Determining time zone based on location

• US 8,620,345 B2
• Filed: 04/07/2010
• Issued: 12/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Huang, Ronald K., Grainger, Morgan
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Nimesh
• Application Number:
  US12/756,132
• Publication Number:
  US 20110250902A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,364 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/412.2, 455/502, 455/503, 455/525, 455/171.1, 455/181.1, 455/231, 368/14, 368/21, 368/47
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

Methods, program products, and systems of determining a time zone based on location is disclosed. In general, in one aspect, a mobile device can store one or more geometric shapes using latitude and longitude coordinates. The geometric shapes can be associated with time zones. The mobile device can determine a current location. The mobile device can identify a geometric shape in which the mobile device is currently is located. The mobile device can determine the time zone associated with the identified geometric shape.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

storing a plurality of bounding boxes of geometric shapes using latitude and longitude coordinates, each of the geometric shapes being associated with a time zone;

determining, by a mobile device, that a current location of the mobile device intersects both a first bounding box of a first geometric shape corresponding to a first time zone and a second bounding box of a second geometric shape corresponding a second time zone, the current location being an area a size of which corresponds to an error margin of the current location, the error margin indicating an uncertainty of whether the mobile device is located in the first geometric shape or in the second geometric shape, the uncertainty being caused by at least one of;

an interference of a global positioning system signal by a vehicle carrying the mobile device, the global positioning system signal usable by the mobile device to determine the current location;

or

an operating mode that disables a location determining function of the mobile device,

wherein, when the vehicle interferes with the global positioning system signal or when the mobile device is in the operating mode, the mobile device determines the current location using a signal from a wireless access point or a cellular communications network and using an identifier of a wireless access gateway, and

wherein a first portion of the area is in the first bounding box, a second portion of the area is in the second bounding box, and wherein a current time zone setting of the mobile device is the first time zone;

keeping the current time zone setting of the mobile device to the first time zone until the current location of the mobile device ceases to intersect the first bounding box, wherein the current location ceases to intersect the first bounding box when each portion of the area is outside of the first bounding box; and

triggering a time zone change upon determining that the current location of the mobile device ceases to intersect the first bounding box, including setting the current time zone of the mobile device to the second time zone.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first time zone or second time zone is represented using an offset from a standard time.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the offset reflects a daylight savings setting local to the respective time zone.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the current location of the mobile device is represented as a geographic area.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein each bounding box of a corresponding geometric shape is a minimum bounding rectangle having borders that correspond to extreme points of the corresponding geometric shape, an extreme point of the corresponding geometric shape being one of an easternmost point of the geometric shape, a southernmost point of the geometric shape, a westernmost point of the geometric shape, or a northernmost point of the geometric shape, wherein the minimum bounding rectangle is a rectangle where each of the easternmost point, southernmost point, westernmost point, and northernmost point is on a respective edge of the rectangle.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein storing the bounding boxes includes storing the bounding boxes as polygons using latitude and longitude coordinates of vertices of the polygons.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the error margin is larger than a location error margin of the global positioning system.

8. A system, comprising:

a mobile device configured to perform operations comprising;

storing a plurality of bounding boxes of geometric shapes using latitude and longitude coordinates, each of the geometric shapes being associated with a time zone;

determining that a current location of the mobile device intersects both a first bounding box of a first geometric shape corresponding to a first time zone and a second bounding box of a second geometric shape corresponding a second time zone, the current location being an area a size of which corresponds to an error margin of the current location, the error margin indicating an uncertainty of whether the mobile device is located in the first geometric shape or in the second geometric shape, the uncertainty being caused by at least one of;

an interference of a global positioning system signal by a vehicle carrying the mobile device, the global positioning system signal usable by the mobile device to determine the current location;

or

an operating mode that disables a location determining function of the mobile device,

wherein, when the vehicle interferes with the global positioning system signal or when the mobile device is in the operating mode, the mobile device determines the current location using a signal from a wireless access point or a cellular communications network and using an identifier of a wireless access gateway, and

wherein a first portion of the area is in the first bounding box, a second portion of the area is in the second bounding box, and wherein a current time zone setting of the mobile device is the first time zone;

keeping the current time zone setting the mobile device to the first time zone until the current location of the mobile device ceases to intersect the first bounding box, wherein the current location ceases to intersect the first bounding box when each portion of the area is outside of the first bounding box; and

triggering a time zone change upon determining that the current location of the mobile device ceases to intersect the first bounding box, including setting the current time zone of the mobile device to the second time zone.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein at least one of the first time zone or second time zone is represented using an offset from a standard time.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the offset reflects a daylight savings setting local to the respective time zone.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the current location of the mobile device is represented as a geographic area.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein each bounding box of a corresponding geometric shape is a minimum bounding rectangle having borders that correspond to extreme points of the corresponding geometric shape, an extreme point of the corresponding geometric shape being one of an easternmost point of the geometric shape, a southernmost point of the geometric shape, a westernmost point of the geometric shape, or a northernmost point of the geometric shape, wherein the minimum bounding rectangle is a rectangle where each of the easternmost point, southernmost point, westernmost point, and northernmost point is on a respective edge of the rectangle.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein storing the bounding boxes includes storing the bounding boxes as polygons using latitude and longitude coordinates of vertices of the polygons.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the error margin is larger than a location error margin of the global positioning system.

15. A computer program product stored on a storage device, which, when activated, is operable to cause one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

storing a plurality of bounding boxes of geometric shapes using latitude and longitude coordinates, each of the geometric shapes being associated with a time zone;

determining, by a mobile device, that a current location of the mobile device intersects both a first bounding box of a first geometric shape corresponding to a first time zone and a second bounding box of a second geometric shape corresponding a second time zone, the current location being an area a size of which corresponds to an error margin of the current location, the error margin indicating an uncertainty of whether the mobile device is located in the first geometric shape or in the second geometric shape, the uncertainty being caused by at least one of;

an interference of a global positioning system signal by a vehicle carrying the mobile device, the global positioning system signal usable by the mobile device to determine the current location;

or

an operating mode that disables a location determining function of the mobile device,

wherein, when the vehicle interferes with the global positioning system signal or when the mobile device is in the operating mode, the mobile device determines the current location using a signal from a wireless access point or a cellular communications network and using an identifier of a wireless access gateway, and

wherein a first portion of the area is in the first bounding box, a second portion of the area is in the second bounding box, and wherein a current time zone setting of the mobile device is the first time zone;

keeping the current time zone setting of the mobile device to the first time zone until the current location of the mobile device ceases to intersect the first bounding box, wherein the current location ceases to intersect the first bounding box when each portion of the area is outside of the first bounding box; and

triggering a time zone change upon determining that the current location of the mobile device ceases to intersect the first bounding box, including setting the current time zone of the mobile device to the second time zone.

16. The product of claim 15, wherein at least one of the time zone or second time zone is represented using an offset from a standard time.

17. The product of claim 16, wherein the offset reflects a daylight savings setting local to the respective time zone.

18. The product of claim 15, wherein the current location of the mobile device is represented as a geographic area.

19. The product of claim 18, wherein each bounding box of a corresponding geometric shape is a minimum bounding rectangle having borders that correspond to extreme points of the corresponding geometric shape, an extreme point of the corresponding geometric shape being one of an easternmost point of the geometric shape, a southernmost point of the geometric shape, a westernmost point of the geometric shape, or a northernmost point of the geometric shape, wherein the minimum bounding rectangle is a rectangle where each of the easternmost point, southernmost point, westernmost point, and northernmost point is on a respective edge of the rectangle.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the error margin is larger than a location error margin of the global positioning system.