Manual reporting of location data in a mobile communications network

The invention is, in one embodiment, a method of reporting the location of a mobile phone by locating a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver in a mobile communications network. The method first determines the location of the GPS receiver, processes data identifying the location, then synthesizes the location information into a Tele-type (TTY/TDD) compatible format and transmits the location. A TTY/TDD device at a receiving station will process the location data to identify the location of the mobile phone. In one aspect, the method is implemented through modular programming. The invention is also a mobile phone capable of transmitting location information gathered by a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). The mobile phone houses a transceiver, a GPS receiver, and a Tele-type (TTY/TDD) synthesizer in communication with the GPS receiver and the transceiver.

TECHNICAL FIELD
 The present invention generally relates to wireless communication networks,
 including cellular-type wireless networks, and more particularly to the
 positioning of a mobile phone with a Location Determination Units (Such as
 Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and GPS-like receivers).
 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 Wireless communication networks continue to evolve with enhanced and new
 features being developed for deployment in current and future generation
 networks. One particular area of development resides in the area of
 positioning a mobile station within a wireless network quickly, with high
 accuracy, and with nominal network traffic. By government mandate, future
 networks must be able to provide location information with emergency
 (E-911) calls.
 For example, in the United States of America, the Federal Communications
 Commission (FCC) has mandated that mobile phone handsets provide location
 information to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) which is the public
 facility which receives and processes emergency calls. The FCC
 specifications require positioning to an accuracy of less than 50 meters.
 This allows emergency personnel or police to be able to locate and help
 the caller in cases where the caller may not know his/her location, or
 when he may be unable to speak.
 It is often desirable to position mobile phones on demand as well. For
 example, on demand mobile phone positioning is finding acceptance in
 commercial applications, such as in fleet management for rental car
 fleets, and to obtain position on demand to aid in navigation.
 Unfortunately, the positioning of a mobile phone is particularly difficult
 due to a several factors. First, positioning of a mobile phone is
 encumbered due to multi-path problems as well as the fading of signals,
 which make simple triangulation measurements unreliable enough for high
 accuracy calculations. Time of Arrival (TOA) techniques measure the time
 it takes to receive synchronized signals that are broadcast from various
 known points, such as Base Stations (BSs). The TOA information is sent
 back to a network node, such as a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), which
 uses an algorithm to roughly determine the position of a mobile.
 Unfortunately, these techniques can only provide the general position of a
 mobile phone, and will often fail to meet the high resolution requirements
 mandated by government agencies.
 Mobile phones having Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers therein are
 one viable solution to providing a position of a mobile phone with high
 accuracy. GPS is based on triangulating, along lines of sight, with at
 least three of the many GPS satellites that circle the earth that were
 launched by the US Government beginning in 1978. GPS is a well-known
 technology and is used in many military and civilian applications. The
 resolution of GPS meets the requirements of both the FCC-mandated E-911
 service, as well as other market-driven demands. Accordingly, the most
 common method of providing location data is to have mobile phones with GPS
 receivers therein.
 However, in order to be useful, this geographic information must be
 communicated to the PSAPs, and the PSAP must be able to process it.
 Efforts are underway to standardize methods and systems to automatically
 transmit coordinate information to the PSAPs. Amazingly, although there is
 a FCC mandate that the carriers must provide location information, there
 is no FCC mandate that the PSAPs be able to receive it. This may be
 because the hardware equipment and software upgrades needed to be able to
 receive the location information at the PSAP will likely be expensive, and
 thus deployment of location technology within PSAPs may be slow.
 Since it may be some time before PSAPs can incorporate location equipment,
 mobile phones with GPS capability may be sold on the consumer's belief
 that the mobile phone will provide location information for emergency
 calls, but in many cases the PSAP that receives an emergency call will not
 be able to process the information. This will likely cause consumer
 irritation, or possibly lawsuits. Therefore, what is needed is a system
 and method of transmitting coordinate information for a mobile phone to a
 PSAP that uses equipment already available at the PASP.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 The present invention achieves technical advantages as a method, mobile
 phone and computer program that allows for the manual reporting of
 location data in a mobile communication network. The method gathers
 location information from a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver and
 then converts the location information into a Teletype/Telephony Device
 for the Deaf (TTY/TDD) format before transmitting the location
 information. The mobile phone has the devices needed to implement the
 method, particularly, a TTY/TDD synthesizer. The computer program
 implements the method through modular programming. Accordingly, the
 present invention provides the ability to provide quality location
 information with currently available equipment.
 In one embodiment, the present invention is a method of reporting the
 location of a mobile phone by locating a Global Positioning System (GPS)
 receiver in a mobile communications network. The method first determines
 the location of the GPS receiver, which is integrated into the mobile
 phone. Next, the location is processed and the data identifying the
 location is designated as location information. Then, the location
 information is synthesized into a Tele-type (TTY/TDD) compatible format
 and transmitted as a TTY/TDD transmission. A TTY/TDD device at a receiving
 station will process the location data to identify the location of the
 mobile phone.
