as) United States
`a2) Patent Application Publication 10) Pub. No.: US 2006/0234725 Al
`
` Litwin (43) Pub. Date: Oct. 19, 2006
`
`
`US 20060234725A1
`
`(54) CELLUAR BASED LOCATION OF
`WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORKS
`
`Publication Classification
`
`(76)
`
`Inventor: Louis Robert Litwin, Plainsboro, NJ
`(US)
`
`Correspondence Address:
`THOMSON LICENSING INC.
`PATENT OPERATIONS
`PO BOX 5312
`PRINCETON, NJ 08543-5312 (US)
`
`(21) Appl. No.:
`
`10/567,677
`
`(22) PCT Filed:
`
`(86) PCT No.:
`
`Aug. 22, 2003
`
`PCT/US03/26464
`
`(51)
`
`Int. Cl.
`(2006.01)
`H04Q 7/20
`(52) US. Ch. ciccecccceseneeneeeees 455/456.2; 455/456.1
`
`(57)
`ABSTRACT
`A methodfor locating a wireless local area network WLAN
`transmitting a request to a wireless service provider of a
`wireless network for a location of the wireless local area
`network (WLAN), and receiving from the wireless service
`provider the location of the wireless local area network
`(WLAN). An apparatus includes a wireless transceiver for
`transmitting and receiving communication over a wireless
`network, and a controller for processing a request for a
`location of a wireless local area network WLANand pro-
`cessing receiving from over the wireless network the loca-
`
`tion of the wireless local area network WLAN. MOBILE DEVICE TRANSMIT
`
`WLAN LOCATION REQUEST TO
`WIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDER
`
`SERVICE PROVIDER DETERMINES
`WIRELESS SERVICE AREA MOBILE
`DEVICE COMMUNICATING FROM
`
`SERVICE PROVIDER COMPARES
`WIRELESS SERVICE AREA AGAINST
`WLAN LOCATION DATABASE
`
`SERVICE PROVIDER TRANSMITS
`KNOWN WLAN LOCATIONS TO
`MOBILE DEVICE
`
`1
`
`APPLE 1024
`
`APPLE 1024
`
`1
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Oct. 19,2006 Sheet 1 of 2
`
`US 2006/0234725 Al
`
`LOCATION
`
`BASE
`
`
`
`
`
`STATION
`DATABASE
`
`
`
`
`
`
`WIRELESS
`WIRELESS
`
`BASEBAND
`
`TRANSCEIVER
`
`CIRCUITRY
`
`
`
`
`
`
`WLAN
`
`BASEBAND
`CIRCUITRY
`
`214
`
`CONTROLLER
`
`WLAN
`LOCATION
`
`i oe
`
`2
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Oct. 19,2006 Sheet 2 of 2
`
`US 2006/0234725 Al
`
`31
`
`MOBILE DEVICE TRANSMIT
`WLAN LOCATION REQUEST TO
`WIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDER
`
`
`
`
`SERVICE PROVIDER DETERMINES
`
`WIRELESS SERVICE AREA MOBILE
`DEVICE COMMUNICATING FROM
`
`
`
`SERVICE PROVIDER COMPARES
`WIRELESS SERVICE AREA AGAINST
`
`
`
`WLAN LOCATION DATABASE
`
`
`
`SERVICE PROVIDER TRANSMITS
`KNOWN WLAN LOCATIONS TO
`
`MOBILE DEVICE
`
`33
`
`35
`
`47
`
`FIG. 3
`
`3
`
`

`

`US 2006/0234725 Al
`
`Oct. 19, 2006
`
`CELLUAR BASED LOCATION OF WIRELESS
`LOCAL AREA NETWORKS
`
`invention, briefly summarized above, may be had byrefer-
`ence to the embodiments thereof which areillustrated in the
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`[0001]
`
`1. Field of the Invention
`
`[0002] The present invention generally relates to commu-
`nication systems and, more particularly, to cellular based
`locating of a wireless local area network.
