(19) United States
`(12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2004/0259573 A1
`Cheng
`(43) Pub. Date:
`Dec. 23, 2004
`
`US 2004O259573A1
`
`(54) SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING
`POSITION ALERTING WITH A MOBILE
`DEVICE
`(76) Inventor: Steven D. Cheng, San Diego, CA (US)
`Correspondence Address:
`NAIPO (NORTH AMERICA
`INTERNATIONAL PATENT OFFICE)
`P.O. BOX 506
`MERRIFIELD, VA 22116 (US)
`(21) Appl. No.:
`10/250,284
`(22) Filed:
`Jun. 20, 2003
`Publication Classification
`
`(51) Int. Cl. .................................................... H04Q 7/20
`(52) U.S. Cl. ..................................... 455/456.3; 455/4.56.1
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A cellular device connects with a network of base Stations.
`Each base Station covers a corresponding Service area, and
`broadcasts unique identifying information in a Standard
`manner. A portable computing platform is used as a POI
`database and Server for the cellular device, and establishes
`a communications link with the cellular device. A trip
`Scheduler is provided in the cellular device that interfaces
`with the POI database server over the communications link
`to enable a user to extract POI data from the POI database.
`The POI data includes a POI identifier for a POI, and a
`related base Station identifier that uniquely identifies a target
`base station having a service area that covers the POI. The
`cellular device monitors base Stations to determine when the
`cellular device enters into the Service area of the target base
`Station, and then provides an alert to the user indicative of
`the POI.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Transceiver
`Keypad
`
`Mobile telephone
`
`50OO
`
`6000
`
`PO dialer
`
`
`
`
`
`Control program
`Change serving base station routine
`Service area identifying module
`Base station identifier
`Trip scheduler
`ra D POI data
`RSS nonitor
`
`
`
`
`
`Page 1 of 17
`
`SAMSUNG EX-1202
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Dec. 23, 2004 Sheet 1 of 8
`
`US 2004/0259573 A1
`
`300
`
`3000
`
`
`
`Base station
`Base station
`identification information
`
`200
`
`400
`
`
`
`4000
`
`Base station
`
`
`
`Base station
`identification information
`
`Fig. I
`
`Page 2 of 17
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Dec. 23, 2004 Sheet 2 of 8
`
`US 2004/0259573 A1
`
`
`
`Mobile telephone
`
`Guidance package
`
`PO later
`
`Base
`station
`identifier
`
`Fifth
`alerting
`module
`
`Page 3 of 17
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Dec. 23, 2004 Sheet 3 of 8
`
`US 2004/0259573 A1
`
`
`
`Page 4 of 17
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Dec. 23, 2004 Sheet 4 of 8
`
`US 2004/0259573 A1
`
`Name
`BankA
`
`- - -
`
`Address
`"5 Wast."
`
`Narine
`"Bank B
`
`Address
`"4 Wall st"
`
`Nanne
`Library A"
`
`Address
`8 Mainst."
`
`PO Central database
`POI
`POI identifier
`
`
`
`
`
`Telephone number
`32-555-98.7"
`
`ID number
`OX39A
`
`Base station identifier
`"A3"
`
`POI
`POI identifier
`Telephone number
`ld number
`OX37A"
`32-555-6B44"
`
`
`
`I
`POI identifier
`Telephone number
`ID number
`OX394A
`32-555-0022
`
`Base station identifier
`"A3"
`
`Base station identifier
`"A3"
`
`Address
`Name
`Gas station 26 Wall st
`
`Name
`Bank C.
`
`Address
`32. Howardst
`
`PO identifier
`Telephone number
`ID number
`32-555-88
`"OYTB
`
`POI
`PO identifier
`Telephone number
`ID number
`32-555-856
`"OQLB"
`
`Base station identifier
`" A2"
`
`
`
`Base station identifier
`"A2"
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Fig. 4
`
`Page 5 of 17
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Dec. 23, 2004 Sheet 5 of 8
`
`US 2004/0259573 A1
`
`2573a
`\
`
`
`
`2574a
`\
`Pol data
`trol at enry
`
`POI data identifier
`
`2575a 2576a
`
`|
`
`
`
`2570
`2570a
`
`2572a
`
`-
`1
`
`Page 6 of 17
`
`

`

`
`
`Base station
`identifier" Al
`
`POI data identifier
`ID number
`Address" 7
`Telep
`Name
`or OL17C
`"Restaurant I Cannery Rd." -31;
`Start time
`Stop time
`Primary/Alternate
`" 4:30"
`"5:30
`"Primary, alternate-nil."
