Method and system for providing location-based services

• US 7,366,523 B2
• Filed: 11/12/2002
• Issued: 04/29/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Viikari, Jere, Forstadius, Antti
• Primary Examiner(s): Ly; Nghi H.
• Application Number:
  US10/291,567
• Publication Number:
  US 20040092271A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,995 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/404.2, 455/414.2, 455/414.3, 455/457, 342/357.01, 340/539.13
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• 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 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

A resource request that is originated by a short-range wireless communications device originates a request. A location indicator is added to the resource request that identifies a location of the WCD. The location indicator is based on a location of an access point that forwarded the resource request. Then, the resource request is forwarded to a content server.

Claims

1. A method of obtaining location-based information services, comprising:

(a) receiving a resource request without physical location information from an access point, which is in a network of a plurality of access points, the resource request originated by a wireless communications device (WCD) located within a coverage area of the access point, the WCD communicating with the access point over a wireless short-range communications link, wherein the resource request includes a resource identifier in a form of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and an access point identifier appended by the access point, the access point identifier distinguishing the access point from other ones of the plurality of access points in the network;

b) accessing a location manager database remote from the access point, said location manager database maintaining an association between a physical location of the access point and the access point identifier, to determine the physical location of the access point that corresponds with the received access point identifier the physical location being assigned to the WCD communicating with the access point, as representing the physical location of the WCD;

c) appending the physical location at the location manager database, into the URL of the resource request; and

d) forwarding the appended resource request to a data network for receipt by a content server identified by the URL.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the physical location includes location coordinates.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource request is a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) request.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the physical location further indicates a vertical position of the WCD.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said step (b) comprises selectively appending the physical location to the resource request when the resource request identifies a suitable destination domain.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said step (b) comprises selectively appending the physical location to the resource request when the resource request is originated by one or more predetermined WCDs.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising adding user profile information to the resource request.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising adding a device class of the WCD to the resource request.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising adding an address of the WCD to the resource request.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource request is a wireless application protocol (WAP) request.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the WCD communicates with the access point across a Bluetooth wireless communications link.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein said appending step includes inserting the physical location into the resource request as one or more headers of the resource request.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said inserting step includes inserting the physical location into the resource request as one or more extension headers.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource request includes a data network address of the WCD, the data network address associated with a data network;

and wherein the method further comprises;

obtaining the physical location of the communications module from the data network address based on;

a stored correspondence between the data network address of the WCD and a short-range network address of the WCD,

a stored correspondence between the access point and the short-range network address of the WCD, and

a stored correspondence between the physical location of the communications module and the access point.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

storing the correspondence between the data network address of the WCD and a short-range network address of the WCD;

storing the correspondence between the access point and the short-range network address of the WCD; and

storing the correspondence between the physical location of the communications module and the access point.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein said obtaining step comprises transmitting a request to a server across the data network.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the data network address is an Internet Protocol (IP) address.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the short-range network address is a Bluetooth device address (BD₁₃ ADDR).

19. An apparatus comprising:

a location manager database that stores physical locations for short-range wireless communications devices (WCDs), wherein the physical location for each WCD is determined from a predetermined physical location of an access point remote from the location manager database, that supports a wireless connection with the WCD, the access point being in a network of a plurality of access points, said location manager database maintaining an association between a physical location of the access point and an access point identifier, to determine the physical location of the access point;

a communications interface coupled to the location manager database and coupled to said network of a plurality of access points, for receiving resource requests without physical location information from said access point, the resource requests originated by one of said WCDs located within a coverage area of said access point, wherein the resource requests include a resource identifier in a form of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and an access point identifier appended by said access point, the access point identifier distinguishing the access point from other ones of the plurality of access points in the network;

a location appending unit coupled to the location manager database configured to receive said resource requests, and for each request, to add the physical location that corresponds to the requesting WCD, wherein the location appending unit is further configured to insert the physical locations into said Uniform Resource Locators (URLs)

said remote location manager database assigning the physical location of the access point as the physical location of the WCD.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the location manager database stores the physical locations s as location coordinates.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the resource requests are hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) requests.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the physical locations further indicate vertical positions of the WCDs.

23. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the location appending unit is configured to selectively add physical locations to resource requests that identify suitable destination domains.

24. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the location appending unit is configured to selectively add physical locations to resource requests that are originated by one or more predetermined WCDs.

25. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the location appending unit is further configured to add user profile information to the resource requests.

26. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the location appending unit is further configured to add WCD device classes to the resource requests.

27. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the location appending unit is further configured to add WCD device addresses to the resource requests.

28. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the resource requests are wireless application protocol (WAP) requests.

29. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the location appending unit is further configured to insert the physical locations into the resource requests as one or more headers of the request.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the location appending unit is further configured to insert the physical locations into the URLs as one or more extension headers of the requests.

31. A system for obtaining location-based information services, comprising:

means for receiving a resource request without physical location information from an access point, which is in a network of a plurality of access points, the resource request originated by a wireless communications device (WCD) located within a coverage area of the access point, the WCD communicating with the access point over a wireless short-range communications link, wherein the resource request includes a resource identifier in a form of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and an access point identifier appended by the access point, the access point identifier distinguishing the access point from other ones of the plurality of access points in the network;

means for accessing a location manager database remote from the access point, said location manager database maintaining an association between a physical location of the access point and the access point identifier, to determine the physical location of the access point that corresponds with the received access point identifier and identifies a physical location of the access point with which the WCD is communicating;

means for appending the physical location into the URL of the resource request, and

means for forwarding the appended resource request to a data network for receipt by a content server identified by the URL

said remote location manager database assigning the physical location of the access point as the physical location of the WCD.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the physical location includes location coordinates.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein the resource request is a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) request.

34. The system of claim 31, wherein the physical location further indicates a vertical position of the WCD.

35. The system of claim 31, wherein said means for appending comprises means for selectively adding the physical location to the resource request when the resource request identifies a suitable destination domain.

36. The system of claim 31, wherein said means for appending comprises means for selectively adding the physical location to the resource request when the resource request is originated by one or more predetermined WCDs.

37. The system of claim 31, further comprising means for adding user profile information to the resource request.

38. The system of claim 31, further comprising means for adding a device class of the WCD to the resource request.

39. The system of claim 31, further comprising means for adding a device address of the WCD to the resource request.

40. The system of claim 31, wherein the resource request is a wireless application protocol (WAP) request.

41. The system of claim 31, wherein the resource request includes a data network address of the WCD, the data network address associated with a data network;

and wherein the system further comprises;

means for obtaining the physical location of the communications module from the data network address based on;

a stored correspondence between the data network address of the WCD and a short-range network address of the WCD,

a stored correspondence between the access point and the short-range network address of the WCD, and

a stored correspondence between the physical location of the communications module and the access point.

42. The system of claim 31, wherein said means for appending includes means for inserting the physical location into the resource request as one or more headers of the resource request.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein the one or more headers are extension headers.

44. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon for enabling a processor in a computer system to obtain location based services, the computer program logic comprising:

program code for enabling the processor to receive a resource request without physical location information from an access point, which is in a network of a plurality of access points, the resource request originated by a wireless communications device (WCD) located within a coverage area of the access point, the WCD communicating with the access point over a wireless short-range communications link, wherein the resource request includes a resource identifier in a form of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and an access point identifier appended by the access point, the access point identifier distinguishing the access point from other ones of the plurality of access points in the network;

program code for enabling the processor to access a location manager database remote from the access point, said location manager database maintaining an association between a physical location of the access point and the access point identifier, to determine the physical location of the access point that corresponds with the received access point identifier and identifies a physical location of the access point with which the WCD is communicating;

program code for enabling the processor to append the physical location into the URL of the resource request; and

program code for enabling the processor to forward the appended resource request to a data network for receipt by a content server identified by the URL

said remote location manager database assigning the physical location of the access point as the physical location of the WCD.

45. The computer program product of claim 44, wherein the resource request includes a data network address of the WCD, the data network address associated with a data network;

and wherein the system further comprises;

program code for enabling the processor to obtain the physical location of the communications module from the data network address based on;

a stored correspondence between the data network address of the WCD and a short-range network address of the WCD,

a stored correspondence between the access point and the short-range network address of the WCD, and

a stored correspondence between the physical location of the communications module and the access point.

