Patent ID: 7058410

Claim:
A method for managing location information for identifying an area in which a mobile communication device is located, the method being used in a mobile communication network serving a plurality of mobile communication devices, the method comprising: storing, in a case that among said plurality of mobile communication devices a first master/slave relationship is established between two mobile communication devices, identification information of the device acting as a master device, which information functions as location information for the other of the two devices acting as a slave device, and storing, in a case that a mobile communication device is not currently in a dependency relation with any other of the plurality of mobile communication devices, identification information of a location registration area in which the mobile communication device is currently located, the location information being stored in a location information management device; transmitting, from said mobile communication device acting as a master device in said first master/slave relationship to said location information management device, in a case that said first master/slave relationship should be discontinued to establish a second master/slave relationship between said mobile communication device acting as a slave device of said first master/slave relationship and another of said plurality of mobile communication devices of the network, said another device to act as a master device of said second master/slave relationship, a dependency registration change request specifying said mobile communication terminal acting as a slave device in said first master/slave relationship and said another mobile communication device to act as a master device in said second master/slave relationship; and updating, in said location information management device, location information of said mobile communication device acting as a slave device specified in said dependency registration change request to identification information of said another mobile communication device to act as a master device of said second master/slave relationship; wherein said mobile communication device acting as a master device in said first master/slave relationship is in a dependency relation with another of said plurality of mobile communication devices to establish a third master/slave relationship, and said mobile communication device acting as a slave device in said first master/slave relationship is in a dependency relation with the mobile communication device acting as a master device in said third master/slave relationship and acts as a slave device in said second master/slave relationship.