Location register for trusted WiFi devices that roam

• US 8,145,239 B2
• Filed: 12/10/2008
• Issued: 03/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property II LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property II LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Savoor, Raghvendra
• Primary Examiner(s): MIZRAHI, DIANE D
• Application Number:
  US12/332,188
• Publication Number:
  US 20100144371A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,203 Days
• Field of Search: 455/452.2, 455/453, 455/456.3
• US Class Current: 455/456.3
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

Devices and methods are disclosed which relate to the gathering and recording of network availability and attributes in a location in order to define location based services. Registration logics onboard mobile communications devices collect network data as they roam inside and outside of their home cellular network. The registration logic sends this data to a registry in the form of a data message. The registry is updated by each instance of a received message. The aggregation of this data allows the system to adaptively learn about network availability in geographic locations. The data collected may also assist in the recovery of lost or stolen phones since the phone location is frequently updated.

Claims

1. A system for registering location-based services, the system comprising:

a mobile communications device with at least one module for detecting and communicating with a wireless network at a geographic location;

a registry in communication with the mobile communications device; and

a registration logic onboard the mobile communications device, the registration logic for detecting and recording an availability and an attribute of the wireless network, composing a message including the availability, the attribute, and the geographic location, and transmitting the message to the registry;

wherein the registry includes logic for associating a plurality of location-based services with the geographic location.

2. The system in claim 1, wherein the registration logic communicates with the registry over a data connection.

3. The system in claim 2, wherein the data connection is a WiFi connection.

4. The system in claim 2, wherein the data connection is a cellular data connection.

5. The system in claim 2, wherein the message is in the form of an Extensible Markup Language (XML) message.

6. The system in claim 2, wherein the available wireless network is one or more of a cellular network, a WiFi network, a BLUETOOTH network, and a femtocell.

7. The system in claim 1, wherein the registry communicates through a server.

8. The system in claim 1, wherein the geographic location is determined by a Global Positioning System (GPS) module onboard the mobile communications device.

9. The system in claim 1, wherein the registration logic resides on a dedicated memory.

10. A system for registering location-based services, the system comprising:

a server on a network;

a database in communication with the server;

a mobile communications device capable of two-way communication with the server over the network, the mobile communication device having at least one module for detecting and communicating with a wireless network at a geographical location; and

a registration program coupled to a mobile communications device, the registration program including instructions for collecting data concerning a plurality of available networks at the geographic location, and transmitting the data to the server to be stored on the database.

11. The system in claim 10, wherein the registration program communicates with the server over a data connection.

12. The system in claim 11, wherein the data connection is a WiFi connection.

13. The system in claim 11, wherein the data connection is a cellular data connection.

14. The system in claim 11, wherein the data sent to the server by the registration program is in the form of an XML message.

15. The system in claim 11, wherein the plurality of available networks is one or more of a cellular network, a WiFi network, a BLUETOOTH network, and a femtocell.

16. The system in claim 10, wherein the geographic location is determined by a GPS module onboard the mobile communications device.

17. The system in claim 10, wherein the registration program stores the collected data on a dedicated memory.

18. A method for registering location-based services using a mobile communications device, the method comprising:

detecting a plurality of available wireless networks within a range of the mobile communications device, a plurality of network attributes for each of the plurality of available wireless networks, and a geographic location of the mobile communications device;

composing a data message including information concerning the plurality of available wireless networks, the plurality of network attributes, and the geographic location; and

delivering the data message to a registry on a network, the data message being used by the registry to associate a plurality of location-based services with the geographic location.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the available wireless network is one or more of a cellular network, a WiFi network, a BLUETOOTH network, a femtocell.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the delivering is accomplished over a data connection.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the data connection is a WiFi connection.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the data connection is a cellular data connection.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein the data message is in the form of an XML message.

24. The method of claim 18, wherein the geographic location is determined by a GPS module onboard the mobile communications device.

25. The method of claim 18, further comprising storing the information concerning the plurality of available wireless networks, the plurality of network attributes, and the geographic location on a dedicated memory.

26. The method of claim 18, wherein the registry communicates with the registration logic through a server.

27. The method in claim 18, further comprising saving the data message to a memory for later sending.

28. The method in claim 27, further comprising sending the data message once a data connection is found.