Mobile Device Location Data Upload Optimization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional location-based services face inefficiencies in uploading location data, leading to high cellular data usage and redundant data transmission, which increases costs and resource consumption.
Innovation Solution
A system and method where mobile devices cache location data for deferred uploading, utilizing opportunistic transports like WiFi when available, and performing redundancy checks against locally stored subsets of the location database to transmit only non-redundant data, thereby reducing data usage and optimizing resource allocation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If location data is uploaded continuously using cellular network, then location database is kept updated, but cellular data usage increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by caching location data locally in the mobile device before uploading. The mobile device collects and stores location data in a local cache, then uploads cached data to the location server when opportunistic transport becomes available, rather than continuously uploading via cellular network.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism - the local cache in the mobile device - that acts as a buffer between location data collection and upload to the location server. This cache allows data to be stored locally and transferred later via opportunistic transport, mediating between continuous data generation and periodic uploads.
2Reliability
If all collected location data is transmitted to the location server, then the location database remains current, but redundant data transmission increases costs
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and removes redundant data from the upload process. The mobile device compares cached location data with a subset of the location database stored locally, identifies data that is already present in the database, and excludes this redundant data from the upload, transmitting only non-redundant data to the location server.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of transmitting all cached location data, the system performs a partial action by selectively uploading only the non-redundant portion of the data. The mobile device determines which cached data entries are not already present in the location database and uploads only those specific entries, avoiding excessive transmission of duplicate information.
3Loss of energy
If mobile devices use opportunistic transport like WiFi for data upload, then data usage costs are reduced, but upload availability becomes intermittent
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by caching location data locally in the mobile device before upload opportunities arise. The mobile device continuously collects and stores location data in its cache, so that when opportunistic transport (WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.) becomes available, data is already ready for immediate upload without requiring real-time network availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the mobile device monitors the availability of opportunistic transport and adjusts its upload behavior accordingly. When opportunistic transport becomes available, the device initiates upload; when unavailable, it continues caching data locally. The device also receives feedback from the location server about successful uploads and updates its local database subset accordingly.
Data Source
AI summary
A mobile device may be operable to collect location data for a RF node and cache the collected location data in the mobile device. Resources that may be utilized for improving the uploading of the cached location data to a location server may be determined by the mobile device. The cached location data may be communicated, to the location server for updating a location database, by the mobile device utilizing the determined resources. The mobile device may determine and utilize an opportunistic transport based on a data usage and/or an access. The mobile device may store a subset of the location database locally for comparing with the cached location data for redundancy. The compared location data may be transmitted by the mobile device to the location server for updating the location database if the compared location data are not redundant data.