Deriving location information about a communicating entity

• US 20010041576A1
• Filed: 03/29/2001
• Published: 11/15/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Thomas, Andrew, McDonnell, James Thomas Edward, Hawkes, Rycharde Jeffery, Waters, John Deryk, Crouch, Simon Edwin, IʼAnson, Colin
• Granted Patent: US 7,050,815 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.5
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

Location information about a communicating entity (41), in particular a mobile entity, is derived by identifying intermediate nodes (42) along the communication path being used by the entity, and then looking up, in a database (44), the geographic significance of at least one of these nodes when considered in a direction along the communication path towards the entity of interest. Preferably, account is taken of any identified downstream/upstream nodes to refine the geographic significance of a node. The geographic significance information can be compiled by taking location fixes at a plurality of endpoint locations and associating the location data thus obtained with the intermediate nodes traversed when communication is effected from the corresponding endpoint locations.

Claims

1. A method of deriving location information about a first entity forming one endpoint of an actual or potential communication path at the other end of which is a second entity, the path extending at least in part through a fixed communications infrastructure, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) identifying one or more intermediate nodes that lie along said path and are internal to the fixed communications infrastructure;

(b) accessing information about the geographic significance of at least one said intermediate node when considered in a direction along said path towards said first entity; and

(c) using the geographic significance information accessed in step (b) to provide said location information about the first entity.

2. A method according to

claim 1

, wherein the geographic significance information of a said intermediate node comprises information that takes account of at least one of the following parameters:

(i) the identity of a downstream intermediate node,

(ii) the identity of an upstream intermediate node,

(iii) the second entity;

step (b) involving accessing the geographic significance information on the basis of at least one of the foregoing parameters.

3. A method according to

claim 2

, wherein geographic significance information taking account of parameter (i) is available and is preferentially used to obtain the geographic significance information for step (c) in cases where an upstream intermediate node has been identified in step (a).

4. A method according to

claim 1

, wherein steps (a) and (b) taken together result in the accessing of geographic significance information on the intermediate node which is closest to the first entity and for which such information exists.

5. A method according to

claim 1

, wherein said second entity is a service system contacted by the first entity, the second entity carrying out steps (a) to (c).

6. A method according to

claim 1

, wherein the first entity is a mobile entity and the second entity is a service system.

7. A method according to

claim 1

, wherein the second entity uses the geographic significance information obtained in step (c) to initiate further location determination steps in respect of the first entity.

8. A method according to

claim 1

, wherein said path is at least in part through an IP network and step (a) is effected by causing time-to-live timeouts at successive nodes along the path.

9. A method according to

claim 1

, wherein the first entity is a mobile entity with cellular radio capability and said path extends from the first entity, over a cellular radio infrastructure and through a gateway, this gateway forming a said intermediate node.

10. A method according to

claim 1

, wherein the communication path is one of a data path for load data and/or signaling data.

11. A method of discovering geographic significance information about nodes in a communications infrastructure, comprising the steps of:

(a) deriving location data about a first entity forming one endpoint of an actual or potential path through the communications infrastructure to a second endpoint entity;

(b) identifying one or more intermediate nodes along said path;

(c) associating the location data with the or each said intermediate node;

(d) repeating steps (a) to (c) multiple times for different first-entity locations and thereafter consolidating for each node, the associated location data into location zone data constituting said geographic significance data for the node.

12. A method according to

claim 11

, wherein step (c) involves for each node with which location data is associated, noting the identity of any upstream/downstream node along said path towards the first entity;

step (d) providing the location zone data for the node for access according to upstream/downstream node.

13. A system for deriving location information about a first entity forming one endpoint of an actual or potential communication path at the other end of which is said system, the path extending at least in part through a fixed communications infrastructure, the system comprising:

a data store holding information about the geographic significance of internal nodes of the fixed communications infrastructure, with respect to directions of traversal of the nodes;

a node-discovery subsystem for identifying one or more said nodes that lie along said path intermediate the system and the first entity; and

a data-processing subsystem operative to look up, in the data store, geographic significance information regarding at least one said intermediate node identified by the node discovery subsystem, the geographic significance information concerned relating to a direction of traversal of the node in a direction along said path towards said first entity and this information being used by the data-processing to provide said location information about the first entity.

14. A system according to

claim 13

, wherein the geographic significance information of a said intermediate node comprises information that takes account of at least one of the following parameters:

(i) the identity of a downstream intermediate node,

(ii) the identity of an upstream intermediate node,

(iii) the second entity;

the data-processing subsystem being operative to look up the geographic significance information on the basis of at least one of the foregoing parameters.

15. A system according to

claim 13

, wherein said path is at least in part through an IP network and the node-discovery subsystem is operative to effect node discovery by causing time-to-live timeouts at successive nodes along the path.