Location-aware multimodal communication system

• US 20070161401A1
• Filed: 06/29/2006
• Published: 07/12/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/12/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Sheynblat, Leonid
• Granted Patent: US 8,676,118 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/553.100
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0236 Assistance data, e.g. base station almanac
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/32 Hierarchical cell structures
• 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 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• 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 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

A system and method for providing a multimodal list of transceiver devices to a remote terminal is disclosed. A positioning unit determines a location of a remote terminal. A processor identifies transceivers for communicating in at least a first communication mode and a second communication mode according to the location of the remote terminal. The processor retrieves information about the identified transceivers from a database and generates a multimodal list. The processor causes a transceiver to transmit the multimodal list of transceiver devices to the remote terminal using a communication mode of the remote terminal.

Claims

1. A method of providing a multimodal list of transceiver devices to a remote terminal, the method comprising:

retrieving a location of a remote terminal, wherein;

the remote terminal is able to communicate with a plurality of transceiver devices, and

the remote terminal communicates in at least two communication modes;

identifying a first transceiver device for communicating in a first communication mode and a second transceiver device for communicating in a second communication mode, wherein;

the first and second transceiver devices are located within communication range of the remote terminal, and

the first and second communication modes are different;

generating the multimodal list of transceiver devices comprising the first and second transceiver devices, the multimodal list of transceiver devices containing a transceiver identifier and a communication mode for each of the first and second transceiver devices; and

transmitting the multimodal list of transceiver devices to the remote terminal.

2. The method of providing a multimodal list of transceiver devices to a remote terminal recited in claim 1, further comprising retrieving information about communication modes of the remote terminal and tailoring the multimodal list of transceiver devices according to the communication modes of the remote terminal.

3. The method of providing a multimodal list of transceiver devices to a remote terminal recited in claim 1, wherein the identifying step includes sub-steps of:

determining that the first transceiver device is likely within a communication range of the remote terminal operating in the first communication mode, and

determining that the second transceiver device is likely within a communication range of the remote terminal operating in the second communication mode.

4. The method of providing a multimodal list of transceiver devices to a remote terminal recited in claim 1, wherein the first and second transceiver devices include at least one of a cellular base station, radio access network, WiFi access point, Bluetooth device, router, wide-area network, local-area network, and personal-area network.

5. A method of identifying transceiver devices for communicating with a remote terminal, the method comprising:

communicating information away from the remote terminal, the information corresponding to a plurality of communication modes of the remote terminal;

receiving a multimodal list of transceiver devices, wherein;

the a multimodal list of transceiver devices includes information about a first transceiver device for communicating in a first communication mode and information about a second transceiver device for communicating in a second communication mode, and

the multimodal list of transceiver devices is tailored to a location of the remote terminal; and

storing the multimodal list of transceiver devices in a memory accessible to the remote terminal.

6. The method of identifying transceiver devices for communicating with a remote terminal recited in claim 5, further comprising communicating a location of the remote terminal away from the remote terminal.

7. The method of identifying transceiver devices for communicating with a remote terminal recited in claim 5, wherein the multimodal list of transceiver devices includes a transceiver identifier and a communication mode for each transceiver device.

8. The method of identifying transceiver devices for communicating with a remote terminal recited in claim 5, wherein the multimodal list of transceiver devices is tailored according to communication modes of the remote terminal.

9. The method of identifying transceiver devices for communicating with a remote terminal recited in claim 5, wherein the communication modes of the remote terminal include at least two of CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), GSM (Global System for Mobile communication), TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimized), WiFi (IEEE 802.11), WiMAX (IEEE 802.16), WUSB (Wireless Universal Serial Bus), Bluetooth, ZigBee, UWB (Ultra-Wideband), and satellite protocols.

10. The method of identifying transceiver devices for communicating with a remote terminal recited in claim 5, further comprising a step of filtering the multimodal list of transceiver devices based, at least in part, upon communication modes of the remote terminal.

11. A system for providing a multimodal list of transceiver devices to a remote terminal, the system comprising:

a positioning unit for determining a location of the remote terminal;

a database of transceiver device information, the transceiver device information including at least a transceiver identifier, a location of the transceiver device, and a communication mode of the transceiver device;

a processor configured to retrieve transceiver device information from the database and to create a multimodal list of transceiver devices, wherein;

the multimodal list of transceiver devices includes information about a first transceiver device having a first communication mode and a second transceiver device having a second communication mode, and

the multimodal list of transceiver devices is tailored to the location of the remote terminal; and

a transceiver configured to transmit the multimodal list of transceiver devices to the remote device using a communication mode of the remote device.

