Mobility Based Service In Wireless Environment

• US 20080160972A1
• Filed: 12/29/2006
• Published: 07/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United States Cellular Corporation (Telephone & Data Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: United States Cellular Corporation (Telephone & Data Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Saxena, Narothum, Irizarry, Michael, Haran, Narayanan
• Granted Patent: US 8,195,196 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/414.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A system and method are described for providing proximity-based Internet server access in mobile network environments such as cellular environments to reduce latency and enhance customer satisfaction. In an embodiment of the invention, a Mobile Positioning Center (MPC) caches location information regarding the mobile device. When the mobile device later attempts to resolve the domain name of a distributed service, the domain name service (DNS) server, via a policy manager, queries the MPC for the location of the user. The policy manager of the DNS server may then choose a server based on a number of criteria, including, for example, the geographical proximity of the user to the server.

Claims

1. A method for providing a network address of a web portal to a wireless mobile device, the method comprising:

receiving a request from the mobile device at a DNS server to resolve an address for the web portal;

transmitting a request from the DNS server to a separate cache device to request location information relating to a location of the wireless mobile device;

receiving at the DNS server a response from the separate cache device, the response containing the location information; and

selecting one of a plurality of web portals as a desired web portal based at least in part on a proximity of the selected one of the plurality of web portals to the location of the wireless device.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising transmitting a network address of the selected one of the plurality of web portals to the wireless device.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising denying a desired service to the wireless device based on the location of the wireless device.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the desired service is PTT service.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the desired service is RIM service.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of selecting one of a plurality of web portals as a desired web portal is further based at least in part on a traffic load of at least one of the plurality of web portals.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the selected web portal is the nearest one of the plurality of web portals to the wireless device.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the selected web portal is farther from the wireless device than at least one other of the plurality of web portals.

9. A computer-readable medium having thereon computer-executable instructions for providing a network address of a web portal to a wireless mobile device, the instructions comprising:

instructions for receiving a request from the mobile device at a DNS server to resolve an address for the web portal;

instructions for transmitting a request from the DNS server to a separate cache device to request location information relating to a location of the wireless mobile device;

instructions for receiving at the DNS server a response from the separate cache device, the response containing the location information; and

instructions for selecting one of a plurality of web portals as a desired web portal based at least in part on a proximity of the selected one of the plurality of web portals to the location of the wireless device.

10. The computer-readable medium according to claim 9, further comprising instructions for transmitting a network address of the selected one of the plurality of web portals to the wireless device.

11. The computer-readable medium according to claim 9, further comprising instructions for denying a desired service to the wireless device based on the location of the wireless device.

12. The computer-readable medium according to claim 11, wherein the desired service is a push-to-talk service.

13. The computer-readable medium according to claim 11, wherein the desired service is an SMS-to-Email service.

14. The computer-readable medium according to claim 9, wherein selecting one of a plurality of web portals as a desired web portal is further based at least in part on a traffic load of at least one of the plurality of web portals.

15. The computer-readable medium according to claim 9, wherein the selected web portal is the nearest one of the plurality of web portals to the wireless device.

16. The computer-readable medium according to claim 14, wherein the selected web portal is farther from the wireless device than at least one other of the plurality of web portals.