System and method for initiating location-dependent applications on mobile devices

• US 7,096,030 B2
• Filed: 06/28/2002
• Issued: 08/22/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Huomo, Heikki
• Primary Examiner(s): Urban, Edward F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lee, John J.
• Application Number:
  US10/186,243
• Publication Number:
  US 20040203863A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,516 Days
• Field of Search: 455/414.1, 455/414.2, 455/414.3, 455/418, 455/419, 455/456.2, 455/456.1, 455/456.3, 455/456.5, 455/550.1, 455/556.2, 455/566, 455/90, 455/412.1, 455/422.1, 701/208, 701/211, 701/213, 342/357.13, 342/357.09
• US Class Current: 455/456.3
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0295 Proximity-based methods, e.g. position inferred from reception of particular signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data

Abstract

A system, apparatus, and method for facilitating location-based triggering of actions, applications, services, and the like on wireless devices, for locations that may be subsequently visited by the mobile device user. Wireless service area identifiers are received at the wireless device, where selected ones can be stored as points of interest on the wireless device. Actions are correlated with the stored points of interest, where this correlation is also stored on the wireless device. An action associated with a particular stored point of interest is invoked when the wireless device enters a wireless service area corresponding to the particular stored point of interest.

Claims

1. A method for automatically initiating at least one action on a wireless device, comprising:

receiving one or more wireless service area identifiers at the wireless device;

user-initiated storing of one or more of the received wireless service area identifiers as points of interest on the wireless device;

facilitating user-directed association of actions with one or more of the stored points of interest;

receiving a wireless service area identifier corresponding to a particular one of the stored points of interest when the wireless device enters a wireless service area corresponding to the particular one of the stored points of interest; and

invoking the action associated with the particular one of the stored points of interest when the wireless device enters the wireless service area corresponding to the particular one of the stored points of interest and receives the wireless service area identifier corresponding to the particular one of the stored points of interest.

2. The method as in claim 1, further comprising comparing the wireless service area identifier of the entered wireless service area with the stored points of interest to determine whether the wireless service area identifier corresponds to the particular one of the stored points of interest.

3. The method as in claim 1, further comprising invoking additional actions associated with respective ones of the stored points of interest each time the wireless device enters a wireless service area corresponding to one of the stored points of interest.

4. The method as in claim 1, wherein receiving one or more wireless service area identifiers comprises receiving one or more base station identifiers in a cellular network.

5. The method as in claim 4, wherein the base station identifiers comprise a cell identifier which uniquely identifies the wireless service area with respect to other cells in a surrounding area.

6. The method as in claim 4, wherein the cellular network is a GSM cellular network, and wherein the base station identifiers comprise at least one of a cell identifier (cell-ID) and a Base station Color Code (BCC).

7. The method as in claim 4, wherein receiving one or more base station identifiers comprises receiving, from the base station, the base station identifier of the wireless service area in which the wireless device is currently within.

8. The method as in claim 7, wherein storing one or more of the received wireless service area identifiers as points of interest on the wireless device comprises storing the base station identifier of the wireless service area in which the wireless device is currently within as a point of interest.

9. The method as in claim 4, wherein receiving one or more base station identifiers comprises receiving, from the base station, a plurality of base station identifiers of the wireless service areas associated with the base station in which the wireless device is currently within and at least one base station proximate to the base station in which the wireless device is currently within.

10. The method as in claim 9, wherein receiving the plurality of base station identifiers comprises receiving, from the base station, the base station identifiers within a paging area for mobile-based or mobile-assisted handovers.

11. The method as in claim 10, wherein storing one or more of the received wireless service area identifiers as points of interest on the wireless device comprises storing one or more of the plurality of base station identifiers provided by the base station as part of the paging area for mobile-based or mobile-assisted handovers.

12. The method as in claim 4, wherein receiving one or more base station identifiers comprises receiving a radio fingerprint comprising a plurality of base station identifiers from a plurality of overlapping wireless service areas concurrently perceived at the wireless device.

13. The method as in claim 12, wherein storing one or more of the received wireless service area identifiers as points of interest on the wireless device comprises storing one or more of the base station identifiers associated with the radio fingerprint based at least in part on a signal strength of the respective base station identifiers.

