Method and apparatus for management of automatically initiated communication

Claim 5

In a communication system in which a control station engages in data communications with members of a population of mobile units from time to time, a method of managing automatically initiated data communications comprising the steps of: transmitting data describing a known location for one of said mobile units to said one mobile unit, said known location being described relative to a position of said mobile unit and not relative to geographic descriptions of cell locations; interpreting said data describing a known location for said one mobile unit as a target area within which said one mobile unit resides during said transmitting step; broadcasting data messages to different geographical areas, said data messages conveying data which describe locations for service areas to which said data messages are being broadcast, said service areas being in motion in relation to said mobile units, and said data which describe locations for service areas to which said data messages are being broadcast are interpreted as identifying beam-center points which are centrally located in said service areas; receiving one of said broadcast data messages at said one mobile unit, wherein said receiving step is configured so that said one mobile unit monitors as many of said broadcast data messages as it can acquire; determining, at said one mobile unit, the location of a virtual point which is centrally located among at least a portion of said beam-center points, said virtual point being calculated from said points and defining a reference location; refraining from automatically initiating said data communication from said one mobile unit when said virtual point resides in said target area; and otherwise automatically initiating said data communication from said mobile unit in response to said determining step.

Claim 6

In a communication system in which a control station engages in data communications with members of a population of mobile units from time to time, a method of managing automatically initiated data communications comprising the steps of: transmitting data describing a known location for one of said mobile units to said one mobile unit, said known location being described relative to a position of said mobile unit and not relative to geographic descriptions of cell locations; interpreting said data describing a known location for said one mobile unit as a target area within which said one mobile unit resides during said transmitting step; broadcasting data messages to different geographical areas, said data messages conveying data which describe locations for service areas to which said data messages are being broadcast, said service areas being in motion in relation to said mobile units, and said data which describe locations for service areas to which said data messages are being broadcast are interpreted as identifying beam-center points which are centrally located in said service areas; receiving one of said broadcast data messages at said one mobile unit, wherein said receiving step is configured so that said one mobile unit monitors as many of said broadcast data messages as it can acquire; determining, at said one mobile unit, the location of a virtual point which is centrally located among at least a portion of said beam-center points, said virtual point being calculated from said points and defining a reference location; refraining from automatically initiating said data communication from said one mobile unit when said virtual point resides in said target area; and otherwise automatically initiating said data communication from said mobile unit in response to said determining step.

Claim 7

A method of managing automatically initiated data communications as claimed in claim 3 wherein said automatically initiating step automatically initiates said data communication from said one mobile unit when said beam-center points reside outside said target area and said virtual point resides outside said target area.

Claim 8

A mobile communication unit that automatically initiates communication with a control station from time to time for conserving communication system resources, said mobile unit comprising: a receiver configured to receive data describing a known location for said mobile unit and a broadcast signal which conveys geographic data describing a service area to which said broadcast signal is assigned, said known location being described relative to a position of said mobile unit and not relative to geographic descriptions of cell locations, wherein a plurality of broadcast signals are broadcast to a corresponding plurality of service areas, and each of said plurality of broadcast signals conveys data describing a geographic service area to which each broadcast signal is assigned, and said receiver is controlled by a processor to acquire as many of said plurality of broadcast signals as possible; a storage element coupled to said receiver, said storage element being configured to retain said known location data; said processor coupled to said receiver and said storage element, said processor being configured to determine a position of said known location relative to said service area, wherein said processor is configured to interpret said data describing said known location for said mobile unit as a boundary of a target area within which said mobile unit resides when said data describing said known location is received, said processor is configured to interpret said data describing each service area as being coordinates of a beam-center point centrally located in each service area, said processor is configured to determine relative positions between said target area and said beam-center points, said processor is configured to determine the location of a virtual point which is centrally located among said beam-center points, said virual point being calculated from said points and defining a reference location, and said processor is further configured to refrain from automatically initiating said data communication from said mobile unit when said virtual point resides in said target area; and a transmitter coupled to said processor, said transmitter being activated under control of said processor to automatically initiate data communication from said mobile unit in response to said relative position, said transmitter also cooperatively generating said known location with said control station.

Claim 9

A mobile communication unit that automatically initiates communication with a control station from time to time for conserving communication system resources, said mobile unit comprising: a receiver configured to receive data describing a known location for said mobile unit and a broadcast signal which conveys geographic data describing a service area to which said broadcast signal is assigned, said known location being described relative to a position of said mobile unit and not relative to geographic descriptions of cell locations, wherein a plurality of broadcast signals are broadcast to a corresponding plurality of service areas, and each of said plurality of broadcast signals conveys data describing a geographic service area to which each broadcast signal is assigned, and said receiver is controlled by a processor to acquire as many of said plurality of broadcast signals as possible; a storage element coupled to said receiver, said storage element being configured to retain said known location data; said processor coupled to said receiver and said storage element, said processor being configured to determine a position of said known location relative to said service area, wherein said processor is configured to interpret said data describing said known location for said mobile unit as a boundary of a target area within which said mobile unit resides when said data describing said known location is received, said processor is configured to interpret said data describing each service area as being coordinates of a beam-center point centrally located in each service area, said processor is configured to determine relative positions between said target area and said beam-center points, said processor is configured to determine the location of a virtual point which is centrally located among said beam-center points, said virual point being calculated from said points and defining a reference location, and said processor is further configured to refrain from automatically initiating said data communication from said mobile unit when said virtual point resides in said target area; and a transmitter coupled to said processor, said transmitter being activated under control of said processor to automatically initiate data communication from said mobile unit in response to said relative position, said transmitter also cooperatively generating said known location with said control station.

Claim 10

A mobile communication unit as claimed in claim 5 wherein said processor is configured to initiate said data communication from said mobile unit when said beam-center points reside outside said target area and said virtual point resides outside said target area.