Method and apparatus for detecting the presence of a wireless local area network using a position location system

• US 20040052232A1
• Filed: 09/13/2002
• Published: 03/18/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Thomson Licensing SA (Vantiva SA)
• Original Assignee: Thomson Licensing SA (Vantiva SA)
• Inventors: Gao, Wen, Ramaswamy, Kumar, Wang, Charles Chuanming, Knutson, Paul Gothard, Litwin, Louis Robert Jr.
• Application Number:
  US10/243,905
• Publication Number:
  US 20040052232A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• 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 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

A method and apparatus for detecting the presence of a wireless local area network (WLAN) (104) determines a position of a mobile device (110) using a position location system (114), receives a position of a WLAN (104) from a location database(112), and determines whether the mobile device (110) is within a service area (108) of the WLAN (104) in response to the position of the mobile device (110) and the position of the WLAN (104).

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining (304) a position of a mobile device using a position location system; and

receiving (308) a position of a wireless local area network (WLAN) from a location database;

determining (310) whether the mobile device is within a service area of the WLAN in response to the position of the mobile device and the position of the WLAN.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

activating (314) WLAN circuitry in the mobile device when the mobile device is within the service area of the WLAN; and

deactivating (412) the WLAN circuitry in the mobile device when the mobile device is outside of the service area of the WLAN.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

transferring (316) communications in the mobile device from the wireless communication system to the WLAN when the mobile device is within the service area of the WLAN; and

transferring (414) communications in the mobile device from the WLAN to the wireless communication system when the mobile device is outside of the service area of the WLAN.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the wireless communication system is a cellular telephone network.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of deactivating comprises at least one of:

disabling (408) the WLAN circuitry when the position of the mobile device is determined to be outside of the service area of the WLAN; and

disabling (410) the WLAN circuitry in response to a decrease in signal quality received by the WLAN.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting (306) the position of the mobile device to the wireless communication system;

comparing (308) the position of the mobile device to the position of the service area of the WLAN; and

transmitting (312) an indication to the mobile device when the mobile device is within the service area of the WLAN.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of transmitting the position of the mobile device comprises at least one of:

sending (315) the position to the wireless communication system only when the mobile device is communicating therewith;

sending (315) the position to the wireless communication system periodically; and

sending (315) the position to the wireless communication system in response to a specific request.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of transmitting an indication comprises:

sending (315) the indication to the mobile device only when the mobile device is communicating with the wireless communication system.

9. An apparatus, comprising:

a position location receiver (204) for determining a position of a mobile device (110); and

a controller (210) for receiving a position of a wireless local area network (WLAN) (104) from a location database (112), and for determining whether the mobile device (110) is within a service area (108) of the WLAN (104) in response to the position of the mobile device (110) and the position of the WLAN (104).

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the controller (210) is further configured to:

activate WLAN circuitry (214) in the mobile device (110) when the mobile device(110) is within the service area (108) of the WLAN (104); and

deactivate the WLAN circuitry (214) in the mobile device (110) when the mobile device (110) is outside of the service area (108) of the WLAN (104).

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller (210) is further configured to:

transfer communications in the mobile device (110) from a wireless communication system (102) to the WLAN (104) when the mobile device (110) is within the service area (108) of the WLAN (104); and

transfer communications in the mobile device (110) from the WLAN (104) to the wireless communication system (102) when the mobile device (110) is outside of the service area (108) of the WLAN (104).

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the wireless communication system (102) is a cellular telephone network.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller (210) deactivates the WLAN circuitry (214) by at least one of:

disabling the WLAN circuitry (214) when the position of the mobile device (110) is determined to be outside of the service area (108) of the WLAN (104); and

disabling the WLAN circuitry (214) in response to a decrease in signal quality received from the WLAN (104).

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the controller (210) is further configured to:

transmit the position of the mobile device (110) to the wireless communication system (102); and

receive an indication from the wireless communication system (102) when the mobile device (110) is within the service area (108) of the WLAN (104).

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the controller (210) transmits the position of the mobile device (110) by at least one of:

sending the position to the wireless communication system (102) only when the mobile device (110) is communicating therewith;

sending the position to the wireless communication system (102) periodically; and

sending the position to the wireless communication system (102) in response to a specific request.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the controller (210) receives an indication from the wireless communication system (102) only when the mobile device (110) is communicating data to the wireless communication system (102).

17. A communication system, comprising:

a wireless communication system (102) for communicating with a mobile device (110);

a wireless local area network (WLAN) (104) for communicating with a mobile device (110), the WLAN (104) including at least one access point having a respective at least one service area (108);

a WLAN location database (112) for storing the position of the at least one access point;

a position location receiver (208) within the mobile device (110) for determining the position of the mobile device (110) using a position location system (114); and

a controller (210) within the mobile device (110) for receiving a position of the at least one access point from the WLAN location database (112), and for determining whether the mobile device (110) is within the at least one service area (108) of the WLAN (104) in response to the position of the mobile device (110) and the position of the at least one access point.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the controller (210) is further configured to:

activate WLAN circuitry (214) in the mobile device (110) when the mobile device (110) is within the at least one service area (108) of the WLAN (104); and

deactivate the WLAN circuitry (214) in the mobile device (110) when the mobile device (110) is outside of the at least one service area (108) of the WLAN (104).

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the controller (210) is further configured to:

transfer communications in the mobile device (110) from the wireless communication system (102) to the WLAN (104) when the mobile device (110) is within the at least one service area (108) of the WLAN (104); and

transfer communications in the mobile device (110) from the WLAN (104) to the wireless communication system (102) when the mobile device (110) is outside of the at least one service area (108) of the WLAN (104).

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the controller (210) deactivates the WLAN circuitry (214) by at least one of:

disabling the WLAN circuitry (214) when the position of the mobile device (110) is determined to be outside of the at least one service area (108) of the WLAN (104); and

disabling the WLAN circuitry (214) in response to a decrease in signal quality received by the WLAN (104).

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the controller (210) is further configured to:

transmit the position of the mobile device (110) to the wireless communication system (102); and

receive an indication from the wireless communication system (102) when the mobile device (110) is within the at least one service area (108) of the WLAN (104).

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the controller (210) transmits the position of the mobile device (110) by at least one of:

sending the position to the wireless communication system (102) only when the mobile device (110) is communicating therewith;

sending the position to the wireless communication system (102) periodically; and

sending the position to the wireless communication system (102) in response to a specific request.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the controller (210) receives an indication from the wireless communication system (102) only when the mobile device (110) is communicating data to the wireless communication system (102).

24. The system of claim 17, wherein the wireless communication system (102) is a cellular telephone network.