Ad-Hoc Location Sharing for GPS-Less Mobile Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile communication devices often lack the capability to provide accurate location information, especially in emergency situations, as not all devices are equipped with GPS receivers, and existing methods like triangulation from cell towers may not be sufficiently accurate or reliable.
Innovation Solution
The technology enables mobile devices to form an ad-hoc network using short-range radio transceivers to share and broadcast location information, allowing devices without GPS to determine their location by requesting and receiving location data from neighboring devices equipped with GPS or other positioning systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If mobile devices use triangulation from cell towers to determine location, then location information can be obtained for devices without GPS, but the measurement precision is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses neighboring mobile devices as intermediaries to relay location information. Instead of directly measuring location from cell towers, the system broadcasts location requests through the mobile device network, and responding devices provide their known location data as intermediary information to help determine the original device's position with higher precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system combines multiple location determination approaches: GPS data from devices with receivers, cell tower triangulation data, and wireless network access point location information. By merging these different data sources and using broadcast requests to aggregate information from multiple neighboring devices, the system achieves improved measurement precision while maintaining reliability for devices without GPS.
2Reliability
If mobile devices broadcast emergency location requests to neighboring devices, then location information can be obtained for devices without GPS, but the use of energy increases due to radio transceiver operations
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic broadcasting of emergency location requests at controlled intervals rather than continuous transmission. The mobile device broadcasts requests and waits for responses from neighboring devices, using periodic action to balance the need for location information against energy conservation, only activating the radio transceiver when location determination is needed.
Solution Approach 2:
Neighboring mobile devices that receive location requests use their own GPS receivers and location data to respond to requests from other devices. This self-service approach allows devices with GPS to contribute their location information without requiring the requesting device to have GPS, reducing the energy burden on the emergency device while maintaining reliability.
3Measurement precision
If mobile devices form an ad-hoc network to share location information, then measurement precision improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal location determination system where mobile devices perform multiple functions: they can act as requesters, responders, and relays within the ad-hoc network. The same software module and radio transceiver infrastructure handle both normal communication and emergency location requests, reducing the need for specialized hardware and minimizing the increase in device complexity while achieving improved measurement precision through networked collaboration.
Data Source
AI summary
An emergency locator component for a mobile communication device enables the mobile communication device to obtain location information from other neighboring mobile devices in the event that the mobile communication device is unable to determine its own location. The mobile communication device employs a short-range radiofrequency transceiver to broadcast a request for location information to the neighboring mobile devices. A response containing location information may be received from another mobile device equipped with a similar emergency locator component. Accordingly, this technology enables mobile devices to exchange location information by setting up an ad-hoc network. The location information can be included, for example, in an emergency phone call to an emergency services call center.