Method and system for location-aware wireless mobile devices including mobile user network message interfaces and protocol

• US 7,336,942 B2
• Filed: 04/05/2005
• Issued: 02/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/20/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: 3e Technologies International, Inc. (Ultra Electronics Holdings PLC)
• Original Assignee: 3e Technologies International, Inc. (Ultra Electronics Holdings PLC)
• Inventors: Wang, Ray
• Primary Examiner(s): Eng, George
• Assistant Examiner(s): PHAN, HUY Q
• Application Number:
  US11/099,157
• Publication Number:
  US 20050288035A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,057 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.3, 455/456.1, 455/404.1, 455/404.2, 455/456.2, 455/456.5, 455/456.6, 455/414.1
• US Class Current: 455/404.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• 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 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

A method and system for location-aware wireless mobile devices. A network-independent location-aware network protocol and interfaces provide communication with location-aware wireless mobile devices. Alert information is provided to a location-aware wireless mobile device with the network-independent location-aware network protocol and interfaces. Location-aware wireless mobile devices are located and provided with alert information with the network-independent location-aware network protocol and interfaces. The method and system helps improve usability of mobile devices by allowing the mobile devices to be location-aware.

Claims

1. A network-independent location-aware protocol for communicating with location-aware wireless mobile devices, the network-independent location-aware protocol stored as data bits in a pre-determined format on a computer readable medium encoded with a computer program, comprising:

a location-aware management message for sending and receiving management messages to and from location-aware wireless mobile devices;

a location-aware event message for sending and receiving emergency or non-emergency event messages to and from location-aware wireless mobile devices, wherein the location-aware event message accepts alert information from a plurality of information sources on an information repository, wherein the information repository is in communications with the plurality of information sources via an information network, wherein the alert information is generated from emergency or non-emergency events, and wherein the alert information includes information emergency or non-emergency events for a specific geographic area, and wherein the accepted alert information is formatted into a network-independent location-aware protocol message; and

a location-aware commerce message for sending and receiving commerce messages to and from location-aware wireless mobile devices;

wherein the network-independent location-aware protocol messages can be simultaneously transmitted over a plurality of different types of wireless transport networks for a plurality of different types of location-aware mobile devices in a plurality of different locations in a specific geographic area,

wherein the location-aware management message, the location-aware event message and the location-aware commerce message are stored as data bits in a pre-determined format comprising a network-independent location-aware protocol to support and deliver location-aware services over a wireless or wired transport network transparently regardless of the actual networking protocols being used on the wireless or wired transport network, and

wherein the network-independent location-aware protocol messages can be sent to a plurality of different types of location-aware mobile wireless network devices in communications with the plurality of different types of transport networks via a plurality of uniform mobile user network message interfaces associated with the plurality of different types of transport networks.

2. The network-independent location-aware protocol of claim 1 wherein the location-aware management message includes a plurality of management message tags to request a location of a location-aware wireless mobile device, send a location identifier to a location-aware wireless mobile device or send an acknowledgement to a location-aware wireless mobile device.

3. The network-independent location-aware protocol of claim 1 wherein the location-aware event message includes a plurality of event message tags for emergency or non-emergency event information generated for location-aware wireless mobile devices in a specific geographic area.

4. The network-independent location-aware protocol of claim 1 wherein the location-aware commerce message includes a plurality of commerce message tags for commercial information including electronic-commerce or mobile-commerce for location-aware wireless mobile devices in a specific geographic area.

5. The network-independent location-aware protocol of claim 1 wherein the network-independent location-aware protocol is also used for communicating with wired or non-mobile wireless devices.

