Method and apparatus for location-based recovery of stolen mobile devices

• US 9,501,669 B2
• Filed: 12/17/2004
• Issued: 11/22/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Sandage, David A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lieu, Julie
• Application Number:
  US11/014,891
• Publication Number:
  US 20060145839A1
• Time in Patent Office: 4,358 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/88 Detecting or preventing theft or loss

Abstract

A method, apparatus, and system for locating mobile devices. The system includes a location-aware mobile device. The location-aware mobile device includes a location-aware mechanism embedded in a platform firmware layer of the location-aware mobile device. The system also includes a central database to receive location information from the location-aware mobile device over a network. If the location-aware mobile device has been stolen, lost, or misplaced, the central database reports the stolen, lost, or misplaced location-aware mobile device and its location to appropriate persons to enable the location-aware mobile device to be recovered.

Claims

1. A mobile computing device, comprising:

a platform firmware layer having;

location hardware;

a location service, coupled to the location hardware, to retrieve location information from the location hardware; and

a location reporting module to request the location information from the location service and to report the location information to a central database residing on a node accessible via a global network;

wherein the location reporting module, the location service, and the location hardware embedded in the platform firmware layer enable the mobile computing device to be recovered if stolen, lost, or misplaced;

wherein the mobile computing device is a selected one of a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, a cellular telephone, or a pager.

2. The device of claim 1, further comprising a network stack coupled to network hardware to send and receive network packets over the network, wherein the network stack is coupled to the location reporting module to enable the location reporting module to report a location of the mobile computing device to a central database, and if the central database indicates that the mobile computing device has been stolen, lost, or misplaced, the central database is to notify appropriate parties to enable the mobile computing device to be recovered.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the appropriate parties comprise at least one of law enforcement personnel, corporate Information Technology (IT) personnel, service provider personnel, an owner of the mobile computing device, or a person listed as being responsible for the mobile computing device.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the location hardware comprises at least one of a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, a wireless fidelity (WI-FI) receiver, a cellular receiver, or any other receiver capable of determining a location of the mobile computing device.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the platform firmware layer is digitally signed.

6. A method for locating a mobile computing device, the method comprising:

receiving a report by a network stack of the mobile computing device, coupled to a location reporting module of the mobile computing device, both embedded in a platform firmware layer of the mobile computing device, that a connection to a network has been made;

accessing a central database via the network to determine if a location reporting module embedded in the platform firmware layer on the mobile computing device should report location information of the mobile computing device to the central database;

if it is determined that the central database has requested the location information of the mobile computing device,

querying a location service embedded in the platform firmware layer on the mobile computing device to obtain the location information; and

sending the location information to the central database to enable the central database to notify one or more appropriate persons.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein if the mobile computing device has been stolen, lost, or misplaced, sending the location information to the central database to enable the central database to notify the one or more appropriate persons further comprises sending the location information to the central database to enable the central database to notify the one or more appropriate persons to recover the mobile computing device.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein querying a platform location service to obtain the location information further comprises querying the platform location service to enable the platform location service to obtain the location information from location hardware embedded in the platform firmware layer of the mobile computing device.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the location hardware comprises at least one of a global position system (GPS) receiver, a wireless fidelity (WI-FI) receiver, a cellular receiver, or any other receiver capable of determining a location of the mobile computing device.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein prior to sending the location information to the central database, packaging the location information into a network packet.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein the location information is used for keeping track of inventory.

12. A method for locating a mobile computing device, comprising:

receiving identification and location information from a location reporting module embedded in a platform firmware layer of the mobile computing device; and

notifying one or more appropriate persons of the location information for the mobile computing device to enable the mobile computing device to be recovered if stolen, lost, or misplaced.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein notifying the one or more appropriate persons includes notifying one or more of law enforcement personnel, corporate Information Technology (IT) personnel, service provider personnel, an owner of the mobile computing device, and a person listed as being responsible for the mobile computing device if the mobile computing device has been stolen.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein prior to receiving identification and location information from the mobile computing device, the method comprises:

receiving a request as to whether location information should be reported from the location reporting module embedded in the platform firmware layer of the mobile computing device;

determining whether location data should be reported for the mobile computing device identified in the request; and

sending a reply to the mobile computing device, the reply requesting location information from the location reporting module embedded in the platform firmware layer of the mobile computing device if determined to be needed.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein determining whether location data should be reported for the location reporting module embedded in the platform firmware layer of the mobile computing device identified in the request further comprises determining whether the mobile computing device has been stolen, lost, or misplaced.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein determining whether location data should be reported for the mobile computing device identified in the request further comprises determining if an entity in control of a process needs to know a location of the mobile computing device for inventory purposes or some other purpose.

