PROVIDING WIRELESS TRANSMITTER ALMANAC INFORMATION TO MOBILE DEVICE BASED ON EXPECTED ROUTE

• US 20130035111A1
• Filed: 08/05/2011
• Published: 02/07/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Moeglein, Mark L., Zhang, Gengsheng, Do, Ju-Yong
• Granted Patent: US 8,812,019 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0236 Assistance data, e.g. base station almanac
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

Examples disclosed herein may relate to determining an expected route of a mobile device based, at least in part, on information generated by a navigation application hosted by the mobile device. Examples disclosed herein may further relate to determining a subset of wireless transmitters from a plurality of wireless transmitters based at least in part on the expected route of the mobile device.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining an expected route of a mobile device based, at least in part, on information generated by a navigation application hosted by the mobile device; and

transmitting one or more messages from a communication interface of the mobile device to a network entity comprising a request for identity or position information for a subset of wireless transmitters to be determined based at least in part on the expected route of the mobile device, wherein the request for identity or position information includes information indicative of the expected route of the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving at the communication interface of the mobile device one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based at least in part on the expected route of the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising storing one or more signals indicative of the identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity in a memory of the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein said receiving at the communication interface of the mobile device one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters comprises receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position entries fitting within a specified maximum transmission size.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein said receiving at the communication interface of the mobile device one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for a subset of wireless access points comprises receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless access points determined by the network entity based, at least in part, on one or more of a coverage area as it relates to the expected route for individual wireless transmitters or a historical observation frequency of individual wireless transmitters for mobile devices traveling along the expected route.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein said receiving at the communication interface of the mobile device one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters comprises receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based, at least in part, on a proximity of individual wireless transmitters to the expected route of the mobile device.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein said receiving at the communication interface of the mobile device one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters comprises receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based at least in part on one or more authorizations for the mobile device to communicate with one or more networks associated with individual wireless transmitters.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein said receiving at the communication interface of the mobile device one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters comprises receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based, at least in part, on information generated by the navigation application hosted by the mobile device indicative of a planned route for the mobile device as selected by a user.

9. The method of claim 2, further comprising receiving map information corresponding to one or more regions along the expected route of the mobile device that are determined to have reduced communication coverage.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said receiving map information corresponding to the one or more regions along the expected route of the mobile device that are determined to have reduced communication coverage comprises receiving the one or more messages comprising map information while the mobile device is within range of a network communication resource and prior to the mobile device entering into the one or more regions determined to have limited communication coverage.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving at the communication interface of the mobile device one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for one or more wireless transmitters from which the mobile device may acquire relatively strong signals and with which the mobile device may establish communications; and

establishing communications with an individual wireless transmitter of the one or more wireless transmitters in response to the mobile device approaching a coverage areas of the individual wireless transmitter as the mobile device travels along the expected route.

12. The method of claim 2, wherein said receiving at the communication interface of the mobile device one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters comprises receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position information partitioned according to one or more regions, wherein the one or more regions are individually partitioned into a plurality of chunks.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the one or more regions comprise circular areas, and wherein the plurality of chunks comprise one or more pie-slice areas and a circular center area.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said transmitting the one or more messages comprising the request for identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters partitioned according to the one or more regions further comprises determining one or more of the plurality of chunks for the one or more regions that are traversed by the expected route.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising determining one or more checkpoints along the expected route to partition the expected route into a plurality of segments, the mobile device to transmit an additional request for a next set of wireless transmitter identity or position information for one or more chunks for the one or more regions traversed by a next segment of the expected route.

16. The method of claim 2, further comprising removing power from a satellite positioning system function within the mobile device at least in part in response to receiving one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for a subset of wireless transmitters sufficient to allow for navigation operations to be performed using wireless transmitters located along the expected route.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving one or more encrypted broadcast signals from one or more wireless transmitters located along the expected route.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the subset of wireless transmitters comprises one or more of a subset of wireless local area network access points or a subset of wireless wide area network transmitters.

