Energy saving using cellular footprint for mobile device Wi-Fi access point discovery
First Claim
1. In a mobile computing environment, a method comprising, determining whether a mobile device that is not connected to a Wi-Fi access point has moved beyond a threshold distance, and if not, delaying Wi-Fi scanning for an access point, and if so, using further information to determine whether to perform a Wi-Fi scan for an access point.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Described is a technology in which a Wi-Fi enabled mobile computing device conserves power by only selectively scanning to discover a potential access point for connecting. In one aspect, a cellular footprint, comprising the cellular tower identifier(s) and corresponding signal strength information, determines whether to perform or delay the Wi-Fi scan. The footprint may be used to detect mobile user location changes and compare with history, so as to delay scanning when the device has not sufficiently moved, or delay scanning when the history indicates little chance of a successful discovery/connection at the current location.
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Citations
20 Claims
- 1. In a mobile computing environment, a method comprising, determining whether a mobile device that is not connected to a Wi-Fi access point has moved beyond a threshold distance, and if not, delaying Wi-Fi scanning for an access point, and if so, using further information to determine whether to perform a Wi-Fi scan for an access point.
- 8. In a mobile communications environment, a system in a mobile device, comprising, scan logic that determines whether to scan for a Wi-Fi access point based on current footprint data, the current footprint data comprising cellular tower identifiers and corresponding signal strengths, the scan logic coupled to a memory to determine whether the mobile device has moved by accessing previous footprint data in the memory and comparing the previous footprint data to the current footprint data, and if the mobile device has not moved beyond a threshold difference, delaying the scan.
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14. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions, which when executed perform steps, comprising:
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(a) waiting for a trigger; (b) when the trigger is reached, determining whether a mobile device is connected to a Wi-Fi access point, and if so, returning to step (a); (c) determining whether the mobile device has moved beyond a threshold difference since a previous Wi-Fi scan for an access point, and if not, returning to step (a); (d) obtaining further information based upon device movement to determine whether to perform a Wi-Fi scan for an access point, and if not, returning to step (a); and (e) performing a Wi-Fi scan for an access point. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification