Geographically localizing mobile communciation devices

• US 7,983,691 B1
• Filed: 11/06/2006
• Issued: 07/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Jain, Ravi, Goel, Samir, Wong, Bernard
• Primary Examiner(s): Cho; Un C
• Application Number:
  US11/557,097
• Time in Patent Office: 1,716 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/456.2, 455/456.3, 455/456.5, 455/456.6, 455/457, 455/414.1, 455/414.2
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0284 Relative positioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/18 wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/20 hybrid systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• 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 64/003 locating network equipment

Abstract

This specification describes technologies relating to geographically localizing mobile communication devices. In general, one aspect of the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in a method that includes receiving information corresponding to a location of a wireless landmark in a mobile communication network. The method also includes communicating with the wireless landmark to estimate the location of a first node in the mobile communication network proximate to the wireless landmark. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer program products.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored therein a computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving from a wireless landmark a message that includes a location indicator generated by the wireless landmark, the location indicator comprising information that corresponds to a current location of a wireless landmark in a mobile communication network, the wireless landmark comprising a mobile device having a telephone that communicates through the mobile communication network;

communicating with the wireless landmark to estimate the location of a first node in the mobile communication network proximate to the wireless landmark with the estimated location of the first node being based on the current location of the wireless landmark, the first node being a fixed location apparatus for routing communications with the mobile device and other mobile devices; and

determining an estimated location of another, different mobile device using the determined location of the first node.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining estimated locations of one or more intermediate nodes in the mobile communication network using the estimated location of the first node; and

outputting one or more estimated locations of the one or more intermediate nodes.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more intermediate nodes comprise one of intermediate routers or one of last-hop routers.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein determining estimated locations of one or more intermediate nodes in the mobile communication network comprises obtaining network delay values between nodes in the network, and transforming the network delays into distance constraints.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein obtaining network delay values comprises performing a plurality of network delay measurements and selecting a minimum network delay from the plurality of network delay measurements.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein obtaining network delay values further comprises obtaining a bandwidth delay and subtracting the bandwidth delay from the minimum network delay.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein obtaining the bandwidth delay comprises performing a packet-pair dispersion measurement.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein obtaining the location information of the one or more intermediate nodes comprises obtaining geographic boundaries for the one or more intermediate nodes based on the distance constraints.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein obtaining the geographic boundaries for the one or more intermediate nodes comprises identifying an overlapped region from a plurality of circles having radii derived from the distance constraints.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein obtaining the geographic boundaries for the one or more intermediate nodes further comprises narrowing the overlapped region by obtaining network delay values between one or more wired landmarks and the one or more intermediate nodes.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile communication network comprises a cellular network, a WiFi network, or a WiMAX network.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining an estimated location of a mobile device by using the locations of one or more nodes of the one or more intermediate nodes whose locations have been estimated.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein determining an estimated location of the mobile device further comprises obtaining a geographic boundary for the mobile device based on distance constraints derived from the intermediate node locations.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising iteratively communicating with wired landmarks in the mobile communication network to obtain network delay values for a plurality of network routes, and using the network delay values to improve the estimated locations of the one or more intermediate nodes.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the geographic location of the mobile device is based on a GPS location.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a wireless cellular telephone.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the current location of the mobile device is determined at the time of the generation of the message.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising outputting the estimated location of the first node.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored therein a computer-implemented method comprising:

obtaining an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a mobile device;

obtaining an IP address of a router that serves a geographic region containing the mobile device, based on the IP address of the mobile device;

determining a geographic region in which the router is located based on the IP address of the router; and

outputting an estimated location of the mobile device based on the geographic region corresponding to the router;

wherein determining a geographic region in which the router is located comprises;

obtaining network delay values related to the router using location and constraint information of one or more wireless landmarks, the one or more wireless landmarks comprising one or more mobile devices that communicate through the router and include telephones, and

translating the network delay values into distance constraints.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the IP address of the router is obtained from a first database, and the geographic region corresponding to the IP address of the router is obtained from a second database that differs from the first database.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the router comprises a last-hop router serving the mobile device.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein determining a geographic region in which the router is located further comprises obtaining a geographic boundary for the router based on the distance constraints.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein obtaining the geographic boundary for the router comprises obtaining an overlapped region from a plurality of circles having radii that are based on the distance constraints.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the landmarks comprise one of wireless landmarks, wired landmarks, and intermediate landmarks.

25. A system for providing location estimates of network devices, the system comprising:

a wireless landmark locator to receive current location information from a wireless landmark and identify a location for the wireless landmark, the wireless landmark comprising a first mobile device having a telephone that communicates through a wireless network;

means for determining location information of one or more intermediate network nodes in the wireless network using the location for the wireless landmark with the estimated location of the one or more intermediate network nodes being based on the current location of a wireless landmark, the one or more intermediate network nodes being fixed location apparatuses for routing communications with the wireless landmark and other mobile devices; and

a mobile device interface configured to estimate a location for a second mobile device communicating with the system using the location information of the one or more intermediate nodes.