METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TRACKING LOCATION OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE

• US 20160080921A1
• Filed: 09/11/2015
• Published: 03/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: SARDANA, Ankur, RATHORE, Pragam, PREM, Ashoka, Sinha, Ritesh Kumar, YADAV, Vishwesh Kumar, PATRA, Rajeshwar, Gupta, Sumit, SACHDEV, Ekta Anil Pradeep, Jain, Rajat, JAIN, Aditi
• Granted Patent: US 10,440,510 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

A method of tracking location of an electronic device includes broadcasting a communication signal in a first short range wireless communication mode; and receiving location information of a second electronic device in a second short range wireless communication mode switched to, from the first short range wireless communication mode, the location information of the second electronic device being detected by using the broadcasted communication signal.

Claims

1. A method of tracking location of an electronic device, the method comprising:

broadcasting a communication signal in a first short range wireless communication mode; and

receiving location information of a second electronic device in a second short range wireless communication mode switched to, from the first short range wireless communication mode, the location information of the second electronic device being detected by using the broadcasted communication signal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first short range wireless communication mode comprises a hotspot mode in which a hotspot signal is broadcasted, and the second short range wireless communication mode comprises a Wi-Fi mode.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

switching between the first short range wireless communication mode and the second short range wireless communication mode in a predetermined time.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting a request for the location information of the second electronic device to a third electronic device, and

wherein the receiving comprises receiving the location information of the second electronic device from the third electronic device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the location information comprises information related to at least one from among a proximity state, a non-proximity state, a busy state, and an available state.

6. A method of providing information of a first electronic device, the method comprising:

establishing, via a first short range wireless communication, connection between the first electronic device and a second electronic device;

detecting, by the first electronic device, a strength of a communication signal broadcasted by a third electronic device via a second short range wireless communication; and

determining whether to transmit location information of the first electronic device to the second electronic device based on the detected strength of the communication signal.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the detecting comprises:

determining whether the strength of the communication signal exceeds a threshold.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the determining whether to transmit the location information of the first electronic device to the second electronic device based on the detected strength of the communication signal comprises:

in response to determining that the strength of the communication signal exceeds the threshold, transmitting, to the second electronic device, information that the first electronic device is in proximity to the third electronic device.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the first short range wireless communication comprises Wi-Fi communication and the second short range wireless communication comprises hotspot communication.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving an input signal for notifying emergency;

transmitting information related to the emergency to at least one from among the second electronic device and the third electronic device via the first short range wireless communication.

11. An electronic device comprising:

a communication module; and

a controller connected with the communication module and configured to;

broadcast a communication signal in a first short range wireless communication mode, and

receive location information of a second electronic device in a second short range wireless communication mode switched to, from the first short range wireless communication mode, the location information of the second electronic device being detected by using the broadcasted communication signal.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the first short range wireless communication mode comprises a hotspot mode in which a hotspot signal is broadcasted, and the second short range wireless communication mode comprises a Wi-Fi mode.

13. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to switch between the first short range wireless communication mode and the second short range wireless communication mode in a predetermined time.

14. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to transmit a request for the location information of the second electronic device to a third electronic device, and configured to receive the location information of the second electronic device from the third electronic device in the second short range wireless communication mode.

15. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the location information comprises information related to at least one from among a proximity state, a non-proximity state, a busy state, and an available state.

16. An electronic device comprising:

a communication module; and

a controller connected with the communication module and configured to;

establish, via a first short range wireless communication, connection with a second electronic device, detect a strength of a communication signal broadcasted by a third electronic device in a second short range wireless communication, and determine whether to transmit location information of the electronic device to the second electronic device based on the detected strength of the communication signal.

17. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether the strength of the communication signal exceeds a threshold.

18. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein the controller is further configured to transmit information that the electronic device is in proximity to the third device in response to determining that the strength of the communication signal exceeds the threshold.

19. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the first short range wireless communication comprises Wi-Fi communication and the second short range wireless communication comprises hotspot communication.

20. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the controller is further configured to receive an input signal for notifying emergency, configured to transmit information related to the emergency to at least one from among the second electronic device and the third electronic device via the first short range wireless communication.