Mobile device geolocation
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- transmitting to a server remote from a computing device first location-related information associated with a current location of the computing device, the first location-related information including identification and signal information for nearby Wi-Fi access points and cell towers and associated signal characteristics detected by the computing device at the current location;
after the transmitting to the server, receiving at the computing device second location-related information from the server, wherein the server utilizes an external location service accessible via a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) application programming interface (API) to estimate a location of the computing device based on the first location-related information, wherein the second location-related information represents a portion of a database of location-related information stored at the server that corresponds to an area around the device'"'"'s estimated location, and wherein the second location-related information includes identification of at least one Wi-Fi access point or of at least one cell tower at or near the estimated location of the computing device;
at the computing device, measuring signal strengths received from the at least one Wi-Fi access point or from the at least one cell tower included in the second location-related information; and
at the computing device, estimating a new location of the computing device based on the second location-related information and the measured signal strengths from the at least one Wi-Fi access point or from the at least one cell tower included in the second location-related information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
GPS receivers are included in many mobile communications devices; however, there are circumstances where GPS is unavailable or undesirable to use. In an implementation, a device identifies nearby wireless signals, such as Wi-Fi access points and cell towers, and compares them to a database of known signals to determine an approximate location for the device. Because such a database can be large and change rapidly, it may not be appropriate to store the database entirely on a device. Instead, a server may store the database. In an implementation, to minimize the time required to determine a device'"'"'s location, the device may first transmit location-related information to a server and receive a subset of the database corresponding to an area near the device so that future locations nearby can be determined without needing to communicate with the server.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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transmitting to a server remote from a computing device first location-related information associated with a current location of the computing device, the first location-related information including identification and signal information for nearby Wi-Fi access points and cell towers and associated signal characteristics detected by the computing device at the current location; after the transmitting to the server, receiving at the computing device second location-related information from the server, wherein the server utilizes an external location service accessible via a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) application programming interface (API) to estimate a location of the computing device based on the first location-related information, wherein the second location-related information represents a portion of a database of location-related information stored at the server that corresponds to an area around the device'"'"'s estimated location, and wherein the second location-related information includes identification of at least one Wi-Fi access point or of at least one cell tower at or near the estimated location of the computing device; at the computing device, measuring signal strengths received from the at least one Wi-Fi access point or from the at least one cell tower included in the second location-related information; and at the computing device, estimating a new location of the computing device based on the second location-related information and the measured signal strengths from the at least one Wi-Fi access point or from the at least one cell tower included in the second location-related information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 26, 27)
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10. A method comprising:
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transmitting from a computing device first location-related information associated with a current location of the computing device to a server remote from a computing device, the first location-related information including identification and signal information for nearby Wi-Fi access points and cell towers and associated signal characteristics detected by the computing device at the current location; after the transmitting to the server, receiving at the computing device second location-related information from the server, wherein the server utilizes an external location service accessible via an HTTP API to estimate a location of the computing device based on the first location-related information, wherein the second location-related information represents a portion of a database of location-related information that corresponds to an area around the device'"'"'s estimated location, and wherein the second location-related information includes identification of at least one Wi-Fi access point and of at least one cell tower at or near the estimated location of the computing device; at the computing device, measuring signal strengths received from the at least one Wi-Fi access point or from the at least one cell tower included in the second location-related information; and at the computing device, estimating a new current location of the computing device based on the second location-related information and the measured signal strengths from the at least one Wi-Fi access point or from the at least one cell tower included in the second location-related information. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method comprising:
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transmitting to a server from a computing device first location-related information associated with a first current location of the computing device, the server being remote from the computing device, and the first location-related information including identification and signal information for nearby Wi-Fi access points and cell towers and associated signal characteristics detected by the computing device at the first current location; after the transmitting to the server, receiving at the computing device second location-related information from the server, wherein the server utilizes an external location service accessible via an HTTP API to estimate a first location of the computing device based on the first location-related information, wherein the second location-related information represents a portion of a database of location-related information stored at the server that corresponds to an area around the device'"'"'s estimated location, and wherein the second location-related information includes identification of at least one Wi-Fi access point or of at least one cell tower in an area around the estimated first location of the computing device; at the computing device, measuring signal strengths received from the at least one Wi-Fi access point or from the at least one cell tower included in the second location-related information; and at the computing device, estimating a second location of the computing device based on the second location-related information and the measured signal strengths from the at least one Wi-Fi access point or from the at least one cell tower included in the second location-related information when the computing device is within the area around the estimated first location of the computing device. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method comprising:
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receiving at a server from a computing device first location-related information associated with a first current location of the computing device, the server being remote from the computing device, and the first location-related information including identification and signal information for nearby Wi-Fi access points and cell towers and associated signal characteristics detected by the computing device at the first current location; and upon the receiving at the server, transmitting to the computing device from the server second location-related information, the server utilizing an external location service accessible via an HTTP API to estimate a first location of the computing device based on the first location-related information, wherein the second location-related information represents a portion of a database of location-related information stored at the server that corresponds to an area around the device'"'"'s estimated location, and wherein the second location-related information includes identification of at least one Wi-Fi access point or of at least one cell tower at or near the estimated first current location of the computing device, thereby enabling the computing device to locally process the second-location related information to determine a second location of the computing device by measuring signal strengths received from the at least one Wi-Fi access point or from the at least one cell tower included in the second location-related information and estimating the second current location of the computing device based on the second location-related information and the measured signal strengths from the at least one Wi-Fi access point or from the at least one cell tower included in the second location-related information. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification