LOCATION-BASED PROFILES

• US 20140057589A1
• Filed: 03/13/2013
• Published: 02/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Velusamy, Senthil Kumar Mulluppadi, Hassan, Omar
• Granted Patent: US 9,386,405 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/404.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A computing device may be used in multiple locations. One or more networks may be available at each of the multiple locations. A profile may be created and associated with at least some of the multiple locations. The profile may specify a configuration of the computing device, such as which network to connect to at a particular location. When the computing device is located in a location that has an associated profile, the profile may be used to configure the computing device, including connecting the computing device to at least one network that is available at the location. The profile associated with the location may include information for connecting the computing device to the at least one network.

Claims

1. A computing device, comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more computer readable media to store instructions that are executable by the one or more processors to perform acts comprising;

obtaining location data associated with the computing device from at least one source;

determining a location of the computing device based on the location data;

receiving input to configure the computing device, the configuring including connecting the computing device to a network;

creating a profile based on the configuring, the profile associating the network with the location; and

storing the profile in the one or more computer readable media.

2. The computing device of claim 1, the acts further comprising:

at a subsequent point in time, determining a current location of the computing device;

in response to determining that the current location is within a predetermined threshold of the location, retrieving the profile; and

configuring the computing device to connect to the network based on the profile.

3. The computing device of claim 1, the at least one source comprises at least one of global positioning satellites, cell towers, an access point database, or a domain name system (DNS) server.

4. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the at least one source comprises a schedule in which at least one period of time is associated with the location.

5. The computing device of claim 1, wherein configuring the computing device includes one or more of configuring at least one application, sending a notification message that includes the location to a social networking site, or sending a text message that includes the location to one or more recipients.

6. One or more computer readable media storing instructions that are executable by one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

determining that a computing device is located at a first location;

configuring the computing device based on user input, the configuring including connecting the computing device to a first network; and

creating a first profile based on configuring the computing device, the first profile associating the first network with the first location.

7. The one or more computer readable media of claim 6, the acts further comprising:

determining that the computing device is located at a second location;

configuring the computing device to connect to a second network; and

storing a second profile based on configuring the computing device to connect to the second network, the second profile associating the second network with the second location.

8. The one or more computer readable media of claim 7, the acts further comprising:

in response to determining that the computing device is located at the first location, configuring the computing device using the first profile to connect to the first network; and

in response to determining that the computing device is located at the second location, configuring the computing device using the second profile to connect to the second network.

9. The one or more computer readable media of claim 7, the acts further comprising:

in response to determining that a current location of the computing device is within a predetermined distance from both the first location and the second location, displaying a first profile identifier associated with the first profile and a second profile identifier associated with the second profile;

receiving a user selection of the first profile identifier or the second profile identifier; and

configuring the computing device based on the user selection.

10. The one or more computer readable media of claim 6, wherein determining that the computing device is located at the first location comprises:

obtaining location data from one or more of a user-provided schedule, global positioning satellites, multiple cell towers, a database of locations of network access points, or a domain name system (DNS) server associated with the first network; and

determining the location based on the location data.

11. The one or more computer readable media of claim 6, wherein the first profile includes enhanced 911 (E911) information associated with the first location.

12. The one or more computer readable media of claim 6, wherein the first profile includes a network identifier and network credentials to enable the computing device to connect to the first network.

13. A method, comprising:

under control of one or more processors configured with instructions to perform acts comprising;

determining that a computing device is located at a first location;

configuring the computing device to connect to a first network at the first location; and

creating a first profile that includes first configuration information to connect the computing device to the first network when the computing device is located at the first location.

14. The method of claim 13, the acts further comprising:

modifying the first profile to include second configuration information to connect the computing device to a second network when the computing device is located at the first location.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein:

the first network is a secure network, and

the second network is an unsecured network.

16. The method of claim 15, the acts further comprising:

sending confidential data using the first network; and

sending non-confidential data using the second network.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein:

the confidential data is sent using the first network substantially contemporaneously with sending the non-confidential data using the second network.

18. The method of claim 13, the acts further comprising:

receiving a request from an application to provide a current location of the computing device;

obtaining location data from one or more sources;

determining the current location based on the location data; and

in response to determining that one or more profiles associated with the computing device include a location that is within a predetermined distance from the current location, providing the location included in at least one profile of the one or more profiles to the application.

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

in response to determining that the one or more profiles associated with the computing device exclude locations that are within a predetermined distance from the current location, providing the location data to the application.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein determining that the computing device is located at the first location comprises:

determining a current time and date; and

determining that a user provided schedule includes the first location at the current time and date.