19. An article, comprising:

a storage medium having stored thereon one or more instructions executable by a processor of a mobile device to;

determine an expected route of the mobile device based, at least in part, on information generated by a navigation application hosted by the mobile device; and

initiate a transmission of one or more messages comprising a request for identity or position information for a subset of wireless transmitters to be determined based at least in part on the expected route of the mobile device from the mobile device to a network entity, wherein the request for identity or position information includes information indicative of the expected route of the mobile device.

20. The article of claim 19, wherein the storage medium has stored thereon further instructions executable by the processor of the mobile device to initiate receiving identity or position information at the mobile device for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based at least in part on the expected route of the mobile device.

21. The article of claim 20, wherein the storage medium has stored thereon further instructions executable by the processor of the mobile device to store one or more messages comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based at least in part on the expected route of the mobile device.

22. The article of claim 20, wherein the storage medium has stored thereon further instructions executable by the processor of the mobile device to initiate receiving at the mobile device one or more messages indicative of the identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters comprises at least in part by initiating receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position entries fitting within a specified maximum transmission size.

23. The article of claim 20, wherein the storage medium has stored thereon further instructions executable by the processor of the mobile device to initiate receiving one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters at least in part by initiating receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based, at least in part, on one or more of a coverage area as it relates to the expected route for individual wireless transmitters or a historical observation frequency of individual wireless transmitters for mobile devices traveling along the expected route.

24. The article of claim 20, wherein the storage medium has stored thereon further instructions executable by the processor of the mobile device to initiate receiving one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters at least in part by initiating receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based, at least in part, on a proximity of individual wireless transmitters to the expected route of the mobile device.

25. The article of claim 20, wherein the storage medium has stored thereon further instructions executable by the processor of the mobile device to initiate receiving one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters at least in part by initiating receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based at least in part on one or more authorizations for the mobile device to communicate with one or more networks associated with individual wireless transmitters.

26. The article of claim 20, wherein the storage medium has stored thereon further instructions executable by the processor of the mobile device to initiate receiving one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters at least in part by initiating receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based, at least in part, on information generated by the navigation application hosted by the mobile device indicative of a planned route for the mobile device as selected by a user.

27. The article of claim 20, wherein the storage medium has stored thereon further instructions executable by the processor of the mobile device to initiate receiving map information corresponding to one or more regions along the expected route of the mobile device that are determined to have limited communication coverage.

28. The article of claim 27, wherein the storage medium has stored thereon further instructions executable by the processor of the mobile device to initiate said receiving map information corresponding to the one or more regions along the expected route of the mobile device that are determined to have limited communication coverage at least in part by initiating said receiving map information while the mobile device is within range of a network communication resource and prior to the mobile device entering into the one or more regions determined to have limited communication coverage.

29. The article of claim 19, wherein the storage medium has stored thereon further instructions executable by the processor of the mobile device to:

initiate receiving one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for one or more wireless transmitters from which the mobile device may acquire relatively strong signals and with which the mobile device may establish communications; and

establish communications with an individual wireless transmitter of the one or more wireless transmitters in response to the mobile device approaching a coverage area of the individual wireless transmitter as the mobile device travels along the expected route.

30. The article of claim 20, wherein the storage medium has stored thereon further instructions executable by the processor of the mobile device to initiate the transmission of one or more messages to the network entity at least in part by initiating transmission of the request for identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters partitioned according to one or more regions, wherein the one or more regions are individually partitioned into a plurality of chunks.

31. The article of claim 30, wherein the one or more regions comprise circular areas, and wherein the plurality of chunks comprise one or more pie-slice areas and a circular center area.

32. The article of claim 31, wherein the storage medium has stored thereon further instructions executable by the processor of the mobile device to initiate the transmission of one or more messages comprising the request for identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters partitioned according to the one or more regions at least in part by determining one or more of the plurality of chunks for the one or more regions that are traversed by the expected route.

33. The article of claim 32, wherein the storage medium has stored thereon further instructions executable by the processor of the mobile device to determine one or more checkpoints along the expected route, the one or more checkpoints to partition the expected route into a plurality of segments, the one or more checkpoints to indicate to the mobile device to transmit an additional request for a next set of wireless transmitter identity or position information for one or more chunks for the one or more regions traversed by a next segment of the expected route.

