Mobile Device Location Logging for Last-Known Position Retrieval
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users face challenges in determining the last known location of their mobile electronic devices, which can be misplaced, lost, or stolen, as current methods lack an adequate means to track their geographic location.
Innovation Solution
A user-portable electronic device equipped with transmission connection circuitry, geographic-location determining circuitry, and log circuitry to establish connections with mobile devices, determine their geographic locations, and store a geographic-location log, allowing users to retrieve the last known location of these devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If no location tracking system is implemented, then the device remains simple and inexpensive, but users cannot determine the last known location of mobile electronic devices
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a location server as an intermediary component that receives location information from mobile electronic devices and makes it accessible to user-portable devices. This mediator handles the complex tasks of location tracking, storage, and retrieval, allowing the user-portable device to query location data without implementing its own complex tracking system. The server acts as a centralized repository that simplifies the architecture while enabling location tracking functionality.
2Reliability
If continuous location tracking is implemented, then users can always know device location, but energy consumption and system resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic location updates rather than continuous tracking. The mobile electronic device transmits its location information to the location server at predetermined intervals or when specific conditions are met (such as when the device is connected to a network). This periodic approach maintains reliable location tracking while significantly reducing energy consumption compared to continuous monitoring, as the device's location tracking components remain inactive between update periods.
3Ease of operation
If location data is stored locally in the user-portable device, then access is fast and simple, but storage space is consumed and remote access is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The location server provides a universal access point that serves multiple functions: it stores location data, enables local access through the user-portable device, and facilitates remote access via network connections. The server's database can be queried by any authorized device with network access, making the location information universally accessible regardless of the user's physical location. This multi-functional approach eliminates the trade-off between local storage simplicity and remote access capability.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a user-portable electronic device and in particular one which is capable of establishing transmission connection with one or more mobile electronic devices. A user-portable electronic device comprising transmission connection circuitry arranged to establish transmission connection between the user-portable electronic device and one or more mobile electronic devices; geographic-location determining circuitry arranged to determine a geographic location of the or each mobile electronic device associated with transmission connection of the user-portable electronic device and the or each mobile electronic device; and log circuitry arranged to allow storage of a geographic-location log including at least a last-known geographic location of the or each mobile electronic device.