Identification of frequent locations of a wireless communication device

• US 8,818,409 B1
• Filed: 11/01/2012
• Issued: 08/26/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Gatmir-Motahari, Sara, Jintaseranee, Kosol, Reuther, Phyllis J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bhattacharya, Sam
• Application Number:
  US13/666,749
• Time in Patent Office: 663 Days
• Field of Search: 455/435.1, 455/456.1, 455/456.2, 455/456.4
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/025 using location based information parameters

Abstract

A frequent location determination system to identify a location frequented by a wireless communication device comprises a processing system. The processing system is configured to process network usage data for the wireless communication device to identify a cell sector in a wireless communication network that is used by the wireless communication device more than a plurality of other cell sectors in the wireless communication network. The processing system is further configured to process user data transferred by the wireless communication device from the cell sector to identify Global Positioning System (GPS) data, and to process the GPS data to determine a subset of the GPS data that indicates locations in the cell sector. The processing system is further configured to process the subset of the GPS data that indicates the locations in the cell sector to determine a frequent location of the wireless communication device within the cell sector.

Claims

1. A method of identifying a location frequented by a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

processing network usage data for the wireless communication device to identify a cell sector in a wireless communication network that is used by the wireless communication device more than a plurality of other cell sectors in the wireless communication network;

processing user data transferred by the wireless communication device from the cell sector to identify Global Positioning System (GPS) data;

processing the GPS data to determine a subset of the GPS data that indicates locations in the cell sector; and

processing the subset of the GPS data that indicates the locations in the cell sector to determine a frequent location of the wireless communication device within the cell sector.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein processing the user data transferred by the wireless communication device from the cell sector to identify the GPS data comprises identifying the GPS data that correlates to a base station identifier associated with the cell sector.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein processing the user data transferred by the wireless communication device from the cell sector to identify the GPS data comprises processing the user data transferred by the wireless communication device while in the cell sector to identify the GPS data.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein processing the GPS data to determine the subset of the GPS data that indicates the locations in the cell sector comprises eliminating from the GPS data any information that indicates a location outside of the cell sector.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein processing the subset of the GPS data that indicates the locations in the cell sector to determine the frequent location of the wireless communication device within the cell sector comprises ordering the subset of the GPS data according to time stamps associated with the subset of the GPS data.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein ordering the subset of the GPS data according to the time stamps associated with the subset of the GPS data comprises ranking more recent data of the subset of the GPS data higher than other data of the subset of the GPS data.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein processing the subset of the GPS data that indicates the locations in the cell sector to determine the frequent location of the wireless communication device within the cell sector comprises determining the frequent location of the wireless communication device within the cell sector based on the more recent data of the subset of the GPS data.

8. A frequent location determination system to identify a location frequented by a wireless communication device, the system comprising:

a processing system comprising circuitry configured to process network usage data for the wireless communication device to identify a cell sector in a wireless communication network that is used by the wireless communication device more than a plurality of other cell sectors in the wireless communication network, process user data transferred by the wireless communication device from the cell sector to identify Global Positioning System (GPS) data, process the GPS data to determine a subset of the GPS data that indicates locations in the cell sector, and process the subset of the GPS data that indicates the locations in the cell sector to determine a frequent location of the wireless communication device within the cell sector.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the processing system configured to process the user data transferred by the wireless communication device from the cell sector to identify the GPS data comprises the processing system configured to identify the GPS data that correlates to a base station identifier associated with the cell sector.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein the processing system configured to process the user data transferred by the wireless communication device from the cell sector to identify the GPS data comprises the processing system configured to process the user data transferred by the wireless communication device while in the cell sector to identify the GPS data.

11. The system of claim 8 wherein the processing system configured to process the GPS data to determine the subset of the GPS data that indicates the locations in the cell sector comprises the processing system configured to eliminate from the GPS data any information that indicates a location outside of the cell sector.

12. The system of claim 8 wherein the processing system configured to process the subset of the GPS data that indicates the locations in the cell sector to determine the frequent location of the wireless communication device within the cell sector comprises the processing system configured to order the subset of the GPS data according to time stamps associated with the subset of the GPS data.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the processing system configured to order the subset of the GPS data according to the time stamps associated with the subset of the GPS data comprises the processing system configured to rank more recent data of the subset of the GPS data higher than other data of the subset of the GPS data.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the processing system configured to process the subset of the GPS data that indicates the locations in the cell sector to determine the frequent location of the wireless communication device within the cell sector comprises the processing system configured to determine the frequent location of the wireless communication device within the cell sector based on the more recent data of the subset of the GPS data.

15. A computer apparatus to identify a location frequented by a wireless communication device, the apparatus comprising:

software instructions configured, when executed by a computer system, to direct the computer system to process network usage data for the wireless communication device to identify a cell sector in a wireless communication network that is used by the wireless communication device more than a plurality of other cell sectors in the wireless communication network, process user data transferred by the wireless communication device from the cell sector to identify Global Positioning System (GPS) data, process the GPS data to determine a subset of the GPS data that indicates locations in the cell sector, and process the subset of the GPS data that indicates the locations in the cell sector to determine a frequent location of the wireless communication device within the cell sector; and

at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing the software instructions.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the software instructions configured to direct the computer system to process the user data transferred by the wireless communication device from the cell sector to identify the GPS data comprises the software instructions configured to direct the computer system to identify the GPS data that correlates to a base station identifier associated with the cell sector.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the software instructions configured to direct the computer system to process the user data transferred by the wireless communication device from the cell sector to identify the GPS data comprises the software instructions configured to direct the computer system to process the user data transferred by the wireless communication device while in the cell sector to identify the GPS data.

18. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the software instructions configured to direct the computer system to process the GPS data to determine the subset of the GPS data that indicates the locations in the cell sector comprises the software instructions configured to direct the computer system to eliminate from the GPS data any information that indicates a location outside of the cell sector.

19. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the software instructions configured to direct the computer system to process the subset of the GPS data that indicates the locations in the cell sector to determine the frequent location of the wireless communication device within the cell sector comprises the software instructions configured to direct the computer system to order the subset of the GPS data according to time stamps associated with the subset of the GPS data.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the software instructions configured to direct the computer system to order the subset of the GPS data according to the time stamps associated with the subset of the GPS data comprises the software instructions configured to direct the computer system to rank more recent data of the subset of the GPS data higher than other data of the subset of the GPS data, and wherein the frequent location of the wireless communication device within the cell sector is determined based on the more recent data of the subset of the GPS data.