12. The system for providing a multimodal list of transceiver devices to a remote terminal recited in claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to retrieve information about communication modes of the remote terminal and to tailor the multimodal list of transceiver devices according to the communication modes of the remote terminal.

13. The system for providing a multimodal list of transceiver devices to a remote terminal recited in claim 11, wherein the processor determines that the first transceiver device is likely within a communication range of the remote terminal operating in the first communication mode, and that the second transceiver device is likely within a communication range of the remote terminal operating in the second communication mode.

14. The system for providing a multimodal list of transceiver devices to a remote terminal recited in claim 11, wherein the database of transceiver device information comprises a plurality of single-modal databases, each single-modal database containing information about transceiver devices for communicating in a same communication mode.

15. A system for identifying transceiver devices for communicating with a remote terminal, the system comprising:

a first transceiver for communicating in a first communication mode;

a second transceiver for communicating in a second communication mode;

a processor coupled with the first and second transceivers and configured to process communications in the first and second communication modes; and

a memory coupled with the processor for storing a multimodal list of transceiver devices, wherein;

the multimodal list of transceiver devices includes information about a first transceiver device for communicating in a first communication mode and information about a second transceiver device for communicating in a second communication mode, and

the multimodal list of transceiver devices is received by the remote terminal in a communication mode of the remote terminal.

16. The system for identifying transceiver devices for communicating with a remote terminal recited in claim 15, wherein the multimodal list of transceiver devices is tailored according to a communication range of the remote terminal.

17. The system for identifying transceiver devices for communicating with a remote terminal recited in claim 15, wherein the multimodal list of transceiver devices is tailored according to communication modes of the remote terminal.

18. The system for identifying transceiver devices for communicating with a remote terminal recited in claim 17, wherein the communication modes of the remote terminal include at least two of CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, TDMA, OFDM, GPRS, EV-DO, WiFi, WiMAX, WUSB, Bluetooth, ZigBee, UWB, and satellite communication protocols.

19. The system for identifying transceiver devices for communicating with a remote terminal recited in claim 15, wherein the multimodal list of transceiver devices is received in a message addressed to the remote terminal.

20. A data signal embodied in a carrier wave, the data signal representing a multimodal list of transceiver devices, the multimodal list of transceiver devices comprising:

first transceiver data including a first transceiver identifier and a first communication mode identifier; and

second transceiver data including a second transceiver identifier and a second communication mode identifier, wherein;

the first transceiver data and the second transceiver data form part of a same message,

the first communication mode identifier and the second communication mode identifier correspond to different communication modes, and

the multimodal list of transceiver devices is tailored for a location of a remote terminal.

21. The data signal embodied in a carrier wave recited in claim 20, wherein:

the first transceiver data corresponds to a first transceiver device and the second transceiver data corresponds to a second transceiver device, and

the first and second transceiver devices are located within a communication range of the remote terminal.

22. The data signal embodied in a carrier wave recited in claim 21, wherein the first and second transceiver devices are stationary during normal operation.

23. A system for providing a multimodal list of transceiver devices to a remote terminal, the system comprising:

means for retrieving a location of a remote terminal;

means for identifying a first transceiver device for communicating in a first communication mode and a second transceiver device for communicating in a second communication mode, wherein the first and second transceiver devices are located within communication range of the remote terminal;

means for generating the multimodal list of transceiver devices comprising the first and second transceiver devices, the multimodal list of transceiver devices containing a transceiver device identifier and a communication mode for each of the first and second transceiver devices; and

means for transmitting the multimodal list of transceiver devices to the remote terminal.

24. The system for providing a multimodal list of transceiver devices to a remote terminal recited in claim 23, further comprising:

means for retrieving information about communication modes of the remote terminal, and

means for tailoring the multimodal list of transceiver devices according to the communication modes of the remote terminal.

25. The system for providing a multimodal list of transceiver devices to a remote terminal recited in claim 23, further comprising:

means for determining that the first transceiver device is likely within a communication range of the remote terminal operating in the first communication mode, and

means for determining that the second transceiver device is likely within a communication range of the remote terminal operating in the second communication mode.

26. The system for providing a multimodal list of transceiver devices to a remote terminal recited in claim 23, further comprising means for transmitting the multimodal list of transceiver devices to the remote terminal in a message addressed to the remote terminal.

