| Patent application number | Description | Published |
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| 20110074633 | Methods and Systems for Estimating Angle of Arrival - Methods and systems for estimating an angle of arrival are provided. In an embodiment, a system for estimating angle of arrival includes a snapshot determining module configured to receive a signal from each antenna of an antenna array and to generate a snapshot vector including values based on the signals and an angle of arrival processing module configured to estimate an angle of arrival for the electromagnetic signal relative to the antenna array based on the snapshot vector. Each signal is representative of an electromagnetic signal incident on a respective antenna of the antenna array and each value is representative of a phase of a respective signal. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110199255 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING A POSITION FIX INDOORS - A location server may be operable to refine a location for a RF node based on a weight applied to one or more location samples that are received from one or more mobile devices. The received location samples may be weighted based on a manufacturer and/or a model information of each of the mobile devices, properties and/or conditions of a RF environment associated with each of the mobile devices, a GNSS dilution of precision, motion sensors used by each of the mobile devices and/or a geometrical population condition associated with each of the mobile devices within range of the RF node. A valid location for the RF node may be generated utilizing the weighted location samples. The location server may update location information for the RF node, which may be stored in a location database, utilizing the valid location for the RF node. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110199257 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR UPDATING ALTITUDE INFORMATION FOR A LOCATION BY USING TERRAIN MODEL INFORMATION TO PRIME ALTITUDE SENSORS - Methods and systems for updating altitude information for a location by using terrain model information to prime altitude sensors are disclosed and may include determining an altitude of a wireless device including one or more altimeters. The determination of altitude may include determining a location of the wireless device, receiving an altitude value for the location from an altitude database, and measuring a change in the altitude using the altimeters. The database may include a worldwide terrain database that may be stored on a remote device, such as a server. Part of the database may be stored on the wireless device and may be updated as the wireless device moves. The location may be determined utilizing a global navigation satellite system, which may include GPS, GLONASS, and GALILLEO. The location may be measured utilizing cellular service triangulation or by utilizing one or more access points with known locations. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110199260 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING A LOCATION OF A CELLULAR BASE STATION UTILIZING MOBILE GNSS VELOCITY AND CORRESPONDING CELLULAR DOPPLER - A GNSS enabled mobile device concurrently receives GNSS signals from GNSS satellites and transmissions from a cellular base station. GNSS-based velocities and GNSS locations are determined for the GNSS enabled mobile device utilizing the received GNSS signals. A cellular Doppler is measured on the cellular base station. A location of the cellular base station is determined based on the determined GNSS-based velocity and corresponding cellular Doppler measurements. The cellular base station may be located by the GNSS enabled mobile device and/or by a remote location server. In this regard, the remote location server may determine the location for the cellular base station utilizing GNSS velocities and corresponding cellular Doppler measurements received from plural GNSS enabled mobile devices in a coverage area of the cellular base station. The determined location of the cellular base station is used to refine GNSS locations of the plurality of GNSS enabled mobile devices when needed. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110199261 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR STABILIZING A GNSS CLOCK BY REDUCING INTERFERENCE - Methods and systems for stabilizing a GNSS clock by reducing interference are disclosed and may include stabilizing a frequency of a temperature compensated crystal oscillator (TCXO) on a chip in a GNSS device. A clock signal may be generated for the device by temporarily configuring circuitry adjacent to the TCXO at a constant power level. Temperature and electromagnetic interference of the TCXO may be stabilized by the constant power level of the adjacent circuitry, which may be on the chip or external to the chip. The frequency of the TCXO may be stabilized by temporarily disabling the adjacent circuitry. A GNSS clock signal may be stabilized by the configuring of the constant power level while a GNSS location may be calibrated. A GNSS location of a fixed wireless device, such as a wireless access point, may be calibrated utilizing the configured constant power level and shared with other wireless devices. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110199262 | ESTIMATING FREQUENCY OF A GNSS ENABLED DEVICE BASED ON TIME STAMPS - A GNSS enabled device that is communicatively coupled to a network, receives time stamps via the network. The time stamps are generated based on reference clock signals within the network. GNSS receiver clock signal frequency may be adjusted based on the time stamps. When GNSS satellite signals and/or SRN signals are not available, the time stamps enable synchronization with GNSS satellites. Network clock signals and/or time stamps may be generated by an access point, a DSL modem, a cable modem and/or a primary reference clock within the network. A series of time stamps may be utilized for adjusting frequencies. Clock signals may be generated for adjusting frequencies based on a comparison between time stamps and oscillator or mixer output. Clock signals are generated for baseband, intermediate and/or RF frequency signal processing. GNSS satellite signals may be demodulated, correlated with a pseudonoise code sequence and/or synchronized based on the time stamps. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110199916 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING THE LOCATION OF A WIRELESS ACCESS POINT USING SINGLE DEVICE BASED POWER MEASUREMENTS - A mobile device measures power from different locations for an encountered wireless access point, a WiFi or Bluetooth access point, and communicates the power measurements to a remote location. The remote location server collects power measurements for the encountered wireless access point from a plurality of communication devices. The remote location server determines the location of the encountered wireless access point utilizing corresponding power measurements from a single communication device. The power measurements are performed at different locations and over a period of time. The power measurements are time stamped and transmitted to the remote location server. The single communication device is selected based on quality and/or availability of corresponding power measurements for the encountered wireless access point. The determined location of the encountered wireless access point is stored into a reference database so as to be shared among the plurality of communication devices. