Device location application programming interface

• US 9,414,190 B1
• Filed: 12/10/2014
• Issued: 08/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile Innovations LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Jones, John Marvin III, Reeves, Raymond Emilio, Wick, Ryan Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): Truong, Lechi
• Application Number:
  US14/566,341
• Time in Patent Office: 608 Days
• Field of Search: 719/310, 714/22
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/32 Means for saving power
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3062 where the monitored property is the power consumption power management in a computing system G06F1/3203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/54 Interprogram communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2693 Centralised synchronisation, i.e. using external universal time reference, e.g. by using a global positioning system [GPS] or by distributing time reference over the wireline network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0264 by selectively disabling software applications
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Media, methods and interfaces are provided for interfacing a mobile device and an application virtual machine to provide location information of the mobile device from a secondary source. When location information supplied by a first source to the application virtual machine contains invalid values for device location, a secondary source is utilized to provide the location information. No new processing thread is spawned for collection of back-up source configurations. Thus, interfaces initiate the first and second location determination methods in a single request. The power consumed by the mobile device to retrieve the device location information from a secondary source is reduced by the absence of additional configuration collection threads. Interfaces include a primary location component, a verification component, a backup location component, and a location update component.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method to provide location information of a mobile device, the method comprising:

obtaining device location from a primary location module of the mobile device, wherein the primary location module provides the device location information to subsequent application virtual machines when the device location information from the primary source contains valid values for the device location of the mobile device;

determining, by the mobile device, that a battery state for the mobile device is low; and

when the battery state for the mobile device is low, retrieving predetermined values for a second device location from a secondary location module of the mobile device having a preferred power consumption set to low, wherein a single location request collects the device location and the predetermined values from both the primary and secondary location modules without spawning configuration retrieval threads.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the secondary location module source utilizes pre-selected, constant values associated with providing the second device location.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the pre-selected, constant values include at least one of cost allowance, device power consumption, information requirement, accuracy, and response time settings.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the device power consumption setting includes at least one of low, medium, and high power usage settings.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the information requirement setting includes at least one of speed, course, address, and altitude information requirements.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the accuracy setting includes at least one of horizontal, vertical, latitude, and longitude accuracy settings.

7. A mobile device for providing location information, the mobile device comprising:

a primary location module for obtaining device location, wherein the primary location module provides the device location information to subsequent application virtual machines when the device location information from the primary source contains valid values for the device location of the mobile device; and

a secondary location module having application programming interfaces with predetermined values that are made available upon determining that the device location obtained from the primary location module is erroneous, wherein a single location request collects the device location and the predetermined values from both the primary and secondary location modules such that vertical or horizontal accuracy requirements for the secondary location module are turned off.

8. The mobile device of claim 7, wherein a first set of values associated with the device location information from the primary source and a second set of values associated with secondary device location information from the secondary source are retrieved in response to the single location request.

9. The mobile device of claim 8, wherein the second set of values is retrieved without spawning a new processing thread.

10. The mobile device of claim 7, wherein the secondary source utilizes pre-selected, constant values associated with the secondary location information of the mobile device.

11. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the pre-selected, constant values comprise one or more settings for cost allowance, device power consumption, information requirement, accuracy, and response time.

12. One or more non-transitory computer-storage media having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, that when executed by a computing device having a primary location module and a secondary location module, perform a method of providing location for the computing device, the method comprising:

obtaining device location from a primary location module of the computing device, wherein the primary location module provides the device location information to subsequent application virtual machines when the device location information from the primary source contains valid values for the device location of the computing device;

determining, by the computing device, that a battery state for the computing device is low or that the device location obtained from the primary location module is erroneous; and

when the battery state for the computing device is low or that the device location obtained from the primary location module is erroneous, retrieving predetermined values for a second device location from a secondary location module of the computing device, wherein a single location request collects device location and the predetermined values from both the primary and secondary location modules.

13. The one or more computer-storage media of claim 12, further comprising:

providing the location information to applications executing on the computing device as needed when the device location from the primary source contains valid values.

14. The one or more computer-storage media of claim 12, wherein the secondary source utilizes pre-selected, constant values associated with providing the device location.

15. The one or more computer-storage media of claim 14, wherein the pre-selected, constant values comprise one or more settings for cost allowance, device power consumption, information requirement, accuracy, and response time.

16. The one or more computer-storage media of claim 15, wherein the one or more settings for device power consumption comprises one or more of low, medium, and high usage settings.

17. The one or more computer-storage media of claim 16, wherein the device power consumption is lowered by utilizing the location information from the secondary source without spawning a new processing thread.

18. The one or more computer-storage media of claim 15, wherein the one or more settings for information requirement comprises one or more of speed, course, address, and altitude information requirement setting.

19. The one or more computer-storage media of claim 15, wherein the one or more settings for accuracy comprises one or more of a horizontal, vertical, latitude, and longitude accuracy setting.