Mobility based service in wireless environment

• US 8,195,196 B2
• Filed: 12/29/2006
• Issued: 06/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United States Cellular Corporation (Telephone & Data Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: United States Cellular Corporation (Telephone & Data Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Haran, Narayanan, Saxena, Narothum, Irizarry, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Corsaro, Nick
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ngo, Chuong A
• Application Number:
  US11/618,295
• Publication Number:
  US 20080160972A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,985 Days
• Field of Search: 370/238, 370/328, 370/338, 455/404.1, 455/404.2, 4554141-4143, 455/421, 455/428, 455/433, 4554351-4353, 455/445, 455/453, 455455-457, 455/461
• US Class Current: 455/456.3
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A system and method are described for providing proximity-based Internet server access in mobile network environments such as cellular environments to reduce latency and enhance customer satisfaction. In an embodiment of the invention, a Mobile Positioning Center (MPC) caches location information regarding the mobile device. When the mobile device later attempts to resolve the domain name of a distributed service, the domain name service (DNS) server, via a policy manager, queries the MPC for the location of the user. The policy manager of the DNS server may then choose a server based on a number of criteria, including, for example, the geographical proximity of the user to the server.

Claims

1. A method for providing a network address of a web portal to a wireless mobile device, the method comprising:

receiving a request from the mobile device at a DNS server to resolve the network address for the web portal, the network address for the web portal corresponding to one of a plurality of web portals from which a distributed network service is available, the distributed network service being mirrored across the plurality of web portals;

transmitting a request from the DNS server to a separate cache device to request a geographic location of the wireless mobile device cached at the separate cache device;

receiving at the DNS server a response from the separate cache device, the response containing the cached geographic location of the wireless mobile device; and

selecting, via the DNS server, one of the plurality of web portals as a desired web portal from which the distributed network service is available based at least in part on a proximity of the selected one of the plurality of web portals to the geographic location of the wireless device.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising transmitting the network address of the selected one of the plurality of web portals to the wireless device.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising denying a desired service to the wireless device based on the location of the wireless device.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the desired service is PTT service.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the desired service is a data service.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of selecting one of the plurality of web portals as the desired web portal is further based at least in part on a traffic load of at least one of the plurality of web portals.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the selected web portal is farther from the wireless device than at least one other of the plurality of web portals.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selected web portal is the nearest one of the plurality of web portals to the wireless device.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having thereon computer-executable instructions for providing a network address of a web portal to a wireless mobile device, the instructions comprising:

instructions for receiving a request from the mobile device at a DNS server to resolve the network address for the web portal, the network address for the web portal corresponding to one of a plurality of web portals from which a distributed network service is available, the distributed network service being mirrored across the plurality of web portals;

instructions for transmitting a request from the DNS server to a separate cache device to request a geographic location of the wireless mobile device cached at the separate cache device;

instructions for receiving at the DNS server a response from the separate cache device, the response containing the cached geographic location of the wireless mobile device; and

instructions for selecting, via the DNS server, one of the plurality of web portals as a desired web portal from which the distributed network service is available based at least in part on a proximity of the selected one of the plurality of web portals to the geographic location of the wireless device.

10. The computer-readable medium according to claim 9, further comprising instructions for transmitting the network address of the selected one of the plurality of web portals to the wireless device.

11. The computer-readable medium according to claim 9, further comprising instructions for denying a desired service to the wireless device based on the location of the wireless device.

12. The computer-readable medium according to claim 11, wherein the desired service is a push-to-talk service.

13. The computer-readable medium according to claim 11, wherein the desired service is an SMS-to-Email service.

14. The computer-readable medium according to claim 9, wherein selecting one of the plurality of web portals as a desired web portal is further based at least in part on a traffic load of at least one of the plurality of web portals.

15. The computer-readable medium according to claim 14, wherein the selected web portal is farther from the wireless device than at least one other of the plurality of web portals.

16. The computer-readable medium according to claim 9, wherein the selected web portal is the nearest one of the plurality of web portals to the wireless device.