Area Watcher Wireless Location Monitoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing solutions for location services in the wireless industry, such as those defined by the Location Interoperability Forum, Wireless Application Protocol Forum, and 3GPP, do not effectively support area watching features, which are essential for providing location-based services and notifications to wireless devices when they enter or exit specific geographic areas.
Innovation Solution
A subscriber feature in a wireless system that associates a wireless device with at least one geographic area, triggering a message upon entry or exit from the defined area, utilizing a database and location monitoring to deliver location information to third parties, with options for continuous polling, device-initiated location updates, or network-determined location reporting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If existing location service APIs (LIF, WAP, 3GPP) are used, then standardization is achieved, but area watching functionality is not supported
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the location service into distinct functional components: a database for storing geographic area definitions, an area watcher for monitoring location changes, and a message delivery system. This segmentation enables area watching functionality while maintaining compatibility with existing standardized APIs by implementing the area watching logic as a separate functional layer.
Solution Approach 2:
The area watcher acts as an intermediary component between the wireless device and the message delivery system. It receives location information from the device, compares it against defined geographic areas in the database, and triggers appropriate messages when entry or exit is detected, thereby enabling area watching without modifying the core standardized APIs.
2Loss of time
If continuous location monitoring is implemented, then timely area entry/exit detection is achieved, but network loading increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of continuous monitoring, the system implements periodic location updates where wireless devices transmit their location information at scheduled intervals or when significant location changes are detected. This periodic action reduces network traffic while still enabling timely detection of area entry and exit events through the area watcher's comparison logic.
Solution Approach 2:
The wireless devices autonomously manage their own location reporting by determining when to update their location information based on their movement patterns and the defined geographic areas. The devices self-regulate the monitoring frequency to balance timely detection with network resource consumption, reducing the need for continuous network-initiated polling.
Data Source
AI summary
Dynamic and current information is provided regarding a wireless device's entry into or exit from a geographically defined “watched” area. An area watcher application monitors preconfigured wireless devices entry/exit into preconfigured watched areas. The watched areas may watch for any/all subscribers, or for select, preconfigured subscribers listed in an appropriate table or database. Provision of location information is triggered by a wireless subscriber's entry, exit or changing between designated ‘watched’ areas or locations. Continuous polling may be used, or the mobile device itself or network element may be triggered to push its own location upon notification of its entry into or out of watched areas from an area watcher. A third party may be notified when a wireless user enters an area surrounding their retail store, and be sent a message such as “sale inside”, or “Your rentals are overdue”, on their wireless device.