 In another embodiment, the invention is a mobile phone capable of
 transmitting location information gathered by a Global Positioning System
 (PGS) receiver to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). The mobile phone
 houses a transceiver, a GPS receiver, and a TTY/TDD synthesizer in
 communication with the GPS receiver and the transceiver.
 In yet another aspect, the present invention is a computer program capable
 of reporting a location of a Global Positioning System receiver in a
 mobile communication network. To accomplish this task, the computer
 program implements a location determination module, a GPS to TTY/TDD
 synthesizing module, and a transmission module.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
 The present invention offers the advantages of locating a GPS device, such
 as a mobile phone having a GPS receiver therein, in a mobile
 communications network without requiring additional hardware to be placed
 in the network. Furthermore, the invention provides the user with
 flexibility in choosing how the location information is to be sent to a
 Teletype (TTY/TDD) compatible receiving station. Thus, the invention will
 save mobile communications network providers money because they will not
 need to purchase additional hardware equipment to meet government
 emergency location mandates. Also, the present invention will produce
 additional revenues in the form of user features and options that demand a
 premium.
 Accordingly, the present invention is a method, mobile phone and computer
 program that allows for the manual reporting of location data in a mobile
 communication network. The method gathers location information from a
 Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver and then converts the location
 information into a Teletype Telephony Device for the Deaf (TTY/TDD) format
 before transmitting the location information to a TTY/TDD enabled
 receiver. The mobile phone has the devices needed to implement the method,
 particularly, a TTY/TDD synthesizer. The computer program implements the
 method through modular programming.
 Teletype (TTY/TDD) is the preferred method of providing telephony access to
 the hearing impaired. It enables the transmission and reception of written
 text across telephone lines (the protocols that enable the TTY/TDD service
 is referred to as the TTY/TDD protocol). TTY/TDD is generally provided to
 deaf persons (as well as others who are hard-of-hearing--collectively,
 "the hearing impaired") so that they may communicate. In addition, TTY/TDD
 gives the deaf access to emergency services. To enable TTY/TDD emergency
 services, the FCC has mandated Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) that
 receive emergency (E-911) calls have the ability to answer and process
 calls that use TTY/TDD protocols.
 TTY/TDD devices comprise the equipment that enable the receipt and
 processing of calls that use TTY/TDD protocols. Since the FCC has mandated
 that PSAPs be able to receive TTY/TDD based calls, most PSAPs already have
 TTY/TDD devices. Recently, the FCC has also required that mobile phones
 support TTY/TDD transmissions between the hearing impaired. This means
 that many mobile phones will soon have the ability to communicate with the
 TTY/TDD devices in PSAPs.
 FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the components of a mobile
 communications network 100 that are used to implement the present
 invention. In FIG. 1, a terminal device capable of voice channel
 communication, such as a mobile phone 110, communicates across an air
 interface with an antenna 115 to transmit voice channel and control
 channel signals to a base station 120. The base station 120 is in
 communication with a base station controller (BSC) 130, which typically
 services many base stations by relaying voice and control traffic from
 base stations to a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) 140. The functionality of
 a BSC 130 is achieved in a third generation (3G) system by a Radio Network
 Controller (RNC), and may be implemented in other systems by other
 devices.
 Likewise, the MSC 140 manages the control channels and voice channels of
 several BSCs to provide continuous coverage and service across a
 geographic area. In 3G systems the functionality of the MSC is
 accomplished by a UMTS server, which may be implemented in a control plane
 which is separated from a voice (or a user) plane. Voice channel
 communications in the mobile communications network 100 travel from the
 mobile phone 110 across the air interface and are picked up by the antenna
 115. The antenna 115 passes the communications to the base station 120,
 which then processes the voice communications and control communications
 as needed before sending them to the BSC 130. The BSC then relays the
 voice and control commands to the MSC, which then sends the voice across a
 network 150. The network 150 maybe an Internet Protocol (IP) network, an
 Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network, a Public Land Mobile Network
 (PLMN), or any other standard land based telephone system, such as one
 that uses signaling such as F7 signaling.
 Attached to the network 150 is a Public Safety Answer Point (PSAP) 160. The
 PSAP receives emergency calls and then processes these calls to provide
 emergency services. The PSAP 160 has within it a Teletype/Telephony Device
 for the Deaf (TTY/TDD) equipment 170. Although the TTY/TDD equipment 170
 is shown within the PSAP 160, the TTY/TDD equipment 170 maybe located
 remotely from the PSAP 160 and need only be in communication with the PSAP
 160. Furthermore, although a PSAP is shown in FIG. 1 it should be
 understood that the PSAP is merely representative of a location capable of
 processing a TTY/TDD protocol signal, and may in fact be any hardware
 device or collection of devices.
