Determining and presenting indication of recent cellular service location

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to techniques for determining and presenting an indication of a recent cellular service location in a wireless communication system. A wireless device may receive cellular connection event information. The wireless device may determine a recent cellular service available location of the wireless device based at least in part on the cellular connection event information. An indication of a recent cellular service available location may be presented via one or more user interface elements. The most recent cellular service available location may be different than the most recent cellular service available location.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to wireless communication, and more specifically to systems, apparatus, and methods for determining and presenting an indication of the nearest cellular service location in a wireless communication system.

[0002] Related technical descriptions The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. In recent years, wireless devices, such as smartphones and tablets, have become increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting telephone calls, many mobile devices (i.e., user equipment or UE) now offer access to the internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using the Global Positioning System (GPS), and are capable of operating complex applications that utilize these functionalities. Additionally, many different wireless communication technologies and standards exist. Some examples of wireless communication standards include GSM, UMTS (e.g., associated with WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-A (LTE-Advanced), NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE 802.11 (WLAN or Wi-Fi), and Bluetooth. ™ wait.

[0003] Mobile electronic devices can take the form of smartphones or tablets that users typically carry. Wearable devices (also known as accessory devices) are a newer form of mobile electronic device; an example is a smartwatch. Generally, compared to larger portable devices such as smartphones and tablets, wearable devices have relatively limited wireless communication capabilities and typically have smaller batteries.

[0004] While cellular service is widely available in many locations, there are also locations where service is unavailable (e.g., in remote areas, sparsely populated areas, etc.). When users are in such locations, it is often difficult to know how to return to a location where cellular service is available. Therefore, improvements in this field are desired. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This document presents embodiments of apparatus, systems, and methods for determining and presenting an indication of the nearest cellular service location in a wireless communication system.

[0006] According to the techniques described herein, a wireless device can utilize cellular connection event information to determine one or more nearby locations where the wireless device estimates it can use cellular services. This cellular connection event information may include information about changes in the cellular service availability status of the wireless device or its companion wireless devices. The determined locations may include any of the following: the nearest location with a specific type of available cellular service, the nearest location with any available cellular service, and / or any of a variety of other possible locations where (possibly a specific type) cellular service may be available based on information available to the wireless device.

[0007] Wireless devices may be able to present indications of such a determined location via the user interface of the wireless device. For example, visual or audio indications may be presented to the user of the wireless device to help the user determine the direction and distance of the determined location. Such indications may be presented in response to user input that explicitly requests the information or otherwise indicates that the information is potentially useful to the user, such as attempting to utilize a specific type of cellular service that is not currently available on the wireless device, which is one possible scenario.

[0008] It should be noted that the technologies described herein can be implemented in and / or used in a variety of different types of devices, including but not limited to base stations, access points, cellular phones, portable media players, tablet computers, wearable devices, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned flight controllers, automobiles and / or motor vehicles, and various other computing devices.

[0009] The present invention is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subjects described in this document. Therefore, it should be understood that the above features are merely illustrative and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or substance of the subjects described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subjects described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. Attached Figure Description

[0010] A better understanding of the subject matter can be obtained by considering the following detailed description of various embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 Exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication systems according to some implementation schemes are illustrated; Figure 2 An exemplary base station communicating with an exemplary wireless user equipment (UE) device according to some implementation schemes is illustrated; Figure 3 Exemplary block diagrams of a UE according to some implementation schemes are shown; Figure 4 Exemplary block diagrams of base stations according to some implementation schemes are shown; Figure 5 These are flowcharts illustrating various aspects of exemplary possible methods for determining and presenting an indication of the nearest cellular service location in a wireless communication system, according to some implementation schemes. Figure 6 This is an illustration of various aspects of an example scenario in which the nearest location where a wireless device can use cellular services is not the location where the wireless device last used cellular services. Figures 7 to 10 Examples of various possible ways in which a sample compass application, according to various implementation schemes, can provide indication of the location of nearby cellular service are illustrated; and Figure 11 This is a flowchart illustrating one possible example method for determining the network registration status of a user identity module of a wireless device, according to some implementation schemes.

[0011] While the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternatives, specific embodiments thereof are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings and described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the drawings and their detailed description are not intended to limit one to the specific forms disclosed, but rather to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the substance and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims. Detailed Implementation

[0012] acronym Various acronyms are used throughout this disclosure. Definitions of the most frequently used acronyms that may appear throughout this disclosure are provided below: • UE: User Equipment • RF: Radio Frequency • BS: Base Station • GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications • UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System • LTE: Long Term Evolution • NR: New Radio • TX: Send • RX: Receive • RAT: Radio Access Technology • TRP: Transmitter / Receiver Point the term The following is a glossary of terms that may appear in this disclosure: Memory medium—any of various types of nontransitory memory devices or storage devices. The term "memory medium" is intended to include mounting media, such as CD-ROMs, floppy disks, or magnetic tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory, such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory, such as flash memory; magnetic media, such as hard disk drives or optical storage devices; registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. Memory media may also include other types of nontransitory memory or combinations thereof. Furthermore, memory media may reside in a first computer system executing a program, or may reside in a different second computer system connected to the first computer system via a network such as the Internet. In the latter case, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer system for execution. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory media residing in different locations in different computer systems connected via, for example, a network. Memory media may store program instructions (e.g., embodied in a computer program) executable by one or more processors.

[0013] Carrier medium—such as memory media as described above, and physical transmission medium, such as buses, networks, and / or other physical transmission media for transmitting signals (such as electrical signals, electromagnetic signals, or digital signals).

[0014] Computer system (or computer) — any of various types of computing or processing systems, including personal computer systems (PCs), mainframe computer systems, workstations, network appliances, internet-connected appliances, personal digital assistants (PDAs), television systems, grid computing systems, or other devices or combinations thereof. In general, the term "computer system" can be broadly defined as any device (or combination of devices) that includes at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

[0015] User equipment (UE) (or “UE device”) — any of various types of computer systems or devices that are mobile or portable and perform wireless communication. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smartphones (e.g., iPhone). ™ Based on Android ™ (phones), tablet computers (e.g., iPads) ™ Samsung Galaxy ™ ), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS) ™ PlayStation Portable ™ Gameboy Advance ™ iPhone™ Wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches, smart glasses), laptops, PDAs, portable internet devices, music players, data storage devices, other handheld devices, automobiles and / or motor vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (e.g., drones), UAV controllers (UACs), etc. Generally speaking, the term "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly defined to encompass any electronic device, computing device, and / or telecommunications device (or a combination of these devices) that is easily transportable by the user and capable of wireless communication.

[0016] A wireless device is any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform wireless communication. A wireless device can be portable (or mobile), or it can be stationary or fixed in a location. A UE is an example of a wireless device.

[0017] A communication device is any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform communication, which may be wired or wireless. A communication device may be portable (or mobile), or it may be stationary or fixed in a location. A wireless device is one example of a communication device. A UE is another example of a communication device.

[0018] Base station (BS) — The term “base station” has the full range of its usual meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station that is installed in a fixed location and used for communication as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system.

[0019] Link budget-constrained—encompassing the full range of its general meaning, and at least including the characteristics of a wireless device (UE) that exhibits limited communication capabilities or limited power relative to devices that are not link budget-constrained or relative to devices with an established Radio Access Technology (RAT) standard. A link budget-constrained UE may experience relatively limited receiving and / or transmitting capabilities, which may be due to one or more factors such as device design, device size, battery size, antenna size or design, transmit power, receive power, current transmit medium conditions, and / or other factors. Such devices may be referred to herein as “link budget-constrained” (or “link budget-restricted”) devices. A device may be inherently link budget-constrained due to its size, battery power, and / or transmit / receive power. For example, a smartwatch communicating with a base station via a RAT may be inherently link budget-constrained due to its reduced transmit / receive power and / or reduced antenna. Wearable devices, such as smartwatches, can generally be link budget-constrained devices. Alternatively, the device may not be inherently link budget-constrained, for example, it may have sufficient size, battery power, and / or transmit / receive power for normal communication via RAT, but may be temporarily link budget-constrained due to current communication conditions, such as a smartphone at the cell edge. It should be noted that the term "link budget-constrained" includes or encompasses power limitations, and therefore a power-constrained device can be considered a link budget-constrained device.

