Location Based Services with Multiple Transmission Methods

• US 20100130232A1
• Filed: 11/24/2008
• Published: 05/27/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Rudd, James R., Trevathan, Matthew B., Dingler, John R., Olds, David C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,515,445 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.300
• 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 4/20 Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/23 for mobile advertising
• 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 location-based service system for providing messages to a recipient and, in particular, to transmission methods and systems for providing location data of a device to a location-based service system. A method of updating a location of a mobile device includes determining a location of the mobile device and, based on Internet accessibility of the mobile device, transmitting the location via Internet communication when Internet access is available and via SS7 communication when Internet access is unavailable.

Claims

1. A method of updating a location of a mobile device, comprising:

determining a location of the mobile device; and

based on Internet accessibility of the mobile device, transmitting the location via Internet communication when Internet access is available and via SS7 communication when Internet access is unavailable.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the location of the mobile device comprises a longitude and a latitude of the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting comprises sending a location message comprising a timestamp.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the timestamp defines one of:

when the location was determined, and when the location message was transmitted.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the location is determined using GPS.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the location of the mobile device comprises determining a relative location of the mobile device relative to at least one cell tower.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising converting the relative location to a longitude and a latitude of the mobile device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting the location to a location-based services system.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising converting a location message comprising the location from SS7 data to XML data.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports a computer infrastructure that performs at least one of the steps of claim 1.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the steps of claim 1 are provided by a service provider under a subscription and/or fee agreement and/or based on advertising content to one or more third parties.

12. A method of tracking a location of a mobile device, comprising:

maintaining a queue of locations associated with the mobile device;

receiving at least one location message comprising a timestamp from the mobile device; and

updating the queue based upon the timestamp.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein:

the at least one location message comprises a first message comprising a first timestamp and a second message comprising a second timestamp,

the first message was sent from the mobile device via SS7,

the second message was sent from the mobile device via Internet after the first message, and

the updating comprises updating the queue based upon the first timestamp and the second timestamp.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the steps are performed by a location-based services system.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the updating comprises deleting an oldest entry from the queue and adding a new entry based upon the at least one location message.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the adding the new entry comprises inserting the new entry into the queue amongst other entries in the queue based upon an ordering defined by the timestamp of the at least one location message and respective timestamps associated with the other entries.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the timestamp defines one of:

when a location of the mobile device was determined, and when the at least one location message was transmitted.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one location message comprises a longitude and a latitude associated with the mobile device.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein the maintaining comprises ordering locations in the queue based upon a respective timestamp associated with each of the locations.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports a computer infrastructure that performs at least one of the steps of claim 12.

21. The method of claim 12, wherein at least one of the steps of claim 12 are provided by a service provider under a subscription and/or fee agreement and/or based on advertising content to one or more third parties.

22. A location-based services system configured to receive location updates from a mobile device via Internet when Internet access is available to the mobile device and via SS7 when Internet access is unavailable to the mobile device, the location-based services system comprising program code stored on a tangible storage medium, which, when executed on a computing device, causes the location-based services system to:

store a queue of a plurality of entries associated with the mobile device;

receive a message comprising a timestamp from the mobile device; and

update the queue based upon the message,

wherein each one of the plurality of entries comprises data defining a location of the mobile device and a time associated with the location, and

the storing the queue comprises sorting the plurality of entries in sequential order.

23. The location-based services system of claim 22, wherein the timestamp defines one of:

when a location of the mobile device was determined, and when the message was transmitted from the mobile device.

24. A system, comprising:

a mobile device including a combination of hardware and software that operates to;

determine a location of the mobile device; and

based on Internet accessibility of the mobile device, transmit a message to a location-based services system via Internet communication when Internet access is available and via SS7 communication when Internet access is unavailable,

wherein the message comprises a location of the mobile device and a timestamp associated with the location.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein:

the location is determined using GPS or at least one cell tower, and

the timestamp defines one of;

when the location was determined, and when the message was transmitted.