Identifying and locating users on a mobile network

• US 9,402,153 B2
• Filed: 03/02/2015
• Issued: 07/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/23/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Pai, Raghu, Hurley, Timothy S., Gautier, Patrice Olivier, Narayanan, Karthik, Parthasarathi, Murthy, Veron, Maxime
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Ajit
• Application Number:
  US14/636,106
• Publication Number:
  US 20150181379A1
• Time in Patent Office: 512 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0072 Transmission between mobile stations, e.g. anti-collision systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/28 Timers or timing mechanisms used in protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• 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 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A system and method of locating “friends” having mobile devices connected to a network and associated with a user account is disclosed. The method includes sending a request to a mobile device, the mobile device determining its present geographic location and responding to the requestor with this information. This information may be in the form of a coordinate location such as a GPS location or it may be in the form of a name that the mobile device owner assigned to a particular area (e.g., “home”). Having this location information, a user is able to view the location of the friend that is associated with the mobile device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by a first mobile device, a first input requesting for locations of a plurality of second mobile devices, each second mobile device having been authorized by a respective user of the second device to provide location information to the first mobile device;

submitting, by the first mobile device and to a server in response to the first input, a shallow locate request for shallow locations of the second mobile devices, each shallow location being an estimated location of a second mobile device having a shallow level of accuracy;

presenting, by the first mobile device, one or more shallow locations received from the server in response to the shallow locate request, each shallow location being presented in association with a second mobile device;

receiving, by the first mobile device, a second input selecting a second mobile device;

submitting, by the first mobile device and to the server in response to the second input, a deep locate request for a deep location of the selected second mobile device, the deep location being an estimated location of the selected second mobile device having a deep level of accuracy, the deep level of accuracy being more accurate than the shallow level of accuracy; and

presenting, by the first mobile device, the deep location received from the server in response to the deep locate request, the deep location being presented in association with the selected second mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each shallow location of a second mobile device is estimated by the server, and the deep location of the selected second mobile device is estimated by the second mobile device in response to a command sent from the server to the selected second mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein each shallow location is estimated by a cellular service provider of the corresponding second mobile device, and the deep location is estimated by a satellite positioning subsystem of the selected second mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1, comprising, while presenting the one or more shallow locations, updating the one or more shallow location at a predetermined interval or at a request of a user of the first mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1, comprising, while presenting the one or more shallow locations, updating each of the one or more shallow location at a different interval determined based on an observed movement of a corresponding second mobile device, wherein a faster movement corresponds to a shorter interval.

6. The method of claim 1, comprising, prior to receiving the first input, sending an authorization request from the first mobile device to each second mobile device, including:

selecting, from a user list stored on the first mobile device, a plurality of user, each user corresponding to a second mobile device; and

sending the authorization request to the second mobile devices corresponding to the selected users.

7. The method of claim 6, comprising, upon receiving the authorization request by a second mobile device:

sending an authorization from the receiving second mobile device to the server;

storing the authorization at the server; and

notifying the first mobile device by the server of the authorization.

8. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

receiving, by a first mobile device, a first input requesting for locations of a plurality of second mobile devices, each second mobile device having been authorized by a respective user of the second device to provide location information to the first mobile device;

submitting, by the first mobile device and to a server in response to the first input, a shallow locate request for shallow locations of the second mobile devices, each shallow location being an estimated location of a second mobile device having a shallow level of accuracy;

presenting, by the first mobile device, one or more shallow locations received from the server in response to the shallow locate request, each shallow location being presented in association with a second mobile device;

receiving, by the first mobile device, a second input selecting a second mobile device;

submitting, by the first mobile device and to the server in response to the second input, a deep locate request for a deep location of the selected second mobile device, the deep location being an estimated location of the selected second mobile device having a deep level of accuracy, the deep level of accuracy being more accurate than the shallow level of accuracy; and

presenting, by the first mobile device, the deep location received from the server in response to the deep locate request, the deep location being presented in association with the selected second mobile device.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein each shallow location of a second mobile device is estimated by the server, and the deep location of the selected second mobile device is estimated by the second mobile device in response to a command sent from the server to the selected second mobile device.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein each shallow location is estimated by a cellular service provider of the corresponding second mobile device, and the deep location is estimated by a satellite positioning subsystem of the selected second mobile device.

11. The system of claim 8, the operations comprising, while presenting the one or more shallow locations, updating the one or more shallow location at a predetermined interval or at a request of a user of the first mobile device.

12. The system of claim 8, the operations comprising, while presenting the one or more shallow locations, updating each of the one or more shallow location at a different interval determined based on an observed movement of a corresponding second mobile device, wherein a faster movement corresponds to a shorter interval.

13. The system of claim 8, the operations comprising, prior to receiving the first input, sending an authorization request from the first mobile device to each second mobile device, including:

selecting, from a user list stored on the first mobile device, a plurality of user, each user corresponding to a second mobile device; and

sending the authorization request to the second mobile devices corresponding to the selected users.

14. The system of claim 13, the operations comprising, upon receiving the authorization request by a second mobile device:

sending an authorization from the receiving second mobile device to the server;

storing the authorization at the server; and

notifying the first mobile device by the server of the authorization.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by a first mobile device, a first input requesting for locations of a plurality of second mobile devices, each second mobile device having been authorized by a respective user of the second device to provide location information to the first mobile device;

submitting, by the first mobile device and to a server in response to the first input, a shallow locate request for shallow locations of the second mobile devices, each shallow location being an estimated location of a second mobile device having a shallow level of accuracy;

presenting, by the first mobile device, one or more shallow locations received from the server in response to the shallow locate request, each shallow location being presented in association with a second mobile device;

receiving, by the first mobile device, a second input selecting a second mobile device;

submitting, by the first mobile device and to the server in response to the second input, a deep locate request for a deep location of the selected second mobile device, the deep location being an estimated location of the selected second mobile device having a deep level of accuracy, the deep level of accuracy being more accurate than the shallow level of accuracy; and

presenting, by the first mobile device, the deep location received from the server in response to the deep locate request, the deep location being presented in association with the selected second mobile device.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein each shallow location of a second mobile device is estimated by the server, and the deep location of the selected second mobile device is estimated by the second mobile device in response to a command sent from the server to the selected second mobile device.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein each shallow location is estimated by a cellular service provider of the corresponding second mobile device, and the deep location is estimated by a satellite positioning subsystem of the selected second mobile device.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the operations comprising, while presenting the one or more shallow locations, updating the one or more shallow location at a predetermined interval or at a request of a user of the first mobile device.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the operations comprising, while presenting the one or more shallow locations, updating each of the one or more shallow location at a different interval determined based on an observed movement of a corresponding second mobile device, wherein a faster movement corresponds to a shorter interval.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the operations comprising, prior to receiving the first input, sending an authorization request from the first mobile device to each second mobile device, including:

selecting, from a user list stored on the first mobile device, a plurality of user, each user corresponding to a second mobile device; and

sending the authorization request to the second mobile devices corresponding to the selected users.