34. The article of claim 20, wherein the storage medium has stored thereon further instructions executable by the processor of the mobile device to remove power from a satellite positioning system function within the mobile device at least in part in response to receiving one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for a subset of wireless transmitters sufficient to allow for navigation operations to be performed using wireless transmitters located along the expected route.

35. The article of claim 19, wherein the storage medium has stored thereon further instructions executable by the processor of the mobile device to initiate receiving one or more encrypted broadcast signals from one or more wireless transmitters located along the expected route.

36. A mobile device, comprising:

a processor to determine an expected route of the mobile device based, at least in part, on information generated by a navigation application hosted by the mobile device, the processor further to initiate transmitting one or more messages from a communication interface of the mobile device to a network entity, wherein the one or more messages comprise a request for identity or position information for a subset of wireless transmitters to be determined based at least in part on the expected route of the mobile device, wherein the request for identity or position information includes information indicative of the expected route of the mobile device.

37. The mobile device of claim 36, the processor further to initiate receiving at the mobile device one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based at least in part on the expected route of the mobile device.

38. The mobile device of claim 37, further comprising a memory to store one or more signals indicative of the identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity.

39. The mobile device of claim 37, the processor to initiate receiving one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters at least in part by initiating receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position entries fitting within a specified maximum transmission size.

40. The mobile device of claim 37, the processor to initiate receiving one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters at least in part by initiating receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based, at least in part, on one or more of a coverage area as it relates to the expected route for individual wireless transmitters or a historical observation frequency of individual wireless transmitters for mobile devices traveling along the expected route.

41. The mobile device of claim 37, the processor to initiate receiving one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters at least in part by initiating receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based, at least in part, on a proximity of individual wireless transmitters to the expected route of the mobile device.

42. The mobile device of claim 37, the processor to initiate receiving one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters at least in part by initiating receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based at least in part on one or more authorizations for the mobile device to communicate with one or more networks associated with individual wireless transmitters.

43. The mobile device of claim 37, the processor to initiate receiving one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters at least in part by initiating receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based, at least in part, on information generated by the navigation application hosted by the mobile device indicative of a planned route for the mobile device as selected by a user.

44. The mobile device of claim 37, the processor further to initiate receiving map information corresponding to one or more regions along the expected route of the mobile device determined to have reduced communication coverage.

45. The mobile device of claim 44, the processor further to initiate receiving map information corresponding to the one or more regions along the expected route of the mobile device that are determined to have reduced communication coverage at least in part by receiving the one or more messages comprising map information while the mobile device is within range of a network communication resource and prior to the mobile device entering into the one or more regions determined to have reduced communication coverage.

46. The mobile device of claim 36, the processor further to:

initiate receiving at the communication interface of the mobile device one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for one or more wireless transmitters from which the mobile device may acquire relatively strong signals and with which the mobile device may establish communications; and

establish communications with an individual wireless transmitter of the one or more wireless transmitters in response to the mobile device approaching a coverage area of the individual wireless transmitter as the mobile device travels along the expected route.

47. The mobile device of claim 36, the processor to initiate transmission of one or more messages comprising the request for identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters at least in part by initiating the transmission of one or more messages comprising the request for identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters partitioned according to one or more regions, wherein the one or more regions are individually partitioned into a plurality of chunks.

48. The mobile device of claim 47, wherein the one or more regions comprise circular areas, and wherein the plurality of chunks comprise one or more pie-slice areas and a circular center area.

49. The mobile device of claim 48, the processor to initiate transmission of the one or more messages comprising the request for identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters partitioned according to the one or more regions at least in part by determining one or more of the plurality of chunks for the one or more regions that are traversed by the expected route.

50. The mobile device of claim 49, the processor further to determine one or more checkpoints along the expected route, the one or more checkpoints to partition the expected route into a plurality of segments, the one or more checkpoints to indicate to the mobile device to transmit an additional request for a next set of wireless transmitter identity or position information for one or more chunks for the one or more regions traversed by a next segment of the expected route.

