LOCATION LOGGING AND LOCATION AND TIME BASED FILTERING

• US 20100151882A1
• Filed: 12/11/2009
• Published: 06/17/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Edge, Stephen W., Lo, Charles N., Gillies, Donald William
• Granted Patent: US 9,280,778 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.100
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1859 adapted to provide push services, e.g. data channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1895 for short real-time information, e.g. alarms, notifications, alerts, updates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/62 Establishing a time schedule for servicing the requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring

Abstract

Techniques for performing location logging and location and time based filtering are described. In one design of location logging, a terminal periodically determines its location, e.g., during its paging slots. The terminal determines whether there is a change in its location and stores its location if a change in location is detected. In one design of location and time based filtering, the terminal obtains a location and time criterion with a target area and a time period. The terminal determines its location during the time period, e.g., based on the location log. The terminal evaluates the location and time criterion based on the target area and its location during the time period, e.g., based on at least one sector ID for the target area and one or more sector IDs for its location. The terminal determines whether to download and/or present broadcast information based on the result of the evaluation.

Claims

1. A method of performing location and time based filtering, comprising:

obtaining a location and time criterion comprising a target area and a time period in which the location and time criterion applies;

determining location of a terminal during the time period; and

evaluating the location and time criterion based on the target area and the location of the terminal during the time period.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the location and time criterion further comprises a target probability for the terminal being present in the target area or absent from the target area, and wherein the location and time criterion is evaluated based further on the target probability.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the location and time criterion is expressed as:

LR=PA at L during D,

where L denotes the target area for the location and time criterion,

PA denotes a presence or absence requirement for the location and time criterion,

D denotes the time period for the location and time criterion, and

LR denotes the location and time criterion.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the evaluating the location and time criterion comprises

determining at least one sector identity (ID) for the target area,

determining one or more sector IDs for the location of the terminal during the time period, and

evaluating the location and time criterion based on the at least one sector ID for the target area and the one or more sector IDs for the location of the terminal.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the evaluating the location and time criterion comprises

determining at least one polygon for the target area,

determining one or more polygons for the location of the terminal during the time period, and

evaluating the location and time criterion based on the at least one polygon for the target area and the one or more polygons for the location of the terminal

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one polygon for the target area and the one or more polygons for the location of the terminal are evaluated with intersection operations and joint probability calculations.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining a log of the location of the terminal, and wherein the location of the terminal during the time period is determined based on the log.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the location of the terminal during the time period comprises obtaining at least one entry for the location of the terminal from a location log, and wherein the evaluating the location and time criterion comprises

determining probability of the terminal being inside or outside the target area for each of the at least one log entry, and

accumulating at least one probability for the at least one log entry to obtain an overall probability of the terminal being inside or outside the target area.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining the target area based on a union of a plurality of areas given in at least one format.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

converting the target area, or the location of the terminal, or both to a selected format.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the selected format represents areas based on sector identity (ID) or zip code.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

downloading information for a translation table used to convert the target area, or the location of the terminal, or both to the selected format

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

predicting future location of the terminal based on past location of the terminal, and wherein the location and time criterion is evaluated based on the predicted future location of the terminal

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the predicting the future location of the terminal comprises translating the past location of the terminal by an amount of time determined based on the time period for the location and time criterion.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether to download broadcast information, or to present the broadcast information, or both based on result of the evaluation of the location and time criterion.

16. An apparatus for performing location and time based filtering, comprising:

means for obtaining a location and time criterion comprising a target area and a time period in which the location and time criterion applies;

means for determining location of a terminal during the time period; and

means for evaluating the location and time criterion based on the target area and the location of the terminal during the time period.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the location and time criterion further comprises a target probability for the terminal being present in the target area or absent from the target area, and wherein the location and time criterion is evaluated based further on the target probability.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the means for evaluating the location and time criterion comprises

means for determining at least one sector identity (ID) for the target area,

means for determining one or more sector IDs for the location of the terminal during the time period, and

means for evaluating the location and time criterion based on the at least one sector ID for the target area and the one or more sector IDs for the location of the terminal

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the means for evaluating the location and time criterion comprises

means for determining at least one polygon for the target area,

means for determining one or more polygons for the location of the terminal during the time period, and

means for evaluating the location and time criterion based on the at least one polygon for the target area and the one or more polygons for the location of the terminal.

20. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising:

means for maintaining a log of the location of the terminal, and wherein the location of the terminal during the time period is determined based on the log.

21. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the means for determining the location of the terminal during the time period comprises means for obtaining at least one entry for the location of the terminal from a location log, and wherein the means for evaluating the location and time criterion comprises

means for determining probability of the terminal being inside or outside the target area for each of the at least one log entry, and

means for accumulating at least one probability for the at least one log entry to obtain an overall probability of the terminal being inside or outside the target area.

22. An apparatus for performing location and time based filtering, comprising:

at least one processor configured to obtain a location and time criterion comprising a target area and a time period in which the location and time criterion applies, to determine location of a terminal during the time period, and to evaluate the location and time criterion based on the target area and the location of the terminal during the time period.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the location and time criterion further comprises a target probability for the terminal being present in the target area or absent from the target area, and wherein the at least one processor is configured to evaluate the location and time criterion based further on the target probability.

24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine at least one sector identity (ID) for the target area, to determine one or more sector IDs for the location of the terminal during the time period, and to evaluate the location and time criterion based on the at least one sector ID for the target area and the one or more sector IDs for the location of the terminal.

25. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine at least one polygon for the target area, to determine one or more polygons for the location of the terminal during the time period, and to evaluate the location and time criterion based on the at least one polygon for the target area and the one or more polygons for the location of the terminal.

26. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is configured to maintain a log of the location of the terminal and to determine the location of the terminal during the time period based on the log.

27. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is configured to obtain at least one entry for the location of the terminal from a location log, to determine probability of the terminal being inside or outside the target area for each of the at least one log entry, and to accumulate at least one probability for the at least one log entry to obtain an overall probability of the terminal being inside or outside the target area.

28. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising;

code for causing at least one computer to obtain a location and time criterion comprising a target area and a time period in which the location and time criterion applies,

code for causing the at least one computer to determine location of a terminal during the time period, and

code for causing the at least one computer to evaluate the location and time criterion based on the target area and the location of the terminal during the time period.

29. A method of logging location information, comprising:

periodically determining location of a terminal;

determining whether there is a change in the location of the terminal; and

storing the location of the terminal if a change in location is detected.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

storing a timestamp with the location of the terminal if a change in location is detected.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the periodically determining the location of the terminal comprises determining the location of the terminal in each time interval of a particular duration.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein the periodically determining the location of the terminal comprises determining the location of the terminal during paging slots in which the terminal detects for pages from a wireless network.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein the periodically determining the location of the terminal comprises periodically determining a serving sector for the terminal, and wherein the location of the terminal is determined based on the serving sector.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the determining whether there is a change in the location of the terminal comprises determining whether there is a change in serving sector for the terminal, and wherein the storing the location of the terminal comprises storing a sector identity (ID) of the serving sector if a change in serving sector is detected.

35. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

determining a histogram of the location of the terminal for a particular time duration, the histogram comprising a plurality of entries, each entry comprising an area and a percentage of time the terminal is within the area.

36. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

encrypting entries for past location of the terminal in a location log.

37. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

compressing entries for past location of the terminal to remove redundant location information common for the entries.

38. An apparatus for logging location information, comprising:

means for periodically determining location of a terminal;

means for determining whether there is a change in the location of the terminal; and

means for storing the location of the terminal if a change in location is detected.

39. The apparatus of claim 38, further comprising:

means for storing a timestamp with the location of the terminal if a change in location is detected.

40. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the means for periodically determining the location of the terminal comprises means for determining the location of the terminal during paging slots in which the terminal detects for pages from a wireless network.

41. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the means for periodically determining the location of the terminal comprises means for periodically determining a serving sector for the terminal, wherein the means for determining whether there is a change in the location of the terminal comprises means for determining whether there is a change in serving sector for the terminal, and wherein the means for storing the location of the terminal comprises means for storing a sector identity (ID) of the serving sector if a change in serving sector is detected.