Method and Apparatus for Providing Location-Aware Wi-Fi Access

• US 20140092889A1
• Filed: 12/02/2013
• Published: 04/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NXP USA, Inc. (NXP Semiconductors NV)
• Original Assignee: Marvell World Trade Limited (Marvell Technology Group Limited)
• Inventors: Chhabra, Kapil, Goel, Sandesh
• Granted Patent: US 9,374,775 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/50 Secure pairing of devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/025 using location based information parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

Methods and systems for providing location-aware WiFi access for a portable device include receiving, at a mobile communication device, locations and ranges for a set of one or more WiFi access points from a location provider system. The mobile communication device uses the locations and ranges to determine whether to power on a WiFi transceiver, and to determine for which WiFi access points to scan if the WiFi transceiver is powered on.

Claims

1. A method for providing location-aware WiFi access for a mobile communication device, the method comprising:

receiving, at the mobile communication device, one or more respective locations and one or more respective wireless ranges for a first set of one or more WiFi access points from a WiFi location provider system;

determining, at the mobile communication device, whether a current location of the mobile communication device is within one or more respective wireless ranges of one or more WiFi access points in the first set of one or more WiFi access points;

when it is determined i) that the current location of the mobile communication device is not within any wireless range of any of the WiFi access points in the first set, or ii) that the mobile communication device is moving at a velocity that meets a threshold, keeping a WiFi transceiver powered off;

when it is determined i) that the current location of the mobile communication device is within one or more respective wireless ranges of one or more respective WiFi access points in the first set, and ii) that the mobile communication device is moving at a velocity below the threshold,

powering on the WiFi transceiver, and

scanning, at the mobile communication device, for at least one WiFi access point in a second set of one or more WiFi access points, among the first set of one or more WiFi access points, within one or more respective wireless ranges of which the current location of the mobile communication device falls.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an initial location of the mobile communication device; and

transmitting the initial location of the mobile communication device to the WiFi location provider.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein transmitting the initial location to the WiFi location provider comprises transmitting the initial location to the WiFi location provider in an SMS message, wherein the SMS message comprises coordinates of the portable device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein each WiFi access point included in the first set of one or more WiFi access points is within a particular radius of the initial location of the mobile communication device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising connecting, at the mobile communication device, to one of the WiFi access points in the second set of one or more WiFi access points to form a WiFi connection.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

storing in a non-volatile memory WiFi parameters corresponding to the WiFi connection;

selectively powering on the WiFi transceiver at a later time when the mobile communication device is within a threshold distance of a location of the mobile communication device at a time when the WiFi connection was formed; and

after selectively powering on the WiFi transceiver, automatically attempting to reconnect with the one WiFi access point using the WiFi parameters corresponding to the WiFi connection stored in the non-volatile memory.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein:

storing the WiFi parameters corresponding to the WiFi connection is an element of storing a profile for the WiFi connection in the non-volatile memory; and

the profile comprises i) the location of the mobile communication device at the time when the WiFi connection was formed, and ii) the WiFi parameters corresponding to the WiFi connection.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing, with the mobile communication device, directions to a user of the mobile communication device to change the current location of the mobile communication device to a suggested location in order to improve quality of a WiFi connection.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein scanning for at least one WiFi access point in the second set of one or more WiFi access points is performed for a particular time period, after which the WiFi transceiver is turned on if a response is not received from at least one WiFi access point in the second set of one or more WiFi access points during the particular time period.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, at the mobile communication device, one or more respective sets of WiFi parameters for the first set of one or more WiFi access points from the WiFi location provider system.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein each set of WiFi parameters comprises at least one of a respective SSID, a respective channel number, a respective band, a respective security key, a respective country information element, and respective quality of service parameters.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein scanning for at least one WiFi access point in the second set of one or more WiFi access points comprises using WiFi parameters in the one or more respective sets of WiFi parameters.

13. A mobile communication device, comprising:

a WiFi transceiver; and

a processor, wherein the processor is configured to;

receive one or more respective locations and one or more respective wireless ranges for a first set of one or more WiFi access points from a WiFi location provider system,

determine whether a current location of the mobile communication device is within one or more respective wireless ranges of one or more WiFi access points in the first set of one or more WiFi access points,

when it is determined i) that the current location of the mobile communication device is not within any wireless range of any of the WiFi access points in the first set, or ii) that the mobile communication device is moving at a velocity that meets a threshold, keep the WiFi transceiver powered off,

when it is determined i) that the current location of the mobile communication device is within one or more respective wireless ranges of one or more respective WiFi access points in the first set, and ii) that the mobile communication device is moving at a velocity below the threshold,

power on the WiFi transceiver, and

scan for at least one WiFi access point in a second set of one or more WiFi access points, among the first set of one or more WiFi access points, within one or more respective wireless ranges of which the current location of the mobile communication device falls.