51. The mobile device of claim 37, the processor further to initiate removal of power from a satellite positioning system function within the mobile device at least in part in response to receiving identity or position information for a subset of wireless transmitters sufficient to allow for navigation operations to be performed using wireless transmitters located along the expected route.

52. The mobile device of claim 36, the processor further initiate receiving one or more encrypted broadcast signals from one or more wireless transmitters located along the expected route.

53. An apparatus, comprising:

means for determining an expected route of a mobile device based, at least in part, on information generated by a navigation application hosted by the mobile device; and

means for transmitting one or more messages to a network entity, wherein the one or more messages comprise a request for identity or position information for a subset of wireless transmitters to be determined based at least in part on the expected route of the mobile device, wherein the request for identity or position information includes information indicative of the expected route of the mobile device.

54. The apparatus of claim 53, further comprising:

means for receiving one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based at least in part on the expected route of the mobile device.

55. The apparatus of claim 54, further comprising means for storing one or more signals indicative of the identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity.

56. The apparatus of claim 54, wherein said means for receiving the one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters comprises means for receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position entries fitting within a specified maximum transmission size.

57. The apparatus of claim 54, wherein said means for receiving one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters comprises means for receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based, at least in part, on one or more of a coverage area as it relates to the expected route for individual wireless transmitters or a historical observation frequency of individual wireless transmitters for mobile devices traveling along the expected route.

58. The apparatus of claim 54, wherein said means for receiving the one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters comprises means for receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based, at least in part, on a proximity of individual wireless transmitters to the expected route of the mobile device.

59. The apparatus of claim 54, wherein said means for receiving one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters comprises means for receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based at least in part on one or more authorizations for the mobile device to communicate with one or more networks associated with individual wireless transmitters.

60. The apparatus of claim 54, wherein said means for receiving one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters comprises means for receiving one or more messages comprising identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters determined by the network entity based, at least in part, on information generated by the navigation application hosted by the mobile device indicative of a planned route for the mobile device as selected by a user.

61. The apparatus of claim 54, further comprising means for receiving one or more messages comprising map information corresponding to one or more regions along the expected route of the mobile device that are determined to have reduced communication coverage.

62. The apparatus of claim 61, wherein said means for receiving map information corresponding to the one or more regions along the expected route of the mobile device determined to have limited communication coverage comprises means for receiving map information while the mobile device is within range of a network communication resource and prior to the mobile device entering into the one or more regions determined to have reduced communication coverage.

63. The apparatus of claim 54, further comprising:

means for receiving at a communication interface of the mobile device one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for one or more wireless transmitters from which the mobile device may acquire relatively strong signals and with which the mobile device may establish communications; and

means for establishing communication with an individual wireless transmitter of the one or more wireless transmitters in response to the mobile device approaching a coverage area of the individual wireless transmitter as the mobile device travels along the expected route.

64. The apparatus of claim 54, wherein said means for transmitting the one or more messages to the network entity comprises means for transmitting the request for identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters partitioned according to one or more regions, wherein the one or more regions are individually partitioned into a plurality of chunks.

65. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein the one or more regions comprise circular areas, and wherein the plurality of chunks comprise one or more pie-slice areas and a circular center area.

66. The apparatus of claim 65, wherein said means for transmitting the one or more messages comprising the request for identity or position information for the subset of wireless transmitters partitioned according to the one or more regions further comprises means for determining one or more of the plurality of chunks for the one or more regions that are traversed by the expected route.

67. The apparatus of claim 66, further comprising means for determining one or more checkpoints along the expected route, a determined one or more checkpoints to partition the expected route into a plurality of segments, the determined one or more checkpoints to indicate to the mobile device to transmit an additional request for a next set of wireless transmitter identity or position information for one or more chunks for the one or more regions traversed by a next segment of the expected route.

68. The apparatus of claim 54, further comprising means for removing power from a satellite positioning system function within the mobile device at least in part in response to receiving one or more messages from the network entity comprising identity or position information for a subset of wireless transmitters sufficient to allow for navigation operations to be performed using wireless transmitters located along the expected route.

69. The apparatus of claim 53, further comprising means for receiving one or more encrypted broadcast signals from one or more wireless transmitters located along the expected route.