A method and system for calculating the approximate location of a mobile
station along a recurrent route is disclosed. In an embodiment for the
method in accordance with the principles of the present invention, the
method for storing reference data includes decoding a first unique
identifier for a cell in communication with the mobile station at a first
location and a first time, storing the first unique identifier and the
first time, decoding, upon handoff to a next cell, at a second location
and at a second time, a second unique identifier for the next cell, and
storing the second cell identifier and the second time. In a method for
calculating an estimated time of arrival at the endpoint of a segment for
a mobile station traveling along a recurrent route of travel, the method
includes detecting the startpoint of one of the plurality of segments at
a first time, and calculating an estimated time of arrival at the
endpoint of the segment. In an embodiment of a system in accordance with
an embodiment of the invention, the system includes a mobile station, a
first cellular base station, a second cellular base station, a database,
and a processor.