Location-assisted service capability monitoring

• US 10,142,961 B2
• Filed: 03/22/2016
• Issued: 11/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Rao, Bharath Narasimha, Jazra, Cherif, Soto Matamala, Leonardo A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Miller, Brandon J
• Application Number:
  US15/077,716
• Publication Number:
  US 20160205657A1
• Time in Patent Office: 980 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/309 Measuring or estimating channel quality parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5681 Pre-fetching or pre-delivering data based on network characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/022 with dynamic range variability
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination

Abstract

A digitally stored map can indicate the signal quality for each of the map'"'"'s regions. A device can determine its location, speed, and direction using global positioning system (GPS) and other sensors. Based on this information, the mobile device can predict a field of locations within which the device will probably be located within a specified future time frame. Based on both the information indicating signal quality and the probable future field of locations, the device can estimate a moment at which the device will probably begin to suffer from low-quality or absent signal. Using this prediction, the device can proactively perform a variety of anticipatory remedial actions. For example, the device can begin allocating a greater portion of currently available wireless network communication bandwidth to the reception of data packets that represent content that is being streamed to the device, so that the device can proactively buffer those packets.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform:

receiving, at a server, from two or more mobile devices of a plurality of mobile devices, measurements that indicate qualities of network communication signals within one or more regions of a plurality of regions,

wherein receiving the measurements comprises receiving a first measurement from a first mobile device that subscribes to a wireless network of a first wireless carrier and receiving a second measurement from a second mobile device that subscribes to a wireless network of a second wireless carrier that differs from the first wireless carrier; and

based on the measurements, updating, at the server, stored map data that specifies, for each particular region of the plurality of regions, a quality of a network communication signal within that particular region,

wherein the updating the stored map data comprises using the first measurement to update first map data that pertains to the wireless network of the first wireless carrier, and using the second measurement to update second map data that pertains to the wireless network of the second wireless carrier.

2. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to perform:

sending, from the server, to a mobile device of the plurality of mobile devices, at least a portion of the stored map data that was updated as a result of the updating.

3. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to perform:

presenting, on a display of the one or more mobile devices, at least a portion of the stored map data.

4. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the first measurement from the first mobile device pertains to a first region of the plurality of regions, wherein the second measurement from the second mobile device pertains to the first region, and

wherein the first mobile device is separate from the second mobile device.

5. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein

the first measurement from the first mobile device pertains to a first region of the plurality of regions;

wherein the second measurement from the second mobile device pertains to a second region of the plurality of regions; and

wherein the first region is separate from the second region.

6. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein updating the stored map data further comprises:

using the first measurement to update the first map data that pertains to the wireless network of the first wireless carrier but not to update the second map data that pertains to the wireless network of the second wireless carrier, and

using the second measurement to update the second map data that pertains to the wireless network of the second wireless carrier but not to update the first map data that pertains to the wireless network of the first wireless carrier.

7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the first mobile device used a 3G network when making the first measurement,

wherein the second mobile device used a 4G network when making the second measurement, and

wherein updating the stored map data further comprises:

using the first measurement to update first map data that pertains to the 3G network but not to update second map data that pertains to the 4G network, and

using the second measurement to update the second map data that pertains to the 4G network but not to update the first map data that pertains to the 3G network.

8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the first measurement is received from the first mobile device during a first time-of-day and a first day-of-week,

wherein the second measurement is received from the second mobile device during a second time-of-day that differs from the first time-of-day and during a second day-of-week that differs from the first day-of-week, and

wherein updating the stored map data further comprises:

using the first measurement to update first map data that pertains to the first time-of-day and first day-of-week but not to update second map data that pertains to the second time-of-day and second day-of-week, and

using the second measurement to update the second map data that pertains to the second time-of-day and second day-of-week but not to update the first map data that pertains to the first time-of-day and first day-of-week.

9. A system comprising a server configured to store map data that specifies qualities of wireless network communication services in a plurality of regions, the server including a processor and a memory having instructions stored thereon, that, if executed by the processor, cause the server to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a first mobile device that subscribes to a wireless network of a first wireless carrier, an indication of a first quality of a wireless network communication service in a first region of the plurality of regions; and

receiving, from a second mobile device that subscribes to a wireless network of a second wireless carrier that differs from the first wireless carrier, an indication of a second quality of a wireless communication service in a second region of the plurality of regions, and

wherein the first mobile device is separate from the second mobile device.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the server is configured to update the stored map data based on the indication of the first quality and the indication of the second quality.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the server is configured to send, to the first mobile device, updated map data that the server generates based on the indication of the second quality;

and wherein the server is configured to send, to the second mobile device, updated map data that the server generates based on the indication of the first quality.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the server is configured to update stored map data pertaining to a wireless network of a particular wireless carrier based on initial map data that the server initially receives from the particular wireless carrier.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the first mobile device is configured to obtain updated map data that the server updates based on measurements sent by a plurality of mobile devices;

and wherein the first mobile device is configured to use the updated map data to determine that the first mobile device will enter a region in which a measured signal quality is less than a specified threshold.

14. A method comprising:

receiving, at a server, from two or more mobile devices of a plurality of mobile devices, measurements that indicate qualities of network communication signals within one or more regions of a plurality of regions,

wherein receiving the measurements comprises receiving a first measurement from a first mobile device that subscribes to a wireless network of a first wireless carrier and receiving a second measurement from a second mobile device that subscribes to a wireless network of a second wireless carrier that differs from the first wireless carrier; and

based on the measurements, updating, at the server, stored map data that specifies, for each particular region of the plurality of regions, a quality of a network communication signal within that particular region,

wherein the updating the stored map data comprises using the first measurement to update first map data that pertains to the wireless network of the first wireless carrier, and using the second measurement to update second map data that pertains to the wireless network of the second wireless carrier.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising sending, from the server, to a mobile device of the plurality of mobile devices, at least a portion of the stored map data that was updated as a result of the updating.

16. The method according to claim 14, further comprising presenting, on a display of the one or more mobile devices, at least a portion of the stored map data.

17. The method according to claim 14, wherein the first measurement from the first mobile device pertains to a first region of the plurality of regions;

and

wherein the second measurement from the second mobile device pertains to the first region,

wherein the first mobile device is separate from the second mobile device.

18. The method according to claim 14, wherein the first measurement from the first mobile device pertains to a first region of the plurality of regions,

wherein the second measurement from the second mobile device pertains to a second region of the plurality of regions, and

wherein the first region is separate from the second region.

19. The method according to claim 14, wherein updating the stored map data further comprises:

using the first measurement to update the first map data that pertains to the wireless network of the first wireless carrier but not to update the second map data that pertains to the wireless network of the second wireless carrier, and

using the second measurement to update the second map data that pertains to the wireless network of the second wireless carrier but not to update the first map data that pertains to the wireless network of the first wireless carrier.

20. The method according to claim 14, wherein the first mobile device used a 3G network when making the first measurement, wherein the second mobile device used a 4G network when making the second measurement, and

wherein updating the stored map data further comprises:

using the first measurement to update first map data that pertains to a 3G network but not to update second map data that pertains to a 4G network, and

using the second measurement to update the second map data that pertains to the 4G network but not to update the first map data that pertains to the 3G network.