Method of enabling a wireless information device to access location data

• US 20050186965A1
• Filed: 05/27/2003
• Published: 08/25/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Conversant Wireless Licensing S.à.r.l. (f/k/a Core Wireless Licensing S.a.r.l.) (MOSAID Technologies Inc. (f/k/a Conversant Intellectual Property Management))
• Original Assignee: 2011 Intellectual Property Asset Trust (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Jacobs, Mark, Pagonis, John
• Granted Patent: US 8,331,952 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.100
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0072 Transmission between mobile stations, e.g. anti-collision systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0252 Radio frequency fingerprinting
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• 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 4/025 using location based information parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• 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 64/003 locating network equipment

Abstract

A method of enabling a first wireless information device to access absolute location data in which the first wireless information device does not possess its own absolute location finding system but is instead able to receive, over a wireless network, absolute location data from a second wireless information device that does have its own absolute location finding system. The present invention hence enables wireless information devices to share absolute location data: for example, a mobile telephone with GPS capability can be used as a local ‘beacon’ to broadcast its absolute location to any nearby devices over a personal area wireless network (e.g. a Bluetooth network) so that those nearby devices can use that location data. Hence, a camera with no location finding system of its own could obtain location data from a nearby GPS equipped mobile telephone over a Bluetooth PAN and watermark its images with location data.

Claims

1. A method of enabling a first wireless information device to access absolute geographic data (i.e. location, speed or direction), in which the first wireless information device docs not possess its own absolute graphic finding system but is instead able to receive over a wireless network, absolute geographic data from a second wireless information device that docs have its own absolute geographic fig system;

in which the second wireless information device is programmed to enable any authorised component, whether on the second wireless device or tee first wireless information device, to define quality of position parameters and to be sent location data from one or more absolute location finding systems running on the second wireless information device that meet those parameters.

2. The method of claim 1 in which the wireless network is a short range personal area network.

3. The method of claim 1 in which the second wireless information device is a mobile telephone.

4. The method of claim 1 in which the absolute location finding system of the second wireless information device is a wireless based system, such as a GPS or time of arrival system.

5. The method of claim 1 in which a publish and subscribe API is used to enable any such authorised component, whether running on the second wireless information device or the first wireless information device, to subscribe to location data published by any of the location finding systems running on the second wireless information device.

6. The method of claim 1 in which the first bless information device is able to receive, over the wireless network, speed data from the second wireless information device, to indicate the speed at which it is travelling.

7. The method of claim 1 in which the first wireless information device is able to receive, over the wireless network, direction data from the second wireless information device, to indicate the direction at which it is traveling.

8. The method of claim 1 in which the fist wireless information device is a still or video camera.

9. The method of claim 1 in which the first wireless information device is a tag used for asset tracking.

10. The method of claim 1 in which the fist wireless information device is a digital music player.

11. The method of claim 1 in which the first wireless information device can relay the location data obtained from the second wireless information device to another wireless information device.

12. A wireless information device programmed with its own absolute geographic finding system and capable of sharing absolute geographic data with a second wireless information device that does not possess its own absolute geographic finding stem but is instead able to receive, over a wireless network absolute geographic data from the wireless information device;

in which the wireless information device is programmed to enable any authorised component, whether running on the device or the second device, to define quality of position parameters and to be sent location data from one or more absolute location finding systems running on the device that meet those parameters.

13. The device of claim 12, being a mobile telephone.

14. The device of claim 12 in which the absolute location finding system of the wireless information device is a wireless based system, such as a GPS or time of a system.

15. The device of claim 12 in which a publish and subscribe API is used to enable any such authorised component, whether running on the device or externally to it, to subscribe to location data published by any of the location finding systems running on the wireless information device.

16. The device of claim 12 being able to send, over the wireless network, speed data to the second wireless information device, to indicate die speed at which it is traveling.

17. The device of claim 12 being able to send, over the wireless network, direction data to the second wireless information device, to indicate the direction in which it is travelling.