`
`[0003]
`
`2. Description of the Related Art
`
`[0004] Presently, 2.5 generation (2.5G) and third genera-
`tion (3G) cellular networks can provide wireless data ser-
`vice, such as wireless Internet service, having data rates up
`to 2 Mbps. Onthe other hand, wireless local area networks
`(WLANs), such as IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, and Hip-
`erLAN/2 wireless networks, for example, can provide data
`service with rates higher than 10 Mbps. WLANservice is
`also typically cheaper to implementthan cellular service due
`to the use of unlicensed frequency bands by WLANs. As
`such,it is desirable to switch from cellular service to WLAN
`service when a mobile device is within the service area of a
`WLAN. Switching between cellular service and WLAN
`service can provide for optimal utilization of the available
`spectrum, and can reduce the burden on cellular networks
`during times of peak activity.
`
`[0005] Acommonproblem for users with WLAN-enabled
`mobile devices, such as cell phones, PDAs, etc., is how to
`locate nearby public WLANhotspots. Thus, there is a need
`for aiding the user in finding WLANlocations.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`[0006] A methodfor locating a wireless local area network
`WLANincludes transmitting a request to a wireless service
`provider of a wireless network for a location of a wireless
`local area network (WLAN)and receiving from the wireless
`service provider the location of the wireless local area
`network (WLAN). Preferably, after the step of transmitting
`the wireless service provider determines a wireless service
`area from which the transmitting originated and the wireless
`service provider obtains the location of the wireless local
`area network WLANbased on the wireless service area.
`Preferably,
`the wireless network is a cellular telephone
`network.
`
`In accordance with another aspect of the invention
`[0007]
`an apparatus includesa wireless transceiver for transmitting
`and receiving communication over a wireless network; and
`a controller for processing a request over the wireless
`network for a location of a wireless local area network
`WLANandprocessing receiving over the wireless network
`the location of the wireless local area network WLAN.
`Preferably, the apparatus further includes wireless local area
`network WLANbasebandcircuitry for communicating over
`a WLAN.In one embodiment, the controller processes the
`request for the location of the wireless local area network
`WLANbased on a user provided location.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`So that the manner in which the above recited
`[0008]
`features of the present invention are attained and can be
`understood in detail, a more particular description of the
`
`appended drawings.
`
`the appended
`that
`is to be noted, however,
`It
`[0009]
`drawingsillustrate only typical embodiments of this inven-
`tion and are therefore not to be considered limiting ofits
`scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective
`embodiments.
`
`[0010] FIG. 1 depicts a communication system in accor-
`dance with the present invention;
`
`FIG.2 depicts a high-level block diagram showing
`[0011]
`one embodiment of a mobile device in accordance with the
`present invention; and
`
`[0012] FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram showing one
`embodiment of a method for cellular based locating of a
`WLAN.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`[0013] The present invention is a method and apparatus
`for cellular based locating of a wireless local area network
`(WLAN). Thepresent invention will be described within the
`context of communications between a mobile device and a
`wireless network for the purposes of informing the mobile
`device user of a WLANlocation knownto a service provider
`for the wireless network. An exemplary mobile device and
`wireless network are a cell phone and a cellular network.
`Those skilled in the art, however, will appreciate that the
`present invention can be advantageously employed in any
`communication device that is capable of communicating
`with any type of wireless network. Thus, the present inven-
`tion has broad applicability beyond the cellular network
`communication references mentioned herein.
`
`[0014] FIG. 1 depicts a communication system 100 in
`accordance with the present invention. The communication
`system 100 comprises a wireless communication network
`102, a plurality of WLAN access points 104 (e.g., WLAN
`access points 104, and 104,), a WLAN location database
`112, and a plurality of mobile devices 110 (e.g., mobile
`devices 110, and 110,). The wireless communication net-
`work 102 provides service to mobile devices 110 located
`within a wireless service area 106 (e.g., mobile devices 110,
`and 110,). For example, the wireless communication net-
`work 102 can comprise a cellular telephone network pro-
`viding voice and/or data services to mobile devices 110
`within the service area 106.