46. An apparatus for providing location-based services, comprising:

a short-range wireless communications module for communicating with wireless communications devices (WCDs), the short-range wireless communications module being in a data network infrastructure of a plurality of short-range wireless communications modules;

a network interface coupled to the data network infrastructure for enabling communication with at least one content server;

a memory;

a processor that executes instructions stored in the memory for;

receiving a resource request without physical location information originated by a WCD through the shod-range wireless communications module wherein the resource request includes a resource identifier in a form of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and a communications module identifier appended by the shod-range wireless communications module, the communications module identifier distinguishing the communications module from other ones of the plurality of communications modules in the network;

accessing a location manager database remote from the communications moduel, said location manager database maintaining an association between a physical location of the communications module and the communications module identifier, to determine a physical location of the communications module that corresponds with the received communications module identifier;

adding to the resource request the physical location that identifies a location of the WCD by inserting the physical location into a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the resource request, wherein the physical location is based on a location of the apparatus; and

forwarding the resource request including the added location information to a content server through the network interface

said remote location manager database assigning the physical location of the access point as the physical location of the WCD.

47. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein the resource request includes a data network address of the WCD, the data network address associated with a data network;

and wherein the processor further executes instructions stored in the memory for;

obtaining the physical location of the communications module from the data network address based on;

a stored correspondence between the data network address of the WCD and a short-range network address of the WCD,

a stored correspondence between the access point and the short-range network address of the WCD, and

a stored correspondence between the physical location of the communications module and the access point.

48. A method, comprising:

(a) receiving a resource request without physical location information originated by a short-range wireless communications device (WCD);

(b) forwarding the resource request to a content server;

(c) receiving from the content server an instruction for a location indicator that identifies a location of the WCD;

(d) determining the location indicator based on a location of an access point that is in communication with the WCD over a short-range communications link, the access point being in a network of a plurality of access points, and wherein said resource request includes a resource identifier in a form of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and an access point identifier appended by the access point, the access point identifier distinguishing the access point from other ones of the plurality of access points in the network;

(e) accessing a location manager database remote from the access point, said location manager database maintaining an association between a physical location of the communications module and the communications module identifier, to determine a physical location of the communications module that corresponds with the received access point identifier; and

(f) in response to the instruction, sending the physical location of the communications module to the content server;

said remote location manager database assigning the physical location of the access point as the physical location of the WCD.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the resource request includes a data network address of the WCD, the data network address associated with a data network;

and wherein the method further comprises;

obtaining the physical location of the communications module from the data network address based on;

a stored correspondence between the data network address of the WCD and a short-range network address of the WCD,

a stored correspondence between the access point and the short-range network address of the WCD, and

a stored correspondence between the physical location of the communications module and the access point.

50. The method of claim 49, further comprising:

storing the correspondence between the data network address of the WCD and a short-range network address of the WCD;

storing the correspondence between the access point and the short-range network address of the WCD; and

storing the correspondence between the physical location of the communications module and the access point.

51. The method of claim 49, wherein step (e) comprises sending the physical location of the communications module to the content server across the data network.

52. An apparatus, comprising:

a short-range wireless communications module for communicating with wireless communications devices (WCDs), the short-range wireless communications module being in a data network infrastructure of a plurality of short-range wireless communications modules;

a network interface coupled to the data network infrastructure for enabling communication with at least one content server;

a memory;

a processor that executes instructions stored in the memory for;

receiving a resource request without physical location information originated by a short-range wireless communications device (WCD);

forwarding the resource request to a content server;

receiving from the content server an instruction for a location indicator that identifies a location of the WCD;

determining the location indicator based on a location of the short-range wireless communications module, which is in communication with the WCD across a short-range network, wherein the resource request includes a resource identifier in a form of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and a communications module identifier appended by the short-range wireless communications module, the communications module identifier distinguishing the communications module from other ones of the plurality of communications modules in the network;

accessing a location manager database remote from the communications modules, said location manager database maintaining an association between a physical location of the communications module and the communications module identifier, to determine a physical location of the communications module a that corresponds with the received access point identifier; and

in response to the instruction, sending the physical location of the communications module to the content server;

said remote location manager database assigning the physical location of the access point as the physical location of the WCD.