MANAGING A LOCATION DATABASE FOR NETWORK-BASED POSITIONING SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- receiving, by a computing device and from one or more first mobile devices, a set of locations, each location being associated with one or more access point identifiers, each access point identifier identifying an access point of a wireless communications network, each location being associated with one of the one or more devices and being a location at which the corresponding mobile device detected the one or more access points;
determining, by the computing device, a geographic location associated with each of the one or more access points based on the received set of locations;
selecting, by the computing device and from the one or more access points, an access point for location estimation, wherein selecting the access point is based on popularity of the access point, the popularity of the access point indicating a number of connections made between the one or more first mobile devices and the access point; and
providing the geographic location associated with the selected access point and an identifier of the selected access point to a second mobile device for performing the location estimation.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods, program products, and systems for managing a location database are described. A server computer can receive location information from location-aware mobile devices (e.g., GPS-enabled devices) located within a communication range of access points of a wireless communications network. The server computer can calculate average geographic locations using the received locations for each access point. Based on the average geographic locations, the server computer can assign the access points to cells of a geographic grid. The server computer can filter the access points in each cell based on popularity, stability, longevity, and freshness of the access point and the received data. When a second mobile device connects to an access point in a cell, the server computer can transmit locations of the access points in the cell and in neighboring cells to the second mobile device such that a location of the second mobile device can be estimated.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving, by a computing device and from one or more first mobile devices, a set of locations, each location being associated with one or more access point identifiers, each access point identifier identifying an access point of a wireless communications network, each location being associated with one of the one or more devices and being a location at which the corresponding mobile device detected the one or more access points; determining, by the computing device, a geographic location associated with each of the one or more access points based on the received set of locations; selecting, by the computing device and from the one or more access points, an access point for location estimation, wherein selecting the access point is based on popularity of the access point, the popularity of the access point indicating a number of connections made between the one or more first mobile devices and the access point; and providing the geographic location associated with the selected access point and an identifier of the selected access point to a second mobile device for performing the location estimation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method comprising:
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receiving, by a computing device and from one or more first mobile devices, a set of locations, each location being associated with one or more access point identifiers, each access point identifier identifying an access point of a wireless communications network, each location being associated with one of the one or more devices and being a location at which the corresponding mobile device detected the one or more access points; determining, by the computing device, a geographic location associated with each of the one or more access points based on the received set of locations; selecting, by the computing device and from the one or more access points, an access point for location estimation, wherein selecting the access point is based on stability of the geographic location, the stability of the geographic location being determined based on a degree of overlap between the geographic location and a geographic location previously determined using a previously received set of locations, wherein a higher degree of overlap indicates higher stability; and providing the geographic location associated with the selected access point and an identifier of the selected access point to a second mobile device for performing the location estimation. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A method comprising:
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receiving, by a computing device and from one or more first mobile devices, a set of locations, each location being associated with one or more access point identifiers, each access point identifier identifying an access point of a wireless communications network, each location being associated with one of the one or more devices and being a location at which the corresponding mobile device detected the one or more access points; determining, by the computing device, a geographic location associated with each of the one or more access points based on the received set of locations; selecting, by the computing device and from the one or more access points, an access point for location estimation, wherein selecting the access point is based on longevity of the access point, the longevity of the access point being determined based on length of time the identifier of the access point has been stored in a location database; and providing the geographic location associated with the selected access point and an identifier of the selected access point to a second mobile device for performing the location estimation. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A method comprising:
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receiving, by a computing device and from one or more first mobile devices, a set of locations, each location being associated with one or more access point identifiers, each access point identifier identifying an access point of a wireless communications network, each location being associated with one of the one or more devices and being a location at which the corresponding mobile device detected the one or more access points; determining, by the computing device, a geographic location associated with each of the one or more access points based on the received set of locations; selecting, by the computing device and from the one or more access points, an access point for location estimation, wherein selecting the access point is based on freshness of received locations, the freshness being measured by a time of performing the selection and a time at which the computing device received at least one location in the set of locations; and providing the geographic location associated with the selected access point and an identifier of the selected access point to a second mobile device for performing the location estimation. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A system, comprising:
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a computing device; a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions operable to cause the computing device to perform operations comprising; receiving, from one or more first mobile devices, a set of locations, each location being associated with one or more access point identifiers, each access point identifier identifying an access point of a wireless communications network, each location being associated with one of the one or more devices and being a location at which the corresponding mobile device detected the one or more access points; determining a geographic location associated with each of the one or more access points based on the received set of locations; selecting, from the one or more access points, an access point for location estimation, wherein selecting the access point is based on at least one of popularity of the access point, stability of the geographic location, longevity of the access point, or freshness of received locations; and providing the geographic location associated with the selected access point and an identifier of the selected access point to a second mobile device for performing the location estimation. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions operable to cause a computing device to perform operations comprising:
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receiving, from one or more first mobile devices, a set of locations, each location being associated with one or more access point identifiers, each access point identifier identifying an access point of a wireless communications network, each location being associated with one of the one or more devices and being a location at which the corresponding mobile device detected the one or more access points; determining a geographic location associated with each of the one or more access points based on the received set of locations; selecting, from the one or more access points, an access point for location estimation, wherein selecting the access point is based on at least one of popularity of the access point, stability of the geographic location, longevity of the access point, or freshness of received locations; and providing the geographic location associated with the selected access point and an identifier of the selected access point to a second mobile device for performing the location estimation. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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Specification