E911 locating by nearby proxy device location

• US 10,012,719 B2
• Filed: 07/31/2015
• Issued: 07/03/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.), AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.), AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Meredith, Sheldon Kent, Hilliard, Brandon B., Cottrill, William
• Primary Examiner(s): RAMPURIA, SHARAD K
• Application Number:
  US14/814,845
• Publication Number:
  US 20170030994A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,068 Days
• Field of Search: 4554041-4042, 4554561-457, 455 412, 455518-519
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0027 of actual mobile position, i.e. position determined on mobile
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0072 Transmission between mobile stations, e.g. anti-collision systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0231 Emergency, distress or locator beacons
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A method for determining the location of a mobile device that has placed an emergency call includes determining that an emergency call has been made by a mobile device having a wireless radio and receiving, from the mobile device, an identifier of a first device detected by the wireless radio. If the first device is not fixed, the method includes sending a first location request to the first device to determine a first location of the first device. The method also includes determining a location of the mobile device based upon the first location and providing the mobile device location to a recipient of the emergency call.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining, by a mobile positioning center, that an emergency call has been made by a mobile device having a wireless radio, wherein the mobile positioning center is communicatively coupled to a location database and a recipient of the emergency call;

determining that the mobile device has not provided a location of the mobile device to the recipient of the emergency call;

receiving, from the mobile device, an identifier of a first device detected by the wireless radio;

determining that the first device is not fixed;

sending, by the mobile positioning center, a first location request to the first device to determine a first location of the first device;

determining that the first device is unable to determine the first location based upon a GPS signal;

receiving, at the mobile positioning center, from the first device, a second identifier of a second device detected by the first device;

if the second device is not fixed, sending a second location request to the second device to determine a second location of the second device; and

determining the first location of the first device based upon the second location;

determining the location of the mobile device based upon the first location; and

providing, by the mobile positioning center, the location of the mobile device to the recipient of the emergency call.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device is one of a plurality of detected devices and further comprising:

for each of the plurality of detected devices, receiving, at the mobile positioning center, from the mobile device, an additional identifier; and

sending, by the mobile positioning center, an additional location request to each of the plurality of detected devices that is not fixed to determine an additional location,

wherein determining the location of the mobile device is further based upon the additional location.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining an accuracy of the location of the mobile device based upon at least one of a number of the plurality of detected devices, a type of the wireless radio used to detect the plurality of detected devices, and a signal strength associated with each of the plurality of detected devices; and

providing the accuracy of the location of the mobile device to the recipient.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the location of the mobile device further includes identifying a centroid of the plurality of detected devices as the location of the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the location of the mobile device includes identifying the first location as the location of the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device is at least one of a beacon and a wireless access point.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

causing the mobile device to enable a wireless radio.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device provides the first location to the mobile positioning center.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is one of a vehicle or a smart appliance.

10. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing a location database and executable instructions that cause the processor to effectuate operations comprising;

determining that an emergency call has been made by a mobile device having a wireless radio;

determining that the mobile device has not provided a location of the mobile device to a recipient of the emergency call;

receiving, from the mobile device, an identifier of a first device detected by the wireless radio;

determining that the first device is not fixed;

sending a first location request to the first device to determine a first location of the first device;

determining that the first device is unable to determine the first location;

receiving, from the first device, a second identifier of a second device detected by the first device;

if the second device is not fixed, sending a second location request to the second device to determine a second location of the second device; and

determining the first location of the first device based upon the second location;

determining the location of the mobile device based upon the first location; and

providing the location of the mobile device to a recipient of the emergency call,

wherein the apparatus does not comprise the mobile device.

11. A method comprising:

determining, by a mobile positioning center, that a mobile device located in a sector has made an emergency call, wherein the mobile positioning center is communicatively coupled with a location database and a recipient of the emergency call;

identifying, by the mobile positioning center, a first device located in the sector;

sending, by the mobile positioning center to the first device a command to determine whether the first device can detect the mobile device;

receiving, by the mobile positioning center, from the first device, an indication that the first device detects the mobile device;

determining, by the mobile positioning center, that the first device cannot provide a first location associated with the first device;

receiving, at the mobile positioning center, a second identifier of a second device detected by the first device;

receiving, by the mobile positioning center, a second location of the second device; and

determining, by the mobile positioning center, the first location of the first device based upon the second location;

determining, by the mobile positioning center, a location of the mobile device based upon the first location; and

providing the location of the mobile device to the recipient of the emergency call,

wherein if the first device is fixed, determining the first location includes querying the location database and if the first device is not fixed, determining the first location includes sending a first location request to the first device.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

identifying all of a plurality of devices located in the sector,

wherein the sending further includes sending the command to each of the plurality of devices.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the command includes an identifier of the mobile device.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the first device is one of a plurality of devices that detect the mobile device, the method further comprising:

receiving an indicator from an additional device of an additional location of the additional device,

wherein the additional device is one of the plurality of devices and determining the location of the mobile device is further based upon the additional location.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

determining an accuracy of the location of the mobile device based upon at least one of a number of the plurality of devices, a type of a wireless radio associated with the first device that was used to detect the mobile device, and a signal strength associated with each of the plurality of devices; and

providing the accuracy of the location of the mobile device to the recipient.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the type of wireless radio is at least one of a Bluetooth®

and a Wi-Fi radio.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the sector further includes determining a second sector in which the mobile device is located and wherein the sending further includes sending the command to each of the plurality of devices that are located in both the sector and the second sector.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the sector further includes determining a second sector in which the mobile device is located and wherein the sending further includes sending the command to each device that is located in any of the sector and the second sector.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the location of the mobile device includes identifying the first location as the location of the mobile device.