[0020] A processing element (or processor) is a component or combination of components capable of performing the functions of a device (e.g., a user equipment device or a cellular network device). A processing element may include, for example, a processor and associated memory, portions or circuitry of individual processor cores, an entire processor core, a processor array, circuitry (such as an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit)), programmable hardware components (such as a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)), and any combination of the above.

[0021] Wi-Fi—The term “Wi-Fi” has the full range of its usual meaning and includes at least a wireless communication network or RAT that is served by and provides connectivity to the Internet through wireless LAN (WLAN) access points. Most modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and are marketed under the name “Wi-Fi.” Wi-Fi (WLAN) networks are different from cellular networks.

[0022] "Configured as"—Various components can be described as being "configured as" to perform one or more tasks. In this context, "configured as" is a broad expression generally meaning "having a structure" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Therefore, a component can be configured to perform a task even when it is not currently performing one (e.g., a set of electrical conductors can be configured to electrically connect one module to another, even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, "configured as" can be a broad expression generally meaning "having a circuit" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Therefore, a component can be configured to perform a task even when it is not currently powered on. Generally, the circuit forming the structure corresponding to "configured as" can include hardware circuitry.

[0023] For ease of description, various components may be described as performing one or more tasks. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including the phrase "configured to". Statements describing a component as configured to perform one or more tasks are expressly intended not to invoke the interpretation of 35 U.S.C., 112(6).

[0024] Figure 1 and Figure 2 —Exemplary Communication System Figure 1 Exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication systems that implement various aspects of this disclosure according to some embodiments are illustrated. It should be noted that... Figure 1 The system described is merely one example of a possible system, and this implementation can be carried out in any system of various types as needed.

[0025] As shown in the figure, an exemplary wireless communication system includes a cellular base station 102 that communicates with one or more (e.g., any number) wireless devices 106A, 106B, etc., and an accessory device 107 via a transmission medium. Wireless devices 106A, 106B, and 107 may be user equipment, which may be referred to herein as "user equipment" (UE) or UE device.

[0026] Base station 102 may be a transceiver base station (BTS) or a cell site and may include hardware and / or software to enable wireless communication with UEs 106A, 106B, and 107. If base station 102 is implemented in the context of LTE, it may be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB". If base station 102 is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternatively be referred to as a "gNodeB" or "gNB". Base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with network 100 (e.g., the core network of a cellular service provider, telecommunications networks such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and / or the Internet, and various other possibilities). Therefore, base station 102 facilitates communication between user equipments and / or between user equipments and network 100. The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station may be referred to as a "cell". Also as used herein, in relation to a UE, a base station may sometimes be considered to represent the network, taking into account both uplink and downlink communication of the UE. Therefore, a UE communicating with one or more base stations in the network may also be understood as a UE communicating with the network.

[0027] It should be noted that, at least in some 3GPP NR contexts, base station (gNB) functionality can be split between centralized unit (CU) and distributed unit (DU). At least according to some implementations, in such network deployment contexts, the illustrated base station 102 may support the functionality of either or both of the CU or DU. In some cases, base station 102 may be configured to act as an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) donor (e.g., including IAB donor CU and / or IAB donor DU functionality). In some cases, base station 102 may be configured to act as an IAB node (e.g., including IAB mobile terminal (MT) and IAB-DU functionality). Other specific implementations are also possible.

[0028] Base station 102 and user equipment can be configured to communicate via a transmission medium using any of a variety of radio access technologies (RATs) (also known as wireless communication technologies or telecommunications standards, such as LTE, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), LAA / LTE-U, 5G NR, Wi-Fi, etc.).

[0029] Base station 102 and other similar base stations (not shown) operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards may thus provide as one or more cell networks that can provide continuous or near-continuous overlapping services to UEs 106A-106B and 107 and similar devices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

[0030] It should be noted that UE 106 / 107 may be able to communicate using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, UE 106 may be configured to communicate using one or both of LTE or NR. In some implementations, UE 106 / 107 may be configured to perform techniques such as those described herein for determining and presenting an indication of the nearest cellular service location in a wireless communication system. UE 106 / 107 may also be configured, or alternatively configured, to use WLAN, Bluetooth, etc. ™ It can communicate with one or more Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS, such as GPS or GLONASS), one and / or more mobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H), etc. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

[0031] As shown in the figure, the exemplary wireless communication system also includes a Wi-Fi access point 104, which communicates with wireless device 106B and accessory device 107 via a transmission medium. The Wi-Fi access point also provides communication connectivity to network 100. Therefore, according to some embodiments, wireless devices may be able to connect to one or both of base station 102 (or another cellular base station) and access point 104 (or another access point) to access network 100 at a given time.

[0032] UE 106A and UE 106B may include handheld devices such as smartphones or tablets, and / or may include any of a variety of devices with cellular communication capabilities. For example, one or more of UE 106A and UE 106B may be wireless devices designed for static or dynamic deployment, such as home appliances, measuring devices, control devices, etc. UE 106B may be configured to communicate with UE device 107, which may be referred to as accessory device 107. Accessory device 107 may be any of a variety of wireless devices, which may typically be a wearable device with a small form factor and limited battery, output power, and / or communication capabilities relative to UE 106. As a common example, UE 106B may be a smartphone carried by a user, and accessory device 107 may be a smartwatch worn by the same user. UE 106B and accessory device 107 may communicate using any of a variety of short-range communication protocols such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

[0033] UE 106B can also be configured to communicate with UE 106A. For example, UE 106A and UE 106B may be able to perform direct device-to-device (D2D) communication. D2D communication may be supported by cellular base station 102 (e.g., easily discovered by BS 102, and with various possible forms of assistance), or may be performed in a manner not supported by BS 102.

[0034] Accessory device 107 includes cellular communication capabilities and is thus able to communicate directly with cellular base station 102. However, since accessory device 107 may be limited by one or more of the following: communication limitations, output power limitations, and / or battery limitations, accessory device 107 may selectively utilize UE 106B as a proxy for communication purposes with base station 102 and thus to network 100 in some cases, and / or may prioritize access to network 100 obtained via access point 104. In other words, accessory device 107 may selectively use the cellular communication capabilities of its accompanying device (e.g., UE 106B) and / or its Wi-Fi communication capabilities for its communication. Limitations on the communication capabilities of accessory device 107 may be permanent, for example, due to limitations in output power or supported radio access technology (RAT), or temporary, for example, due to various conditions such as current battery status, inability to access the network, or poor reception.

[0035] Figure 2 Exemplary user equipment devices 106 and 107 communicating with base station 102 according to some embodiments are illustrated. UE 106 / 107 may include any of a variety of possible devices with wireless network connectivity, such as mobile phones, handheld devices, wearable devices, computers or tablets, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned aerial controllers (UACs), automobiles, or virtually any type of wireless device.

[0036] UE 106 / 107 may include a processor (processing element) configured to execute program instructions stored in memory. UE 106 / 107 may execute any method implementation of the method embodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or additionally, UE 106 / 107 may include programmable hardware elements, such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), integrated circuits, and / or any of various other possible hardware components configured to (e.g., individually or in combination) execute any method implementation of the method embodiments described herein or any portion thereof. UE 106 / 107 may be configured to communicate using any of a plurality of wireless communication protocols. For example, any or both of UE 106 / 107 may be configured to use LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth. ™ Communication can be achieved using two or more of the GNSS standards. Other combinations of wireless communication standards are also possible.

[0037] UE 106 / 107 may include one or more antennas communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols according to one or more RAT standards. In some embodiments, one or more of UE 106 / 107 may share one or more portions of the receive chain and / or transmit chain among multiple wireless communication standards. The shared radio components may include a single antenna, or may include multiple antennas (e.g., for a multiple-input multiple-output or “MIMO” antenna system) for performing wireless communication. Generally, the radio components may include any combination of baseband processors, analog RF signal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.) or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, the radio components may use the aforementioned hardware to implement one or more receive chains and transmit chains. For example, any or both of UE 106 / 107 may share one or more portions of the receive chain and / or transmit chain among various wireless communication technologies such as those discussed above.

[0038] In some implementations, UE 106 / 107 may include any number of antennas and may be configured to use the antennas to transmit and / or receive directional radio signals (e.g., beams). Similarly, BS 102 may also include any number of antennas and may be configured to use the antennas to transmit and / or receive directional radio signals (e.g., beams). To receive and / or transmit such directional signals, the antennas of UE 106 / 107 and / or BS 102 may be configured to apply different “weights” to different antennas. The process of applying these different weights may be referred to as “pre-decoding”.

[0039] In some implementations, UE 106 / 107 may include separate transmit and / or receive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol configured to communicate therewith. As another possibility, UE 106 / 107 may include one or more radio components shared among multiple wireless communication protocols, as well as one or more radio components dedicated to a single wireless communication protocol. For example, one or more of UE 106 / 107 may include shared radio components for communication using either LTE or NR, and components for communication using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. ™ Each component communicates with an independent radio unit. Other configurations are also possible.

[0040] In some implementations, UE 106 / 107 may include an accessory device 107 and a companion device 106. In some implementations, such an accessory device 107 may be able to communicate with the companion device 106 (also referred to as a proxy device or intermediate device) using a short-range communication protocol; for example, according to some implementations, the accessory device 107 may be “paired” with the companion device 106. In some cases, the accessory device may use the cellular functionality of the proxy device 106 to transmit cellular voice / data with the base station 102 and / or to an access point. In other words, the accessory device 107 may provide voice / data packets intended for the base station or access point to the companion device 106 via a short-range link, and the companion device 106 may use its cellular or Wi-Fi functionality to send (or relay) the voice / data to the base station / access point on behalf of the accessory device 107. Similarly, voice / data packets sent by the base station / access point and intended for the accessory device 107 may be received by the cellular / Wi-Fi functionality of the companion device 106 and then relayed to the accessory device 107 via a short-range link.

[0041] In at least some cases, such accessory device 107 can also, or alternatively selectively, utilize one or the other of cellular communication capabilities or Wi-Fi communication capabilities to communicate directly with a cellular base station or Wi-Fi access point, for example, even if both options are available. For example, if both wireless link options are available and can provide the communication service currently desired by accessory device 107, accessory device 107 may prioritize the Wi-Fi link, for example, to potentially reduce device power consumption and / or if the Wi-Fi link is considered to have lower economic costs. Companion device 106 and / or accessory device 107 can manage the wireless connectivity of accessory device 107 at different times based on any of a variety of additional or alternative considerations.

[0042] Figure 3 — Block diagram of an exemplary UE device Figure 3 Block diagrams of exemplary UE devices (such as UE 106 or 107) according to some embodiments are illustrated. As shown, UE 106 / 107 may include a system-on-chip (SOC) 300, which may include portions for various purposes. Some or all of the various illustrated components (and / or other device components not illustrated, e.g., in variants and alternative arrangements) may be “communically coupled” or “operationally coupled”, terms which may be used herein to refer to components that can communicate directly or indirectly when the device is in operation.

[0043] As shown in the figure, SOC 300 may include a processor 302 and a display circuit 304. The processor executes program instructions for UE 106 / 107, and the display circuit performs graphics processing and provides display signals to display 360. SOC 300 may also include sensor circuitry 370, which may include components for sensing or measuring any of a variety of possible characteristics or parameters of UE 106 / 107. For example, sensor circuitry 370 may include motion sensing circuitry configured to detect motion of UE 106, for example, using a gyroscope, accelerometer, and / or any of a variety of other motion sensing components. Alternatively, sensor circuitry 370 may include one or more temperature sensing components, for example, for measuring the temperature of each of one or more antenna panels and / or other components of UE 106 / 107. As needed, any of a variety of other possible types of sensor circuitry may also be included in UE 106 / 107, or alternatively. Processor 302 may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU) 340, which may be configured to receive addresses from processor 302 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read-only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310) and / or other circuitry or devices, such as display circuitry 304, radio components 330, connector I / F 320, and / or display 360. MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, MMU 340 may be included as part of processor 302.

[0044] As shown in the figure, the SOC 300 can be coupled to various other circuits of the UE 106 / 107. For example, the UE 106 / 107 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 310), connector interface 320 (e.g., for coupling to computer systems, docking stations, charging stations, etc.), display 360, and wireless communication circuitry 330 (e.g., for LTE, LTE-A, NR, Bluetooth). ™(e.g., Wi-Fi, NFC, GPS, etc.). UE device 106 / 107 may include or be coupled to at least one antenna (e.g., 335a), and may include multiple antennas (e.g., illustrated by antennas 335a and 335b) for performing wireless communication with base stations and / or other devices. Antennas 335a and 335b are shown by way of example, and UE device 106 / 107 may include fewer or more antennas. In general, one or more antennas are collectively referred to as antenna 335. For example, UE device 106 / 107 may use antenna 335 to perform wireless communication via radio circuitry 330. The communication circuitry may include multiple receive chains and / or multiple transmit chains for receiving and / or transmitting multiple spatial streams, such as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) configuration. As mentioned above, in some embodiments, UE 106 / 107 may be configured to perform wireless communication using multiple wireless communication standards.

[0045] UE 106 / 107 may include hardware and software components for implementing methods by which UE 106 / 107 performs techniques such as those described further herein for determining and presenting indications of the nearest cellular service location in a wireless communication system. For example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium), the processor 302 of UE device 106 / 107 may be configured to implement some or all of the methods described herein. In other embodiments, processor 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as a FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit). Furthermore, as... Figure 3 As shown, processor 302 may be coupled to and / or interoperable with other components to perform techniques for determining and presenting indications of the nearest cellular service location in a wireless communication system, according to various embodiments disclosed herein. Processor 302 may also implement various other applications and / or end-user applications running on UE 106 / 107.

[0046] In some implementations, radio component 330 may include a separate controller dedicated to controlling communications for various corresponding RAT standards. For example, such as Figure 3 As shown, the radio component 330 may include a Wi-Fi controller 352, a cellular controller 354, and a Bluetooth module. ™Controller 356, and in at least some embodiments, one or more of these controllers may be implemented as corresponding integrated circuits (referred to as ICs or chips), which communicate with each other and with the SOC 300 (more specifically with the processor 302). For example, Wi-Fi controller 352 may communicate with cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link or WCI interface, and / or Bluetooth. ™ Controller 356 can communicate with cellular controller 354 via cell-ISM links, etc. Although three independent controllers are illustrated within radio component 330, other implementations with fewer or more similar controllers for various different RATs can be implemented in UE devices 106 / 107.

[0047] Furthermore, implementations in which the controller can perform functionality associated with a variety of radio access technologies are envisioned. For example, according to some implementations, in addition to hardware and / or software components for performing cellular communications, the cellular controller 354 may also include hardware and / or software components for performing one or more activities associated with Wi-Fi, such as Wi-Fi preamble detection, and / or the generation and transmission of Wi-Fi physical layer preamble signals.

[0048] Figure 4 — Block diagram of an exemplary base station Figure 4 A block diagram of an exemplary base station 102 according to some implementation schemes is shown. It should be noted that... Figure 4 The base station shown is merely one example of a possible base station. As illustrated, base station 102 may include processor 404, which executes program instructions for base station 102. Processor 404 may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU) 440, which may be configured to receive addresses from processor 404 and translate these addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450) or into other circuitry or devices.

[0049] Base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. (As mentioned above...) Figure 1 and Figure 2As described herein, network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide access to multiple devices, such as UE devices 106 / 107, that have permission to access the telephone network. Network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also be configured, or alternatively, to couple to a cellular network, such as the core network of a cellular service provider. This core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to multiple devices, such as UE devices 106 / 107. In some cases, network port 470 may be coupled to the telephone network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide access to the telephone network (e.g., in other UE devices served by a cellular service provider).