`
`Base station
`identifier" A2
`
`Narine
`Bank C
`
`POI data identifier
`Address 32
`Tale
`Howard st.
`32-555-8567
`
`ID number
`OQ B
`
`Primary Alternate
`"Primary, alternate=OX319A"
`
`Start time
`" 5: 45"
`
`Base station
`identifier" A3
`
`Stop time
`"600'
`POI entry
`POI data identifier
`ID number
`Tale
`"312-555-0022.” OX394A
`Primary/Alternate
`"Primary, alternate-ni?"
`
`Start time
`"6: 0"
`
`Stop time
`"7:30"
`
`Base station
`Narine
`identifier" A3
`Bank. A
`Start time
`" 5:45
`
`POI data identifier
`ID number
`Address
`Tale
`5 Wall st.
`32-555-9787 OX39A
`Stop time
`Primary/Alternate
`"16:00" | "Alternate, primary =OQ B"
`
`Fig. 6
`
`Page 7 of 17
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Dec. 23, 2004 Sheet 7 of 8
`
`US 2004/0259573 A1
`
`
`
`Gas station 2
`
`- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
`n - - - - - - -
`- - -
`
`a
`
`w w - - - - -
`
`Fig. 7
`
`Page 8 of 17
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Dec. 23, 2004 Sheet 8 of 8
`
`US 2004/0259573 A1
`
`
`
`POl dialer
`
`Control program
`Change serving base station routine
`
`Communications hardware
`
`Memory
`Control program
`
`53On
`
`Page 9 of 17
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`

`

`US 2004/0259573 A1
`
`Dec. 23, 2004
`
`SYSTEMAND METHOD FOR PROVIDING
`POSITION ALERTING WITH A MOBILE DEVICE
`
`BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
`0001) 1. Field of the Invention
`0002 The present invention relates to providing position
`ing Services. More specifically, utilization of Standard Ser
`vices provided by cellular telephone networks is disclosed
`that enables a user to navigate between various points of
`interest.
`0003 2. Description of the Prior Art
`0004. With an increasingly mobile population, coupled
`with the perception of lifestyles becoming more and more
`busy, there is a growing demand to provide users with cheap
`and convenient positioning Systems that will enable these
`users to determine not only where they are, but also what is
`of interest around them.
`0005. On any excursion, a user may have one or more
`points of interest (POI) that are to be visited. For example,
`a user may desire to go to the bank, a gas Station, buy
`groceries, visit a land mark, etc. For each of these tasks, the
`user may have a specific locale in mind. For Some of these
`tasks, an alternate Site might work as well as the one
`originally planned by the user. In the hustle and bustle of
`trying to get from one point to another, a user may become
`disoriented, or forget to visit a nearby POI.
`0006 Several suggestions have been proposed to assist in
`determining the geographical location of a user of a mobile
`telephone. Reference is drawn, for example, to U.S. Pat. No.
`6,311,069 to Havinis, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,421,602 to
`Bullock, et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,342.864 to Duffett-Smith,
`et al., as examples. All of these approaches, however, rely
`upon positioning information being obtained from Global
`Positioning System (GPS) equipment, or from subscription
`to a special Service provided by the mobile network System.
`AS Such, these inventions incur added expense to the user.
`
`SUMMARY OF INVENTION
`0007. It is therefore a primary objective of this invention
`to provide position tracking and associated point of interest
`(POI) alerting for a user, without requiring specialized
`geographic tracking hardware or Subscription to specialized
`tracking Services.
`0008 Briefly summarized, the preferred embodiment of
`the present invention discloses a method and related System
`for providing point of interest (POI) alerting to a user of a
`cellular device. The cellular device is capable of connecting
`with a network of base Stations. Each base Station covers a
`corresponding Service area, and broadcasts unique identify
`ing information in a Standard manner. A portable computing
`platform is used as a POI database and server for the cellular
`device, and establishes a communications link with the
`cellular device. A trip Scheduler is provided in the cellular
`device that interfaces with the POI database server over the
`communications link to enable a user to extract POI data
`from the POI database. The POI data includes a POI
`identifier for a POI, and a related base station identifier that
`uniquely identifies a base Station having a Service area that
`covers the POI. The cellular device monitors base stations to
`
`determine when the cellular device enters into the Service
`area of the base Station, and then provides an alert to the user
`indicative of the POI.
