Multiple Granularity Location Determination

• US 20120177025A1
• Filed: 01/07/2011
• Published: 07/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Huang, Ronald K., Grainger, Morgan, Dere, Jason
• Granted Patent: US 8,625,490 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/342
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0236 Assistance data, e.g. base station almanac
• 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 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A mobile device can store a set of first CDMA identifiers including, for example, system identifiers, network identifiers, or zone identifiers. Each first CDMA identifier can be associated with a first geographic location. The mobile device can determine a current location by matching a current first CDMA identifier with a stored first CDMA identifier. If a user desires a current location that has finer granularity, the mobile device can retrieve a set of second CDMA identifiers including, for example, base station identifiers. Each second CDMA identifiers can be associated with a second geographic location that has a finer granularity than that of the first geographic location. The mobile device can match a current second CDMA identifier from the retrieved second CDMA identifiers and designate the second geographic location associated with the matching second CDMA identifier as the current location that has the finer granularity.

Claims

1. A method executed by a mobile device, comprising:

determining a first current location of the mobile device using a first current code division multiple access (CDMA) identifier, the first current CDMA identifier being associated with at least a portion of a CDMA system and corresponding to a first location, the first location having a first granularity; and

in response to a request to determine a current location at a location granularity finer than the first granularity;

determining a second current location of the mobile device using a second current CDMA identifier, the second current CDMA identifier corresponding to a second location, the second location having a second granularity that is finer than the first granularity, wherein the second CDMA identifier is associated with a subset of the portion of the CDMA system; and

providing the second current location for display on the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first current location comprises:

receiving the first current CDMA identifier from the CDMA system;

identifying a stored first CDMA identifier that matches the first current CDMA identifier, the stored first CDMA identifier being associated with the first location; and

designating the first location associated with the matching first CDMA identifier as the first current location of the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the second current location comprises:

receiving the second current CDMA identifier from the CDMA system;

receiving, from a server, a set of one or more second CDMA identifiers, each received second CDMA identifier being associated with the second location;

identifying a received second CDMA identifier that matches the second current CDMA identifier; and

designating the second location associated with the matching second CDMA identifier as the second current location of the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

before providing the second current location for display, providing the first current location for display on the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein providing the second current location for display comprises:

providing for display an animation effect, the animation effect zooming from the first current location to the second current location.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first current CDMA identifier includes at least one of a system identifier, a network identifier, or a zone identifier.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the second current CDMA identifier includes at least one of a network identifier, a zone identifier, or a base station identifier.

8. A computer program product tangibly stored on a storage device, operable to cause a mobile device to perform operations comprising:

determining a first current location of the mobile device using a first current code division multiple access (CDMA) identifier, the first current CDMA identifier being associated with at least a portion of a CDMA system and corresponding to a first location, the first location having a first granularity; and

in response to a request to determine a current location at a location granularity finer than the first granularity;

determining a second current location of the mobile device using a second current CDMA identifier, the second current CDMA identifier corresponding to a second location, the second location having a second granularity that is finer than the first granularity, wherein the second CDMA identifier is associated with a subset of the portion of the CDMA system; and

providing the second current location for display on the mobile device.

9. The product of claim 8, wherein determining the first current location comprises:

receiving the first current CDMA identifier from the CDMA system;

identifying a stored first CDMA identifier that matches the first current CDMA identifier, the stored first CDMA identifier being associated with the first location; and

designating the first location associated with the matching first CDMA identifier as the first current location of the mobile device.

10. The product of claim 8, wherein determining the second current location comprises:

receiving the second current CDMA identifier from the CDMA system;

receiving, from a server, a set of one or more second CDMA identifiers, each received second CDMA identifier being associated with the second location;

identifying a received second CDMA identifier that matches the second current CDMA identifier; and

designating the second location associated with the matching second CDMA identifier as the second current location of the mobile device.

