TECHNIQUES TO MANAGE A RADIO BASED ON LOCATION INFORMATION

• US 20090143078A1
• Filed: 11/30/2007
• Published: 06/04/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Palm, Inc. (TCL Technology Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Shi, Jianxiong, Tu, Jerome C., Fong, Thomas, Thomas, George, Ramaswamy, Gurunath, Paulson, Janell L.
• Application Number:
  US11/947,861
• Publication Number:
  US 20090143078A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.300
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02524 Creating or updating the radio-map
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0295 Proximity-based methods, e.g. position inferred from reception of particular signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/08 Reselecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data

Abstract

Techniques to manage a radio based on location information are described. A mobile computing device may include a radio module, a location detector operative to determine a location for the mobile computing device, and a processor to couple to the radio module and the resource database. The processor may be operative to execute a resource management module to access a resource profile having resource information for one or more cellular radiotelephone network resources accessible from the location, and control operations for a radio module based on the resource profile. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Claims

1. A mobile computing device, comprising:

a radio module;

a location detector operative to determine a location for the mobile computing device;

a processor to couple to the radio module and the resource database, the processor operative to execute a resource management module to access a resource profile having resource information for one or more cellular radiotelephone network resources accessible from the location, and control operations for a radio module based on the resource profile.

2. The mobile computing device of claim 1, the radio module comprising a resource detector operative to collect resource information for a current cell site or a neighbor cell site accessible from the location, the resource information comprising a cell site identifier, a received signal strength indication value, and a radio-frequency channel identifier for each cell site.

3. The mobile computing device of claim 1, comprising a resource database to couple to the processor, the resource database arranged to store the resource profile.

4. The mobile computing device of claim 1, the resource management module operative to access a resource database with the resource profile from a remote device using the radio module.

5. The mobile computing device of claim 1, the resource management module operative to send control directives to the radio module to control scanning operations for radio signals by the radio module in accordance with the resource information stored by the resource profile.

6. The mobile computing device of claim 1, the resource management module operative to send a control directive to the radio module to selectively scan for a radio-frequency channel for a cell site based on a radio-frequency channel identifier and a cell site identifier stored by the resource profile.

7. The mobile computing device of claim 1, the resource management module operative to send a control directive to the radio module to suspend scanning operations by the radio module when the resource information indicates there are no cellular radiotelephone network resources accessible from a location.

8. The mobile computing device of claim 1, the resource management module operative to send a control directive to the radio module to resume scanning operations by the radio module when the resource information indicates there are cellular radiotelephone network resources accessible from the location.

9. The mobile computing device of claim 1, the resource management module operative to send a control directive to the radio module to avoid a specific radio-frequency channel.

10. The mobile computing device of claim 1, the location detector operative to determine the location for the mobile computing device as a current location based on location information for the mobile computing device.

11. The mobile computing device of claim 1, the location detector operative to determine the location for the mobile computing device as a predicted location based on current location information, velocity information and direction information for the mobile computing device.

12. A method, comprising:

determining a location for a mobile computing device;

accessing a resource profile having resource information for one or more cellular radiotelephone network resources accessible from the location; and

controlling operations for a radio module based on the resource profile.

13. The method of claim 12, comprising accessing a resource database with the resource profile at the mobile computing device.

14. The method of claim 12, comprising accessing a resource database with the resource profile at a server with a radio module.

15. The method of claim 12, comprising storing resource information for a current cell site and a neighbor cell site accessible from the location as a resource profile in a resource database.

16. The method of claim 12, comprising controlling scanning operations for radio signals by the radio module in accordance with the resource information stored by the resource profile.

17. The method of claim 12, comprising scanning for a radio-frequency channel for a cell site based on a radio-frequency channel identifier and a cell site identifier stored by the resource profile.

18. The method of claim 12, comprising suspending scanning operations by the radio module when the resource information indicates there are no cellular radiotelephone network resources accessible from a location.

19. The method of claim 12, comprising resuming scanning operations by the radio when the resource information indicates there are cellular radiotelephone network resources accessible from the location.

20. The method of claim 12, comprising determining the location for the mobile computing device as a predicted location based on current location information, velocity information and direction information for the mobile computing device.

21. The method of claim 12, comprising switching from a first communication channel to a second communication channel based a resource profile corresponding to a predicted location for the mobile computing device.

22. The method of claim 12, comprising displaying a message for an operator of the mobile computing device based on resource information from a resource profile corresponding to a predicted location for the mobile computing device.

23. An article comprising a computer-readable storage medium containing instructions that if executed enable a system to:

determine a current location for a mobile computing device;

determine a velocity and direction for the mobile computing device;

generate a predicted location for the mobile computing device based on the velocity, the direction and the current location; and

access a resource profile having resource information for one or more cellular radiotelephone network resources accessible from the predicted location.

24. The article of claim 23, comprising instructions to control operations for a radio module based on the resource profile.

25. The article of claim 23, comprising instructions to control scanning operations for a radio module based on the resource profile.

26. The article of claim 23, comprising instructions to access a resource database with the resource profile at a server by the mobile computing device.