`0009. It is an advantage of the present invention that the
`cellular device uses Standard information transmitted by all
`base Stations to determine an approximate geographical area
`of the location of the cellular device. The present invention
`can be fully implemented in Software on a Standard cellular
`device, and thus does not require Subscription to specialized
`Services, or dedicated positioning hardware. The present
`invention can thus be implemented in a relatively inexpen
`Sive manner, without incurring Subscription Service costs.
`0010. It is a further advantage that a portable computing
`platform is used as a POI server, which reduces the memory
`requirements for POI services on the cellular device.
`0011. These and other objectives of the present invention
`will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in
`the art after reading the following detailed description of the
`preferred embodiment, which is illustrated in the various
`figures and drawings.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
`0012 FIG. 1 depicts a preferred embodiment arrange
`ment of the present invention.
`0013 FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of
`the arrangement depicted in FIG. 1.
`0014 FIG. 3 is a map of a hypothetical region with
`Superimposed base Station Service areas.
`0015 FIG. 4 illustrates a portion of a point of interest
`(POI) central database depicted in FIG. 2 corresponding to
`the map of FIG. 3.
`0016 FIG. 5 is a detailed block diagram of POI data
`from FIG. 2.
`0017 FIG. 6 is a block diagram of example POI data
`generated by a trip Scheduler of FIG. 2 according to the map
`depicted in FIG. 3.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`0018 Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 depicts a preferred
`embodiment arrangement of the present invention. The
`preferred embodiment arrangement of the present invention
`utilizes as a cellular device a mobile telephone 100 that is in
`communications with a portable computing platform, in this
`case a personal data assistant (PDA) 200. Other computing
`devices could be substituted in place of the PDA 200, such
`as a laptop computer or a tablet PC. The functionality
`required of the portable computing device, as Served by the
`PDA 200, should become clear after reading the following
`detailed description, and hence Suitable Substitutes to the
`PDA200 should also become clear to one reasonably skilled
`in the art. This also holds true for the mobile telephone 100.
`Communications between the mobile telephone 100 and the
`PDA 200 is effected by way of a communications link 10.
`The communications link 10 may be a wired or wireless
`link. Examples of wireless links include Bluetooth and
`Infrared (IR) links. The most common wired links are
`Universal Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE 1394 (FireWire).
`Other types of links are certainly possible, though, So long
`as the communications link 10 enables Satisfactory commu
`
`Page 10 of 17
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`US 2004/0259573 A1
`
`Dec. 23, 2004
`
`nications between the mobile telephone 100 and the PDA
`200 as described in the following.
`0019. As a basic operating premise of the present inven
`tion, the PDA 200 is used as a point of interest (POI)
`database server, while the mobile telephone 100 is used to
`determine a service area in which the mobile telephone 100
`(and hence the user) is currently located. A user may select
`one or more POIs from a POI database on the PDA200, and
`alerts for the selected POIs are generated for the user based
`upon the current Service area in which the mobile telephone
`100 detects itself to be. Depending upon the implementation
`used, the majority of the user input/output (I/O) may be
`offloaded onto the PDA200, or the mobile telephone 100. In
`the following, two embodiments are presented: a first, in
`which the majority of the user I/O functionality is loaded
`into the PDA 200 and the mobile telephone 100 is simply
`used as a rough positioning device, and a preferred embodi
`ment in which the PDA 200 is used almost solely as a POI
`server, with the majority of the user I/O provided by the
`mobile telephone 100. As should be clear to one reasonably
`skilled in the art after reading the following detailed descrip
`tions, the two embodiments are simply extreme-case imple
`mentations, with variations between the two extremes cer
`tainly possible.
`0020. The mobile telephone 100 is in wireless commu
`nications with a network of base stations 3000, 4000 in a
`standard manner. Each base station 3000, 4000 covers a
`corresponding Service area, and broadcasts unique base
`station identification information 3100, 4100, respectively.
`The base station identification information 3100, 4100 is a
`standard service broadcast freely by all base stations 3000,
`4000, and so does not require any subscription fees on the
`part of the user of the mobile telephone 100. The mobile
`telephone 100 may selectively camp on one of the base
`stations 3000, 4000 in a manner familiar to those in the art
`of wireleSS telephony.