14. The method as in claim 1, wherein receiving one or more wireless service area identifiers comprises receiving one or more base station identifiers associated with a cellular network from a third party including at least one of an entity and another mobile terminal user.

15. The method as in claim 1, wherein receiving one or more wireless service area identifiers comprises receiving one or more beacon signals including beacon identifiers from a wireless communication system.

16. The method as in claim 15, wherein the wireless communication system is a Bluetooth communication system, and wherein receiving one or more wireless service area identifiers comprises receiving the beacon identifiers from a Bluetooth access point serving the wireless service area.

17. The method as in claim 15, wherein the wireless communication system is a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), and wherein receiving one or more wireless service area identifiers comprises receiving the beacon identifiers from a WLAN access point serving the wireless service area.

18. The method as in claim 1, wherein storing one or more of the received wireless service identifiers comprises storing the received wireless service identifiers in a point of interest list in a wireless device memory.

19. The method as in claim 1, wherein the association of actions with one or more of the stored points of interest comprises storing an action list in a wireless device memory, wherein the action list includes one or more entries each correlating at least one action with each of the stored points of interest.

20. The method as in claim 19, wherein invoking the action associated with a particular one of the stored points of interest comprises locating the stored point of interest in an entry of the action list and invoking the action correlated to that point of interest.

21. The method as in claim 1, further comprising receiving the wireless service area identifier corresponding to the particular one of the stored points of interest when the wireless device enters the wireless service area corresponding to the particular one of the stored points of interest, and wherein invoking the action associated with a particular one of the stored points of interest comprises invoking the action when the wireless device enters the wireless service area and receives the wireless service area identifier.

22. The method as in claim 1, wherein invoking the action comprises presenting textual or graphical message on a display of the wireless device.

23. The method as in claim 1, wherein invoking the action comprises presenting an audible message via a speaker of the wireless device.

24. The method as in claim 1, wherein invoking the action comprises initiating a local browser application and accessing at least one of programs and information via a predetermined site identified by a network address stored at the wireless device.

25. The method as in claim 1, wherein invoking the action comprises initiating a program locally stored on the wireless device.

26. The method as in claim 1, wherein invoking the action comprises initiating a connection to a secondary wireless service.

27. The method as in claim 1, further comprising defining one or more personal parameters and at least one action mode based at least in part on the personal parameters, and wherein invoking the action associated with a particular one of the stored points of interest comprises invoking the action associated with a particular one of the stored points of interest and associated with a currently selected action mode.

28. A mobile terminal operable in a wireless network, comprising:

a memory comprising a user-identified point of interest list, and an action list correlating one or more actions with each point of interest in the point of interest list;

a processor coupled to the memory to store wireless service area identifiers received at the mobile terminal as the points of interest in the point of interest list when the mobile terminal enters a wireless service area corresponding to each point of interest, wherein the processor is configured to invoke an action pre-assigned by a user of the mobile terminal via the action list to a particular one of the points of interest when the mobile terminal is within a wireless service area corresponding to the particular stored point of interest and receives a wireless service area identifier corresponding to the particular one of the points of interest; and

a user interface for presenting the invoked action to the user of the mobile terminal.

29. The mobile terminal as in claim 28, wherein the processor is further configured to compare a newly received wireless service area identifier with the point of interest list, and to invoke the action pre-assigned via the action list to a matching point of interest in the point of interest list.

30. The mobile terminal as in claim 29, wherein newly received wireless service area identifiers are received upon entry of the mobile terminal new wireless service areas.

31. The mobile terminal as in claim 28, wherein the processor is coupled to the memory to further store correlations of the stored points of interest and pre-assigned actions into the action list.

32. The mobile terminal as in claim 28, wherein the user interface comprises means for designating particular ones of the wireless service area identifiers to store in the point of interest list.

33. The mobile terminal as in claim 28, wherein the user interface comprises means for associating points of interest with one or more actions.

34. The mobile terminal as in claim 28, wherein the user interface further comprises a display to present visual information on the mobile terminal in response to invoking the action.

35. The mobile terminal as in claim 28, wherein the user interface further comprises a speaker to present audio information via the mobile terminal in response to invoking the action.