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110199917 | COLLABORATIVE SHARING OF LOCATION INFORMATION AMONG DEVICES IN A NETWORK - A wireless communication device determines its location and communicates the location to other local devices utilizing a nonstandard, standard and/or proprietary protocol in combination with another protocol such as a Bluetooth, RFID, IEEE 802.11 and/or a cellular phone protocol. The location may be determined utilizing a GNSS receiver and/or network device information. A new location may be determined based on the determined location, a relative distance and/or a relative direction to other local devices. Determined location information may be communicated to other devices via a network. The wireless communication device may receive locations and/or corresponding location uncertainties from devices located within a limited range. The received information is utilized to determine a more accurate location. The more accurate location is communicated back to the devices within the limited range and/or to other communication devices. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110200023 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING A POSITION FIX INDOORS - Whenever a mobile device in a building is within proximity of a RF communication device, the mobile device may be operable to receive location information transmitted, for example by broadcasting it, from a RF communication device. The transmitted location information comprises altitude information of the RF communication device. At least an altitude of the mobile device may be determined based on the received altitude information of the RF communication device. The RF communication device may be located in an elevator car and/or on a particular floor in the building. Whenever the RF communication device is located in the elevator car, the altitude information of the RF communication device may be received by the RF communication device from an elevator controller. In instances when the RF communication device also transmits its latitude/longitude (LAT/LON), the mobile device may be operable to determine a 3-dimentional (3D) location of the mobile device. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110201305 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ENSURING USER AND/OR DEVICE ANONYMITY FOR LOCATION BASED SERVICES (LBS) - A mobile device may communicate with a location server during location based services (LBS) operations using a secure identifier. The secure identifier abstracts identification information of the mobile device and/or identification information of a user of the mobile device in instances that the mobile device and/or user identification information are deemed protectable from the location server. The location server may be operable to store location data corresponding to the mobile device and/or the user in a location reference database based on the secure identifier. The secure identifier may comprise a unique value, which may be randomly generated. The secure identifier may also be generated based on the mobile device and/or user identification information, by applying, for example, encryption algorithms to the mobile device and/or user identification information. Service providers for the mobile device may retrieve the abstracted mobile device and/or user identification information from the secure identifier. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110201335 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR A LOCATION-BASED VERTICAL HANDOFF OVER HETEROGENEOUS MOBILE ENVIRONMENTS - A multi-radio mobile device receives data transmissions for a wireless communication session from a current serving access network in a coupled heterogeneous network system comprising a plurality of different access networks. The multi-radio mobile device initiates a handoff for the wireless communication session based on the current mobile location. The multi-radio mobile device acquires location based network connection information such as call drop in the current mobile location from a location server so as to make a handoff decision. When the handoff is to be performed, a target access network or a different base station in the current serving access network associated with the lowest call drop rate is selected. The wireless communication session is received from the selected target access network, as a new serving access network, or from the different base station in the current serving access network with the completion of the handoff. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110201336 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OPTIMIZING USER-LEVEL QoS DURING A LOCATION-BASED HANDOFF OVER HETEROGENEOUS MOBILE ENVIRONMENTS - A multi-radio mobile device receives data transmission of a session from a serving access network in a heterogeneous network system comprising difference access networks. A handoff is performed based on the received data transmissions. User-level QoS for the wireless communication session is adjusted during the handoff based on connection QoS information in the current location of the multi-radio mobile device and/or a velocity of the multi-radio mobile device. Location-based network connection information, comprising call drop information and the connection QoS information, in the current location of the multi-radio mobile device is acquired from a location server. A target access network or a different base station in the serving access network associated with the highest connection QoS is selected. The user-level QoS is adjusted during the handoff for receiving the wireless communication session from the selected target access network or the different base station in the serving access network. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110201347 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LOCATION-BASED DYNAMIC RADIO SELECTION - A multi-radio mobile device comprises a plurality of different radios. When a location update occurs, the multi-radio mobile device, at a specific location, acquires location-based radio information from a remote location server. The multi-radio mobile device selects a radio for use in the specific location based on the acquired location-based radio information comprising available radios in the specific location and radio weights. The radio is selected from the available radios based on the radio weights in the specific location. Transmissions of a desired service are received in the specific location utilizing the selected radio. Location-based radio measurements reports to the remote location server are generated utilizing signal strength measurements for the received signals. Radio quality information of the available radios is calculated by the location server utilizing location-based radio measurement reports from associated users. The radio weights of the available radios are determined based on the calculated radio quality information. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110201348 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OPTIMIZING UPLOADING OF LOCATION DATA FOR LOCATION BASED SERVICES - A mobile device may be operable to collect location data for a RF node and cache the collected location data in the mobile device. Resources that may be utilized for improving the uploading of the cached location data to a location server may be determined by the mobile device. The cached location data may be communicated, to the location server for updating a location database, by the mobile device utilizing the determined resources. The mobile device may determine and utilize an opportunistic transport based on a data usage and/or an access. The mobile device may store a subset of the location database locally for comparing with the cached location data for redundancy. The compared location data may be transmitted by the mobile device to the location server for updating the location database if the compared location data are not redundant data. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110201357 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR REFINING A LOCATION OF A BASE STATION AND/OR A MOBILE DEVICE BASED ON SIGNAL STRENGTH MEASUREMENTS AND CORRESPONDING TRANSMITTER AND/OR RECEIVER ANTENNA PATTERNS - A mobile device receives data transmissions, via a coupled receiver antenna array, from a transmitter antenna array of a serving base station. The mobile device determines relative distances, with respect to the serving base station, associated with signal strength measurements on the received data transmissions. The signal strength measurements are compensated, at the mobile device and/or a remote location server, in three-dimensional space based on corresponding transmitter and/or receiver antenna pattern, and/or mobile orientation information for estimating the relative distances. The estimated relative distances are refined by fitting a function of the azimuth and elevation angles. A location for the serving base station and/or the mobile device is determined or refined based on the refined relative distances to be shared among a plurality of users of the remote location server. Fixed or adaptive antenna patterns are supported at the serving base station and/or the mobile device. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110201358 | DETERMINING APPLICATION USAGE RELATIVE TO A PARTICULAR LOCATION - A mobile device collects information about application usage and associates collected application information with a location of the mobile device and/or a time that the application is accessed. The application is stored on the mobile device or on an external device and accessed via a network. The application information, location of the mobile device and time the application is accessed are communicated to another device and stored in a storage device which may be operated or managed by a service provider or another entity. The application information may comprise identification of a website, a network device or URL, the application and/or data that is input and/or output from the application. The location of the mobile device and/or the time, are determined utilizing a GNSS receiver and/or utilizing information from a network device. The application information, the location of the mobile device and/or the time may be utilized for targeted advertizing. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110201360 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PHYSICAL MAP-ASSISTED WIRELESS ACCESS POINT LOCATING - A mobile device receives a server-assisted location for a wireless access point, either a WiFi access point or a Bluetooth access point, from a remote location server comprising a reference database. The received server-assisted location is refined using a physical map or image. The mobile device is operable to acquire the physical map or image for a map-assisted location for the wireless access point. The mobile device compares the two locations to generate a valid location for the wireless access point. In instances where the two locations are consistent, the mobile device utilizes one of the two locations as the valid location for the wireless access point. Otherwise, the mobile device refines the server-assisted location utilizing the map-assisted location. The resulting refined server-assisted location is utilized as the valid location for the wireless access point and is transmitted to the remote location server to refine the reference database. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110202416 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTHORIZING TRANSACTIONS BASED ON DEVICE LOCATION - Aspects of a method and system for authorizing network transactions based on device location are provided. In this regard, a request may be received to approve a transaction that was initiated from a first communication device and comprises a need to access an account. In response to the request, a second communication device that is associated with the account may be determined, and it may be determined whether to approve the transaction based on received data relating to the identity and location of the second communication device. The transaction may be associated with the second communication device via a database stored on the location server. The transaction may be approved in instances that the first communication device is in a location associated, via the database, with the second communication device. The transaction may be approved in instances that the first communication device is in substantially the same location as the second communication device. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110202460 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTHORIZING TRANSACTIONS BASED ON RELATIVE LOCATION OF DEVICES - Aspects of a method and system for authorizing transactions based on relative location of devices are provided. In this regard, data relating to a location of a first communication device and data relating to a location of a second communication device may be received, a distance between the first communication device and the second communication device may be determined based on the received data, and whether to approve a transaction may be determined based on the determined distance. The transaction may have been initiated from one of the first communication device and the second communication device, and may comprise a need to access an account. The transaction may be approved in instances that the first communication device and the second communication device are within a predetermined distance of each other. The received data may comprise distance information determined via communications between the first communication device and the second communication device. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110202461 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTHORIZING NETWORK TRANSACTIONS BASED ON RADIO FREQUENCY (RF) CHARACTERIZATION OF A DEVICE'S LOCATION - Aspects of a method and system for authorizing network transactions based on radio frequency (RF) characterization of a device's location are provided. In this regard, whether to approve a communication device to perform a network transaction may be determined based on results of a comparison between a radio frequency (RE) characterization of a location of the communication device and one or more approved RF characterizations. The RF characterization may be based on information from a plurality of receivers within the communication device. The one or more approved characterizations may be stored in the network device. The RF characterization may indicate a quantity of RF sources detected and identified by the communication device at the location. The RF characterization may indicate signal strength of signals received from RF sources detected and indentified by the communication device at the location. | 08-18-2011 |