`0021 Please refer to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a block diagram
`of a first embodiment of the present invention in accordance
`with the arrangement depicted in FIG. 1: A first embodiment
`mobile telephone 1000 includes a transceiver 1100 for
`Sending and receiving wireleSS Signals with the network of
`base stations 3000, 4000. The mobile telephone 1000 also
`includes a keypad 1200 to accept input from a user, Such as
`telephone numbers to be called; a display 1300 to provide
`visual output to the user; memory 1500 for storing programs
`and data; communications hardware 1600 to establish the
`communications link 10, and a central processing unit
`(CPU) 1400 to control operations of the mobile telephone
`1000. The CPU 1400 is electrically connected to, and able
`to control and receive information from, the transceiver
`1100, the keypad 1200, the display 1300 and the commu
`nications hardware 1600 in a manner well known to those in
`the art. The CPU 1400 is also electrically connected to the
`memory 1500, and is in turn controlled by programs residing
`within the memory 1500. The memory 1500 may be a
`combination of Volatile and non-volatile memory. For pur
`poses of the present invention, only the non-volatile region
`of the memory 1500 is considered.
`0022. A control program 1510 provides the major func
`tionality of the mobile telephone 1000, and may be thought
`of as the “operating system” of the mobile telephone 1000.
`For the preferred embodiment, it is assumed that the control
`
`program 1510 provides GSM-related functionality. Other
`wireless standards, such as 3GPP, are also applicable to the
`present invention, and GSM is assumed for exemplary
`purposes only. Under the direction of the conventional
`control program 1510, other routines may be called to
`Support the present invention, and which are described in
`detail in the following. Coding Such routines should be
`routine for one reasonably skilled in the art after reading the
`following detailed description.
`0023. An aspect common to all mobile telephony is that
`of the mobile telephone 1000 roaming about and conse
`quently Switching from one base station 3000 to another
`base station 4000. To enable the mobile telephone 1000 to
`Switch base stations 3000, 4000, each base station 3000,
`4000 transmits respective base station identification infor
`mation 3100, 4100 that is utilized by the control program
`1510, and Specifically by a change Serving base Station
`routine 1511 in the control program 1510.
`0024 For example, the mobile telephone 1000 may be
`initially camped on the first base station 3000. As the mobile
`telephone 1000 roams closer to the second base station 4000,
`a decision is eventually made to cause the mobile telephone
`1000 to camp on the second base station 4000, which is
`termed a handover. The change Serving base Station routine
`1511 utilizes the base station identification information
`3100, 4100 to negotiate with both the first and second base
`stations 3000, 4000 to realize the handover. At the end of the
`handover process, the mobile telephone 1000 is camped
`upon the second base station 4000. When the change serving
`base station routine 1511 performs the serving base station
`handover, the routine 1511 provides a mechanism to so
`inform other programs in the mobile telephone 1000. This
`mechanism, and related handover procedure, is well known
`to those in the art of mobile communications.
`0025 To determine the approximate geographic location
`of the mobile telephone 1000, it is possible to simply assume
`that the mobile telephone 1000 is within the service area of
`the current serving base station 3000, 4000 (i.e., the base
`station 3000, 4000 upon which the mobile telephone 1000 is
`currently camped). By monitoring handovers as provided by
`the change Serving base Station routine 1511, it may be
`assumed with each handover that the mobile telephone 1000
`is entering into the Service area of the new Serving base
`station 3000, 4000. Abetter approach, however, is to provide
`a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) monitor module
`1530 that tracks the running average RSSIs of a predeter
`mined number of base stations 3000, 4000 within the
`receiving range of the mobile telephone 1000. Under this
`scheme, it is assumed that the mobile telephone 1000 is
`within the service area of the base station 3000, 4000 having
`the highest running average RSSI. This method is preferred,
`as the running average RSSI is a good indicator of the
`physical proximity of the mobile telephone 1000 to a base
`station 3000, 4000, whereas the serving base station 3000,
`4000 as determined by the change serving base station
`routine 1511 may be based upon billing concerns, and hence
`be a less accurate indicator of actual base station 3000, 4000
`proximity. Providing such an RSSI monitor 1530 should be
`trivial for one reasonably skilled in the art, as Such func
`tionality is also a basic requirement of the conventional
`change Serving base Station routine 1511.
