Location determination in a wireless communication network
First Claim
1. A mobile wireless communication device which wirelessly communicates with one of a plurality of access points, each of said access points coupled to a communication server, comprising:
- a CPU;
a transceiver coupled to said CPU;
a memory device coupled to said CPU;
a location table stored in said memory, said location table providing the physical location and addresses of the plurality of access points; and
said CPU determines the physical location of the mobile wireless communication device based on the physical location of the access point to which the mobile wireless communication device is currently communicating by receiving the address of the access point to which the mobile wireless communication device is currently communicating with and using the address as an index for the location table in order to retrieve the corresponding physical location of the access point from the location table; and
wherein said wireless communication device'"'"'s CPU requests services from the communication server based on the mobile wireless communication device'"'"'s physical location as determined by said CPU; and
wherein said communication server remains unaware of the location of the wireless communication device.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A wireless network permits wireless devices to determine their own location and receive location-based services. The network includes a communication server coupled to a plurality of access points and at least one mobile wireless device that wirelessly communicates through the access points. Each wireless device includes a location table through which the wireless device can determine its physical location. The location table includes the physical location of the various access points indexed by their network addresses. When the wireless device communicates with an access point, the access point provides the wireless device its address. The wireless device uses the address of the access point as an index into the location table to determine its own location based on the location of the access point. Once the wireless device has determined its own physical location, it requests location-based services from or through the communication server.
-
Citations
22 Claims
-
1. A mobile wireless communication device which wirelessly communicates with one of a plurality of access points, each of said access points coupled to a communication server, comprising:
-
a CPU; a transceiver coupled to said CPU; a memory device coupled to said CPU; a location table stored in said memory, said location table providing the physical location and addresses of the plurality of access points; and said CPU determines the physical location of the mobile wireless communication device based on the physical location of the access point to which the mobile wireless communication device is currently communicating by receiving the address of the access point to which the mobile wireless communication device is currently communicating with and using the address as an index for the location table in order to retrieve the corresponding physical location of the access point from the location table; and wherein said wireless communication device'"'"'s CPU requests services from the communication server based on the mobile wireless communication device'"'"'s physical location as determined by said CPU; and wherein said communication server remains unaware of the location of the wireless communication device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A wireless communication network, comprising:
-
a communication server; a plurality of access points coupled to said communication server; a wireless communication device that wirelessly couples to an access point; a location table stored in said wireless communication device, said location table providing the physical location and address of the access points; and wherein the wireless communication device determines its physical location by receiving the address of the access point and using the address as a pointer for the location table in order to determine the physical address of the access point to which the mobile wireless communication device is currently communicating; and wherein said wireless communication device requests services from the communication server based on the mobile wireless communication device'"'"'s physical location as determined by said wireless communication device; and wherein said communication server remains unaware of the location of the wireless communication device. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A method of determining the location of a wireless device that wirelessly communicates with a plurality of access points included as part of a wireless network, said access points couple to a communication server, comprising:
-
(a) the wireless device receiving an address from the access point to which the wireless device is currently communicating; (b) the wireless device using the address as an index into a look up table prestored in the wireless device to find the physical location of the access point; (c) the wireless device determining the physical location of the wireless device based on the physical location of the access point while a communication server associated with the wireless network remains unaware of the determined physical location; and (d) the wireless device requesting services from the wireless network based on the determined physical location. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
-
Specification