Emergency wireless location system including a location determining receiver

• US 7,848,733 B2
• Filed: 12/28/2006
• Issued: 12/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Skyhook Holding, Inc. (Liberty Broadband Corp.)
• Original Assignee: TruePosition Incorporated
• Inventors: Anderson, Robert J., Mia, Rashidus S., Ward, Matthew L., Bull, Jeffrey F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Appiah; Charles N
• Assistant Examiner(s): AJIBADE AKONAI, OLUMIDE
• Application Number:
  US11/648,774
• Publication Number:
  US 20080160952A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,440 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.1, 455/404.2, 4554561-4566, 379/45, 379/37, 370352-356, 370/259, 370/328, 370/338
• US Class Current: 455/404.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/04 for emergency applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0069 comprising a residential gateway, e.g. those which provide an adapter for POTS or ISDN terminals
• 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 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements

Abstract

A wireless location system may include geolocation of a wireless device connected to Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) adapter. The VoIP adapter may include a wireless transceiver or a wireless location determining receiver that facilitates the location of a wireless device connected to the VoIP adapter. The wireless transceiver or the location determining receiver may provide location information to an emergency dispatcher.

Claims

1. An apparatus for facilitating emergency services in connection with a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) call, comprising:

a first interface for communicating signals to and from a telephone;

a second interface for communicating signals to and from an Internet Protocol (IP) network;

a location determining receiver;

a processor operatively coupled to said location determining receiver and to said first and second interfaces; and

a computer readable medium, operatively coupled to said processor, comprising instructions for causing the processor to detect the initiation of an emergency call by said telephone, and to determine the location of said apparatus with said location determining receiver in response to the detection of said emergency call, and instructions for providing location information including a calibrated offset.

2. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising instructions for automatically obtaining location information.

3. An apparatus as recited in claim 2, further comprising instructions for automatically obtaining location information when the apparatus is turned on.

4. An apparatus as recited in claim 2, further comprising instructions for automatically obtaining location information when the emergency call is detected.

5. An apparatus as recited in claim 2, further comprising instructions for connecting the emergency call to a PSAP (Public Service Answering Point) via the IP network with an E911 Pseudo-ANI in place of the calling number.

6. An apparatus as recited in claim 2, further comprising instructions for inserting location information into an SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) field and conducting the emergency call as a VoIP call.

7. An apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein said first interface is configured to interface to a single telephone.

8. An apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein said first interface is configured to interface to multiple telephones.

9. An apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein said first interface includes a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver.

10. An apparatus as recited in claim 2, further comprising an Assisted GPS chip, wherein said location determining receiver includes a GPS receiver and location information is obtained by Assisted GPS processing.

11. An apparatus as recited in claim 10, further comprising instructions for communicating with a server to obtain GPS assistance data.

12. An apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein said location determining receiver receives and processes signals-of-opportunity of known location origin to determine the location of said apparatus.

13. An apparatus as recited in claim 12, further comprising instructions for communicating with a server to obtain assistance data.

14. An apparatus as recited in claim 3, further comprising instructions for mapping location information, including latitude and longitude information, to a street address, and for providing said street address to a PSAP.

15. An apparatus for facilitating emergency services in connection with a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) call, comprising:

a first interface for communicating signals to and from a telephone;

a second interface for communicating signals to and from an Internet Protocol (IP) network;

a location determining receiver;

a processor operatively coupled to said location determining receiver and to said first and second interfaces; and

a computer readable medium, operatively coupled to said processor, comprising instructions for causing the processor to detect the initiation of an emergency call by said telephone, and to determine the location of said apparatus with said location determining receiver in response to the detection of said emergency call; and

instructions for providing location information including a calibrated offset and a computed offset.

16. A method for facilitating emergency services in connection with a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) call, comprising:

detecting the initiation of an emergency call by a telephone coupled to an interface between said telephone and an Internet Protocol (IP) network, wherein said detecting is performed within said interface;

in response to the detection of said emergency call, determining the location of said interface with a location determining receiver within said interface; and

determining a calibrated offset to associate with the location of the interface.

17. A method as recited in claim 16, further comprising automatically obtaining location information.

18. A method as recited in claim 17, further comprising automatically obtaining location information when the interface is turned on.

