Patent ID: 7917158

Claim:
A location information provider comprising: a query receiver configured to receive an inquiry from a user terminal asking a location of a mobile station, which is not the user terminal; a first memory in which movement information regarding a current location of a transportation and an identification of the transportation is storable in relation to a respective mobile station aboard the transportation; a first memory updater that updates the movement information, based on new movement information obtained from a traffic control that manages an operation of a transportation system including the transportation on which the mobile station is situated; a second memory that stores time schedules of transportations; a location queryer responsive to the inquiry to find if the mobile station is situated on a transportation; a location estimator configured to, if the mobile station is situated on a transportation, retrieve from the first memory the movement information of the transportation on which the mobile station is situated and determine a future location of the mobile station by referring to the time schedules stored in the second memory; and a transmitter configured to transmit to the user terminal a response which comprises an indication that the mobile station is situated on the transportation, the location of the transportation and the determined future location of the mobile station.