Location based wireless tower caching

• US 8,838,148 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2012
• Issued: 09/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Shook, Aaron K., Burckart, Erik J., Cuomo, Gennaro A., Ivory, Andrew, Moore, Victor S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kasraian, Allahyar
• Application Number:
  US13/407,329
• Publication Number:
  US 20120214514A1
• Time in Patent Office: 931 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.3, 455/456.1, 340/995.1, 701/409
• US Class Current: 455/456.3
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, system and computer program product for wireless tower caching. In an embodiment of the invention, a method for wireless tower caching in a radio access network (RAN) can include receiving a response to a request from an end user device wirelessly coupled to a base station of the RAN, determining geographic positioning data for the response and identifying a most geographically wireless tower coupled to the RAN relative to the determined geographic positioning data (such as the closest wireless tower to the determined geographic positioning data). Thereafter, the response can be cached at a cache in a base station of the identified wireless tower.

Claims

1. A method for wireless tower caching in a radio access network (RAN) comprising:

receiving a response to a content request from an end user device wirelessly coupled to a base station of the RAN, the base station comprising an antenna supported by a separate wireless tower, the response comprises at least one of a map generated from an address supplied by the end user device or a point of interest of a map generated from an address supplied by the end user device;

determining geographic positioning data for the response;

comparing the determined geographic positioning data for the response to a list of locations of wireless towers in the RAN to identify a most geographically relevant wireless tower coupled to the RAN relative to the determined geographic positioning data, the most geographically relevant wireless tower being geographically closest to the received response to the content request; and

,

caching the response at a cache in the base station of the identified most geographically relevant wireless tower.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the response to the content request from the end user device wirelessly coupled to the base station of the RAN, comprises receiving a response in a radio network controller (RNC) to a request from an end user device wirelessly coupled to a base station of the RAN.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the geographic positioning data comprises geographic positioning system (GPS) coordinates.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the geographic positioning data comprises at least a portion of the address supplied by the end user device.