MOBILE RECEIVER WITH LOCATION SERVICES CAPABILITY

• US 20100099375A1
• Filed: 10/20/2008
• Published: 04/22/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Rowitch, Douglas Neal
• Granted Patent: US 8,478,228 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/404.2
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00

Abstract

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a receiver that is capable of processing signals which are transmitted according to one or more wireless communication protocols. Such a receiver may have sufficient resources to obtain acquisition information from a signal transmitted according to at least one of the wireless communication protocols during an acquisition period and for the purpose of obtaining an estimate of a location of the receiver.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a receiver adapted to process information transmitted according to a wireless communication protocol, said wireless communication protocol defining an acquisition period for transmission of acquisition information and a communication session to facilitate communication following a successful acquisition,

wherein said receiver is capable of storing acquisition information transmitted during said acquisition period and does not comprise sufficient resources to establish and/or maintain said communication session following said successful acquisition.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said apparatus further comprises a processor adapted to:

initiate said receiver to acquire said acquisition information during said acquisition period in response to an emergency event; and

initiate transmission of said stored acquisition information to a location server.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, and further comprising memory accessible by said receiver to store said acquisition information, wherein said memory accessible by said receiver is insufficient to enable said receiver to establish and/or maintain said communication session.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, and further comprising at least one transceiver adapted to transmit and receive information according to a second wireless communicate protocol different from said first communication protocol.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said at least one transceiver is adapted to transmit and receive information in a communication session defined by said second wireless communication protocol.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said acquisition information comprises unique identification information associated with a device.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said unique identification information comprises a media access control (MAC) address associated with said device.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said acquisition information comprises a measurement of received signal strength.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said wireless communication protocol comprises a wireless communication protocol according to a version of IEEE Std. 802.11 and/or IEEE Std. 802.15.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said receiver is capable of being manufactured at a cost lower than a cost to manufacture a receiver having sufficient resources to establish and/or maintain a communication session following a successful acquisition

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein apparatus further comprises a processor adapted to obtain an estimate of location of said receiver based, at least in part, on said stored acquisition information.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said apparatus does not include a transmitter adapted to transmit information according to said communication protocol.

13. A mobile station comprising:

a receiver adapted to process signal transmitted according to at least a first wireless communication protocol and a second wireless communication protocol, each of said first and second wireless communication protocols defining an associated acquisition period for transmission of acquisition information and an associated communication session to facilitate communication following a successful acquisition;

a transmitter adapted to transmit signals transmitted according to at least said first wireless communication protocol; and

a processor adapted to enable one or more applications using a communication session according to said first wireless communication protocol,

wherein said mobile station is capable of storing acquisition information received during said acquisition period defined by said second wireless communication protocol and does not have sufficient resources to establish and/or maintain said communication session defined by said second wireless communication protocol.

14. The mobile station of claim 13, wherein said mobile station defines a memory accessible by said processor, wherein a portion of said memory allocated to processing information received according to said second wireless communication protocol is sufficient to store acquisition information received during an acquisition period of said second wireless communication protocol, and is not sufficient to establish and/or maintain a communication session according to said second wireless communication protocol.

15. The mobile station of claim 13, wherein said processor is adapted to execute encoded instructions stored in a memory to enable said one or more applications using a communication session according to said first wireless communication protocol, and wherein said mobile station does not include encoded instructions for establishing and/or maintaining a communication session according to said second wireless communication protocol.

16. The mobile station of claim 13, wherein said acquisition information received during said acquisition period comprises unique identification information associated with a device.

17. The mobile station of claim 16, wherein said unique identification information comprises a media access control (MAC) address associated with said device.

18. The mobile station of claim 13, wherein said acquisition information comprises a measurement of received signal strength.

19. The mobile station of claim 13, wherein said second wireless communication protocol comprises a wireless communication protocol according to a version of IEEE Std. 802.11 and/or IEEE Std. 802.15.

20. The mobile station of claim 13, wherein said mobile station is capable of being manufactured at a cost which is less than a cost to manufacture a mobile station having sufficient resources to establish and/or maintain said communication session defined by said second wireless communication protocol.

21. The mobile station of claim 13, wherein said processor is further adapted to obtain an estimate of a location of said mobile station based, at least in part, on said stored acquisition information.

22. A processor comprising:

a memory having stored thereon encoded instructions to process information transmitted according to a first wireless communication protocol and a second wireless communication protocol, each of said first and second wireless communication protocols defining an associated acquisition period for transmission of acquisition information and an associated communication session to facilitate communication following a successful acquisition, said instructions comprising;

instructions to enable one or more applications using a communication session according to said first wireless communication protocol; and

instructions to store acquisition information received during said acquisition period defined by said second wireless communication protocol; and

circuitry coupled to said memory and adapted to retrieve and execute said instructions,

wherein said memory does not include instructions encoded instructions for establishing and/or maintaining a communication session according to said second wireless communication protocol.

23. The processor of claim 22, wherein said acquisition information received during said acquisition period comprises unique identification information associated with a device.

24. The processor of claim 23, wherein said unique identification information comprises a media access control (MAC) address associated with said device.

25. The processor of claim 22, wherein said acquisition information comprises a measurement of received signal strength.

26. The processor of claim 22, wherein said second wireless communication protocol is selected from the group wireless communication protocols comprising essentially of versions of IEEE Std. 802.11 and IEEE Std. 802.15.

27. The processor of claim 22, wherein said instructions further comprise instructions to obtain an estimate of a location of said processor based, at least in part on said stored acquisition information.

28. An apparatus comprising:

a receiver adapted to process information transmitted according to a wireless communication protocol, said wireless communication protocol defining an acquisition period for transmission of acquisition information to enable reception of a broadcast signal following a successful acquisition,

wherein said receiver is capable of storing acquisition information transmitted during said acquisition period and does not comprise sufficient resources to process broadcast content in broadcast signal following said successful acquisition.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said receiver is further adapted to obtain an estimate of a location of said receiver based, at least in part, on said stored acquisition information.

30. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said receiver is adapted to receive said broadcast signal transmitted according to a Digital TV, Digital Radio, DVB-H, DMB, ISDB-T and/or MediaFLO format following said successful acquisition.

31. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said apparatus further comprises a processor adapted to:

initiate said receiver to acquire said acquisition information during said acquisition period in response to an emergency event; and

initiate transmission of said stored acquisition information to a location server.

32. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said acquisition information comprises unique identification information associated with a device.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein said unique identification information comprises a media access control (MAC) address associated with said device.

34. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said acquisition information comprises a measurement of received signal strength.