[0050] In some implementations, base station 102 may be a next-generation base station, such as a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or a “gNB”. In such implementations, base station 102 may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or to an NR core (NRC) network. Furthermore, base station 102 may be considered a 5G NR cell and may include one or more transmit and receive points (TRPs). Additionally, UEs capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

[0051] Base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434, and may include multiple antennas. One or more antennas 434 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may also be configured to communicate with UE device 106 / 107 via radio component 430. Antenna 434 communicates with radio component 430 via communication link 432. Communication link 432 may be a receive link, a transmit link, or both. Radio component 430 may be designed to communicate via various wireless telecommunications standards, including but not limited to 5G NR, 5G NR SAT, LTE, LTE-A, Wi-Fi, etc.

[0052] Base station 102 can be configured to perform wireless communication using multiple wireless communication standards. In some cases, base station 102 may include multiple radio components that enable base station 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, as one possibility, base station 102 may include an LTE radio component for performing communication according to LTE and a 5G NR radio component for performing communication according to 5G NR. In this case, base station 102 may be able to operate as both an LTE base station and a 5G NR base station. As another possibility, base station 102 may include a multimode radio component capable of performing communication according to any of multiple wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G NR and Wi-Fi, 5G NR SAT and Wi-Fi, LTE and Wi-Fi, etc.).

[0053] As further described herein, BS 102 may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting specific implementations of the features described herein. The processor 404 of base station 102 may be configured, for example, to implement and / or support specific implementations of the methods described herein by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium). Alternatively, processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as a FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit), or a combination thereof. In the case of certain RATs (e.g., Wi-Fi), base station 102 may be designed as an access point (AP), in which case network port 470 may be implemented to provide access to a wide area network and / or one or more local area networks; for example, it may include at least one Ethernet port, and radio component 430 may be designed to communicate according to the Wi-Fi standard.

[0054] Furthermore, as described herein, processor 404 may include one or more processing elements. Therefore, processor 404 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 404. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor 404.

[0055] Furthermore, as described herein, radio component 430 may include one or more processing elements. Therefore, radio component 430 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of radio component 430. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of radio component 430.

[0056] Figure 5 - Identify and display an indication of the nearest cellular service location. While cellular networks can provide cellular service in many locations, there may still be areas where cellular service is unavailable, such as in remote areas, areas where natural obstacles obstruct cellular signal coverage, during planned maintenance or unexpected service outages of cellular network infrastructure, and / or for other reasons. When cellular service is unavailable to a wireless device, providing information about possible nearby locations where cellular service may be available, such as when a user of the wireless device is interested in using the device's cellular communication capabilities.

[0057] Therefore, specifying a technology for wireless devices to determine and present an indication of the nearest cellular service location may be beneficial. To illustrate such a set of possible technologies, Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating, according to at least some embodiments, a method for determining and presenting an indication of the nearest cellular service location in a wireless communication system.

[0058] Figure 5 The aspects of the method can be implemented by a wireless device, for example, in conjunction with one or more cellular base stations (such as UE 106 / 107 and BS 102 illustrated in the various figures herein and described with respect to those figures), or more generally, in conjunction as needed with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements, or components shown in the aforementioned figures. For example, the processor (and / or other hardware) of such a device can be configured to cause the device to perform any combination of the illustrated method elements and / or other method elements.

[0059] It should be noted that, although described in a manner involving the use of communication technologies and / or features associated with 3GPP and / or NR specification documents Figure 5 The method incorporates at least some elements, but this description is not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure and can be used in any suitable wireless communication system as needed. Figure 5 The method encompasses various aspects. In various implementation schemes, some elements of the method shown may be executed simultaneously in a different order than those shown, may be replaced by other method elements, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may also be executed as needed. As shown in the figure, Figure 5 The method can be operated as follows.

[0060] Wireless devices can establish wireless links with cellular base stations. According to some implementations, the wireless link may include a 5G NR-based cellular link. For example, the wireless device may establish a session with an AMF entity of the cellular network via one or more gNBs that provide radio access to the cellular network. Alternatively, the wireless link may include an LTE-based cellular link. For example, the wireless device may establish a session with a mobility management entity of the cellular network via an eNB that provides radio access to the cellular network. Other types of cellular links are also possible according to various implementations, and the cellular network may also, or alternatively, operate according to another cellular communication technology.

[0061] Establishing a radio link may include, at least according to some implementation schemes, establishing an RRC connection with a serving cellular base station. Establishing a first RRC connection may include configuring various parameters for communication between the radio device and the cellular base station, establishing environmental information for the radio device, and / or any of various other possible characteristics, such as establishing an air interface for the radio device to communicate with a cellular network associated with the cellular base station. After establishing an RRC connection, the radio device may operate in an RRC connected state. In some cases, the RRC connection may also be released (e.g., after a period of inactivity relative to data communication), in which case the radio device may operate in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state. In some cases, such as due to radio device mobility, changed radio medium conditions, and / or any other possible reasons, the radio device may perform a handover (e.g., when in RRC connected mode) or cell reselection (e.g., when in RRC idle mode or RRC inactive mode) to a new serving cell.

[0062] In section 502, the wireless device may receive cellular connection event information. This cellular connection event information may include either or both of information generated by the wireless device itself or information received from a paired wireless device. For example, in some embodiments, an accessory wireless device may pair with a companion wireless device and implement… Figure 5 The wireless device used in this method can be an accessory wireless device or a companion wireless device. When the accessory wireless device operates in standalone mode, it may generate cellular connection event information based on its own cellular connection events. When the accessory wireless device operates in paired mode, where the companion wireless device acts as the master device, the companion wireless device may generate cellular connection event information based on its own cellular connection events and provide this information to the accessory wireless device. In this scenario, when the companion wireless device acts as the master device in the pair, the accessory wireless device may not generate cellular connection event information. The companion wireless device may also generate cellular connection event information based on its own cellular connection events when operating in standalone mode.

[0063] Therefore, according to various implementations, the cellular connection event information received by the wireless device may include both internally generated cellular connection event information and cellular connection event information received from a paired companion wireless device (e.g., if the wireless device operates as an independent wireless device at some times and is paired with a companion wireless device that acts as the master device in the pairing at other times), or it may include only internally generated cellular connection event information (e.g., if the wireless device operates only in independent mode or acts as the master device in a pairing with an accessory device), or it may include only cellular connection event information received from a paired companion wireless device (e.g., if the wireless device operates only in a pairing with a companion wireless device, and the companion wireless device acts as the master device in the pairing).

[0064] It should be noted that in scenarios where cellular connection event information is provided from one wireless device to another, various possible mechanisms may exist for performing the information transmission, potentially including push-based or pull-based data transmission mechanisms. It should also be noted that such data transmission may be performed only based on user permission and authorization, for example, in scenarios where paired wireless devices are associated with the same user account of the wireless device's equipment vendor, or in scenarios where they are associated with another entity capable of handling at least some aspects of the wireless device's user privacy / security. According to various implementations, such data transmission may be performed periodically / regularly and / or non-periodically, such as in response to a specific request for cellular connection event information from an adjacent wireless device to a paired companion wireless device.

[0065] Cellular connection event information may include any information from a variety of possible information for one or more cellular connection events. Each cellular connection event may relate to a change in cellular service availability state. In some cases, for each cellular connection event, the cellular connection event information may indicate a timestamp of the cellular connection event (e.g., the time when the cellular service availability state changed), the cellular service availability state before the cellular connection event (e.g., the cellular service availability state before the change in cellular service availability state), and the cellular service availability state after the cellular connection event (e.g., the cellular service availability state after the change in cellular service availability state). In some embodiments, the cellular connection event information may indicate the associated location of each cellular connection event. In other words, when a cellular connection event for a change in cellular service availability state is generated, the location of the wireless device at the time of the change in cellular service availability state may be determined, and an indication of that location may be included in the cellular connection event information for that cellular connection event. Alternatively, location information may not be included when generating the cellular connection event information, but as described below, the location of the wireless device may still be estimated at the time of the change in cellular service availability state of the cellular connection event (e.g., at a later time). It should be noted that, depending on the implementation, the cellular connection event information may include any number of additional or alternative fields (e.g., related to the cellular connection event).

