Triggered location services

• US 9,125,018 B2
• Filed: 02/08/2010
• Issued: 09/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Wachter, Andreas K., Edge, Stephen W., Burroughs, Kirk Allan
• Primary Examiner(s): Kincaid, Lester
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gu, Andy
• Application Number:
  US12/702,159
• Publication Number:
  US 20100203902A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,031 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/20 Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

Techniques for supporting triggered location services are described. In one design, at least one location related measurement for a terminal may be obtained and used to detect for a trigger event. For an equidistance triggered service, a trigger event may be declared if the distance traveled by the terminal exceeds a predefined distance. For a relative terminal to terminal triggered service, a trigger event may be declared if the terminal is inside or outside, or enters, or leaves a moving geographical target area defined by a reference terminal. For a velocity triggered service, a trigger event may be declared if the maximum velocity of the terminal exceeds a predefined velocity. For a time-distance-velocity combination triggered service, a trigger event may be declared based on distance traveled by the terminal, velocity of the terminal, and time since the last report. For all services, a report may be sent if a trigger event has occurred.

Claims

1. A method of supporting location services, comprising:

receiving, at a target mobile terminal, at least one trigger parameter associated with a trigger event, the at least one trigger parameter defining a moving geographical target area that is associated with a location of a reference mobile terminal and that is configured to move in synch with the reference mobile terminal;

receiving, at the target mobile terminal, the location of the reference mobile terminal;

obtaining at least one location related measurement for the target mobile terminal;

determining, at the target mobile terminal, a location of the moving geographical target area based on the location of the reference mobile terminal;

determining, at the target mobile terminal, a location of the target mobile terminal relative to the moving geographical target area based at least in part on the at least one location related measurement for the target mobile terminal; and

determining, at the target mobile terminal, whether the trigger event has occurred based on the at least one location related measurement for the target mobile terminal and the at least one trigger parameter, and based at least in part on the location of the target mobile terminal relative to the moving geographical target area, wherein the determining whether the trigger event has occurred comprises determining whether the location of the target mobile terminal matches a criterion with respect to the moving geographical target area, the criterion comprising inside the moving geographical target area, outside the moving geographical target area, entering the moving geographical target area, leaving the moving geographical target area, or a combination thereof.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a shape of the moving geographical target area is a circular area centered at the location of the reference mobile terminal and having a predefined radius.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one location related measurement for the target mobile terminal is obtained based on at least one signal exchanged between the target mobile terminal and the reference mobile terminal.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one trigger parameter includes a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) trigger parameter.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

exchanging Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) messages to obtain the at least one location related measurement.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the moving geographical target area comprises a complex polygon.

7. An apparatus for supporting location services, comprising:

means for receiving, at a target mobile terminal, at least one trigger parameter associated with a trigger event, the at least one trigger parameter defining a moving geographical target area that is associated with a location of a reference mobile terminal and that is configured to move in synch with the reference mobile terminal;

means for receiving, at the target mobile terminal, a location of the reference mobile terminal;

means for obtaining at least one location related measurement for the target mobile terminal;

means for determining, at the target mobile terminal, a location of the moving geographical target area based on the location of the reference mobile terminal;

means for determining, at the target mobile terminal, a location of the target mobile terminal relative to the moving geographical target area based at least in part on the at least one location related measurement for the target mobile terminal; and

means for determining, at the target mobile terminal, whether the trigger event has occurred based on the at least one location related measurement for the target mobile terminal and the at least one trigger parameter, and based at least in part on the location of the target mobile terminal relative to the moving geographical target area associated with the reference mobile terminal, wherein the means for determining whether the trigger event has occurred comprises means for determining whether the location of the target mobile terminal matches a criterion with respect to the moving geographical target area, the criterion being inside the moving geographical target area, outside the moving geographical target area, entering the moving geographical target area, leaving the moving geographical target area, or a combination thereof.

8. An apparatus for supporting location services, comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

receive, at a target mobile terminal, at least one trigger parameter associated with a trigger event, the at least one trigger parameter defining a moving geographical target area that is associated with a location of a reference mobile terminal and that is configured to move in synch with the reference mobile terminal;

receive, at the target mobile terminal, a location of the reference mobile terminal;

obtain at least one location related measurement for a target mobile terminal;

determine, at the target mobile terminal, a location of the moving geographical target area based on the location of the reference mobile terminal;

determine, at the target mobile terminal, a location of the target mobile terminal relative to the moving geographical target area based at least in part on the at least one location related measurement for the target mobile terminal; and

determine, at the target mobile terminal, whether the trigger event has occurred based on the at least one location related measurement for the target mobile terminal, and based, at least in part, on the location of the target mobile terminal relative to the moving geographical target area, wherein to determine whether the trigger event has occurred the at least one processor is configured to determine whether the location of the target mobile terminal matches a criterion with respect to the moving geographical target area, the criterion being inside the moving geographical target area, outside the moving geographical target area, entering the geographical target area, leaving the moving geographical target area, or a combination thereof.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium residing on a mobile terminal that includes at least one computer, the computer-readable medium comprising code to cause the at least one computer to:

receive at least one trigger parameter associated with a trigger event, the at least one trigger parameter defining a moving geographical target area that is associated with a location of a reference mobile terminal and that is configured to move in synch with the reference mobile terminal;

receive a location of the reference mobile terminal;

obtain at least one location related measurement for a target mobile terminal;

determine a location of the moving geographical target area based on the location of the reference mobile terminal;

determine a location of the target mobile terminal relative to the moving geographical target area based at least in part on the at least one location related measurement for the target mobile terminal; and

determine whether the trigger event has occurred based on the at least one location related measurement for the target mobile terminal, and based, at least in part, on the location of the target mobile terminal relative to the moving geographical target area, wherein the code to cause the at least one computer to determine whether the trigger event has occurred comprises code to cause the at least one computer to determine whether the location of the target mobile terminal matches a criterion with respect to the moving geographical target area, the criterion being inside the moving geographical target area, outside the moving geographical target area, entering the geographical target area, leaving the moving geographical target area, or a combination thereof.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein a shape of the moving geographical target area is a circular area centered at the location of the reference mobile terminal and having a predefined radius.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the moving geographical target area comprises a complex polygon.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the code to cause the at least one computer to obtain the at least one location related measurement includes code to cause the at least one computer to exchange Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) messages.