 The invention is particularly valuable when implemented in a mobile
 terminal device, such as a mobile phone. FIG. 2 is a component
 block-diagram of a mobile phone 110 showing selected elements of the
 invention. In FIG. 2, the processor 112, ATTY/TDD synthesizer 118, HEPS
 receiver 116, and a transceiver 114, communicate with each other across a
 communication bus 111. The processor 112 could be any standard mobile
 phone processor that handles user inputs. For example, the processor 112
 stores information such as configuration options selected by the user.
 Configuration options provided to the user include the ability to
 retransmit coordinates, or transmit a message selected by the user.
 Furthermore, a configuration option can allow a user to retransmit a
 coordinates or a message a fixed number of times, periodically, when
 movement of the GPS receiver 116 is detected, or upon a user request. More
 advanced user configurations allow a user to set a message to be
 transmitted in-band to the PSAP, allow a user to determine what is sent
 out (such as a message, coordinates, or both a message and coordinate),
 allow the user to determine the triggering mode (automatic, user
 initiated, or motion sensitive), allow the user to determine
 retransmission interval times, as well as the amount of time
 retransmissions will take place in, and allow the user to determine the
 transmission protocol. An automatic triggering mode is initiated when the
 mobile phone detects an event that automatically starts the GPS algorithm
 300, discussed below. Likewise, a user initiated triggering mode means
 that the mobile phone is set up so that a user must initiate the GPS
 algorithm, while the motion sensitive mode initiates the GPS algorithm
 when the GPS receiver detects that it has moved more than a predetermined
 distance. Transmission protocols include Baudot, V21, DTMF (Dual Tone
 Multi-Frequency), and EDT (European Deaf Telephony), and the V.18
 protocol.
 The processor 112 also allows the user to determine what message will be
 transmitted. For example, the user may wish to transmit medical
 information which has been preloaded into the processor 112, or other
 information. In addition, the processor 112 detects the initiation of an
 emergency call and also detects the initiation of a request for a
 coordinate transfer.
 The GPS receiver 116 receives signals from the GPS satellites which are
 circling the earth. The GPS receiver then takes the signals and computes
 coordinates based on the signals to produce a longitudinal statistic and a
 latitudinal statistic.
 The TTY/TDD synthesizer 118 processes the GPS location information input
 and produces a TTY/TDD protocol formatted output. For example, when the
 GPS receiver 116 produces the longitudinal statistic and the latitudinal
 statistic (the statistics), the TTY/TDD synthesizer 118 processes the
 statistics into a TTY/TDD format which is transmitted by the transceiver
 114 and receivable and interpretable by the TTY/TDD device 170.
 The transceiver 114 sends and receives radio communications across the air
 interface with the base station 120 by synthesizing the necessary tones or
 signals to transmit the encoded data to a TTY/TDD devices in a PSAP. In
 particular, the transceiver 114 is able to send TTY/TDD protocol formatted
 messages across the voice channel. This allows the transmission of TTY/TDD
 data over the air interface in second and first generation mobile
 communications networks. However, it is possible that the location
 information could be transmitted across the control channel as a control
 channel message, and in this case the transceiver will send data which
 encodes the TTY/TDD formatted message across the control channel.
 FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for practicing the invention. The GPS
 algorithm 300 with a location query by a user, which can be either an
 emergency start step 310 or a coordinate step 340. The user will initiate
 the emergency start step 310 by entering a sequence in numbers that the
 local communication network will recognize as the emergency access number.
 For example, in most locations the number 911 is recognized as the
 emergency access number.
 To ensure that the emergency voice communication is not inadvertently
 disrupted, the GPS algorithm 300 proceeds to a user acknowledge query 320
 where user indicates the desire to transmit location coordinates or a
 message to the PSAP. If, in the user acknowledge query 320, the user
 indicates that he does not want to send location information or a message,
 then the GPS algorithm 300 proceeds to a stop step 330 and the algorithm
 terminates. Otherwise, the GPS algorithm proceeds to a Teletype type step
 350, which is discussed below.
 Likewise, the user may merely wish to determine his or her location for
 navigational or other purposes. Accordingly, in a coordinate step 340, the
 user may initiate a location query by entering a predetermined command
 into the mobile phone. For example, the user may press the "#" key to
 determine his location.