11. A mobile device, comprising:

one or more processors configured to perform operations comprising;

determining a first current location of the mobile device using a first current code division multiple access (CDMA) identifier, the first current CDMA identifier being associated with at least a portion of a CDMA system and corresponding to a first location, the first location having a first granularity; and

in response to a request to determine a current location at a location granularity finer than the first granularity;

determining a second current location of the mobile device using a second current CDMA identifier, the second current CDMA identifier corresponding to a second location, the second location having a second granularity that is finer than the first granularity, wherein the second CDMA identifier is associated with a subset of the portion of the CDMA system; and

providing the second current location for display on the mobile device.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein determining the first current location comprises:

receiving the first current CDMA identifier from the CDMA system;

identifying a stored first CDMA identifier that matches the first current CDMA identifier, the stored first CDMA identifier being associated with the first location; and

designating the first location associated with the stored first CDMA identifier as the first current location of the mobile device.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein determining the second current location comprises:

receiving the second current CDMA identifier from the CDMA system;

requesting, from a server, a set of one or more second CDMA identifiers;

identifying a received second CDMA identifier that matches the second current CDMA identifier, the received second CDMA identifier being associated with the second location; and

designating the second location associated with the received second CDMA identifier as the second current location of the mobile device.

14. A method executed by a computer, comprising:

receiving, from a set of first mobile devices;

a first code division multiple access (CDMA) identifier of a CDMA system and a second CDMA identifier of the CDMA system, the first CDMA identifier identifying at least a portion of the CDMA system, the second CDMA identifier identifying a subset of the portion of the CDMA system; and

a set of geographic locations of the set of first mobile devices;

determining, based on the set of geographic locations, a first CDMA location for associating with the first CDMA identifier;

determining, based on the set of geographic locations, a second CDMA location for associating with the second CDMA identifier, the second CDMA location being inside the first CDMA location; and

providing, in a tiered manner, the first CDMA location and the second CDMA location to a second mobile device for estimating a geographic location of the second mobile device using the first CDMA identifier and the second CDMA identifier.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first CDMA identifier and second CDMA identifier each comprises at least one of a system identifier, a network identifier, a zone identifier, or a base station identifier.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein providing the first CDMA location and the second CDMA location to the second mobile device comprises:

providing the first CDMA location to the second mobile device in association with the first CDMA identifier;

receiving a request from the second mobile device requesting second CDMA identifiers associated with the first CDMA identifier; and

then providing the second CDMA location to the second mobile device in association with the second CDMA identifier.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the first CDMA location and second CDMA location each comprises geographic coordinates and an indicator of a granularity.

18. A computer program product tangibly stored on a storage device, operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a set of first mobile devices;

a first code division multiple access (CDMA) identifier of a CDMA system and a second CDMA identifier of the CDMA system, the first CDMA identifier identifying at least a portion of the CDMA system, the second CDMA identifier identifying a subset of the portion of the CDMA system; and

a set of geographic locations of the set of first mobile devices;

determining, based on the set of geographic locations, a first CDMA location for associating with the first CDMA identifier;

determining, based on the set of geographic locations, a second CDMA location for associating with the second CDMA identifier, the second CDMA location being inside the first CDMA location; and

providing, in a tiered manner, the first CDMA location and the second CDMA location to a second mobile device for estimating a geographic location of the second mobile device using the first CDMA identifier and the second CDMA identifier.

19. The product of claim 18, wherein the first CDMA identifier and second CDMA identifier each comprises at least one of a system identifier, a network identifier, a zone identifier, or a base station identifier.

20. A method executed by a mobile device, comprising:

determining that a first current code division multiple access (CDMA) identifier matches a stored first CDMA identifier, the stored first CDMA identifier corresponding to at least a portion of a CDMA system and being associated with a first location;

receiving one or more second CDMA identifiers, each second CDMA identifier being associated with a second location, wherein the each second CDMA identifier corresponds to a subset of the portion of the CDMA system;

determining that a second current CDMA identifier matches a received second CDMA identifier; and

designating the second location associated with the matching received second CDMA identifier as a current location of the mobile device.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the first CDMA identifier includes at least one of a system identifier, a network identifier, or a zone identifier.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the one or more second CDMA identifiers include one or more base station identifiers.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

detecting a change of the first current CDMA identifier; and

upon detecting the change, requesting the one or more second CDMA identifiers.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

designating the first location as the current location of the mobile device before determining that the second current CDMA identifier matches a received second CDMA identifier.

25. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

providing a first indicator for display on the mobile device, the first indicator indicating the first location; and

upon determining that the second current CDMA identifier matches the received second CDMA identifier, providing a second indicator for display on the mobile device, the second indicator indicating the second location.