User-tagging of cellular telephone locations

• US 20020115446A1
• Filed: 02/20/2001
• Published: 08/22/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Cheng, Lili, Milstein, David, Marcjan, Cezary, Odinak, Gilad, Boss, Jerome
• Granted Patent: US 7,444,156 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.6
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/08 Mobility data transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/14 between corresponding nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/16 selectively restricting mobility data tracking

Abstract

A user-controlled cellular telephone positioning feature allows a cellular telephone user to correlate a user-specified location name with a cellular telephone location among one or more cells of a cellular telephone network. In one implementation, a cellular telephone location tagging application is stored and operated on a cellular telephone. The application obtains a cell identification string corresponding to a cell of a cellular telephone system with which cell the cellular telephone is in communication and allows the user to associate a location name and the cell identification string as location information for a selected location. Location data are maintained on a user'"'"'s cellular telephone, and the user can selectively make the location information available others.

Claims

1. In a computer readable medium of a cellular telephone, a cellular telephone location tagging application, comprising:

instructions for obtaining location information data corresponding to a location of the cellular telephone in a cellular telephone system; and

instructions for associating on the cellular telephone a location name and the location information data.

2. The medium of claim 1 further comprising instructions for transmitting the location information data from the cellular telephone selectively according to a user-specified location status indication.

3. The medium of claim 2 further comprising instructions for separately establishing a user-specified location status indication with the location information for each selected location.

4. The medium of claim 1 further comprising instructions for establishing a user-specified recipient of the location information.

5. The medium of claim 4 in which the user-specified recipient is a telephonic or computer network address associated with a particular user.

6. The medium of claim 4 in which the user-specified recipient is a computer network service or telephonic service.

7. The medium of claim 1 in which the location information data includes plural cell identification strings corresponding to plural cells of a cellular telephone system with which the cellular telephone is in communication and in which the plural cell identification strings are associated with the location name.

8. The medium of claim 7 further comprising:

instructions for obtaining on the cellular telephone a cell signal characteristic that characterizes a cellular transmission signal for each of the plural cells with which the cellular telephone is in communication; and

instructions for associating on the cellular telephone the cell signal characteristic with the location name and each corresponding cell identification string.

9. The medium of claim 8 in which the cell signal characteristic includes signal strength.

10. The medium of claim 1 further comprising instructions for establishing a computer network instant messaging service as a recipient of the location information.

11. A cellular telephone location tagging method, comprising:

establishing communication between a cellular telephone and a cell of a cellular telephone system;

obtaining a cell identification string corresponding to the cell with which the cellular telephone is in communication; and

associating on the cellular telephone a location name and the cell identification string as location information for a selected location.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

obtaining and storing on the cellular telephone a user-specified location status indication; and

transmitting the location information from the cellular telephone selectively according to the user-specified location status indication.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising separately obtaining a user-specified location status indication with the location information for each selected location.

14. The method of claim 11 further comprising obtaining and storing on the cellular telephone a user-specified recipient of the location information.

15. The method of claim 14 in which the user-specified recipient is a telephonic or computer network address associated with a person.

16. The method of claim 14 in which the user-specified recipient is a computer network or telephonic service.

17. The method of claim 11 in which obtaining a cell identification string includes obtaining plural cell identification strings corresponding to plural cells of a cellular telephone system with which cells the cellular telephone is in communication and in which the plural cell identification strings are associated with the location name.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising:

obtaining on the cellular telephone a cell signal characteristic that characterizes a cellular transmission signal for each of the plural cells with which the cellular telephone is in communication; and

associating on the cellular telephone the cell signal characteristic with the location name and each corresponding cell identification string.

19. The method of claim 18 in which the cell signal characteristic includes signal strength.

20. The method of claim 11 further comprising establishing a computer network instant messaging service as a recipient of the location information.

21. A cellular telephone location posting system, comprising:

a cellular telephone location tagging application stored and operated on a cellular telephone, the application obtaining a cell identification string corresponding to a cell of a cellular telephone system with which cell the cellular telephone is in communication and associating on the cellular telephone a location name and the cell identification string as location information for a selected location; and

a cellular telephone location service center that receives the location information from the cellular telephone and selectively forwards the location information to a predefined recipient.

22. The system of claim 21 in which the location information is selectively forwarded according to a location status indication included with the location information from the cellular telephone.

23. The system of claim 21 in which the cellular telephone has an associated user who has one or more computer network identities and in which the cellular telephone location service center associates the location information with the one or more computer network identities of the user.

24. The system of claim 21 in which the location information is selectively forwarded to the predefined recipient at a computer network address.

25. The system of claim 21 in which the location information is selectively forwarded to the predefined recipient at a telephonic address.

27. The method of claim 26 in which the specified recipient is the cellular telephone.

28. The method of claim 26 in which the specified recipient is other than the cellular telephone.

29. The method of claim 26 in which obtaining a cell identification string includes obtaining plural cell identification strings corresponding to plural cells of a cellular telephone system with which cells the cellular telephone is in communication and in which the plural cell identification strings are associated with the location service request.

30. The method of claim 29 further comprising:

obtaining on the cellular telephone a cell signal characteristic that characterizes a cellular transmission signal for each of the plural cells with which the cellular telephone is in communication; and

associating on the cellular telephone the cell signal characteristic with the location service request and each corresponding cell identification string.

26. A cellular telephone location information method, comprising:

obtaining on the cellular telephone a cell identification string corresponding to a cell with which the cellular telephone is in communication;

associating on the cellular telephone a location service request and the cell identification string as a localized location service request for a selected location;

transmitting the localized location service request to a cellular telephone location information service provider;

identifying at the cellular telephone location information service provider the selected location and location service information corresponding to the selected location; and

transmitting the location service information to a specified recipient.

31. In a computer readable medium of a cellular telephone, a cellular telephone location tagging data structure, comprising:

a cell identification string corresponding to a cell of a cellular telephone system with which cell the cellular telephone is in communication; and

a location name associated with the cell identification string, which together represent cellular telephone location information.

32. The medium of claim 31 further comprising a user-specified location status indication specifying whether the location information is to be transmitted from the cellular telephone.

33. The medium of claim 31 further comprising a user-specified recipient indication identifying a recipient of the location information.

34. The medium of claim 31 in which the cell identification string includes plural cell identification strings corresponding to plural cells of a cellular telephone system with which cells the cellular telephone is in communication and in which the plural cell identification strings are associated with the location name.

35. The medium of claim 34 further comprising a cell signal characteristic that characterizes a cellular transmission signal for each of the plural cells with which the cellular telephone is in communication, each cell signal characteristic being associated on the cellular telephone with the location name and each corresponding cell identification string.