Wireless device and methods for use in a paging network

• US 9,295,024 B2
• Filed: 05/19/2014
• Issued: 03/22/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: THL Holding Company, LLC
• Original Assignee: THL Holding Company, LLC
• Inventors: Cutler, Richard, Kennard, Robert M., Howard, John W
• Primary Examiner(s): Hu, Jinsong
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chang, Jean
• Application Number:
  US14/281,077
• Publication Number:
  US 20140256351A1
• Time in Patent Office: 673 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/404.2
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1427 with transmitter-receiver for distance detection
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0244 System arrangements wherein the alarm criteria uses signal delay or phase shift
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0247 System arrangements wherein the alarm criteria uses signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0269 System arrangements wherein the object is to detect the exact location of child or item using a navigation satellite system, e.g. GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0272 System arrangements wherein the object is to detect exact location of child or item using triangulation other than GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0277 Communication between units on a local network, e.g. Bluetooth, piconet, zigbee, Wireless Personal Area Networks [WPAN]
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0618 based on the physical or logical position
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• 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 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A wireless device includes a user interface that generates a pairing signal in response to an indication from a user to pair the wireless device to at least one remote device and generates a first location request signal in response to a second indication from a user to locate the at least one remote device. A short-range wireless transceiver communicates RF signals to pair the wireless device to the at least one remote device and that transmits a first RF paging signal to the at least one remote device in response to the location request signal.

Claims

1. A wireless device for locating at least one remote device, the wireless device comprising:

a memory and a processor coupled to the memory and to a touch screen, that executes an application that is downloaded to the memory in response to actions of a user, wherein the application presents a graphical user interface that;

generates a pairing signal in response to a first indication from a user to pair the wireless device to the at least one remote device;

generates a first location request signal in response to a second indication from the user to locate the at least one remote device; and

presents a display that visually assists the user to locate the at least one remote device; and

a short-range wireless transceiver, coupled to the processor, that responds to the pairing signal generated by the graphical user interface by communicating RF signals to pair the wireless device to the at least one remote device and that transmits a first RF paging signal to the at least one remote device in response to the first location request signal and that receives a location signal from the at least one remote device.

2. The wireless device of claim 1 wherein the display visually assists the user based on a signal strength of the location signal from the at least one remote device.

3. The wireless device of claim 1 wherein the display visually assists the user by displaying an indication of a signal strength of the location signal from the at least one remote device.

4. The wireless device of claim 1 wherein the wireless device is a handheld wireless communication device and the graphical user interface includes a touch screen of the handheld wireless communication device.

5. The wireless device of claim 4 wherein handheld wireless communication device includes a long range transceiver for sending and receiving telephone calls via a telephony network and further for communicating Internet data.

6. The wireless device of claim 1 wherein the at least one remote device emits a detectable alert signal in response to the first RF paging signal to assist the user in locating the at least one remote device.

7. The wireless device of claim 1 wherein the at least one remote device includes a plurality of remote devices and wherein the application allows selection of a particular one of the plurality of remote devices to be located.

8. The wireless device of claim 7 wherein the display visually indicates the selection of the particular one of the plurality of remote devices to be located.

9. The wireless device of claim 7 wherein the plurality of remote devices comprise a first paging network wherein each of the plurality of remote devices emits corresponding detectable alert signals in response to the first RF paging signal to assist the user in locating at least one of the plurality of remote devices.

10. The wireless device of claim 7 wherein the plurality of remote devices comprise a plurality of paging networks including:

a first paging network wherein a first subset of the plurality of remote devices emits corresponding first detectable alert signals in response to the first RF paging signal to assist the user in locating at least one of the plurality of remote devices in the first subset of the plurality of remote devices; and

a second paging network wherein a second subset of the plurality of remote devices emits corresponding second detectable alert signals in response to a second RF paging signal generated by the short-range wireless transceiver to assist the user in locating at least one of the plurality of remote devices in the second subset of the plurality of remote devices.

11. The wireless device of claim 7 wherein the user interface generates paging data in response to actions of the user and wherein the first RF paging signal includes the paging data.

12. A method of locating a mobile communication device having a long range transceiver for sending and receiving telephone calls and a short range transceiver, the method comprising:

pairing a plurality of paging devices to form a paging network, the plurality of paging devices including a plurality of fixed paging devices and the mobile communication device;

transmitting a signal to at least one of the plurality of fixed paging devices via the short-range transceiver of the mobile communication device;

receiving location information via a short-range wireless transceiver of the mobile communication device from at least one of the plurality of fixed paging devices; and

determining a location of the mobile communication device based on the location information.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the location information includes directional information between the at least one of the plurality of fixed devices to the mobile communication device and wherein determining the location of the mobile communication device includes a triangulation of the directional information.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

receiving a location signal at the at least one of the plurality of fixed paging devices;

scanning a programmable antenna in the at least one of the plurality of fixed paging devices to determine signal strengths corresponding to a plurality of null directions;

determining a lowest of the signal strengths; and

determining the directional information based on the one of the plurality of null directions corresponding to the lowest of the signal strengths.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the location information includes round trip signal delay information and wherein determining the location of the mobile communication device includes:

determining a distance to the mobile communication device based on the round trip signal delay information.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein determining the distance to the mobile communication device is further based on an indication of signal strength from signals received from mobile communication device.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein the mobile communication device includes a memory and a processor that executes an application that is downloaded to the memory in response to actions of a user, wherein the application determines the location of the mobile communication device, based on the location information.

18. A fixed paging device for locating a mobile communication device, the fixed paging device comprising:

a user interface that generates a pairing signal in response to an indication from a user to pair the fixed paging device to the mobile communication device;

a short-range wireless transceiver, coupled to the user interface, that;

communicates RF signals to pair the fixed paging device to the mobile communication device;

receives an RF paging signal from the mobile communication device;

generates location information; and

transmits the location information to the mobile communication device, wherein the mobile communication device includes a processor that executes an downloaded application that determines a location of the mobile communication device, based on the location information.

19. The fixed paging device of claim 18 wherein the location information includes round trip signal delay information.

20. The fixed paging device of claim 18 wherein the downloaded application that is downloaded to a memory of the mobile communication device in response to actions of a user of the mobile communication device.