Location-transmitting device for determining location of a wireless communication device

• US 10,136,258 B2
• Filed: 01/22/2018
• Issued: 11/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Atestraw Licensing LLC (IP Edge LLC)
• Original Assignee: Empire Technology Development LLC (Allied Inventors Management, LLC)
• Inventors: Drucker, Elliott
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, David Q
• Application Number:
  US15/877,354
• Publication Number:
  US 20180146337A1
• Time in Patent Office: 302 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561, 4554041, 4554562, 455419, 4554042, 4554142, 370328
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• 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 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

In a wireless communication device, an example method of transmitting location data for a location of the wireless communication device includes using a short-range radio communication protocol to receive, without prior interrogation, radio signals from any nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device, detecting the location data in a radio signal from a nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device, wherein the radio signal is the strongest radio signal that includes location data, measuring a received signal level of the radio signal from the autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device, and transmitting the location data and the received signal level of the radio signal to a third party.

Claims

1. A method performed under control of a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

receiving, using a short-range radio communication protocol and absent prior interrogation, radio signals from a plurality of nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting devices;

detecting, by the wireless communication device, location data in a radio signal from a nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device of the plurality of nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting devices, wherein the radio signal is a strongest radio signal, among the radio signals, that includes the location data;

retaining, by the wireless communication device, the location data from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device, wherein retaining the location data comprises retaining the location data until the wireless communication device detects another location data from a different nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device;

estimating a distance of the wireless communication device from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device based on a received signal level of the radio signal; and

transmitting, by the wireless communication device, the retained location data and data, which represents the estimated distance, to a third party.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the radio signals using the short-range radio communication protocol comprises receiving the radio signals using a Bluetooth protocol.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the location data comprises detecting a format of the location data, and wherein the format of the location data includes a uniform resource locator (URL).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein estimating the distance of the wireless communication device from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device is based on a difference between a transmit power level of the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device and the received signal level of the radio signal.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein estimating the distance of the wireless communication device from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device based on the received signal level comprises calculating a path loss between the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device and the wireless communication device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the location data comprises detecting a format of the location data, and wherein the format of the location data includes one or more of:

longitude coordinates, street address, a location-specific code corresponding to a location database entry, and a combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising receiving a transmit power level from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device, wherein calculating the path loss comprises calculating the path loss based on the transmit power level and the received signal level.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the retained location data to the third party comprises transmitting the retained location data to a server.

9. A method performed under control of a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

receiving, using a short-range radio communication protocol and absent prior interrogation, radio signals from a plurality of nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting devices;

detecting, by the wireless communication device, location data in a radio signal from a nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device of the plurality of nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting devices, wherein the radio signal is a strongest radio signal, among the radio signals, that includes the location data;

measuring, by the wireless communication device, a received signal level of the radio signal from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device; and

transmitting, by the wireless communication device, the location data and the received signal level of the radio signal, to a third party.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein receiving the radio signals using the short-range radio communication protocol comprises receiving the radio signals using a Bluetooth protocol.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising estimating a distance of the wireless communication device from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device based on the received signal level, wherein the estimated distance includes a range of distances.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising estimating a distance of the wireless communication device from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device based on a difference between a transmit power level of the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device and the received signal level.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein transmitting the location data to the third party comprises transmitting the location data to a server, and wherein a format of the location data includes a uniform resource locator (URL).

14. A method performed under control of a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

receiving, using a short-range radio communication protocol and absent prior interrogation, radio signals from a plurality of nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting devices;

detecting, by the wireless communication device, location data in a radio signal from a nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device of the plurality of nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting devices, wherein the radio signal is a strongest radio signal, among the radio signals, that includes the location data, and wherein a format of the location data is selected from one or more of;

longitude/latitude coordinates, street address, street address with unit number, raw global positioning system (GPS) data, a location-specific code corresponding to a location database entry, and a combination thereof;

retaining, by the wireless communication device, the location data from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device, wherein retaining the location data comprises retaining the location data until the wireless communication device detects another location data from a different nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device;

estimating a distance of the wireless communication device from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device based on a received signal level of the radio signal; and

transmitting, by the wireless communication device, the retained location data and data, which represents the estimated distance, to a third party.