17. An article comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a plurality of machine accessible instructions, wherein when the instructions, in response to execution by a processor of a mobile computing device, cause the device to;

to receive a report by a network stack of the mobile computing device, coupled to a location reporting module of the mobile computing device, both embedded in a platform firmware layer of the mobile computing device, that a connection to a network has been made;

access a central database via the network to determine if a location reporting module embedded in the platform firmware layer on the mobile computing device should report location information of the mobile computing device to the central database;

if it is determined that the central database has requested the location information of the mobile computing device,

query a location service embedded in the platform firmware layer of the mobile computing device to obtain the location information; and

send the location information to the central database to enable the central database to notify one or more appropriate persons.

18. The article of claim 17, wherein if the computing device has been stolen, lost, or misplaced, the mobile computing device is further caused to send the location information to the central database to enable the central database to notify the one or more appropriate persons to recover the mobile computing device.

19. The article of claim 17, wherein the mobile computing device is further caused to obtain the location information from location hardware embedded in the platform firmware layer of the mobile computing device.

20. The article of claim 19, wherein the location hardware comprises at least one of a global position system (GPS) receiver, a wireless fidelity (WI-FI) receiver, a cellular receiver, or any other receiver capable of determining a location of the mobile computing device.

21. The article of claim 17, wherein prior to providing instructions for sending the location information to the central database, providing instructions for packaging the location information into a network packet.

22. The article of claim 17, wherein the location information is used for keeping track of inventory.

23. An article comprising:

a storage medium having a plurality of machine accessible instructions, wherein when the instructions, in response to execution by a processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to;

receive identification and location information of a mobile computing device from a location reporting module embedded in a platform firmware layer of the mobile computing device; and

notify one or more appropriate persons of the location information for the mobile computing device to enable the mobile computing device to be recovered if stolen, lost, or misplaced.

24. The article of claim 23, wherein the apparatus is caused to notify one or more of law enforcement personnel, corporate Information Technology (IT) personnel, service provider personnel, an owner of the mobile computing device, and a person listed as being responsible for the mobile computing device if the location-aware mobile computing device has been stolen.

25. The article of claim 23, wherein prior to provision of instructions for receiving identification and location information of the mobile computing device, the apparatus is caused to:

receive a request as to whether location information should be reported from the mobile computing device;

determine whether location data should be reported for the mobile computing device identified in the request; and

send a reply to the mobile computing device, wherein the reply requests location information from the mobile computing device if determined to be needed.

26. The article of claim 23, wherein the apparatus is caused to determine whether the mobile computing device has been stolen, lost, or misplaced.

27. The article of claim 23, wherein the apparatus is caused to determine if an entity in control of a process needs to know a location of the mobile computing device for inventory purposes or some other purpose.

28. A system for locating mobile computing devices, comprising:

a location-aware mobile computing device, the location-aware mobile computing device including an operating system coupled to a location-aware mechanism, the location-aware mechanism embedded in a platform firmware layer of the location-aware mobile computing device; and

a central database to receive location information from the location-aware mobile computing device over a network and, if the location-aware mobile computing device has been stolen, lost, or misplaced, to report the stolen, lost, or misplaced location-aware mobile computing device to appropriate persons to enable the location-aware mobile computing device to be recovered;

wherein the location-aware mobile computing device is a selected one of a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, a cellular telephone, or a pager.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the location-aware mechanism includes location hardware to determine a location of the location-aware mobile computing device, wherein the location hardware comprises a GPS receiver.

30. The system of claim 28, wherein the platform firmware layer is digitally signed.

31. The system of claim 28, wherein the location-aware mechanism includes a location reporting module coupled to a platform location service, the platform location service to provide the location information to the location reporting module, the location reporting module to package the location information and to send the location information to the central database.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the location information is determined by location hardware embedded in the platform firmware layer, the location hardware comprising one of a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, a wireless fidelity (WI-FI) receiver, a cellular receiver, or another receiver capable of determining the location information for the location-aware mobile computing device.