27. The system for providing a multimodal list of transceiver devices to a remote terminal recited in claim 23, wherein the first and second transceiver devices include at least one of a cellular base station, radio access network, WiFi access point, Bluetooth device, router, wide-area network, local-area network, and personal-area network.

28. A system for identifying transceiver devices for communicating with a remote terminal, the system comprising:

means for communicating information away from the remote terminal, the information representing a plurality of communication modes of the remote terminal;

means for receiving a multimodal list of transceiver devices, wherein;

the multimodal list of transceiver devices includes information about a first transceiver device for communicating in a first communication mode and information about a second transceiver device for communicating in a second communication mode, and

the multimodal list of transceiver devices is tailored to a location of the remote terminal; and

means for storing the multimodal list of transceiver devices in a memory accessible to the remote terminal.

29. The system for identifying transceiver devices for communicating with a remote terminal recited in claim 28, further comprising means for communicating a location of the remote terminal away from the remote terminal.

30. The system for identifying transceiver devices for communicating with a remote terminal recited in claim 28, wherein the multimodal list of transceiver devices includes a transceiver identifier and a communication mode for each transceiver device.

31. The system for identifying transceiver devices for communicating with a remote terminal recited in claim 28, further comprising means for tailoring the multimodal list of transceiver devices according to communication modes of the remote terminal.

32. The system for identifying transceiver devices for communicating with a remote terminal recited in claim 28, further comprising means for tailoring the multimodal list of transceiver devices according to a communication range of the remote terminal.

33. A communication device for providing a multimodal list of transceiver devices to a remote terminal, the communication device comprising:

a processor configured to;

retrieve a location of the remote terminal;

identify a first transceiver device for communicating in a first communication mode and a second transceiver device for communicating in a second communication mode, wherein the first and second transceiver devices are located within communication range of the remote terminal;

generate the multimodal list of transceiver devices comprising the first and second transceiver device, the multimodal list containing information about each transceiver device including a transceiver device identifier and a communication mode of the transceiver device; and

cause the multimodal list of transceiver devices to be transmitted to the remote terminal; and

a memory coupled with the processor and configured to store information about the first and second transceiver devices.

34. The communication device for providing a multimodal list of transceiver devices to a remote terminal recited in claim 33, wherein the processor is further configured to:

retrieve information about communication modes of the remote terminal; and

tailor the multimodal list of transceiver devices according to the communication modes the remote device.

35. The communication device for providing a multimodal list of transceiver devices to a remote terminal recited in claim 33, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine that the first transceiver device is likely within a communication range of the remote terminal operating in the first communication mode; and

determine that the second transceiver device is likely within a communication range of the remote terminal operating in the second communication mode.

36. The communication device for providing a multimodal list of transceiver devices to a remote terminal recited in claim 33, further comprising a database of transceiver device information and wherein the processor retrieves information about the first and second transceiver devices from the database for inclusion in the multimodal list of transceiver devices.

37. A communication device for receiving a multimodal list of transceiver devices, the communication device comprising:

a processor configured to;

cause information to be transmitted away from the communication device, the information corresponding to a plurality of communication modes of the communication device;

process a multimodal list of transceiver devices received by the communication device, wherein;

the multimodal list of transceiver devices includes information about a first transceiver device for communicating in a first communication mode and information about a second transceiver device for communicating in a second communication mode, and

the multimodal list of transceiver devices is tailored to a location of the communication device; and

store the multimodal list of transceiver devices in a memory accessible to the communication device; and

a memory coupled with the processor and configured to store the multimodal list of transceiver devices.

38. The communication device for receiving a multimodal list of transceiver devices recited in claim 37, wherein the processor is further configured to cause information about the location of the communication device to be transmitted away from the communication device.

39. The communication device for receiving a multimodal list of transceiver devices recited in claim 37, wherein the multimodal list of transceiver devices includes a transceiver identifier and a communication mode for each transceiver device.

40. The communication device for receiving a multimodal list of transceiver devices recited in claim 37, wherein the multimodal list of transceiver devices is tailored according to communication modes of the communication device.

41. The communication device for receiving a multimodal list of transceiver devices recited in claim 37, wherein communication modes of the communication device include at least two of CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, TDMA, OFDM, GPRS, EV-DO, WiFi, WiMAX, WUSB, Bluetooth, ZigBee, UWB, and satellite protocols.