Shared GPS Location for Emergency Calls From Non-GPS Mobiles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mobile computing devices without GPS capabilities face challenges in determining their location accurately, leading to incorrect routing of emergency calls to distant PSAPs, as they rely on recorded home locations that may be outdated or inaccurate.
Innovation Solution
Utilizing a smartphone with GPS capabilities registered under the same account to provide current location data to a mobile computing device without GPS, through direct queries or third-party applications, ensuring accurate location information is recorded and transmitted to the telephony service provider for emergency calls.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a mobile computing device without GPS capabilities uses recorded home location data, then the device can make emergency calls, but the location accuracy deteriorates leading to incorrect PSAP routing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a second mobile computing device with GPS capabilities as an intermediary to provide location data to the first device without GPS. The GPS-capable device acts as a mediator that bridges the location determination gap, allowing the non-GPS device to access accurate location information through inter-device communication.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the GPS-capable device serve multiple functions: it acts as both a standalone emergency calling device and as a location provider for other devices. By enabling the GPS device to share its location capabilities with non-GPS devices, the system achieves multi-functionality where one device supports both its own emergency calling and assists other devices.
2Device complexity
If a mobile computing device relies on recorded home location, then device complexity is reduced, but adaptability deteriorates when the device moves from home location
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces a GPS-capable device as an intermediary that provides dynamic location information to non-GPS devices. This mediator approach allows non-GPS devices to maintain simplicity while adapting to different locations through the intermediary's location data.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary location determination using the GPS-capable device before the emergency call is made. By obtaining location data in advance through the GPS device, the system prepares accurate location information ready for PSAP routing, eliminating the need for complex real-time location determination at the moment of emergency.
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If telephony service provider uses cellular base station triangulation, then location determination is possible without GPS, but measurement precision deteriorates to a relatively small geographical area
Solution Approach 1:
The patent copies the precise location capability from the GPS-capable device to the non-GPS device through data sharing. Instead of relying on imprecise cellular triangulation, the system replicates the accurate GPS location information across devices, allowing the non-GPS device to benefit from copied location precision.
Data Source
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AI summary
A telephony software application on a first mobile computing device requests information about the present location of the first mobile computing device from a remote server. The remote server obtains information about the present location of a second mobile computing device that is located proximate to the first mobile computing device from the second mobile computing device. The remote server then provides the obtained location data to the first mobile computing device. This process may repeat at periodic time intervals.