14. The mobile communication device of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine an initial location of the mobile communication device; and

cause the initial location of the mobile communication device to be transmitted to the WiFi location provider.

15. The mobile communication device of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the initial location to the WiFi location provider to be transmitted to the WiFi location provider in an SMS message, wherein the SMS message comprises coordinates of the portable device.

16. The mobile communication device of claim 14, wherein each WiFi access point included in the first set of one or more WiFi access points is within a particular radius of the initial location of the mobile communication device.

17. The mobile communication device of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the mobile communication device to form a WiFi connection with one of the WiFi access points in the second set of one or more WiFi access points.

18. The mobile communication device of claim 17, further comprising a non-volatile memory;

wherein the processor is further configured to;

store WiFi parameters corresponding to the WiFi connection in the non-volatile memory,

selectively power on the WiFi transceiver at a later time when the mobile communication device is within a threshold distance of a location of the mobile communication device at a time when the WiFi connection was formed, and

after selectively powering on the WiFi transceiver, automatically cause the mobile communication device to attempt to reconnect with the one WiFi access point using the WiFi parameters corresponding to the WiFi connection stored in the non-volatile memory.

19. The mobile communication device of claim 18, wherein:

the processor is configured to store the WiFi parameters corresponding to the WiFi connection as part of a profile for the WiFi connection stored in the non-volatile memory; and

the profile comprises i) the location of the mobile communication device at the time when the WiFi connection was formed, and ii) the WiFi parameters corresponding to the WiFi connection.

20. The mobile communication device of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured to provide directions to a user of the mobile communication device to change the current location of the mobile communication device to a suggested location in order to improve quality of a WiFi connection.

21. The portable device of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured to:

scan for at least one WiFi access point in the second set of one or more WiFi access points for a particular time period, and

after scanning for the particular time period, turn off the WiFi transceiver if a response is not received from at least one WiFi access point in the second set of one or more WiFi access points during the particular time period.

22. The mobile communication device of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured to:

receive one or more respective sets of WiFi parameters for the first set of one or more WiFi access points from the WiFi location provider system; and

scan for at least one WiFi access point in the second set of one or more WiFi access points using WiFi parameters in the one or more respective sets of WiFi parameters.

23. A tangible, non-transitory memory storing machine readable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

receive one or more respective locations and one or more respective wireless ranges for a first set of one or more WiFi access points from a WiFi location provider system;

determine whether a current location of a mobile communication device is within one or more respective wireless ranges of one or more WiFi access points in the first set of one or more WiFi access points;

when it is determined i) that the current location of the mobile communication device is not within any wireless range of any of the WiFi access points in the first set, or ii) that the mobile communication device is moving at a velocity that meets a threshold, keep a WiFi transceiver of a mobile communication device powered off;

when it is determined i) that the current location of the mobile communication device is within one or more respective wireless ranges of one or more respective WiFi access points in the first set, and ii) that the mobile communication device is moving at a velocity below the threshold,

power on the WiFi transceiver, and

cause the mobile communication device to scan for at least one WiFi access point in a second set of one or more WiFi access points, among the first set of one or more WiFi access points, within one or more respective wireless ranges of which the current location of the mobile communication device falls.

24. The tangible, non-transitory memory of claim 23, storing machine readable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

determine an initial location of the mobile communication device; and

cause the initial location of the mobile communication device to be transmitted to the WiFi location provider.

25. The tangible, non-transitory memory of claim 24, wherein each WiFi access point included in the first set of one or more WiFi access points is within a particular radius of the initial location of the mobile communication device.

26. The tangible, non-transitory memory of claim 23, storing machine readable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

cause the mobile communication device to connect to one of the WiFi access points in the second set of one or more WiFi access points to form a WiFi connection;

store in a non-volatile memory WiFi parameters corresponding to the WiFi connection;

selectively power on the WiFi transceiver at a later time when the mobile communication device is within a threshold distance of a location of the mobile communication device at a time when the WiFi connection was formed; and

after selectively powering on the WiFi transceiver, automatically attempt to reconnect with the one WiFi access point using the WiFi parameters corresponding to the WiFi connection stored in the non-volatile memory.

27. The tangible, non-transitory memory of claim 23, storing machine readable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

provide directions to a user of the mobile communication device to change the current location of the mobile communication device to a suggested location in order to improve quality of a WiFi connection.

28. The tangible, non-transitory memory of claim 23, storing machine readable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

scan for at least one WiFi access point in the second set of one or more WiFi access points for a particular time period; and

after scanning for the particular time period, turn off the WiFi transceiver if a response is not received from at least one WiFi access point in the second set of one or more WiFi access points during the particular time period.

29. The tangible, non-transitory memory of claim 23, storing machine readable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

receive one or more respective sets of WiFi parameters for the first set of one or more WiFi access points from the WiFi location provider system; and

scan for at least one WiFi access point in the second set of one or more WiFi access points using WiFi parameters in the one or more respective sets of WiFi parameters.