CROWD SOURCED LOCATION DETERMINATION

• US 20160165570A1
• Filed: 12/03/2015
• Published: 06/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Belkin International Incorporated (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Belkin International Incorporated (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Kim, Ryan Yong, Plummer, Jon, Shao, David
• Granted Patent: US 9,712,963 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0027 of actual mobile position, i.e. position determined on mobile
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02526 using non-dedicated equipment, e.g. user equipment or crowd-sourcing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• 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 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

Techniques and systems for determining locations of devices using location data sources are provided. For example, a network device, method, and computer-program product may be provided. In one example, a method may include receiving, on a computing device, a request to locate a device, wherein the request includes an identifier of the device. The method may further include receiving a communication from the device, wherein the communication includes the identifier of the device, and obtaining a location of the device. The method may further include transmitting the location of the device and the identifier of the device to a server, wherein the server is configured to use the location of the device and the identifier of the device to send a response to the requestor of the request.

Claims

1. A computing device, comprising:

one or more data processors;

a receiver configured to;

receive a request to locate a device, wherein the request includes an identifier of the device;

receive a communication from the device, wherein the communication includes the identifier of the device;

a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium containing instructions which when executed on the one or more data processors, cause the one or more data processors to perform operations including obtaining a location of the device; and

a transmitter configured to transmit the location of the device and the identifier of the device to a server, wherein the server is configured to use the location of the device and the identifier of the device to send a response to a requestor of the request.

2. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit the request to locate the device to one or more devices within a geographical area, wherein the transmitted request includes the identifier of the device.

3. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the request is received as a broadcast request that is receivable by the one or more devices within the geographical area.

4. The computing device of claim 1, further comprising instructions which when executed on the one or more data processors, cause the one or more data processors to perform operations including:

determining the location of the device using the communication received from the device.

5. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the receiver is configured to receive the location of the device from the device, wherein the location is determined by the device.

6. The computing device of claim 5, wherein the location is determined by the device using signals received from one or more location devices.

7. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the computing device includes an access device, a network device, or a tracking device.

8. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the location includes global positioning coordinates of the device.

9. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, on a computing device, a request to locate a device, wherein the request includes an identifier of the device;

receiving a communication from the device, wherein the communication includes the identifier of the device;

obtaining a location of the device; and

transmitting the location of the device and the identifier of the device to a server, wherein the server is configured to use the location of the device and the identifier of the device to send a response to the requestor of the request.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising transmitting the request to locate the device to one or more devices within a geographical area, wherein the transmitted request includes the identifier of the device.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the request is received as a broadcast request that is receivable by the one or more devices within the geographical area.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising determining the location of the device using the communication received from the device.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving the location of the device from the device, wherein the location is determined by the device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the location is determined by the device using signals received from one or more location devices.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the computing device includes an access device.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the computing device includes a network device.

17. The method of claim 9, wherein the device includes a tracking device.

18. The method of claim 9, wherein the location includes global positioning coordinates of the device.

19. A computer-program product tangibly embodied in a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of a computing device, including instructions configured to cause one or more data processors to:

receive a request to locate a device, wherein the request includes an identifier of the device;

receive a communication from the device, wherein the communication includes the identifier of the device;

obtain a location of the device; and

transmit the location of the device and the identifier of the device to a server, wherein the server is configured to use the location of the device and the identifier of the device to send a response to the requestor of the request.

20. The computer-program product of claim 19, further comprising instructions configured to cause the one or more data processors to:

transmit the request to locate the device to one or more devices within a geographical area, wherein the transmitted request includes the identifier of the device.