19. A method as recited in claim 17, further comprising automatically obtaining location information when the emergency call is detected.

20. A method as recited in claim 17, further comprising connecting the emergency call to a PSAP (Public Service Answering Point) via the IP network with an E911 Pseudo-ANI in place of the calling number.

21. A method as recited in claim 17, further comprising inserting location information into an SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) field and conducting the emergency call as a VoIP call.

22. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein said interface is configured to interface to a single telephone.

23. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein said interface is configured to interface to multiple telephones.

24. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein said interface includes a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver for communication with a WLAN telephone.

25. A method as recited in claim 17, further comprising obtaining location information using Assisted GPS.

26. A method as recited in claim 25, further comprising communicating with a server to obtain GPS assistance data.

27. A method as recited in claim 17, further comprising obtaining location information by receiving and processing signals-of-opportunity of known location origin to determine the location of said apparatus.

28. A method as recited in claim 27, further comprising communicating with a server to obtain assistance data to permit utilization of the signals-of-opportunity to determine location information.

29. A method as recited in claim 17, further comprising mapping location information, including latitude and longitude information, to a street address, and for providing said street address to a PSAP.

30. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein said interface comprises a first interface for communicating signals to and from said telephone;

a second interface for communicating signals to and from said IP network;

a location determining receiver;

a processor operatively coupled to said location determining receiver, and to said first and second interfaces; and

a computer readable medium, operatively coupled to said processor, comprising instructions for causing the processor to detect the initiation of an emergency call by said telephone, and to determine the location of said interface with said location determining receiver within said interface.

31. A method for facilitating emergency services in connection with a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) call, comprising:

detecting the initiation of an emergency call by a telephone coupled to an interface between said telephone and an Internet Protocol (IP) network, wherein said detecting is performed within said interface;

in response to the detection of said emergency call, determining the location of said interface with a location determining receiver within said interface;

determining a calibrated offset to associate with the location of the interface; and

providing location information including a computed offset.

32. A computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions for instructing a processor to perform a method for facilitating emergency services in connection with a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) call, said method involving providing an interface between a telephone and an Internet Protocol (IP) network, and comprising:

within said interface, detecting the initiation of an emergency call by said telephone;

in response to the detection of said emergency call, determining the location of said interface with a location determining receiver within said interface; and

determining a calibrated offset to associate with the location of the interface.

33. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 32, further comprising instructions for automatically obtaining location information.

34. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 33, further comprising instructions for automatically obtaining location information when the interface is turned on.

35. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 33, further comprising instructions for automatically obtaining location information when the emergency call is detected.

36. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 33, further comprising instructions for connecting the emergency call to a PSAP (Public Service Answering Point) via the IP network with an E911 Pseudo-ANI in place of the calling number.

37. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 33, further comprising instructions for inserting location information into an SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) field and conducting the emergency call as a VoIP call.

38. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 33, wherein said interface is configured to interface to a single telephone.

39. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 33, wherein said interface is configured to interface to multiple telephones.

40. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 33, wherein said interface includes a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver for communication with a WLAN telephone.

41. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 33, further comprising instructions for obtaining location information using Assisted GPS.

42. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 41, further comprising instructions for communicating with a server to obtain GPS assistance data.

43. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 33, further comprising instructions for obtaining location information using signals-of-opportunity of known location origin.

44. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 43, further comprising instructions for communicating with a server to obtain assistance data to permit utilization of said signals-of-opportunity to determine location information.

45. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 33, further comprising instructions for mapping location information, including latitude and longitude information, to a street address, and for providing said street address to a PSAP.

46. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 33, wherein said computer readable medium is contained within said interface, and said interface further comprises a first interface for communicating signals to and from said telephone;

a second interface for communicating signals to and from said IP network; and

a processor operatively coupled to said location determining receiver and to said first and second interfaces.

47. A computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions for instructing a processor to perform a method for facilitating emergency services in connection with a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) call, said method involving providing an interface between a telephone and an Internet Protocol (IP) network, and comprising:

detecting the initiation of an emergency call by a telephone coupled to an interface between said telephone and an Internet Protocol (IP) network, wherein said detecting is performed within said interface;

in response to the detection of said emergency call, determining the location of said interface with a location determining receiver within said interface;

determining a calibrated offset to associate with the location of the interface; and

providing location information including a computed offset.