`
`[0015] The WLANaccess points 104, and 104, provide
`service to mobile devices 110 located within service areas,
`i.e., hotspots, 108, and 108,, respectively (e.g., mobile
`device 110, located within service area 108,). For example,
`the WLANaccess points 104 can comprise IEEE 802.11b
`WLANaccesspoints providing voice and/or data services to
`mobile devices 110 within the service areas 108. The loca-
`
`tion of each of the WLANaccess points 104 is stored within
`the WLANlocation database 112. For example, the WLAN
`location database 112 can store the coordinates (e.g., longi-
`tude andlatitude) for each of the WLANaccess points 104
`along with the extent of the service areas 108. The commu-
`nication system 100 is illustratively shown having non-
`overlapping service areas 108 corresponding to the WLAN
`access points 104 that are located with the service area 106.
`
`4
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`

`US 2006/0234725 Al
`
`Oct. 19, 2006
`
`Other arrangements can be used with the present invention,
`such as overlapping service areas or hotspots 108.
`
`comprise a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a laptop
`computer with a WLANandplug-in card.
`
`[0016] WLANservice areas, such as 108, and 108,, can
`be registered with cellular service providers maintaining a
`database of the hotspots 108 and their physical locations.
`Preferably, physical locations of WLAN hotspots are in the
`form of street addresses, map locations,
`longitude and
`latitude, global positioning coordinates, and other location
`identification formats. When a user is looking for a WLAN
`hotspot 108, the user can select a menu option on the mobile
`device that transmits a message, via the wireless network
`102, to a wireless service provider 102. The service provider
`for the wireless 102 can obtain a rough estimate ofthe user’s
`location based on which wireless service area the mobile
`
`device 110 is communicating from. The wireless network
`service area 106 can then be compared to the WLAN
`location database 112to find a user-definedlisting of WLAN
`locations and their physical addresses. This list of physical
`location addresses can then be sent to the mobile device 110.
`The mobile device user can choose from thelist of physical
`addresses a desired WLANlocation 108 and move towards
`that desired WLANlocation in order to communicate with
`a WLANbase station 104. A WLAN database 112 can
`contain WLANlocations or service areas outside the wire-
`less service area 106 and provide a mobile device user with
`their locations as well.
`
`[0017] Each of the mobile devices 110 is capable of
`communicating with the service provider of the wireless
`network 106 for locating a WLAN hotspotor service area.
`Acell phoneusercalling out of a particular wireless network
`cell can transmit a WLANlocation request to the cell phone
`service provider. The cell phone service provider can then
`compare the cell from which the user is calling against a
`database of known WLANlocations and transmit back to the
`cell phone user a listing of the WLAN locations and
`addresses. As such, the present invention permits a user of
`a cell phone 110 to move towards a WLANservice area 108
`for access to WLAN broadband communication.
`
`[0018] FIG. 2 depicts a high-level block diagram showing
`an exemplary embodiment of a mobile device 110 in accor-
`dance with the present invention. The mobile device 110
`comprises a wireless transceiver 206 coupled to an antenna
`202, a controller 210 configured with inventive WLAN
`location processing 208, wireless baseband circuitry 212,
`and WLAN baseband circuitry 214. Wireless baseband
`circuitry 212 processes signals associated with a wireless
`communication system, such as cellular telephone signals.
`WLANbasebandcircuitry 214 processes signals associated
`with a WLAN,such as IEEE 802.11b WLANsignals. The
`WLANbasebandcircuitry is not necessary for practicing the
`inventive cellular based locating of a wireless local area
`network WLAN and is shown in FIG. 2 as an optional
`function block that would make it convenient for the same
`mobile device to communicate over both wireless 106 and
`WLAN 108service areas. Wireless transceiver 206 trans-
`mits and receives radio frequency (RF) signals that are
`processed by the wireless baseband circuitry 212 or the
`WLANbaseband circuitry 214 through the controller 210.