36. The mobile terminal as in claim 28, further comprising a receiver to receive the wireless service area identifiers.

37. The mobile terminal as in claim 28, wherein the action list serves as both the point of interest list and the action list.

38. A system for facilitating automatic initiation of actions on mobile terminals, comprising:

a cellular network having a plurality of cells each substantially defined by a wireless transmission range of a corresponding base station, wherein each of the cells is identifiable by a cell identifier (cell-ID) that is transmitted via its respective base station;

at least one mobile terminal operable in the cellular network and capable of performing mobile-assisted handovers, the mobile terminal comprising;

(a) a memory comprising;

(1) a point of interest list;

(2) an action list correlating one or more actions with each point of interest in the point of interest list;

(3) a list of cell-IDs provided by a base station of the cell in which the mobile terminal is physically located, wherein the list of cell-IDs corresponds to a plurality of candidate channels for mobile-assisted handovers supplied by the base station; and

(b) a processor coupled to the memory to store one or more cell-IDs, selected from the list of cell-IDs, as the points of interest in the point of interest list, wherein the processor is configured to invoke an action pre-assigned via the action list to a particular one of the points of interest when the mobile terminal is within a cell corresponding to the particular stored point of interest.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the cellular network comprises a GSM network.

40. The system of claim 38, wherein mobile-assisted handovers comprises mobile-based handovers.

41. A mobile terminal operable in a wireless network, comprising:

means for receiving one or more wireless service area identifiers at the mobile terminal;

means for user-initiated storing on the mobile terminal at least one of the received wireless service area identifiers as a point of interest;

the receiving means comprising means for receiving the at least one of the wireless service area identifiers corresponding to the point of interest when the mobile terminal enters a wireless service area corresponding to the point of interest;

means for facilitating user-correlation of at least one action with the point of interest; and

means for invoking the action correlated with the point of interest, when the mobile terminal is located in a the wireless service area corresponding to the point of interest and receives the at least one of the wireless service area identifiers.

42. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon and executable by a computing arrangement in a wireless device for facilitating automatic initiation of actions on the wireless device by performing steps comprising:

receiving one or more wireless service area identifiers at the wireless device;

user-initiated storing of one or more of the received wireless service area identifiers as points of interest on the wireless device;

user-facilitated associating of actions with one or more of the stored points of interest;

receiving a wireless service area identifier corresponding to a particular one of the stored points of interest when the wireless device enters a wireless service area corresponding to the particular one of the stored points of interest; and

invoking the action associated with the particular one of the stored points of interest when the wireless device enters the wireless service area corresponding to the particular one of the stored points of interest and receives the wireless service area identifier corresponding to the particular one of the stored points of interest.

43. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon which are executable by a computing module for automatically initiating actions on an associated mobile terminal capable of performing mobile-assisted handovers, the executable instructions performing steps comprising:

storing a point of interest list;

providing an action list correlating one or more actions with each point of interest in the point of interest list;

storing a list of cell identifiers (cell IDs) provided via a base station of a cellular network corresponding to a cell in which the mobile terminal is physically located, wherein the list of cell-IDs corresponds to a plurality of candidate channels for mobile-assisted handovers supplied by the base station;

storing one or more cell-IDs, selected from the list of cell-IDs, as the points of interest in the point of interest list; and

invoking an action pre-assigned via the action list to a particular one of the points of interest when the mobile terminal is within a cell corresponding to the particular stored point of interest.

44. A mobile terminal capable of performing mobile-assisted handovers in a cellular network having a plurality of cells each substantially defined by a wireless transmission range of a corresponding base station, wherein each of the cells is identifiable by a cell identifier (cell-ID) that is transmitted via its respective base station, the mobile terminal comprising:

a memory comprising a point of interest list, an action list correlating one or more actions with each point of interest in the point of interest list, and a list of cell-IDs provided by a base station of the cell in which the mobile terminal is physically located, wherein the list of cell-IDs corresponds to a plurality of candidate channels for mobile-assisted handovers supplied by the base station; and

a processor coupled to the memory to store one or more cell-IDs, selected from the list of cell-IDs, as the points of interest in the point of interest list, wherein the processor is configured to invoke an action pre-assigned via the action list to a particular one of the points of interest when the mobile terminal is within a cell corresponding to the particular stored point of interest.