[0066] According to various implementations, the cellular service availability state of the wireless device generating cellular connection event information can be determined / selected from any of a variety of possible cellular service availability states. In some implementations, the cellular service availability state can be selected from a set of possible cellular service availability states, including some or all of the following: in-service state, emergency service state, no service state, or airplane mode state. Unknown states may also be included. In some implementations, a more granular cellular service availability state can be selected, potentially including further information about any or all of the following: signal strength / quality availability, radio access technology availability, voice service availability, data service availability, other specific service availability, estimated bandwidth availability, quality of service (QoS) availability, and whether the service availability is home service or roaming service.

[0067] Additionally, according to various embodiments, the cellular service availability status of the wireless device generating cellular connection event information can be determined in any of a variety of possible ways. In some embodiments, network registration status information of one or more Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) of the wireless device can be determined, and the cellular connection event information can be generated at least in part based on the network registration status information of the wireless device's SIMs. For example, when the network registration status of the wireless device's SIM changes, an indication can be provided from the wireless device's baseband domain, based on which cellular connection event information can be generated for the cellular connection event associated with the change in the network registration status of the wireless device's SIMs. In the case of multi-SIM wireless devices, the combined network registration status of the multiple SIMs of the wireless device may be determined, for example, using the network registration status information of each of the multiple SIMs of the wireless device. At least according to some embodiments, this can prevent the over-generation and / or inaccurate generation of cellular connection events, for example, in scenarios where the cellular service availability changes for one SIM of the wireless device but remains available for another SIM of the wireless device.

[0068] It should be noted that there may be situations where wireless devices operate in a low-power mode, for example, where baseband operation is autonomously paused for at least a portion of the time to conserve battery power. In such scenarios, at least in some implementations, the wireless device may not generate a cellular connectivity event indicating a change to no service based on the autonomous pause of baseband activity. This avoids misrepresentation of scenarios where, at least in some cases, the wireless device is not actually stopping service, but the baseband has been turned off to conserve battery power.

[0069] In some implementations, cellular connection event information generated or received by a wireless device may be stored for a limited period of time (e.g., several days, a week, or a month, etc.) before being discarded. At least according to some implementations, this can help reduce the memory required to store the information and ensure that the cellular connection event information stored by the wireless device is more likely to be relevant and not outdated.

[0070] In 504, the wireless device may use cellular connection event information to determine (e.g., estimate) the nearest location where cellular service is available. At least in some embodiments, this determination may be performed at least in part based on the wireless device not having available cellular service. Alternatively, this determination may be performed when limited service (emergency service only, roaming service only, or other limited service) is available. Depending on the definition criteria, the nearest location where cellular service is available may be the nearest location estimated to have any cellular service availability (e.g., including limited cellular service availability, such as emergency service only), the nearest location estimated to have a specific type of cellular service availability (e.g., 5G availability, high bandwidth capability, etc.), or the nearest location estimated to have full / normal cellular service availability. In some embodiments, multiple nearest locations where cellular service is available may be determined; for example, for a wireless device in a no-service state, the nearest emergency cellular service available location may be determined, and the nearest normal cellular service available location may also be determined.

[0071] In some implementations, the most recently available cellular service location can be selected from one or more possible locations where cellular service is available, determined at least in part based on cellular connection event information. For example, the cellular connection event information may provide information indicating when (any or a particular type) cellular service was most recently available, and possibly information indicating one or more previous times when the cellular service was available. If the cellular connection event information includes associated location information for the cellular connection event, that associated location information can be used to determine which of the previously available locations for cellular service is closest to the wireless device's current location. Alternatively (e.g., if the cellular connection event information does not include associated location information for the cellular connection event), the wireless device may use its location history information to determine its location at the timestamp of the cellular connection event (e.g., some or all) and accordingly determine one or more locations where cellular service is available to the wireless device.

[0072] It should be noted that location information may include any of a variety of types and may have any of a variety of possible granularities or levels of precision. In some implementations, location information may include latitude and longitude coordinates; Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) capabilities, such as Global Positioning System (GPS), can be used to track the latitude and longitude coordinates of the wireless device. In some implementations, location information may include the altitude information of the wireless device. In some cases, combining such information can be used to more accurately determine the nearest available cellular service location to the wireless device compared to using latitude and longitude coordinates alone. For example, in a scenario where the nearest available cellular service location according to latitude and longitude coordinates is at an altitude sufficiently different from the current location of the wireless device, another available cellular service location that is farther from the current location of the wireless device according to latitude and longitude coordinates but closer in altitude may be generally closer. As a further possibility, in some cases, it may be possible to consider one or more terrain features when determining the nearest available cellular service location. For example, if terrain information available at the wireless device indicates that there are features with significantly higher elevation (e.g., mountains, as a possibility) or significantly lower elevation (e.g., valleys, as a possibility) between the wireless device’s current location and possible locations where cellular service is available, the wireless device can be configured to take such information into account when determining which location where cellular service is available is considered to be the closest location to the wireless device.

[0073] In some implementations, it is also possible, or alternatively possible, to select the nearest available cellular service location based at least in part on crowdsourced cellular connection event information. For example, anonymized cellular connection event information can be collected and aggregated to estimate possible cellular service locations in certain areas (e.g., areas including locations where cellular service may be unavailable), and such information (e.g., coverage maps) can be provided (e.g., pre-provided, or obtained via another wireless communication mechanism such as a Wi-Fi connection) to wireless devices to help determine the nearest available cellular service location. As a possibility, such information can be used by wireless devices operating in low-power or flight mode and not enjoying cellular service (e.g., due to autonomously reducing baseband operation to conserve battery) to estimate whether cellular service is likely available at the wireless device's current location, and / or to estimate the nearest available cellular service location for the wireless device.

[0074] In 506, a wireless device may display an indication of the nearest available cellular service location via one or more user interface elements. It should be noted that if multiple nearest available cellular service locations are identified (e.g., including nearest available cellular service locations for each of several types of cellular services, such as nearest available emergency cellular service location, nearest available cellular data service location, etc.), an indication may be displayed for each of these available cellular service locations. It should also be noted that a nearest available cellular service location may differ from the most recent available cellular service location.

[0075] The indication may include any (and possibly multiple) of many possible types of indications. In some embodiments, the indication may include a pin or other visual indicator displayed on a map or compass display screen, such as indicating latitude and longitude coordinates, direction, and / or distance from the wireless device's current location to the nearest location where cellular service is available. Alternatively, a textual indication of latitude and longitude coordinates, direction, and / or distance from the wireless device's current location to the nearest location where cellular service is available may be provided. Alternatively, an audio indication may be presented by a virtual assistant running on the wireless device (e.g., the virtual assistant may speak these coordinates, directions, and / or distance from the wireless device's current location). In some embodiments, it is possible that different kinds of indications may be provided based on the level of confidence in finding cellular service at the indicated location (e.g., at the telephone level). For example, an indication that cellular service is "nearby" can be provided when a wireless device reaches an indicated location (i.e., a location known to have had cellular availability in the past based on the user's history) (e.g., within a configured threshold distance of that location), and an indication that the user has "arrived" can be provided when the telephone layer has cellular service available for making cellular (or possibly at least emergency) calls or otherwise successfully obtaining cellular service. Other types of indications are also possible.

[0076] Additionally, the indication may be provided in response to any of a number of possible triggers. As one possibility, the indication may be provided in response to user input explicitly requesting an indication of the nearest location where cellular service is available. As another possibility, the indication may be provided in response to user input initiating an application or activity that will utilize cellular service when it is unavailable. Other triggers for providing an indication of the nearest location where cellular service is available are also possible.

