Location histories for location aware devices

• US 8,611,326 B2
• Filed: 09/03/2009
• Issued: 12/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Huang, Ronald Keryuan
• Primary Examiner(s): PHUNKULH, BOB A
• Application Number:
  US12/553,534
• Publication Number:
  US 20110051665A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,566 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/346
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/34 Power consumption
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0027 of actual mobile position, i.e. position determined on mobile
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/2895 Intermediate processing functionally located close to the data provider application, e.g. reverse proxies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• 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 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A location aware mobile device can include a baseband processor for communicating with one or more communication networks, such as a cellular network or WiFi network. In some implementations, the baseband processor can collect network information (e.g., transmitter IDs) over time. Upon request by a user or application, the network information can be translated to estimated position coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, altitude) of the location aware device for display on a map view or for other purposes. A user or application can query the location history database with a timestamp or other query to retrieve all or part of the location history for display in a map view.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method performed by a location aware device, the method comprising:

configuring a processor of the location aware device to collect network information broadcast from a number of network transmitters over a time span, wherein the network information is indicative of previous locations of the device;

providing the network information and corresponding timestamps for storage in a database as location history data;

associating, using the timestamps, at least one photograph taken by the location aware device with one of the previous locations of the device;

receiving a request for location history of the device;

responsive to the request, translating the network information stored in the database into position coordinates for each of the previous locations of the device; and

responsive to the request, displaying a map view on the device visually indicating the previous locations of the device, wherein said displaying further comprises;

displaying markers on the map view as a timeline according to the position coordinates, the markers indicating the location history of the location aware device for the time span;

displaying, in association with at least a subset of the markers, time information of the timestamp corresponding to the respective marker; and

displaying on the map view, in association with at least one of the markers, at least one link to the at least one photograph, wherein the at least one of the markers indicates the one of the previous locations associated with the at least one photograph.

2. The method of claim 1, where configuring the processor to collect network information comprises:

configuring a baseband processor to collect transmitter identifiers.

3. The method of claim 2, where the network information is provided by a cellular network or a wireless local area network.

4. The method of claim 3, where the network information is provided by a cellular network and the transmitter identifiers are cell identifiers.

5. The method of claim 3, where the network information is provided by a wireless local area network and the transmitter identifiers are Media Access Control (MAC) addresses for access point devices.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a satellite positioning system is not available; and

in response to determining that the satellite positioning system is not available, configuring the processor of the location aware device to collect network information broadcast from a number of network transmitters over the time span.

7. The method of claim 1, where the database is included in the location aware device and is configured to be searchable by a user of the location aware device.

8. The method of claim 7, where the database is configured to be queried for at least a portion of the location history data.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

querying the database for at least a portion of the location history data; and

retrieving network information from the database that is responsive to the query, wherein the network information translated into position coordinates comprises the network information retrieved from the database.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing event data related to events occurring over the time span; and

associating the event information with the location history data.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

querying the database for at least a portion of the location history data;

retrieving network information from the database that is responsive to the query, wherein the network information translated into position coordinates comprises the network information retrieved from the database; and

displaying the event data on the map view, such that the event data is visually associated with one or more markers.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

displaying a user interface element on the map view, the user interface element operable for providing access to at least some event data.

13. A system, comprising:

memory configured for storing a database;

a digital camera coupled to the memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured for;

collecting network information broadcast from a number of network transmitters over a time span, wherein the network information is indicative of previous locations of the device;

storing the network information and corresponding timestamps in a database as location history data;

associating, using the timestamps, at least one photograph taken by the digital camera with one of the previous locations of the device;

receiving a request for location history; and

responsive to the request, translating the network information stored in the database into position coordinates and generating a map view of the previous locations of the device using the position coordinates, wherein said generating a map view further comprises;

displaying markers on the map view as a timeline according to the position coordinates, the markers indicating the location history of the location aware device for the time span;

displaying, in association with a subset of the markers, time information of the timestamp corresponding to the respective marker; and

displaying on the map view, in association with at least one of the markers, at least one link to the at least one photograph, wherein the at least one of the markers indicates the one of the previous locations associated with the at least one photograph.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

a baseband processor configured to collect transmitter identifiers.

