Determination of location of a mobile device

• US 10,271,170 B2
• Filed: 02/21/2018
• Issued: 04/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Dowlatkhah, Sangar, Shaw, Venson
• Primary Examiner(s): Shedrick, Charles T
• Application Number:
  US15/901,661
• Publication Number:
  US 20180184249A1
• Time in Patent Office: 426 Days
• Field of Search: 4554562, 4554563
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/265 Personal security, identity or safety
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• 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 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• 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 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

Determination of a current location of a mobile device based on exchange of messages between the mobile device and a remote device. The determination can be originated from the remote device and can be performed, in certain embodiments, by a system within a network that provides services to the mobile device. The location of the mobile device can be determined without reliance on a dedicated location service module (e.g., software or firmware) at the user equipment. The system can utilize signals from a global navigation satellite system or signals time-of-flight terrestrial signals emitted and/or received at the mobile device. In addition, the system can provide location information associated with the mobile device in response to a prompt from the remote device in instances in which the remote device is authorized to receive location information. An authorized remote device can be or can include a device associated with the user equipment or a third-party device.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

facilitating an exchange of information between a mobile device and a serving mobile location center device of a communication network, wherein the exchange of information generates data representative of a location of the mobile device;

updating a location record, associated with the mobile device, to include the data representative of the location of the mobile device, wherein the location record is stored by a storage device of the communication network; and

in response to a request for a current location of the mobile device, determining an estimate of the current location based on the location of the mobile device and the location record, wherein a call session is not established with the mobile device during the determining the estimate of the current location.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise, prior to the facilitating the exchange of information:

facilitating sending an instruction to the mobile device to perform a location update; and

receiving information indicative of the location update from the mobile device, wherein the information indicative of the location update comprises the data representative of the location of the mobile device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the facilitating the exchange of information is in response to a determination of acceptance of an authorization configuration associated with tracking the location of the mobile device.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the determination of the acceptance of the authorization configuration comprises accessing opt-in information indicative of a permission to monitor the location of the mobile device, and wherein the opt-in information is stored by a server device of the communication network.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the data representative of the location of the mobile device comprises a geographic coordinate associated with the mobile device, and wherein the determining the estimate of the current location of the mobile device comprises assigning the geographic coordinate to the estimate of the current location.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein the data representative of the location of the mobile device comprises distance information related to a distance between the mobile device and a network device of the communication network, and wherein the determining the estimate of the current location of the mobile device comprises using a trilateration process based on the distance information.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the distance information comprises timing information that represents the distance between the mobile device and the network device.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the data representative of the location is stored by the storage device in connection with a process of locating the mobile device during an emergency situation.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a first mobile device, and wherein the operations further comprise:

prior to the determining the estimate of the current location of the first mobile device, receiving a first text message representative of a location request for the current location, wherein the first text message is received from a second mobile device.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to the request for the current location, determining an absence of an acceptance of an authorization configuration associated with tracking the location of the mobile device, wherein the absence of the acceptance comprises opt-out information stored in a device profile associated with the mobile device; and

facilitating a modification of the device profile to permit a determination of the current location based on the request for the current location being an authorized request.

11. A method, comprising:

facilitating, by a network device of a communication network, the network device comprising a processor, a transmission of a message to a mobile device for an indication of a first location of the mobile device;

in response to receiving, by the network device, the indication of the first location from the mobile device, updating a location record for the mobile device, wherein the indication of the first location is based on a result of a communication exchange between the mobile device and a serving mobile location center device of the communication network; and

determining, by the network device, a second location of the mobile device based on the indication of the first location and the location record for the mobile device, wherein a communication session is not established with the mobile device during the determining the second location.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the mobile device is a first mobile device, wherein the message is a first message, wherein the communication session is a first communication session, and wherein the method further comprises:

prior to determining the second location, receiving, by the network device, a second message, from a second mobile device, that indicates a request for the second location of the first mobile device, and wherein a second communication session between the first mobile device and the second mobile device is disabled.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

in response to the second message from the second mobile device, determining, by the network device, that an opt-out notification is retained in a device profile associated with the first mobile device; and

facilitating, by the network device, a modification of the device profile to allow a determination of the second location of the first mobile device, wherein the facilitating the modification comprises implementing an exception handling process.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

in response to the second message from the second mobile device, determining, by the network device, that opt-in information indicative of a permission to monitor the second location of the first mobile device is retained in a device profile associated with the first mobile device.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the indication of the first location of the mobile device comprises a geographic coordinate associated with the mobile device, and wherein the determining the second location of the mobile device comprises assigning the geographic coordinate to an estimate of the second location.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the indication of the first location of the mobile device comprises distance information related to a distance between the mobile device and the network device, and wherein the determining the second location of the mobile device comprises using a trilateration process based on the distance information.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the distance information comprises timing information that represents the distance between the mobile device and the network device.

18. A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

facilitating an information exchange between a mobile device and a network device of a communication network, wherein the information exchange generates data representative of a first location of the mobile device;

updating a location record of the mobile device to include the data representative of the first location of the mobile device, wherein the location record is retained in a storage device of the communication network; and

determining an estimate of a second location of the mobile device in response to a request for the second location, wherein the estimate of the second location is based on the first location and the location record, and wherein a communication session is not established with the mobile device during the determining the estimate of the second location.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to the request for the second location, determining an absence of authorization information associated with monitoring the second location of the mobile device, wherein the absence of the authorization information comprises opt-out information stored in a device profile associated with the mobile device; and

facilitating a modification of the device profile to permit a determination of the second location based on the request for the second location being an authorized request.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:

implementing an exception handling process that overrides the opt-out information and modifies the authorization information present in the device profile associated with the mobile device.