Method and apparatus for acquiring, processing, using and brokering location information associated with mobile communications devices
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- using a processing system to acquire location related information associated with a plurality of mobile devices that provide two-way voice communication and two-way data communication over a wireless telecommunications network;
processing the location related information associated with the plurality of mobile devices in the processing system to produce processed location related information; and
transmitting the processed location related information to a recipient as part of a business transaction.
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Abstract
An information broker operates a location server coupled to a wireless network and a wireline network, which acquires and processes information indicating locations of mobile communication devices on the wireless network. The information broker provides the processed information to one or more recipients. The processed information may be provided by the information broker to a recipient in exchange for payment, as part of a business transaction. The raw or processed location related information may include a history of locations of a mobile communication device and times and durations associated with the locations. The processed information may include graphs or maps of geographic areas in which the mobile devices have been located, movement trends, or other behavioral patterns of mobile users. The processed location data can also be used in performing location-based searches and other location-related applications and for customer analysis, among other uses.
23 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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using a processing system to acquire location related information associated with a plurality of mobile devices that provide two-way voice communication and two-way data communication over a wireless telecommunications network;
processing the location related information associated with the plurality of mobile devices in the processing system to produce processed location related information; and
transmitting the processed location related information to a recipient as part of a business transaction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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14. A machine-implemented method comprising:
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acquiring location information indicative of locations of a plurality of mobile devices that provide two-way voice communication and two-way data communication over a wireless telecommunications network;
aggregating the location information associated with two or more of the mobile devices;
generating a map based on the aggregated location information; and
transmitting the map to a recipient as part of a business transaction. - View Dependent Claims (13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method comprising:
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acquiring location related information associated with a mobile device that provides two-way voice communication and two-way data communication over a wireless telecommunications network;
maintaining a metric associated with a place and a business entity;
detecting the mobile device being in proximity to the place, based on the location related information associated with the mobile device and data indicating a location of the place;
updating the metric in response to detecting a predetermined number of instances of the mobile device being in proximity to the place; and
awarding a value to the business entity based on the metric. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification