LOCATION DETERMINATION FOR MOBILE DEVICES IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS

• US 20110111726A1
• Filed: 11/06/2009
• Published: 05/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Research In Motion Limited (Blackberry Limited)
• Inventors: Kholaif, Ahmad Mohammad Mohammad, Mendahawi, Nayef, Adibi, Sasan
• Granted Patent: US 8,509,731 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/404.2
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/68 Marker, boundary, call-sign, or like beacons transmitting signals not carrying directional information
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/17 Emergency applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/48 by combining or switching between position solutions derived from the satellite radio beacon positioning system and position solutions derived from a further system
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/06 Emergency
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0231 Emergency, distress or locator beacons
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

An emergency locator component for a mobile communication device enables the mobile communication device to obtain location information from other neighbouring mobile devices in the event that the mobile communication device is unable to determine its own location. The mobile communication device employs a short-range radiofrequency transceiver to broadcast a request for location information to the neighbouring mobile devices. A response containing location information may be received from another mobile device equipped with a similar emergency locator component. Accordingly, this technology enables mobile devices to exchange location information by setting up an ad-hoc network. The location information can be included, for example, in an emergency phone call to an emergency services call center.

Claims

1. A mobile communication device comprising:

a radio transceiver for sending and receiving messages; and

a memory coupled to a processor for storing and executing instructions to provide on the device an emergency locator component operative to;

broadcast emergency location request messages using the radio transceiver;

receive emergency location response messages comprising location information of other mobile devices in response to received emergency location request messages; and

determine location information for the device based on received emergency location response messages.

2. The mobile communication device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the emergency locator component is further operative to:

receive emergency location request messages; and

send emergency location response messages in response to received emergency location request messages.

3. The mobile communication device as claimed in claim 2 further comprising a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver capable of determining the location information of the mobile device, wherein the location information is sent in the emergency location response message in response to a received emergency location request message.

4. The mobile communication device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the emergency locator component further comprises a radio control module operative to turn on the radio transceiver to broadcast the emergency location request message.

5. The mobile communication device as claimed in claim 1 further comprising an emergency locator activation radio comprising a transceiver capable of sending and receiving emergency locator activation requests to activate one or more transceivers on the one or more other devices receiving the activation request.

6. The mobile communication device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the emergency location request message comprises a unique identifier of the mobile device.

7. The mobile communication device as claimed in claim 2 wherein the emergency locator component is configured to re-broadcast received emergency location request messages if the mobile communication device cannot provide location information in response to the received request, the re-broadcast emergency location request messages further including a unique identifier of the mobile device.

8. The mobile communication device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the radio transceiver is a short-range radio transceiver selected from the group consisting of:

an IEEE 802.11 radio transceiver;

a Bluetooth®

radio transceiver;

a ZigBee®

radio transceiver;

an infrared transceiver;

a WiMax™

transceiver;

or

an ultra wideband transceiver.

9. The mobile communication device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the response message comprises an indication of the number of mobile device hops between the mobile device and the one or more other mobile devices providing the location information.

10. A method of determining location information for a mobile communication device, the method implemented as instructions executed by a processor of the mobile communication device, the method comprising:

broadcasting an emergency location request message using a radio transceiver on the mobile communication device;

receiving one or more emergency location response messages from one or more other mobile devices in response to the emergency location request message, each of the emergency location response messages comprising external location information from the one or more other mobile devices; and

determining location information for the mobile device using the external location information received in the emergency location response messages.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein each emergency response message further comprises an indication of a number of mobile device hops between the mobile communication device and the other mobile communication device that has provided the location information in the emergency response message.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein determining the location of the mobile communication device comprises:

determining an accuracy estimate for the location information for each of the emergency response messages; and

selecting the location information with the highest accuracy estimate.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein determining the accuracy estimate comprises assigning an accuracy weighting factor to the location information for each of the mobile device hops between the mobile device and the other mobile device, the accuracy weighting factor being based on the type of radio transceiver used to receive the emergency location response message and the strength of the signal of the received emergency location response message.

14. The method of claim 10 further comprising broadcasting an emergency locator activation request using a radio transceiver.

15. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

receiving an emergency locator activation request using a radio transceiver; and

turning on all of the radio transceivers of the mobile device.

16. An emergency locator component for a mobile communication device, the emergency locator component comprising:

an emergency locator control module operative to;

broadcast and receive emergency location request messages using a radio transceiver on the mobile device; and

send and receive emergency location information response messages comprising location information of mobile devices; and

a location determination module operative to determine the location of the mobile device based at least on the location information received in emergency location information response messages.

17. The emergency locator component of claim 16 further comprising an emergency locator activation radio comprising a transceiver capable of sending emergency locator activation requests and receiving emergency locator activation requests, wherein a radio control module is further operative to turn on all of the radios upon the emergency locator activation radio receiving an emergency locator activation request.

18. A system for determining a location of a mobile communication device, the system comprising:

a first mobile communication device comprising;

a radio transceiver for sending and receiving messages;

a memory coupled to a processor for storing and executing instructions that provide an emergency locator component operative to;

broadcast an emergency location request message using the radio transceiver on the first mobile device;

receive an emergency location response message comprising location information; and

determine location information for the first mobile device based location information received in the emergency location response message; and

a second mobile communication device comprising;

a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver for determining location information of the second mobile device;

a radio transceiver for sending and receiving messages;

a memory coupled to a processor for executing instructions that provide an emergency locator component operative to;

receive the emergency location request message from the first mobile device; and

send an emergency location response message comprising location information using position data from the GPS receiver to enable the first device to determine its location.

19. The system as claimed in claim 18 wherein the first mobile communication device further comprises an emergency locator activation radio comprising a transceiver capable of sending an emergency locator activation request and wherein the second mobile communication device further comprises an emergency locator activation radio comprising a transceiver capable of receiving the emergency locator activation request from the first mobile device and turning on the radio transceiver of the other mobile device in response to receiving the emergency locator activation request from the first mobile device.

20. The system as claimed in claim 18 wherein the emergency locator component in the second mobile communication device is configured to:

re-broadcast the emergency location request message received from the first mobile communication device when the second mobile communication device cannot provide location information in response to the emergency location request message;

receive a response message in response to re-broadcasting of the emergency location request message; and

forward the response message to the first mobile communication device.