Device location application programming interface

• US 8,954,987 B1
• Filed: 06/26/2012
• Issued: 02/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile Innovations LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Reeves, Raymond Emilio, Wick, Ryan Alan, Jones, John Marvin III
• Primary Examiner(s): Truong, Lechi
• Application Number:
  US13/533,663
• Time in Patent Office: 959 Days
• US Class Current: 719/310
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/32 Means for saving power
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3062 where the monitored property is the power consumption power management in a computing system G06F1/3203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/54 Interprogram communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2693 Centralised synchronisation, i.e. using external universal time reference, e.g. by using a global positioning system [GPS] or by distributing time reference over the wireline network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0264 by selectively disabling software applications
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Media, methods and interfaces are provided for interfacing a mobile device and an application virtual machine to provide location information of the mobile device from a secondary source. When location information supplied by a first source to the application virtual machine contains invalid values for device location, a secondary source is utilized to provide the location information. No new processing thread is spawned for collection of back-up source configurations. Thus, interfaces initiate the first and second location determination methods in a single request. The power consumed by the mobile device to retrieve the device location information from a secondary source is reduced by the absence of additional configuration collection threads. Interfaces include a primary location component, a verification component, a backup location component, and a location update component.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for interfacing a mobile device and an application virtual machine in order to provide location information of the mobile device from a secondary source, the method comprising:

providing location information supplied by a first source to the application virtual machine;

determining if the location information provided to the application virtual machine contains valid values for a location of the mobile device;

providing the location information to subsequent application virtual machines as needed when the location information contains valid values for the location of the mobile device; and

providing the location information from a secondary source when the location information received from the primary source is invalid, wherein a first set of values associated with the location information from the primary source and a second set of values associated with the location information from the secondary source are retrieved in a single request;

wherein the second set of values is retrieved without spawning a new processing thread.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the secondary source utilizes pre-selected, constant values associated with providing the location information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the pre-selected, constant values include at least one of cost allowance, device power consumption, information requirement, accuracy, and response time settings.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the device power consumption setting includes at least one of low, medium, and high power usage settings.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the information requirement setting includes at least one of speed, course, address, and altitude information requirements.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the accuracy setting includes at least one of horizontal, vertical, latitude, and longitude accuracy settings.

7. A hardware mobile device interface between location-detecting hardware sources of a mobile device and an application virtual machine, the mobile device interface comprising:

a primary location-determination module to provide location information for the mobile device from a primary source to an application virtual machine;

a verification module to determine whether the location information from the primary source contains valid values for a location of the mobile device; and

a secondary location-determination module to provide the location information from a secondary source when the location information from the primary source does not contain valid values for the location of the mobile device, wherein a first set of values associated with the location information from the primary source and a second set of values associated with the location information from the secondary source are retrieved in a single request;

wherein the second set of values is retrieved without spawning a new processing thread.

8. The mobile device interface of claim 7, wherein the primary location-determination module provides the location information to subsequent application virtual machines when the location information from the primary source contains valid values for the location of the mobile device.

9. The mobile device interface of claim 7, wherein the secondary source utilizes pre-selected constant values associated with the location information of the mobile device.

10. The mobile device interface of claim 9, wherein the pre-selected constant values comprise one or more settings for cost allowance, device power consumption, information requirement, accuracy, and response time.

11. One or more computer-storage media having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, that when executed by a computing device, perform a method of interfacing a mobile device and an application virtual machine, the method comprising:

providing location information for the mobile device received from a primary source to the application virtual machine;

determining whether the location information from the primary source contains valid values for a location of the mobile device; and

providing the location information from a secondary source when the location information received from the primary source is invalid, wherein a first set of values associated with the location information from the primary source and a second set of values associated with the location information from the secondary source are retrieved in a single request;

wherein the second set of values is retrieved without spawning a new processing thread.

12. The one or more computer-storage media of claim 11, further comprising:

providing the location information to subsequent application virtual machines as needed when the location information from the primary source contains valid values for the device location.

13. The one or more computer-storage media of claim 11, wherein the secondary source utilizes pre-selected, constant values associated with providing the location information.

14. The one or more computer-storage media of claim 13, wherein the pre-selected constant values comprise one or more settings for cost allowance, device power consumption, information requirement, accuracy, and response time.

15. The one or more computer-storage media of claim 14, wherein the one or more settings for device power consumption comprises one or more of low, medium, and high usage settings.

16. The one or more computer-storage media of claim 15, wherein the device power consumption is lowered by utilizing the location information from the secondary source without spawning a new processing thread.

17. The one or more computer-storage media of claim 14, wherein the one or more settings for information requirement comprises one or more of speed, course, address, and altitude information requirement setting.

18. The one or more computer-storage media of claim 14, wherein the one or more settings for accuracy comprises one or more of a horizontal, vertical, latitude, and longitude accuracy setting.