned to area B, etc.  
         [0019]     Instant messaging server  108  can provide instant messaging push services to active mobile terminals within the coverage of one of the access points  102 . For example instant messaging server  108  uses the extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP) as approved by the IETF Internet engineering steering group (IESG). XMPP is an open, XML-based protocol for near real-time extensible messaging and presence. It is the core protocol of the Jabber instant messaging and presence technology.  
         [0020]     In addition or as an alternative instant messaging server  108  may use wireless village or SIMPLE (Session Initiation Protocol Extension for Instant Messaging). SIMPLE is an extension to the session initiation protocol (SIP) that allows to transfer instant messages.  
         [0021]     Wireless village is another mobile instant messaging and presence (IMPS) initiative. Wireless village is based on prevalent protocols and other well-adapted standards such as SMS (short messaging services), MMS (multimedia messaging services), WAP (wireless application protocol), SIP and XML.  
         [0022]     Instant messaging server  108  has storage  120  and processor  122  for running program  124 .  
         [0023]     In operation location server  106  receives data  126  from network  100 . Data  126  provides the identifier of an access point to which an active subscriber is currently assigned. For example data  126  contains a tuple (subscriber identifier/access point identifier) for each active mobile terminal within the coverage of network  100 .  
         [0024]     For example subscriber John is located in area A and its mobile terminal is within the coverage of access point AP 1 . Subscriber George is within area B and his mobile terminal is assigned to access point AP 4 . Subscribers Fabiola and Cécile are located within area C and their respective mobile terminals are in the coverage of access point AP 5 . This information is transmitted as data  126  from network  100  to location server  106  and entered into table  128 .  
         [0025]     Program  116  uses mapping table  180  and table  128  in order to generate area specific lists  130 ,  132 ,  134 , . . . These lists are also referred to as ‘buddy lists’. In other words each one of the area specific lists  130 ,  132 ,  134 , . . . contains a list of subscriber identifiers in order to identify subscribers having active mobile terminals within a corresponding area.  
         [0026]     The area specific lists  130 ,  132 ,  134 , . . . are transmitted from location server  106  to instant messaging server  108 . These lists are stored in storage  120 . Instant messaging server  108  receives area specific content  136  from content server  110 . For example area specific content  136  is a sequence of text, audio video and/or multimedia files that are assigned to a specific one of the areas A, B, C, . . .  
         [0027]     Instant messaging server  108  sends the area specific content  136  provided by content server  110  to the respective subscribers as identified in the area specific lists  130 ,  132 ,  134 , . . . under the control of program  124 .  
         [0028]     For example network  100  covers a museum: In area A of the museum 18 th  century paintings are exposed whereas in area B 19 th  century paintings and in area C 20 th  century paintings are exposed. Content server  100  delivers information as to the paintings and artists of 18 th  century paintings exposed in area A. Likewise content server  110  delivers information regarding the 19 th  century paintings exposed in area B and a further set of information regarding the 20 th  century paintings exposed in area C.  
         [0029]     Instant messaging server  108  sends the information on the 18 th  century paintings to the subscribers listed in area-specific list  130  of area A as a push service. Likewise instant messaging server pushes the information on the 19 th  century paintings to the subscribers listed in area specific list  132  and the information on the 20 th  century paintings to the subscribers as listed in area specific list  134 , etc.  
         [0030]     A preferred implementation is based on the Instant Messaging framework. In this case content server  110  takes the role of a special user of the IM Server  108 . IM server  108  with assistance of program  116  provides this special user with multiple buddy lists that are access point specific. Further, user preferences can be considered for selection of the content and/or for disabling the content delivery.  
         [0031]     It is to be noted that the preferred embodiment considered here is particularly advantageous as a single location server  106  can provide location information regarding the various areas covered by the network. Further the definition of the areas is flexible and can be modified by editing table  128 . In the above considered museum example this flexibility is particularly advantageous as it allows to modify the definition of the various areas for the next exhibition for which the boundaries of areas A, B, C . . . may change.  
         [0032]      FIG. 2  shows a corresponding flow chart.  
         [0033]     In step  200  a subscriber logs into a wireless network and is assigned to one of the access points of the wireless network as a result of the registration procedure. For example the user enters his or hers log in ID and password. The subscriber&#39;s ID can be constituted by a combination of the log in ID, password, and the IP address of his or her mobile terminal.  
         [0034]     In step  202  the assignment of subscriber ID to access point ID is stored in the location server. Next the location server determines the area in which the subscriber is located based on the mapping table (step  204 ). The information regarding the presence of subscribers with active mobile terminals in the various areas is transmitted from the location server to the instant messaging server in step  206 . Further the instant messaging server receives area specific content in step  208 . In step  210  the instant messaging server sends push messages to the subscribers with area-specific content.  
         [0035]     It is to be noted that the communication between the location server  106  and the instant messaging server  108  can be performed by means of the LIF (location interoperability forum) protocol or the MLP (mobile location protocol).  
       List of Reference Numerals  
       [0000]    
       
         
           
               100  Network  
               102  Access point  
               104  IP backbone  
               106  Location server  
               108  Instant messaging server  
               110  Content server  
               112  Storage  
               114  Processor  
               116  Program  
               118  Mapping Tables  
               120  Storage  
               122  Processor  
               124  Data  
               128  Tables  
               130  Area specific list  
               132  Area specific list  
               134  Area specific list  
               136  Content