Intelligent utilization of battery and bandwidth resources in mobile devices

• US 7,538,722 B2
• Filed: 01/30/2006
• Issued: 05/26/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cingular Wireless II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Thandu, Balasubramaniam K., Aithal, Prabha
• Primary Examiner(s): PHAN, DAO LINDA
• Application Number:
  US11/343,513
• Publication Number:
  US 20060256005A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,212 Days
• Field of Search: 342/357.01, 342/357.06, 342/357.09, 342/357.12, 701/207, 701/213, 701/214, 701/215
• US Class Current: 342/357.74
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/34 Power consumption
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0225 using monitoring of external events, e.g. the presence of a signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0254 detecting a user operation or a tactile contact or a motion of the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A programmable intelligent activation module to intelligently allow access to GPS resources is provided. In accordance with pre-programmed settings, an intelligent activation module will control the frequency by which a GPS module is allowed to access a GPS or GSM network in order to acquire location information of a mobile device equipped with GPS equipment. By controlling access to a GPS or GSM network, network resources such as bandwidth are conserved unless actually needed as is determined by the intelligent activation module. Similarly, battery resources for the mobile device are also conserved in that unnecessary activation of the GPS module is prevented until such activation is actually needed. The intelligent activation module can be programmed with a variety of settings including speed, map deltas, final destination information, or settings as pre-determined by a user of the mobile device.

Claims

1. A mobile device comprising:

a GPS module configured to receive location based information;

an intelligent activation module configured to regulate power consumption and network bandwidth consumption by the GPS module based on at least one control setting; and

one or more input/output (I/O) components configured to interact with the GPS module and the intelligent activation module to provide turn-by-turn directions to a user based on desired destination information and the at least one control setting.

2. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the I/O components comprise a display, a keypad, a speaker, and a microphone.

3. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the desired destination information is provided to the mobile device by a remote computer terminal.

4. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the desired destination information is provided to the mobile device by at least one of the I/O components.

5. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein the turn-by-turn directions are provided to the user as a combination of text and graphics on the display.

6. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein the turn-by-turn directions are provided to the user audibly by the speaker.

7. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the GPS module is configured to receive the location based information from at least one network providing location based information.

8. The mobile device of claim 7, wherein the at least one network comprises a GPS network.

9. The mobile device of claim 7, wherein the at least one network comprises an A-GPS network.

10. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the at least one control setting comprises a speed information setting.

11. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the at least one control setting comprises a final destination setting.

12. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the at least one control setting comprises a delta setting.

13. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the at least one control setting comprises a user-predetermined setting.

14. The mobile device of claim 1, further comprising a timing module configured to correct timing discrepancies in the location based information received from the at least one network providing location based information.

15. A method for intelligently utilizing resources in a GPS-capable mobile device, comprising:

receiving destination information;

receiving final destination buffer information; and

accessing a location based information network to obtain location information at time intervals associated with the final destination buffer information.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising determining the mobile device to be within a final destination buffer as defined by the final destination buffer information and as reflected by the location information received from a plurality of GPS-satellites over a GPS-only network.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising accessing at least an A-GPS network to obtain location information if the mobile device is determined to be within the final destination buffer as defined by the final destination buffer information.

18. A method for intelligently utilizing resources in a mobile device, comprising:

receiving an indicia of speed at the mobile device;

accessing an onboard computer in a vehicle to determine a speed of the vehicle;

determining whether the speed of the vehicle is greater than the indicia of speed; and

if the speed of the vehicle is greater than the indicia of speed, accessing location based information over the at least one network.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising providing turn-by-turn directions to a user of the mobile device that correspond to the location based information and a final destination of the user.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the location based information is GPS-information.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the indicia of speed is determined by an intelligent activation module.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the indicia of speed is determined in accordance with a user setting.

23. A method for intelligently utilizing resources in a mobile device, comprising:

receiving an indicia of speed at the mobile device;

accessing an onboard computer in a vehicle to determine a speed of the vehicle;

determining whether the speed of the vehicle is less than the indicia of speed; and

if the speed of the vehicle is less than the indicia of speed, accessing location based information over the at least one network.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising providing turn-by-turn directions to a user of the mobile device that correspond to the location based information and a final destination of the user.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the location based information is GPS-related information.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the indicia of speed is determined by an intelligent activation module.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein the indicia of speed is determined in accordance with a predetermined user setting.

28. A method for intelligently utilizing resources in a mobile device, comprising:

receiving an indicia of speed at the mobile device;

accessing an onboard computer in a vehicle to determine a speed of the vehicle;

determining a relationship between the speed of the vehicle and the indicia of speed; and

accessing location based information over the at least one network based on the relationship.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising providing turn-by-turn directions to a user of the mobile device that correspond to the location based information and a final destination of the user.

30. A method for intelligently utilizing resources in a mobile device, comprising:

receiving an indicia of speed;

accessing location based information over at least one network to obtain first location information (L.sub.1) and a first indication of time (T.sub.1);

accessing location based information over the at least one network to obtain second location information (L.sub.2) and a second indication of time (T.sub.2); and

determining present speed according to a distance differential based on location information and indications of time.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising determining whether the present speed of the mobile device is less than the indicia of speed;

and if the present speed of the mobile device is less than the indicia of speed, accessing location based information over the at least one network.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising providing turn-by-turn directions to the user based on the location based information and a final destination of the user.

33. The method of claim 30, wherein the location based information is GPS-related information.

34. The method of claim 30, further comprising determining whether the present speed of the mobile device is greater than the indicia of speed;

and if the present speed of the mobile device is greater than the indicia of speed, denying access to location based information over the at least one network.