[0077] It should be noted that similar techniques can be used to determine and present indications of any number of types of cellular service availability locations, for example, as a variation or alternative to the most recent cellular service availability location. As such an example, at least according to some embodiments, one or more most recent cellular service availability locations may be additionally or alternatively determined (e.g., potentially including the most recent cellular service availability location for each of multiple types of cellular services), and their indications may be presented in a manner similar to that of the most recent cellular service availability location.

[0078] Therefore, at least according to some implementation schemes, Figure 5 This method, which can be used by wireless devices, or potentially by paired companion and accessory wireless devices, is used to determine where to find cellular service when no cellular service is available or limited cellular service is available. This may be helpful to users in areas where the availability of cellular service is uncertain, and may more generally be helpful to users who want to obtain a specific type of unavailable cellular service (even if, at least in some cases, some types of cellular service are available).

[0079] Figures 6 to 11 and additional information Figures 6 to 11 Examples are shown that can be used with, if needed. Figure 5 This method is used in combination with other aspects. However, it should be noted that in Figures 6 to 11 The exemplary details illustrated and described with respect to these figures are not intended to limit this disclosure in their entirety: many variations and alternatives to the details provided herein are possible and should be considered within the scope of this disclosure.

[0080] In scenarios where wireless devices cannot use cellular service, identifying and providing information about nearby locations where cellular service is available can be useful. For example, if a user is hiking in a wilderness area, information about possible locations where normal cellular service might be available could help the user determine which direction to travel to receive text messages or make phone calls. Similarly, in an emergency, information about possible locations where emergency cellular service might be available could help the user determine which direction to travel to make an emergency call. Therefore, this paper describes various techniques for identifying and providing indications of one or more possible (e.g., nearby) locations where cellular service might (e.g., known or estimated) be available via a user interface (e.g., triggered, at least in certain cases, such as if requested by the user input, and / or by one or more other configured triggers for providing such indications).

[0081] When a wireless device cannot use cellular service, there are several possible methods to identify nearby locations where cellular service might be available. One such method may include determining the location where the wireless device last used cellular service, which is typically nearby. Another such method may include determining the nearest location where the wireless device used cellular service, potentially involving comparing the distance between the wireless device and the location where it last used cellular service with one or more locations where the wireless device used cellular service before that. In some cases, such methods may identify specific locations where the wireless device can use cellular service, which are physically closer than the location where the wireless device last used cellular service.

[0082] Figure 6 This is a diagram illustrating various aspects of an example scenario in which this situation might occur. As shown, in the illustrated scenario, a wireless device (e.g., one that can be carried or worn by a user) can travel in an approximately circular motion from the earliest time T-2, through an intermediate time T-1, until the current time T. Such a scenario can occur in various situations, such as if the user is hiking along a circular path. In the illustrated scenario, the wireless device may have cellular service available at both time T-1 and T-2, but not at the current time. Although the wireless device most recently had cellular service available at time T-1, its location at time T-2 could be closer to its current location.

[0083] In some implementations, identifying the most recent and / or most recent location where cellular service is available for a wireless device may include utilizing historical cellular connection information from the wireless device itself and / or accompanying devices capable of obtaining cellular connectivity. As another possible approach, in some implementations, estimated cellular service availability location information from aggregated crowdsourced information may be used to determine the most recent location where cellular service is available.

[0084] It should be noted that the location of available cellular service identified and indicated by the wireless device may include either or both of emergency cellular service available locations and normal cellular service available locations.

[0085] Therefore, in various implementations, any one or all of the following can be identified and indicated: the most recent known or estimated location of normal cellular service availability, the most recent known or estimated location of emergency cellular service availability, the most recent known or estimated location of normal cellular service availability, and / or the most recent estimated location of emergency cellular service availability. It should be noted that in various scenarios, it is possible that multiple (and possibly all) of these conditions are met by the same location, or different locations may be identified as meeting various of these conditions. Providing more options, at least in some implementations, gives users greater flexibility to determine their preferred option based on their specific circumstances.

[0086] To identify such locations, wireless devices may be configured to monitor changes in cellular availability on the device and log changes as they occur (e.g., write to / log an event log). For example, events may include information such as previous and current device registration status, device type, and timestamps of state transitions. In some implementations, events may also include location information (e.g., latitude / longitude) for identifying the location where a change in cellular availability has occurred. Registration status can be selected from a set of configured options, such as data available, emergency voice only, airplane mode, or no connection. Depending on the implementation, these events may be logged by a cellular or wireless connectivity manager entity, or by any of a variety of other possible entities running on the wireless device.

[0087] These events may be relayed internally (and / or possibly externally, for example, to a companion or accessory device paired with the wireless device), such as to an application capable of presenting information to a user via one or more user interface elements. The receiver (e.g., the application) can use this information to determine where to present the indication identified via one or more user interface elements. Such indications may be presented when a cellular event switches from a registered state deemed fully available to an unavailable state, and / or based on any of a variety of other possible triggers. Similarly, such indications may no longer be presented when a cellular event switches from a registered state deemed unavailable to a registered state deemed fully available, and / or based on any of a variety of other possible triggers.

[0088] It should be noted that the indication of the most recent or most recent cellular service location can potentially be provided by any of a variety of possible applications running on the wireless device. For example, such indication could be provided by a compass or map application (e.g., to assist the user in active navigation), and / or by any of a variety of other applications that utilize cellular connectivity (e.g., in response to a user attempting to use the application for cellular connectivity when cellular service is unavailable), potentially including voice and video calling applications, web browser applications, gaming applications, music or video streaming applications, social media applications, etc.

[0089] Figures 7 to 10 Examples of various possible ways in which a compass application can provide indications according to various implementation schemes are illustrated. For example... Figure 7 As shown, as one possibility, visual indicators can be overlaid on a compass display screen that shows the approximate distance and direction from the wireless device's current location to the nearest or most recent cellular service location. Figure 8The use of a similar visual indication superimposed on a compass display screen is illustrated, which shows the approximate distance and direction from the wireless device's current location to the location of the most recent or most recent emergency (SOS) cellular service. Figure 9 Examples of possible text displays for the most recent (last) normal and emergency cellular service locations are shown, including the latitude and longitude coordinates of these locations. Such text displays can be used directly by the user, and / or can be used to select indicators to be displayed on the compass overlay, such as... Figure 7 or Figure 8 As shown in one of them. Figure 10 Another possible display screen is illustrated, which provides the user with the option to select the location indicators to be displayed on the compass overlay (such as...). Figure 7 or Figure 8 (as shown) and / or the option to select the location where you want to get more details (such as...) Figure 9 (As shown).

[0090] Many other types of user interface options are also possible. As some examples, the application may provide visual indications on the map overlay, audio indications (e.g., audible indications including the latitude and longitude coordinates of the most recent or most recent cellular service location, audible indications of the direction and distance to the most recent or most recent cellular service location, etc.), text notifications generated in response to user activities that require cellular service (e.g., as a possibility, attempting to initiate a voice call), and / or any of a variety of other types of indications.

[0091] It should be noted that, at least in some implementations, users can control which applications on a wireless device can receive event information and / or associated location information related to cellular service availability, for example, by setting it according to the user's privacy preferences.

[0092] Changes in cellular availability of wireless devices can be monitored and recorded in any of a variety of ways. In some implementations, cellular availability monitoring and recording can be performed in combination, taking into account a variety of possible conditions and scenarios, enabling the recording of events that more accurately reflect when wireless devices can use cellular service and when they cannot. Such conditions and scenarios may include using low-power mode (e.g., where the baseband can be actively turned off to save battery power), devices with multiple Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) (such as dual-SIM phones), devices whose companion devices (e.g., smartwatches paired with smartphones) may or may not be able to connect to the cellular network, using airplane mode (e.g., where cellular service can be manually disabled regardless of its availability), and so on.