6. A transport network location-aware interface for communicating with a plurality of different types of location-aware wireless mobile devices in a plurality of different locations in a specific geographic area, comprising:

a first transport interface component for receiving network-independent location-aware protocol messages from an information repository on a wireless transport network, wherein the network-independent location-aware protocol messages are used to communicate with a plurality of different types of location-aware wireless mobile devices in a plurality of different locations in a specific geographic area;

a second transport interface component for sending transport information from the wireless transport network via one or more wireless transport protocols in use on the wireless transport network to the plurality of different types of location-aware wireless mobile devices in a plurality of different locations in a specific geographic area, wherein the transport information includes one or more network-independent location-aware protocol messages used to communicate with a plurality of different types of location-aware wireless mobile devices in a plurality of different locations in a specific geographic area, and

wherein a location-aware management message, a location-aware event message and a location-aware commerce message are stored as data bits in a pre-determined format comprising the one or more network-independent location-aware protocol messages to support and deliver location-aware services over a wireless or wired transport network transparently regardless of the actual networking protocols being used on the wireless or wired transport network.

7. The transport network mobile user network message interface of claim 6 wherein the transport information includes a plurality of data-bits, data frames or data packets.

8. A mobile device location-aware interface for a location-aware wireless mobile device, comprising

a first location-aware interface component for receiving transport information on a location-aware wireless mobile device from a wireless transport network via one or more wireless transport protocols in use on the wireless transport network, wherein the transport information includes one or more network-independent location-aware protocol messages used to communicate with a plurality of different types of location-aware wireless mobile devices in a plurality of different locations in a specific geographic area;

a second location-aware interface component for generating device specific information on the location-aware wireless mobile device from the one or more network-independent location-aware protocol messages in the transport information, and

wherein a location-aware management message, a location-aware event message and a location-aware commerce message are stored as data bits in a pre-determined format comprising the one or more network-independent location-aware protocol messages to support and deliver location-aware services over a wireless or wired transport network transparently regardless of the actual networking protocols being used on the wireless or wired transport network.

9. A network-independent location-aware protocol for communicating with location-aware wireless mobile devices, the network-independent location-aware protocol stored as data bits in a pre-determined format on a computer readable medium encoded with a computer program, comprising:

a location-aware management message for sending and receiving management messages to and from location-aware wireless mobile devices;

a location-aware event message for sending and receiving emergency or non-emergency event messages to and from location-aware wireless mobile devices; and

a location-aware commerce message for sending and receiving commerce messages to and from location-aware wireless mobile devices; and

wherein the network-independent location-aware protocol messages are simultaneously transmitted over a plurality of different types of wireless transport networks for a plurality of different types of location-aware mobile devices in a plurality of different locations in a specific geographic area,

wherein alert information is formatted into a network-independent location-aware protocol message, additional information is optionally added to the network-independent location-aware protocol message based on the specific geographic area identified in the alert information, and the network-independent location-aware protocol message is forwarded to the plurality of different types of transport networks in communications with a plurality of different types of location-aware mobile network devices located in the specific geographic area identified by the alert information,

wherein the location-aware management message, the location-aware event message, the location-aware commerce message and the alert information in a network independent location aware message format are stored as data bits in a are-determined format comprising a network-independent location-aware protocol to support and deliver location-aware services over a wireless or wired transport network transparently regardless of the actual networking protocols being used on the wireless or wired transport network, and

wherein the plurality of different types of transport networks forward the various network-independent location-aware messages to the plurality of different types of location-aware mobile network devices located in the specific geographic area identified by the alert information via a plurality of uniform mobile user network message interfaces associated with the plurality of different types of transport networks.

10. The network-independent location-aware protocol of claim 9 wherein the location-aware wireless mobile devices include one or two way pagers, cellular phones, mobile phones, personal digital assistants, personal communication services (“

PCS”

) devices, global system for mobile communications (“

GSM”

) devices, Generic Packet Radio Services (“

GPRS”

) devices, cellular digital Global Positioning System (“

GPS”

) devices, Digital GPS (“

DGPS”

) devices, Wireless Application Protocol (“

WAP”

) devices, Bluetooth, 802.11b, or digital audio broadcasting (“

DAB”

) devices.