PREDICTING USER AVAILABILITY FROM AGGREGATED SIGNAL STRENGTH DATA

• US 20130189995A1
• Filed: 03/07/2013
• Published: 07/25/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/26/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Wormald, Chris
• Granted Patent: US 9,237,548 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/440
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like

Abstract

A system and method is provided for determining the availability of a mobile communications device on a network based on a prediction that the device will cross a pre-defined service boundary between two different coverage areas serviced by two different service providers. Specifically, when the device is predicted to cross the service boundary, or has crossed the boundary, a notification of a change in service is issued to at least one of the user of the device, a presence service, or another network operator. The notification may include a change in the presence status of the mobile communications device.

Claims

1. A method for determining the availability of a user of a mobile communications device on a network, comprising the steps of:

providing service coverage data comprising at least a segment of a predefined service boundary between different areas of service provided by different service providers;

determining, using tracking data for the mobile communications device, when the mobile communications device is likely to cross the segment of the predefined service boundary; and

issuing a notification of a change in service associated with crossing the predefined service boundary from one area serviced by one service provider to a different area serviced by another service provider.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the change in service comprises a decrease in received signal strength below a predetermined threshold at the mobile communications device.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the change in service comprises an increase in received signal strength to at least a predetermined threshold at the mobile communications device.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the notification comprises at least one of the following indications:

an indication that a current voice call may be disconnected;

an indication that voice or data connectivity is expected to be lost within a computed period of time;

or

an indication that the user of the mobile communications device is unavailable.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the notification comprises an indication that the user of the mobile communications device is available.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the tracking data comprises at least two sets of location data defining a position of the mobile communications device and timestamps associated with the location data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the tracking data comprises location data defining a position of the mobile communications device and velocity data defining a direction and speed of travel of the mobile communications device.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising collecting the tracking data at the mobile communications device and providing the tracking data to a coverage service, and wherein the act of predicting is carried out at the coverage service.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising collecting the tracking data at the mobile communications device, and wherein the act of predicting is carried out at the mobile communications device.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein issuing the notification is carried out by the coverage service.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein issuing the notification is carried out by the mobile communications device.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the notification is issued to a user of the mobile communications device.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the notification is issued to a presence service associated with the network.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising forwarding, by the presence service, the notification to another user associated with the network.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the notification is issued directly to another user associated with the network.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the predefined service boundary is an outer periphery of a predefined service boundary zone.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the predefined service boundary is selected from an aggregation of service boundary data comprised in a predefined service boundary zone.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising the initial acts of:

collecting, from a plurality of mobile communications devices associated with the coverage service, a plurality of data sets comprising location data, associated received signal strength data, and carrier data, wherein each of the plurality of mobile communications devices may be associated with one or more carriers; and

determining at least one predefined service boundary in respect of each of the one or more carriers using the plurality of data sets, wherein the predefined service boundary defines a locus of locations where a change in service is expected to occur.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the initial act of, after determining at least one predefined service boundary, generating service coverage data defining the geographic location of at least a segment of the at least one predefined service boundary for a predetermined geographic region.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

determining, using tracking data for the mobile communications device, when the mobile communications device is likely to exit the predetermined geographic region;

transmitting to the mobile communications device further service coverage data defining the geographic location of at least a segment of the predefined service boundary for an adjacent predetermined geographic region that the mobile communications device is expected to enter.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein issuing a notification of a change in service is carried out immediately before the mobile communications device is predicted to cross the predefined service boundary.

22. A mobile communications device for use in a system for determining availability in a network, the mobile communications device being configured to communicate with a plurality of communication services, the mobile communications device comprising:

a location module for determining the geographic location and velocity data of the mobile communications device;

a memory for storing said geographic location and velocity data, and for storing service coverage data comprising at least a segment of a predefined service boundary between different areas of service provided by different service providers;

a processor configured to predict, using stored service coverage data and geographic location and velocity data, that the mobile communications device will cross the predefined service boundary from one area of service provided by one service provider into another area of service provided by a different service provider; and

a processor and transmitter configured to issue a notification of a change in service associated with crossing the predefined service boundary.

23. The mobile communications device of claim 22, wherein the processor and transmitter are configured to issue the notification immediately before the time the mobile communications device is predicted to cross the predefined service boundary.

24. The mobile communications device of claim 22, wherein the location module is a GPS module.

25. The mobile communications device of claim 22, wherein the predefined service boundary is an outer periphery of a predefined service boundary zone.

26. The mobile communications device of claim 22 wherein the predefined service boundary is selected from an aggregation of service boundary data comprised in a predefined service boundary zone.

27. A coverage service system for determining availability of a mobile communications device in a network, comprising:

a communications link for communicating with the network;

a memory for storing service coverage data comprising at least a segment of a predefined service boundary between two different coverage areas serviced by two different service providers and tracking data received from a mobile communications device;

a processor configured to predict, using stored service coverage data and received tracking data, that the mobile communications device will cross a boundary between two the different coverage areas and to generate in response to predicting the crossing of the boundary a notification of a change in service associated with the crossing of the boundary.

28. The coverage service of claim 27, wherein the processor is further configured to operate in conjunction with a transmitter to transmit the notification to a presence service associated with the user of the mobile communications device.