[0093] Figure 11This is a flowchart illustrating one possible example method for determining the SIM network registration status of a wireless device's SIM according to some implementation schemes. In the illustrated scenario, when the network status on the wireless device's SIM changes, the Communications Center (“CommCenter”) daemon 1102 can provide a notification to the Wireless Component Manager (“WRM”) daemon 1104. At 1106, the WRM daemon can determine whether the device is in airplane mode. If in airplane mode, the WRM daemon can determine that the SIM network registration status is airplane mode 1116. If not in airplane mode, the SIM network registration status can be “Unknown” 1108 by default. If the registration status is “Home” or “Registered for Roaming”, the SIM network registration status can be “Serviced” 1110. If the registration status is “Emergency Only” and an SOS user interface is available in the wireless device's location (e.g., country), the SIM network registration status can be “SOS” 1112. If the registration status is "Emergency Only" and the SOS user interface is not available at the location of the wireless device, or if the registration status is "Rejected", "Searching" or "Unknown", the SIM network registration status can be "No Service" 1114.

[0094] For multi-SIM devices, the SIM network registration status of each SIM may be considered to determine the device's network registration status. In some implementations, for example, if any SIM is in airplane mode (e.g., if the device is in airplane mode), the device's network registration status may be considered airplane mode. If at least one SIM is in a served state, the device's network registration status may be served. If no SIM is in a served state and at least one SIM is in an SOS state, the device's network registration status may be SOS. If no SIM is in a served or SOS state and at least one SIM is in an unserved state, the device's network registration status may be unserved. If all SIMs are in an unknown state, the device's network registration status may be unknown. Therefore, as an example, if a user has two SIMs belonging to different operators, and if there are frequent availability transitions on one SIM while the other SIM has data availability throughout, it may fall under the category of no events being logged. It should be noted that other device network registration status mappings based on the SIM network registration status of multiple SIMs of a wireless device are also possible.

[0095] As previously noted, wireless devices may be able to record changes in device network registration status. This could include logging events into an internal data stream when the current device network registration status differs from a previous state. In scenarios with paired devices, at any given moment, only the master device may log these device network registration status change events. As an example, for a paired phone and watch, it's possible that when the watch is paired with the phone, the phone is considered the master device, but when the watch operates in standalone mode, it can also be considered the master device.

[0096] As previously noted, it is possible to include location information (e.g., the latitude and longitude of the wireless device at the time of the event) along with such events, for example, to improve the accuracy and reduce latency of applications using internal data streams to present indications of the most recent or most recent cellular service available location. Alternatively, such events may not include location information, in which case applications using internal data streams to present indications of the most recent or most recent cellular service available location can separately obtain the location information of the event in the internal data stream to associate the location information with these events, thereby presenting an indication of the most recent or most recent cellular service available location. This approach may potentially come at a cost in terms of accuracy and latency, but allows for more precise control / implementation of user privacy preferences regarding which applications on the wireless device can use which information.

[0097] It should be noted that, in cases where devices are paired or otherwise associated, these events may be extracted from one device to another via an internal data stream, for example, provided that appropriate permissions have been configured (e.g., the devices are all associated with the same user account and the user has explicitly authorized such transmission, which is one possible scenario).

[0098] In some implementations, the device registration status list may include any of a variety of additional or alternative information; for example, the list of possible statuses may be expanded to take into account different cellular quality metrics and support statuses such as roaming, voice only, etc.

[0099] For devices operating in low-power mode, the baseband may be intentionally turned off to conserve battery power for some or all of the time. For example, in this mode, it's possible that the device connects to cellular service once per hour for two minutes, and the baseband remains off for the rest of the time unless the user actively launches an application that requires a data connection. Therefore, at least in some implementations, it may be beneficial to avoid logging "no connectivity" or "no service" events when the device is manually switched to low-power mode, as the device may not actually be unable to access cellular service at this time, but is simply turning off the baseband to conserve battery power.

[0100] In some cases, during such low-power modes and / or at other times, information crowdsourced / collected (e.g., with user consent) from other wireless devices can be used to estimate cellular service availability locations. For example, in some implementations, device network registration status change events can be aggregated by the device vendor or network operator to identify one or more estimated cellular service availability locations near the wireless device when it is in low-power mode. Depending on various implementations, such cellular service availability locations can be estimated using information from devices of the same type as the wireless device or from a broader group of wireless devices.

[0101] Further exemplary implementations are provided below.

[0102] One set of implementations may include a method comprising: a wireless device: receiving cellular connection event information; determining, at least in part, the most recent cellular service available location of the wireless device based on the cellular connection event information; and presenting an indication of the most recent cellular service available location via one or more user interface elements, wherein the most recent cellular service available location is different from the most recent cellular service available location.

[0103] According to some implementation schemes, for each of one or more cellular connection events, the cellular connection event information indicates: the timestamp of the cellular connection event; the cellular service availability status before the cellular connection event; and the cellular service availability status after the cellular connection event.

[0104] According to some implementation schemes, for each of the one or more cellular connection events, the cellular connection event information also indicates the associated location of the cellular connection event.

[0105] According to some implementations, the method further includes: receiving location history information of the wireless device; and for each of the one or more cellular connection events, determining the location of the wireless device at the timestamp of the cellular connection event.

[0106] According to some implementations, the method further includes: receiving network registration status information of a first user identity module (SIM) of a wireless device; and generating cellular connection event information based at least in part on the network registration status information of the first SIM of the wireless device.

[0107] According to some implementations, the method further includes: receiving network registration status information of a second user identity module (SIM) of a wireless device; and generating cellular connection event information based at least in part on the network registration status information of the second SIM of the wireless device.

[0108] According to some implementation schemes, the generation of cellular connection event information is also based, at least in part, on whether the wireless device is in low-power mode or airplane mode.

[0109] According to some implementations, the method further includes: determining that the wireless device and the companion wireless device are paired wireless devices; determining that the companion wireless device is the master device among the paired wireless devices; receiving cellular connection event information from the companion wireless device based at least in part on the fact that the companion wireless device is the master device among the paired wireless devices; and determining not to generate cellular connection event information based at least in part on the fact that the companion wireless device is the master device among the paired wireless devices.

[0110] Another set of embodiments may include a wireless device comprising: an antenna; a radio component coupled to the antenna; and a processor operatively coupled to the radio component; wherein the wireless device is configured to: receive cellular connection event information; determine one or more possible cellular service available locations based at least in part on the cellular connection event information; determine the most recent cellular service available location among the one or more possible cellular service available locations; and present an indication of the most recent cellular service available location via one or more user interface elements, wherein the most recent cellular service available location is different from the most recent cellular service available location.

[0111] According to some implementation schemes, for each cellular connection event in one or more cellular connection events, the cellular connection event information indicates: a timestamp of the change in cellular service availability status; the cellular service availability status before the change; and the cellular service availability status after the change.

[0112] According to some implementation schemes, the cellular service availability state is selected from a set of possible cellular service availability states, which includes at least: in service; emergency service; no service; and flight mode.

[0113] According to some implementation schemes, the wireless device is also configured to: receive network registration status information from one or more Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) of the wireless device; and generate cellular connection event information based at least in part on the network registration status information of the one or more SIMs of the wireless device.

[0114] According to some implementations, the wireless device is also configured to: determine that the wireless device is in a low-power mode without cellular service; and, based at least in part on the fact that the wireless device is in a low-power mode without cellular service, use crowdsourced cellular connection event information to estimate whether cellular service is available at the current location of the wireless device.

[0115] According to some implementation schemes, the wireless device is also configured to: establish a wireless link with a companion wireless device; and receive cellular connection event information from the companion wireless device via the wireless link with the companion wireless device.

[0116] Another set of embodiments may include an apparatus comprising: a processor configured to cause a wireless device to: determine network registration status information of one or more Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) of the wireless device; generate cellular connection event information based at least in part on the network registration status information of the one or more SIMs of the wireless device; determine that the wireless device is unable to use cellular service; estimate the most recent cellular service available location based at least in part on the cellular connection event information; and present an indication of the most recent cellular service available location via one or more user interface elements, wherein the most recent cellular service available location is different from the most recent cellular service available location.