 Next, whether determining the location in response to a coordinate transfer
 step 340 or in response to an emergency start step 310, the GPS algorithm
 300 must determine the correct Teletype (TTY/TDD) protocol to use to send
 the location information to the destination TTY/TDD device. Therefore, the
 GPS algorithm 300 next determines the appropriate TTY/TDD protocol in a
 TTY/TDD Protocol Determination step 350. This could be accomplished by
 querying the destination TTY/TDD device, or by noting the location of the
 GPS receiver in the called number, or perhaps in the country code of the
 dialed number. Accordingly, a number of different TTY/TDD protocols could
 be stored by the processor, or the processor could be dynamically
 configured by the mobile communications network to produce TTY/TDD
 location information that is compatible with the destination TTY/TDD
 device. It should be noted that the TTY/TDD protocol may be preselected by
 the user. For example, more advanced user configurations could allow the
 user to determine a TTY/TDD encoding based on country code, the number
 dialed, a user preference, a TTY/TDD detection algorithm or a user input.
 When the TTY/TDD protocol is preselected by the user, the TTY/TDD protocol
 selected by the user is be loaded into the processor in the TTY/TDD
 Protocol Determination step 350.
 Following the TTY/TDD Protocol Determination step 350, in a GSM location
 step 360, the GPS receiver determines the coordinates of its location
 based on the receipt of signals from satellites circling the earth, and
 converts the coordinates into location information comprising at least a
 longitude statistic and a latitude statistic. The GSM location step 360
 may be implemented in software as a location determination module. Then,
 following the GSM location step 360, the longitude statistic and the
 latitude statistic are converted into a TTY/TDD recognizable format (the
 TTY/TDD format needed by the destination TTY/TDD device, as recognized in
 the TTY/TDD Protocol Determination step 350) in a synthesize step 370.
 Accordingly, the synthesis of the GPS location information to a TTY/TDD
 format may be accomplished in software by a GPS to TTY/TDD synthesizing
 module.
 Following the synthesize step 370 the GPS algorithm 300 executes a
 blank-and-burst mode. The blank-and-burst mode first comprises a mute step
 380, which terminates sounds on the voice path. In addition, the blank
 imburse mode next executes a transmit step 390. In the transmit step 390,
 the transceiver sends the location information, or a predetermined
 message, to the PSAP across the voice path. Furthermore, the
 blank-and-burst mode includes an enable sound step 400, which reverses the
 mute step 380 and allows the user of the mobile phone to again
 communication across the voice path. Following the enable sound step 400
 the GPS algorithm 300 should determine whether a retransmission of the
 location data, or a retransmission of the message, is needed.
 Therefore, in a retransmit query 410, the GPS algorithm determines whether
 a retransmission of the location information or the message is required by
 querying the processor for evidence of a user chosen retransmission
 criteria. If no retransmission is required then the GPS algorithm 300
 proceeds to a stop step 420 and the algorithm terminates. If however, the
 transmission is needed, the GPS algorithm 300 proceeds to a retransmit
 step 430. The transmit step 430 implements retransmission based on the
 user selected criteria. Accordingly, the user may select to retransmit
 location information or a message periodically, a predefined number of
 times, over a predetermined period, when the GPS receiver location changes
 more than a preselected distance, or at a user request, such as the entry
 of the "#" key. The number of user configurations and criteria for
 retransmission are legion, and limited only by the imagination of the
 mobile phone's GPS algorithm programmer.
 Following the retransmit step 430, the GPS algorithm returns to the GSM
 location step 360 so that a more recent location of the GPS receiver can
 be gathered, creating a location loop.
 EXAMPLE
 An example of using a GPS enabled mobile phone may help to facilitate
 understanding of the invention. When the GPS enabled phone, such as the
 mobile phone 110, is selected by the user to be in an "automatic 911"
 configuration, and the "#" is designated by the user for producing the
 display and transmission of GPS location information, we can say that
 entering 911 initiates the emergency start step 310, and that pressing the
 "3" initiates the coordinate transfer step 340. The GPS receiver would
 then gather the location statistics for the mobile phone, the TTY/TDD
 synthesizer would then process the location statistics into a TTY/TDD
 compatible format, and the transceiver would transmit the location
 statistics to a PSAP. Accordingly, when 911# is pressed, the GPS
 coordinates will be 1) displayed on the phone and 2) transmitted over the
 air. Retransmission would be executed as selected in advance by the user.
 As pointed out, although, this requires additional logic in the mobile
 phone and/or mobile switch, it does not require upgrades at the PSAP.
 One advantage of providing a display of the numbers is that if the PSAP
 does not support TTY/TDD reception, the PSAP operator would inform the
 caller that the PSAP does not support automatic location retrieval and
 request that the caller press the "#" key. The mobile subscriber could
 then read the coordinates verbally to the PSAP operator. Alternatively,
 the PSAP operator can use an attached TTD device (such as another mobile
 phone) to display the coordinates. The PSAP operator can then manually
 enter this data into the ALI database and locate the subscriber.
 While the invention has been described in conjunction with preferred
 embodiments, it should be understood that modifications will become
 apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and that such modifications
 are therein to be included within the scope of the invention and the
 following claims.