Two stage mobile device geographic location determination
First Claim
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1. A method in a computing system of determining a geographic location associated with a wireless mobile device accessing a data network, the method comprising:
- receiving a request for a location of a wireless mobile device that is connected to the data network through an access point operating on unlicensed frequency spectrum;
determining an estimated location of the wireless mobile device by accessing stored location information and utilizing the stored location information that provides the highest accuracy location of the wireless mobile device, the stored location information including at least one of;
a known geographic location of the access point,a street address of a residence in proximity to the access point,a cell global identity (CGI) associated with a cell tower that was last utilized by the wireless mobile device or by other wireless devices prior to using the access point, oran IP address of the access point;
providing the estimated location in response to the request for the location of the wireless mobile device;
determining a GPS location of the wireless mobile device by using information derived from global positioning system (GPS) signals; and
providing the GPS location in response to the request for the location of the wireless mobile device,wherein the GPS location is provided after the estimated location, andwherein the GPS location and the estimated location are provided as geographic coordinates.
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Abstract
A system and method for mitigating the delay associated with using GPS technologies to determine the location of a mobile device. The system utilizes a two-stage location determination process. During the first stage, an estimated position of the mobile device is immediately provided based on the most accurate stored location information that is available to the system. If greater accuracy is still required, during the second stage a more accurate position of the mobile device is provided using GPS-based technologies.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A method in a computing system of determining a geographic location associated with a wireless mobile device accessing a data network, the method comprising:
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receiving a request for a location of a wireless mobile device that is connected to the data network through an access point operating on unlicensed frequency spectrum; determining an estimated location of the wireless mobile device by accessing stored location information and utilizing the stored location information that provides the highest accuracy location of the wireless mobile device, the stored location information including at least one of; a known geographic location of the access point, a street address of a residence in proximity to the access point, a cell global identity (CGI) associated with a cell tower that was last utilized by the wireless mobile device or by other wireless devices prior to using the access point, or an IP address of the access point; providing the estimated location in response to the request for the location of the wireless mobile device; determining a GPS location of the wireless mobile device by using information derived from global positioning system (GPS) signals; and providing the GPS location in response to the request for the location of the wireless mobile device, wherein the GPS location is provided after the estimated location, and wherein the GPS location and the estimated location are provided as geographic coordinates. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system for determining a geographic location associated with a mobile device that is wirelessly accessing a data network, the system comprising:
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a first location estimator configured to provide an estimated location of a mobile device that is accessing the data network via an access point operating on unlicensed frequency spectrum, wherein the first location estimator determines the estimated location of the mobile device by accessing stored location information, the location information including at least one of; a geographic location of the access point, a street address of a residence in proximity to the access point, a cell global identity (CGI) associated with a cell tower that was last utilized by the mobile device or by other mobile devices prior to using the access point, or an IP address of the access point, and
utilizing the stored location information that provides the highest accuracy location of the mobile device, the first location estimator providing the estimated location in a first response to a request for a position of the mobile device; anda second location estimator configured to provide a GPS location of the mobile device, wherein the second location estimator initiates a communication with the mobile device that causes the mobile device to calculate its GPS location using information derived from global positioning system (GPS) signals and communicate the GPS location to the second location estimator, the second location estimator providing the GPS location in a second response to the request for the position of the mobile device, the GPS location and estimated location being provided as geographic coordinates. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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Specification