[0117] According to some implementation schemes, for each of one or more cellular connection events, the cellular connection event information indicates: the timestamp of the cellular connection event; the cellular service availability status before the cellular connection event; and the cellular service availability status after the cellular connection event.

[0118] According to some implementation schemes, the cellular service availability state is selected from a set of possible cellular service availability states, which includes at least: in service; emergency service; no service; and flight mode.

[0119] According to some implementation schemes, for each of the one or more cellular connection events, the cellular connection event information also indicates the associated location of the cellular connection event.

[0120] According to some implementation schemes, the wireless device includes multiple SIMs, wherein the processor is further configured to enable the wireless device to: determine a combined network registration status of the multiple SIMs of the wireless device based at least in part on network registration status information of each of the multiple SIMs of the wireless device, wherein cellular connection event information is generated based at least in part on the combined network registration status.

[0121] According to some implementations, the processor is also configured to enable the wireless device to: establish a wireless link with the adjacent wireless device; and provide cellular connection event information to the adjacent wireless device via the wireless link with the adjacent wireless device.

[0122] Another exemplary implementation may include a method comprising: performing any or all of the foregoing examples by a wireless device.

[0123] Another exemplary embodiment may include a device comprising: an antenna; a radio component coupled to the antenna; and a processing element operatively coupled to the radio component, wherein the device is configured to implement any or all of the foregoing examples.

[0124] Another set of exemplary embodiments may include a non-transitory computer-accessible memory medium that includes program instructions that, when executed at the device, cause the device to implement any or all of the foregoing examples.

[0125] Another set of exemplary embodiments may include a computer program that includes instructions for performing any or all portions of any of the examples in the foregoing examples.

[0126] Another set of exemplary embodiments may include an apparatus comprising components for performing any or all of the elements of any of the examples in the foregoing examples.

[0127] Another set of exemplary embodiments may include an apparatus that includes a processing element configured to cause a wireless device to perform any or all of the elements of any of the foregoing examples.

[0128] As is widely recognized, the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and measures that are generally accepted to meet or exceed industry or governmental requirements for protecting user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

[0129] By interpreting each message / signal X received by the user equipment (UE) in the downlink as a message / signal X sent by the base station, and interpreting each message / signal Y sent by the UE in the uplink as a message / signal Y received by the base station, any of the methods described herein for operating the UE can serve as the basis for a corresponding method for operating the base station.

[0130] Embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of forms. For example, in some embodiments, the subject matter may be implemented as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable storage medium, or a computer system. In other embodiments, the subject matter may be implemented using one or more custom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs. In still other embodiments, the subject matter may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs.

[0131] In some implementations, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory memory element) may be configured to store program instructions and / or data, wherein if these program instructions are executed by a computer system, the computer system performs a method, such as any method implementation of the method implementations described herein, or any combination of method implementations described herein, or any subset of any method implementations described herein, or any combination of such subsets.

[0132] In some implementations, the device (e.g., UE) may be configured to include a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium (or memory element), wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, and the processor is configured to read from and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement any method implementation (or any combination of method implementations described herein, or any subset of any method implementations described herein, or any combination of such subsets) of the various method implementations described herein. The device may be implemented in any of the various forms.

[0133] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, many variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully understood. It is intended that the following claims be construed as encompassing all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A method, the method comprising: By wireless devices: Receive cellular connection event information; The nearest location where cellular service is available for the wireless device is determined, at least in part, based on the cellular connection event information. as well as An indication of the most recent cellular service available location is presented via one or more user interface elements, wherein the most recent cellular service available location is different from the most recent cellular service available location.

2. The method according to claim 1, For each of one or more cellular connection events, the cellular connection event information indicates: The timestamp of the cellular connection event; The cellular service availability status prior to the cellular connection event; and The cellular service availability status following the cellular connection event.

3. The method according to claim 2, For each of the one or more cellular connection events, the cellular connection event information further indicates: The associated location of the cellular connection event.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the method further comprises: Receive the location history information of the wireless device; as well as For each of the one or more cellular connection events, determine the location of the wireless device at the timestamp of the cellular connection event.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: Receive network registration status information from the first SIM module of the wireless device; as well as The cellular connection event information is generated at least in part based on the network registration status information of the first SIM of the wireless device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the method further comprises: Receive network registration status information from the second user identity module (SIM) of the wireless device; as well as The cellular connection event information is also generated at least in part based on the network registration status information of the second SIM of the wireless device.

7. The method according to claim 5, The generation of the cellular connection event information is also based, at least in part, on whether the wireless device is in either low-power mode or flight mode.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: It is determined that the wireless device and the accompanying wireless device are paired wireless devices; It is determined that the paired wireless device is the master device among the paired wireless devices; The cellular connection event information is received from the paired wireless device, at least in part, based on the fact that the paired wireless device is the master device among the paired wireless devices. as well as The determination not to generate cellular connection event information is based at least in part on the fact that the companion wireless device is the master device in the paired wireless devices.

9. A wireless device, the wireless device comprising: antenna; A radio component, the radio component being coupled to the antenna; and A processor, the processor being operatively coupled to the radio component; The wireless device is configured as follows: Receive cellular connection event information; One or more possible locations where cellular service is available are determined, at least in part, based on the cellular connection event information; Determine the nearest cellular service available location among the one or more possible cellular service available locations; as well as An indication of the most recent cellular service available location is presented via one or more user interface elements, wherein the most recent cellular service available location is different from the most recent cellular service available location.

10. The wireless device according to claim 9, For each of one or more cellular connection events, the cellular connection event information indicates: Timestamp indicating a change in cellular service availability status; The cellular service availability status prior to the change in cellular service availability status; and The cellular service availability status after the change.

11. The wireless device of claim 10, wherein the cellular service availability state is selected from a set of possible cellular service availability states, the set including at least: Service in progress; Emergency services; No service; and Flight mode.

12. The wireless device of claim 9, wherein the wireless device is further configured to: Receive network registration status information of one or more SIM modules of the wireless device; and The cellular connection event information is generated at least in part based on the network registration status information of the one or more SIMs of the wireless device.

13. The wireless device of claim 9, wherein the wireless device is further configured to: It is determined that the wireless device is in a low-power mode without cellular service; and At least in part, based on the fact that the wireless device is in the low-power mode without cellular service, crowdsourced cellular connection event information is used to estimate whether cellular service is available at the current location of the wireless device.

14. The wireless device of claim 9, wherein the wireless device is further configured to: Establish wireless links with supporting wireless equipment; and The cellular connection event information is received from the accompanying wireless device via the wireless link with the accompanying wireless device.

15. An apparatus comprising: Processor, the processor being configured to enable the wireless device to: Determine the network registration status information of one or more SIM modules of the wireless device; Cellular connection event information is generated based at least in part on the network registration status information of the one or more SIMs of the wireless device; It was determined that the wireless device was unable to use cellular service; The location of the nearest available cellular service is estimated, at least in part, based on the cellular connection event information. as well as An indication of the most recent cellular service available location is presented via one or more user interface elements, wherein the most recent cellular service available location is different from the most recent cellular service available location.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, For each of one or more cellular connection events, the cellular connection event information indicates: The timestamp of the cellular connection event; The cellular service availability status prior to the cellular connection event; and The cellular service availability status following the cellular connection event.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the cellular service availability state is selected from a set of possible cellular service availability states, the set including at least: Service in progress; Emergency services; No service; and Flight mode.

18. The apparatus according to claim 16, For each of the one or more cellular connection events, the cellular connection event information further indicates: The associated location of the cellular connection event.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the wireless device comprises a plurality of SIMs, and wherein the processor is further configured to cause the wireless device to: The combined network registration status of the plurality of SIMs of the wireless device is determined at least in part based on the network registration status information of each of the plurality of SIMs of the wireless device. The cellular connection event information is generated at least in part based on the combined network registration status.

20. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the wireless device to: Establish a wireless link with the adjacent wireless device; and The cellular connection event information is provided to the accessory wireless device via the wireless link with the accessory wireless device.

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