Obviousness

The patent US9622032 aims to provide a flexible and secure method for a mobile telephone network to monitor a mobile station's presence in special areas without modifying radio transmitting devices. This is achieved by transmitting "checking data" to the mobile station, which the mobile station then uses to determine if it is within a special area. The same checking data is sent to all mobile stations whose presence in that special area is monitored. This approach offers advantages over prior art by centralizing the intelligence in the mobile network and mobile station, rather than requiring individual radio communication defining devices to store and manage mobile station identities.

Combinations of Prior Art References for Obviousness

A person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) in mobile telecommunications and location-based services would likely find the claims of US9622032 obvious when considering a combination of the following prior art references:

1. WO 00/27152 and US20020094801 in combination with general knowledge of mobile network capabilities.

• WO 00/27152: This international application describes a system for locating a mobile station using a "guide unit" that broadcasts a short-range radio signal to define a "home area." The signal contains the mobile station's identity code, and the mobile station identifies its own code to notify a mobile switching center of its location in the home area. This "home message" can be used for defining call pricing/services.

  • Disclosure: A method for defining a special area (home area) using a radio signal, where a mobile station's presence is detected by comparing an identity code received in the signal with its own identity. This information is then used to adapt services (e.g., pricing).
  • Limitation: The guide unit must know the identity of the mobile station, and it lacks flexibility for adding new special areas without modifying the guide units.

• US20020094801: This patent application describes a system where a fixed station sends an encoded signal defining a special area. The fixed station and mobile station are linked via the signal code. To prevent abuse, the fixed station can be equipped with means to receive and compare an access code applied by the mobile station to activate the fixed station.

  • Disclosure: Use of an encoded signal from a fixed station to define a special area and link it to a mobile station via a signal code. It also introduces the concept of an access code for protection against abuse.
  • Limitation: The document doesn't explicitly disclose the content of the coded signal or how the mobile station uses it for determination. It focuses on activating the fixed station with an access code from the mobile station, rather than the mobile network dynamically managing special areas for multiple mobile stations.

Motivation for Combination and Obviousness Analysis:

A PHOSITA, aware of the limitations of WO 00/27152 (lack of flexibility and requirement for guide units to store mobile identities), would be motivated to find a more scalable and flexible solution for defining special areas. US20020094801 provides the concept of a "signal code" linking a fixed station and mobile station to define a special area. The combination would naturally lead a PHOSITA to consider shifting the "intelligence" away from the radio communication defining device (guide unit/fixed station) to the mobile station and the mobile network.

• Obvious Step 1: Transmitting "Checking Data" to the Mobile Station: Given WO 00/27152's issue of guide units needing to know mobile station identities, a PHOSITA would recognize the benefit of the mobile station being aware of the characteristics of a special area. Instead of the guide unit having to store all mobile identities, it would be a logical step to send the identifying characteristics of the special area (what US9622032 calls "checking data") to the mobile station. This data would then allow the mobile station to independently verify its presence. This is particularly reinforced by US20020094801's concept of a "signal code" linking the mobile station to the special area. The idea of "storing a checking data in the mobile station" (as claimed in US9622032) to determine if a signal is distinctive is directly supported by combining the need for flexibility in WO 00/27152 with the notion of a signal code for linking in US20020094801.

• Obvious Step 2: Mobile Station Processing and Updating the Network: WO 00/27152 already teaches the mobile station identifying its location in a home area and transmitting a "home message" to the mobile switching center for service adaptation. Once the mobile station is equipped with "checking data" (from the combination in Step 1), it would be obvious for the mobile station to use this data to process received signals, determine its presence in a special area, and then send an "updating signal" to the mobile network (similar to the "home message" in WO 00/27152) to trigger the adaptation of operating parameters (like tariffs or services). This addresses the flexibility issue of WO 00/27152 because the "checking data" can be dynamically updated at the mobile station by the network, rather than requiring physical modification of guide units.

• Obvious Step 3: Centralized Special Operating Means: Both prior art references imply a network component that acts on the location information. WO 00/27152 mentions a "mobile switching centre" using the home message. US9622032 explicitly centralizes this function in "special operating means" within the mobile telephone network. A PHOSITA would understand the advantages of centralizing such functions for efficient management of tariffs and services for a large number of mobile stations and special areas, especially given the scalability issues of WO 00/27152. The patent US9622032 states, "the processing of these operating parameters is centralized in the special operating means and it is not done in each base station." This centralization would be an obvious design choice for managing a system with potentially many special areas and mobile stations.

Therefore, the combination of WO 00/27152 and US20020094801, coupled with a PHOSITA's general knowledge of mobile network architecture and the desire for flexibility and scalability in location-based services, would make the core claims of US9622032 obvious. The claimed "checking data" is an obvious evolution of the identity codes and signal codes described in the prior art, enabling the desired flexibility by moving the intelligence to the mobile station.