Position information sharing method and positioning device and system

• US 9,002,643 B2
• Filed: 05/28/2013
• Issued: 04/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Device Company Limited (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Device Company Limited (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Xu, Zhongjie
• Primary Examiner(s): CAMBY, RICHARD M
• Application Number:
  US13/903,810
• Publication Number:
  US 20130253825A1
• Time in Patent Office: 679 Days
• Field of Search: 701/468, 701/482, 701/454, 701/522, 455/507, 455/457, 455/518, 455/519, 455/524, 455/512, 455/411, 455/414.1, 455/414.2
• US Class Current: 701/522
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0009 Transmission of position information to remote stations involving assistance data G01S5/0236
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0289 of multiple transceivers, e.g. in ad hoc networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4594 Address books, i.e. directories containing contact information about correspondents telephone directories in user terminals H04M1/27453
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide a position information sharing method and a positioning device and system. The position information sharing method includes sending a position query request to a first positioning device or a positioning server. The position query request carries a first positioning device identifier. Position information of the first positioning device is received. The position information is sent by the first positioning device or the positioning server according to the position query request. The position information of the first positioning device can be displayed.

Claims

1. A position information sharing method, comprising:

setting, by a current positioning device, a first positioning device as a member of a first positioning group in response to a first join request from the first positioning device and such that the first positioning group comprises the current positioning device and the first positioning device;

receiving position information of the first positioning device, which is sent by the first positioning device in the first positioning group or a positioning server; and

displaying the position information of the first positioning device in the first positioning group.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

establishing the first positioning group;

setting a first positioning group identifier for the first positioning group; and

receiving the first join request at the current positioning device from the first positioning device or the positioning server, wherein the first join request carries the first positioning group identifier and an identifier of the first positioning device.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein, after establishing the first positioning group and setting the first positioning group identifier and before the receiving the first join request, the method further comprises:

sending a first invite message, which carries the first positioning group identifier, to the first positioning device or the positioning server, so as to invite the first positioning device to join the first positioning group.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein before the receiving the position information, the method further comprises:

sending a first position query request to the first positioning device in the first positioning group or the positioning server, wherein the first position query request carries a first positioning device identifier.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

sending a second join request, which carries a second positioning group identifier, to a second positioning device or the positioning server, so as to request joining a second positioning group, wherein the second positioning group is a positioning group corresponding to the second positioning group identifier.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein before the sending the second join request, the method further comprises:

receiving a second invite message, which carries the second positioning group identifier and is sent by the second positioning device or the positioning server.

7. The method according to claim 5, further comprising:

sending position information of the current positioning device to the second positioning device in the second positioning group or the positioning server.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein before sending the position information of the current positioning device to the second positioning device in the second positioning group or the positioning server, the method further comprises:

receiving a second position query request sent by the second positioning device in the second positioning group or the positioning server, wherein the second position query request carries a second positioning device identifier and wherein the second positioning device identifier is an identifier of the second positioning device.

9. A positioning device, comprising:

a processor;

a nontransitory computer readable medium connected to the processor and having stored thereon instructions for causing the processor to;

set a first positioning device as a member of a first positioning group in response to a first join request from the first positioning device and such that the first positioning group comprises the positioning device and the first positioning device;

receive position information of the first positioning device, which is sent by the first positioning device in the first positioning group or a positioning server; and

display the position information of the first positioning device in the first positioning group.

10. The positioning device according to claim 9, wherein the nontransitory computer readable medium further has stored thereon instructions for causing the processor to:

establish the first positioning group and to set a first positioning group identifier for the first positioning group; and

receive the first join request from the first positioning device or the positioning server, wherein the first join request carries the first positioning group identifier and an identifier of the first positioning device.

11. The positioning device according to claim 10, the nontransitory computer readable medium further has stored thereon instructions for causing the processor to send a first invite message, which carries the first positioning group identifier, to the first positioning device or the positioning server, so as to invite the first positioning device to join the first positioning group.

12. The positioning device according to claim 11, wherein the nontransitory computer readable medium further has stored thereon instructions for causing the processor to send a first position query request to the first positioning device in the first positioning group or the positioning server, wherein the first position query request carries a first positioning device identifier.

13. The positioning device according to claim 11, wherein the nontransitory computer readable medium further has stored thereon instructions for causing the processor to send a second join request, which carries a second positioning group identifier, to a second positioning device or the positioning server, so as to request joining a second positioning group, wherein the second positioning group is a positioning group corresponding to the second positioning group identifier.

14. The positioning device according to claim 13, wherein the nontransitory computer readable medium further has stored thereon instructions for causing the processor to receive a second invite message, which carries the second positioning group identifier and is sent by the second positioning device or the positioning server.

15. The positioning device according to claim 13, wherein the nontransitory computer readable medium further has stored thereon instructions for causing the processor to send position information of the positioning device to the second positioning device in the second positioning group or the positioning server.

16. The positioning device according to claim 15, wherein the nontransitory computer readable medium further has stored thereon instructions for causing the processor to receive a second position query request sent by the second positioning device in the second positioning group or the positioning server, wherein the second position query request carries a second positioning device identifier and wherein the second positioning device identifier is an identifier of the second positioning device.

17. A positioning system, comprising:

a first positioning device; and

a second positioning device;

wherein the first positioning device and the second positioning device are in communication connection with each other;

wherein the first positioning device is configured to send a position query request to the second positioning device;

wherein the second positioning device is configured to receive the position query request and to send position information of the second positioning device to the first positioning device according to the position query request; and

wherein the first positioning device is further configured to receive the position information of the second positioning device and to display the position information of the second positioning device.