`0026. The base station information 3100, 4100 uniquely
`identifies each base station 3000, 4000 around the world. In
`
`Page 11 of 17
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`

`US 2004/0259573 A1
`
`Dec. 23, 2004
`
`the GSM standard, each base station 3000, 4000 broadcasts
`a Mobile Country Code (MCC), Mobile Network Code
`(MNC), Location Area Code (LAC) and cell ID. This
`combined information (MCC, MNC, LAC and cell ID) is
`enough to Serve as unique bas Station identification infor
`mation 3100, 4100. For purposes of the present invention,
`the base station identification information 3100, 4100 may
`be used as is as identification information, or may be hashed
`to a Smaller bit size to conserve Space, while continuing to
`uniquely identify each base station 3000, 4000. Of course, if
`a hash function is utilized, then the hash function performed
`by the mobile telephone 1000 on the base station identifi
`cation information 3100, 4100 must be identical to that used
`to generate the POI central database 2530 on the PDA2000.
`This should be clear from the following discussion.
`Although with many variations, hashing is a commonly
`known programming tool, and So is not elaborated upon
`here.
`0027) Communications software 1550 is provided in the
`memory 1500 of the mobile telephone 1000 to serve as a
`device driver for the communications hardware 1600, and to
`allow other application programs in the memory 1500 to
`easily use the communications hardware 1600 to establish
`the communications link 10. In particular, within the
`memory 1500 there is a POI data loading interface 1540 that
`interfaces with the communications Software 1550 to com
`municate with a corresponding POI data Serving module
`2540 on the PDA2000. The POI data loading interface 1540
`is capable of accepting portions of the POI data 2570 from
`the PDA 2000, and of providing positioning information
`1521 to the PDA2000. Hence, the POI data serving module
`2540 on the PDA 2000 provides portions of the POI data
`2570 to the mobile telephone 1000, and accepts positioning
`information 1521 from the mobile telephone 1000.
`0028. A service area identifying module 1520 provides
`the positioning information 1521 to the POI data loading
`interface 1540. The service area identifying module 1520
`either monitors reports provided by the change Serving base
`station routine 1511, or reports from the RSSI monitor 1530,
`to determine a closest base station 3000, 4000. Base station
`identification information 3100, 4100 obtained from that
`closest base station 3000, 4000 is then used to generate a
`unique base station identifier 1521 that serves as the current
`positioning information for the mobile telephone 1000. The
`manner used to generate the base Station identifier 1521
`should be consistent with corresponding base Station iden
`tifiers 2531a-2531n found within the POI central database
`25.30 in the PDA 2000.
`0029. In this first embodiment arrangement, the purpose
`of the PDA 2000 is to provide the majority of the user I/O
`for POI tracking, as well as to provide the POI central
`database 2530. The PDA 2000 includes a key pad 2200, a
`display 2300 and a speaker 2350 for user input/output (I/O),
`and communications hardware 2600 to provide the commu
`nications link 10. A CPU 2400 controls the overall opera
`tions of the PDA2000, and is in turn controlled by a control
`program 2510 in the memory 2500 of the PDA 2000. The
`control program 2510 Serves as the operating System of the
`PDA2000 in a conventional manner. As a portable comput
`ing device, the PDA2000 is generally equipped with a much
`larger memory 2500 than that of the mobile telephone 1000,
`and so is much better able to store the POI central database
`2530. The POI central database 2530 is stored in non
`
`volatile memory of the PDA 2000. Communications soft
`ware 2550 serves as a device driver for the communications
`hardware 2600, enabling other software in the memory 2500
`to more easily establish and use the communications link 10.
`The POI data serving module 2540 runs under the control
`program 2510, and utilizes the communications Software
`2550 to interface with the POI data loading interface 1540
`on the mobile telephone 1000.
`0030) The POI central database 2530 contains a plurality
`of POI entries 2530a-2530n. Each POI 25.30a-2530n has a
`corresponding base station identifier 2531a-2531n. Each
`base station identifier 2531a-2531n uniquely identifies a
`base station 3000, 4000 having a service area that at least
`partially covers the respective POI 2530a-2530n. Base sta
`tion identifier information 2531a-2531n may, in fact, simply
`be the base station identification information broadcast by
`the respective base Station, or may be the hashed value of the
`base Station identification information, as indicated above,
`so as to conserve space within the POI central database
`2530. Each POI 2530a-2530n further contains a correspond
`ing POI identifier 2532a-2532n that is used to identify a
`POI. Each POI identifier 2532a-2532n may include, for
`example, a name 2533a-2533n, address 2534a-2534n and
`telephone number 2535a-2535n of the POI 2530a-2530n, as
`well as an ID number 2536a-2536n that uniquely identifies
`the POI 2530a-2530n. Of course, a lesser or greater number
`of entries may be provided within the POI identifier 2532a
`2532n, and is implementation Specific.
