System and method for determining geographic location of wireless computing devices
DCFirst Claim
1. A system for enabling a wireless computing device to determine its position when communicating with one or more wireless beacons having fixed physical locations, comprising:
- a server comprising a database of identification and positional information about wireless beacons having fixed physical locations; and
a wireless computing device arranged to wirelessly communicate using the Internet with said server,said wireless computing device being arranged to directly receive a transmission from at least one wireless beacon and generate identification information about said at least one wireless beacon, the identification information being generated by said wireless computing device based on the transmission from said at least one wireless beacon which is received by said wireless computing device,said wireless computing device being arranged to generate a request for a determination of its position and send the position determination request with the generated identification information about said at least one wireless beacon to said server, the generated and sent identification information being the information previously generated by said wireless computing device based on an earlier transmission from said at least one wireless beacon which is received by said wireless computing device,said server being arranged to receive the position determination request and the generated information about said at least one wireless beacon sent by said wireless computing device and determine the geographic position of said wireless computing device from the identification information generated and sent by said wireless computing device and the identification and positional information about wireless beacons contained in said database of said server,said server being arranged to undertake an action based on the determined geographic position of said wireless computing device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
System for enabling a wireless computing device to determine its position includes a server with a database of identification and positional information about wireless beacons and a wireless computing device arranged to wirelessly communicate using the Internet with the server. The server determines the geographic location of the wireless computing device upon receiving data from the wireless computing device relating to reception of signals by the wireless computing device from at least one wireless beacon and analysis of the signals in light of the information contained in the database of the server. The server applies a calculation algorithm which determines the geographic location of the wireless computing device upon input of identification and signal strength information about the wireless beacon(s) derived from the received signals.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A system for enabling a wireless computing device to determine its position when communicating with one or more wireless beacons having fixed physical locations, comprising:
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a server comprising a database of identification and positional information about wireless beacons having fixed physical locations; and a wireless computing device arranged to wirelessly communicate using the Internet with said server, said wireless computing device being arranged to directly receive a transmission from at least one wireless beacon and generate identification information about said at least one wireless beacon, the identification information being generated by said wireless computing device based on the transmission from said at least one wireless beacon which is received by said wireless computing device, said wireless computing device being arranged to generate a request for a determination of its position and send the position determination request with the generated identification information about said at least one wireless beacon to said server, the generated and sent identification information being the information previously generated by said wireless computing device based on an earlier transmission from said at least one wireless beacon which is received by said wireless computing device, said server being arranged to receive the position determination request and the generated information about said at least one wireless beacon sent by said wireless computing device and determine the geographic position of said wireless computing device from the identification information generated and sent by said wireless computing device and the identification and positional information about wireless beacons contained in said database of said server, said server being arranged to undertake an action based on the determined geographic position of said wireless computing device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 22, 23, 24)
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16. A method for determining a position of a wireless computing device when communicating with one or more wireless beacons having fixed physical locations, comprising:
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providing a server containing a database of identification and positional information about wireless beacons having fixed physical locations; generating at the wireless computing device, identification information about at least one wireless beacon transmitting directly to the wireless computing device, the identification information being generated by the wireless computing device based on the transmission from the at least one wireless beacon which is received by the wireless computing device; generating a request at the wireless computing device for a determination of the position of the wireless computing device; directing a transmission from the wireless computing device to the server, the transmission containing the position determination request and the generated identification information about the at least one wireless beacon, the generated identification information being the information previously generated by the wireless computing device based on an earlier transmission from the at least one wireless beacon which is received by the wireless computing device; receiving at the server the position determination request and the generated identification information about the at least one wireless beacon sent from the wireless computing device; and
thendetermining at the server the geographic position of the wireless computing device from the identification information generated and sent by the wireless computing device and the database of identification and positional information about wireless beacons contained in the server. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27)
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25. A method for enabling establishment of a network of wireless computing devices, comprising:
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providing a database of identification and positional information about wireless beacons having fixed physical locations; installing the database in a deployable server; coupling wireless computing devices to the server; generating at each wireless computing device, identification information about at least one wireless beacon transmitting directly to the wireless computing device, the identification information being previously generated by the wireless computing device based on an earlier transmission from the at least one wireless beacon which is received by the wireless computing device; generating a request at at least one of the wireless computing devices for a determination of the position of that wireless computing device; directing a transmission from each wireless computing device to the server, the transmission containing the position determination request and the generated identification information about the at least one wireless beacon, the generated identification information being the information generated by the wireless computing device from the transmission from the at least one wireless beacon; receiving at the server the position determination request and the generated information about the at least one wireless beacon sent from each wireless computing device;
thendetermining the geographic position of each of the wireless computing devices at the server from the identification information generated and sent by each wireless computing device to the server and the identification and positional information about wireless beacons in the database; and providing third party management of the database including updating of the database. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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Specification