15. The system of claim 14, where the network information is provided by a cellular network or a wireless local area network.

16. The system of claim 15, where the network information is provided by a cellular network and the transmitter identifiers are cell identifiers.

17. The system of claim 15, where the network information is provided by a wireless local area network and the transmitter identifiers are Media Access Control (MAC) addresses for access point devices.

18. The system of claim 13, where the processor is configured for:

determining that a satellite positioning system is not available; and

in response to determining that the satellite positioning system is not available, configuring the processor of the location aware device to collect network information broadcast from a number of network transmitters over the time span.

19. The system of claim 13, where the database is configured to be searchable by a user of the location aware device.

20. The system of claim 19, where the database is configured to be queried for at least a portion of the location history data.

21. The system of claim 13, where the processor is configured for:

querying the database for at least a portion of the location history data; and

retrieving network information from the database that is responsive to the query, wherein the network information translated into position coordinates comprises the network information retrieved from the database.

22. The system of claim 13, where the processor is configured for:

storing event data related to events occurring over the time span; and

associating the event information with the location history data.

23. The system of claim 22, where the processor is configured for:

querying the database for at least a portion of the location history data;

retrieving network information from the database that is responsive to the query, wherein the network information translated into position coordinates comprises the network information retrieved from the database;

displaying the event data on the map view, such that the event data is visually associated with one or more markers.

24. The system of claim 23, where the processor is configured for:

displaying a user interface element on the map view, the user interface element for providing access to at least some of the event data.

25. A computer-implemented method performed by a location aware device, the method comprising:

configuring a processor of the location aware device to collect transmitter identifiers broadcast from a number of network transmitters over a time span;

converting the transmitter identifiers into position coordinates;

storing the position coordinates and corresponding timestamps in a database of the location aware device;

associating, using the timestamps, at least one photograph taken by the location aware device with one of the position coordinates;

receiving a search query specifying a search time span;

responsive to the search query, generating a map view including markers identifying a location history of the location aware device for the search time span, the location history based on position coordinates corresponding to timestamps within the search time span, the map view further including time information of at least one of the timestamps within the search time span;

displaying the map view, time information, and markers on a display of the location aware device; and

displaying on the map view, in association with at least one of the markers, at least one link to the at least one photograph, wherein the at least one of the markers indicates the one of the previous locations associated with the at least one photograph.

26. A computer-implemented method performed by a device, the method comprising:

configuring a processor of the location aware device to collect transmitter identifiers broadcast from a number of network transmitters over a time span;

converting the transmitter identifiers into position coordinates;

providing the position coordinates and corresponding timestamps for storage in a database;

associating, using the timestamps, at least one photograph taken by the location aware device with one of the position coordinates;

in response to user input, retrieving the position coordinates and corresponding timestamps from the database and generating a map view including markers identifying a location history of the device for the search time span, the location history based on position coordinates corresponding to timestamps within the search time span, the map view further including time information of at least one of the timestamps within the search time span;

displaying the map view, time information, and markers on a display of the device; and

displaying on the map view, in association with at least one of the markers, at least one link to the at least one photograph, wherein the at least one of the markers indicates the one of the previous locations associated with the at least one photograph.

27. A mobile wireless communication device, comprising:

an antenna for performing wireless communication;

a digital camera;

a display;

a processor, wherein the processor is configured to;

collect network information broadcast from a number of network transmitters over a time span, wherein the network information is indicative of previous locations of the device;

provide the network information and corresponding timestamps to a database as location history data;

associating, using the timestamps, at least one photograph taken by the digital camera with one of the previous locations of the device;

receive a request for location history;

responsive to the request, generate a map view of the previous locations of the device using the position coordinates derived from the network information and using the corresponding timestamps, the map view further including time information of at least one of the timestamps within the search time span; and

displaying on the map view, in association with at least one of the previous locations of the device, at least one link to the at least one photograph.