`0031. For an example implementation of the POI central
`database 2530, please refer to FIG.3 and FIG. 4. FIG. 3 is
`a map of a hypothetical region with Superimposed base
`station service areas. FIG. 4 illustrates a portion of a POI
`central database 2530 corresponding to the map of FIG. 3.
`In FIG. 3, three base stations A1, A2 and A3 are depicted,
`each with an outline of the extents of the corresponding
`Service area. For example, the Service area of base Station A3
`encompasses POIs “Bank A' and “Bank B'. The service
`area of base station A2 covers POIs “Library A', “Gas
`Station Z and “Bank C. Each of these POIs has a corre
`sponding entry in the POI central database 2530, as depicted
`in FIG. 4. Each POI entry in the POI central database 2530
`is provided with a corresponding POI identifier, and a
`corresponding base station identifier. As shown in FIG. 4,
`the POI identifier is used to identify the POI, and the base
`Station identifier indicates the base Station whose Service
`area encompasses in full or in part the POI.
`0032) The PDA2000 also includes a POI database server
`2520 that interfaces with a trip scheduler 2560 to generate
`POI data 2570. The POI database server 2520 accepts
`queries from the trip scheduler 2560, performs a search of
`the POI central database 2530 to find any POIs 2530a-2530n
`that match the Supplied query, and returns those matching
`POIs 2530a-2530n to the trip scheduler 2560. Such func
`tionality of the POI database server 2520 is standard in the
`field of database technology, and So is not elaborated upon
`here in any more detail, being implementation specific. The
`trip scheduler 2560 provides a user interface to allow the
`user to conveniently generate the database queries for the
`POI database server 2520, and to view and edit the current
`POI data 2570 obtained from Such queries. Utilizing the trip
`scheduler 2560, a user may search the POI central database
`2530 according to various criteria, Such as name, address,
`telephone number, type (which may be encoded within the
`
`Page 12 of 17
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`US 2004/0259573 A1
`
`Dec. 23, 2004
`
`ID numbers 2536a-2536n, or provided in an explicit field
`within each POI 2530a-2530n), zip code, locale, etc. POIs
`25.30a-2530n found by the user are then added to the POI
`data 2570, along with additional information that the user
`may Supply by way of the trip Scheduler user I/O interface
`2560. The trip scheduler 2560 may even provide a map-like
`graphical interface that shows POIs 2530a-2530n by loca
`tion, and which the user may click upon to Select as entries
`into the POI data 2570. There is an enormous number of
`ways in which the trip scheduler 2560 may enable the user
`to extract useful POI data 2570 from the POI central
`database 2530 (via the POI database server 2520), and
`elaborating upon all Such possible user I/O Schemas is
`beyond the Scope of this invention, being implementation
`specific. Each POI 2530a-2530n extracted from the POI
`central database 2530 by the user will have a corresponding
`POI data entry within the POI data 2570, as well as Zero or
`more alternate POI data entries, which is discussed in the
`following.
`0033) Please refer to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a detailed block
`diagram of the POI data2570 of FIG.2. Each POI data entry
`2570a-2570m is obtained from a corresponding POI 2530a
`2530n from the POI central database 2530, and respectively
`contains a base station identifier 2571a-2571 m, a POI data
`identifier 25721a-2572m, a start time 2577a-2577m and a
`stop time 2578a-2578m. Each base station identifier 2571a
`2571m is obtained from the corresponding base station
`identifier 2531a-2531 in in the POI central database 2530.
`Each POI data identifier 25721a-2572m contains at least a
`portion of the corresponding POI identifier 2532a-2532n in
`the POI central database 2530. In the preferred embodiment
`the entire POI identifier 2532a-2532n is copied to generate
`the corresponding POI data identifier 25721a-2572m, and so
`includes name 25723a–2573m, address 2574a–2574m, tele
`phone number 2575a-2575m and ID number 2576a-2576m
`fields. The start times 2577a-2577m and stop times 2578a
`2578m are provided by the user by way of the trip scheduler
`2560. Each POI data entry 2570a-2570m contains a primary/
`alternate field 2579a-2579m that is automatically generated
`by the trip scheduler 2560, and which indicates whether the
`POI data entry 2570a-2570m is a primary entry explicitly
`Selected by the user, or an alternate entry that was automati
`cally generated by the trip scheduler 2560. A primary entry
`field 2576a-2576m may point to a corresponding alternate
`POI data entry 2570a-2570m, and an alternate entry field
`2576a-2576m may point to a corresponding primary POI
`data entry 2570a-2570m.
`0034) To better illustrate the above, please refer to FIG.
`6, which is a block diagram of sample POI data 2570
`generated by a user utilizing the trip scheduler 2560 with a
`POI central database 2530 for the map depicted in FIG. 3.
`Assume that the user has, with the trip scheduler 2560,
`elected to visit “Restaurant I”, “Bank C” and “Library A'.
`Further assume that “Bank C and “Bank A' are branches of
`the Same bank, and that this detailed information is con
`tained within the respective POI identifiers in the POI
`central database 2530 (for example, by way of an explicit
`type field or the like). When the user selects “Bank C” as a
`destination POI, the trip scheduler 2560 automatically que
`ries the POI database server 2520 for any POIs 2530a-2530n
`that are of the same type as “Bank C. In response to this,
`the POI database server 2520 responds with the POI “Bank
`A”. Consequently, the POI data 2570 contains not three POI
`data entries, but four, two of which are linked together as a
`
`primary/alternate pair. The primary/alternate field for “Bank
`C” points to the POI data entry “Bank A', and vice versa, by
`way of the respective ID numbers. Of course, it is possible
`to design the POI data 2570 so that one primary entry
`2570a-2570m may have more that just a single alternate
`entry 2570a-2570m, and to devise other linking strategies
`rather than that of using the ID numbers 2576a-2576m.
`0035) To provide POI alerting for the user, the first
`embodiment PDA 2000 contains an alerting module 2580.
`The alerting module 2580 interfaces with the POI data
`serving module 2540 to obtain the most recent base station
`identifier 1521 as provided by the service area identifying
`module 1520 of the mobile telephone 1000, and utilizes the
`POI data 2570 to provide POI alerts to the user. As the user
`moves about with the mobile telephone 1000, the service
`area identifying module 1520 tracks the general geographic
`location of the mobile telephone 1000 as described above,
`and updates the base Station identifier 1521 accordingly.
`With each update of the base station identifier 1521, the
`service area identifying module 1520 sends the new base
`station identifier 1521 to the POI data loading interface
`1540. The POI data loading interface 1540, in turn, utilizes
`the communications Software 1550 to send the new base
`station identifier 1521 to the POI data serving module 2540
`via the communications link 10. In this manner, the most
`recent base station identifier 1521 is made available to the
`alerting module 2580.
`0036) The alerting module 2580 contains a first alerting
`module 2581 to alert the user of POIs in a new service area.
`When a change to the base station identifier 1521 is detected,
`the first alerting module 2581 scans the POI data 2570 for
`any entries 2570a-2570m having base station identifiers
`2571a-2571m that match the current value of the new base
`Station identifier 1521, and generates a first alert for any
`matching entries 2570a-2570m. The first alert may be, for
`example, a distinct tone generated by the Speaker 2350,
`along with visual data presented on the display 2300 gen
`erated according to the POI data identifier 25721a-2572m of
`the matching POI data entries 2570a-2570m. In this manner,
`the user is made aware of POIs that are to be visited in the
`new service area. The first alerting module 2581 further
`contains an acknowledgment module 2581 a that enable the
`user to acknowledge any first alerts. When a first alert is
`acknowledged by the user, the corresponding POI data entry
`2570a-2570m is deleted from the POI data 2570, or other
`wise tagged as acknowledged (for example, by Setting a bit
`in a dedicated field within the acknowledged POI data entry
`2570a-2570m). The acknowledgment module 2581a should
`ideally also permit a user to explicitly acknowledge any POI
`data entry 2570a-2570m within the POI data 2570, regard
`less of whether or not such an entry 2570a-2570m corre
`sponds to the current geographical location as indicated by
`the base station identifier 1521. In this manner, the user can
`acknowledge entries 2570a-2570m at will, and as they are
`Visited, rather than Simply when a first alert is generated.
`0037. The alerting module 2580 also contains a second
`alerting module 2582 to alert the user of POIs that were not
`acknowledged in an old Service area when entering into a
`new Service area. When a change to the base Station iden
`tifi