`For example, the mobile device 110 can comprise a cellular
`telephone having a WLAN plug-in card (e.g., a personal
`computer memory card internal association (PCMCIA)
`plug-in card). In another example, the mobile device 110 can
`
`[0019] The controller 210 can comprise a processor
`coupled between the wireless baseband circuitry 212, the
`WLANbasebandcircuitry 214, and the wireless transceiver
`206. In this embodiment, the controller 210 is programmed
`to perform various control functions in accordance with the
`present invention. More specifically, the controller 210 is
`programmed to perform WLAN location processing 208.
`For example, WLANlocation processing of requests to the
`service provider of the wireless network service area 106
`and processing WLANlocation related information received
`from the service provider. Those skilled in the art will
`appreciate, however, that the invention can be implemented
`in hardware, for example, as an application specific inte-
`grated circuit (ASIC). As such, the process steps described
`herein are intended to be broadly interpreted as being
`equivalently performed by software, hardware, or a combi-
`nation thereof. Furthermore, although the controller 210 is
`depicted as a separate functional block, those skilled in the
`art will appreciate that the wireless baseband circuitry 212
`and/or the WLANbasebandcircuitry 214 can be adapted to
`perform the functions of the controller 210. Also WLAN
`location processing 208 can be incorporated in an applica-
`tion specific integrated circuit ASIC.
`
`[0020] FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram showing an exem-
`plary embodiment of a method 300 for wireless or cellular
`based locating of a WLANservice area, such as 108. The
`method 300 can be best understood with simultaneous
`
`reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The method 300 begins at step
`31 when the mobile device 110 is enabled to transmit a
`
`request to the wireless service provider for locations of
`WLANservice areas. Preferably, a mobile device such as a
`cell phoneis configured with a menu option to locate nearby
`WLANservice areas. When the menu option for locating
`WLANservice area locations is selected the mobile device
`
`can then transmit the request to the service provider.
`
`[0021] At step 33, service provider of wireless network
`can readily determine the wireless service area or cell 106 is
`communicating from. A service provider, such as a cellular
`service provider, can estimate the mobile device user’s
`location from the cellular network cell the user is calling
`from.
`
`the service provider compares the
`[0022] At step 35,
`wireless service area the mobile device 110 is communicat-
`
`ing within against WLANservice areas or locations stored
`in its database 112. The WLAN database can store WLAN
`locations with a cross referenceto their street addresses, map
`coordinates, global positioning coordinates, or latitude and
`longitude coordinates.
`
`[0023] At step 37, the wireless or cellular provider can
`then transmit back to the mobile device a message contain-
`ing a listing of WLANlocations or service areas defined by
`the user of the mobile device. The mobile device can be
`configured to search for WLAN locations within a pre-
`defined distance from the wireless service area or cell the
`user is calling from. Alternatively, the user can be provided
`with a menu option selection in the mobile device 110 for
`selecting a distance or distance range from his wireless
`service area containing WLANservice area locations. Once
`a mobile device or cell user receives locations of WLAN
`
`5
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`

`US 2006/0234725 Al
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`Oct. 19, 2006
`
`service areas the user can then proceed to move towards a
`WLANservice area location transmitted back by the wire-
`less service provider.
`
`[0024] While the foregoing is directed to the preferred
`embodiment of the present
`invention, other and further
`embodiments of the invention may be devised without
`departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof
`is determined by the claims that follow.
`
`1. A method, comprising:
`
`transmitting (31) a request to a wireless service provider
`of a wireless network for a location of a wireless local
`area network (WLAN); and
`
`receiving (37) from said wireless service provider said
`location of said wireless local area network (WLAN).
`2. The method of claim 1, further comprising after said
`step of transmitting said wireless service provider determin-
`ing (33) a wireless service area from whichsaid transmitting
`originated.
`3. The method of claim 2, further comprising after said
`step of determining said wireless service provider obtaining
`(35) said location of said wireless local area network WLAN
`based on said wireless service area.
`4. The methodof claim 1, wherein said wireless network
`is a cellular telephone network (102).
`5. The method of claim 1, wherein said request for a
`location of a wireless local area network WLAN comprises
`requesting a location of a wireless local area network
`WLANrelative to a specific location.
`6. The method of claim 1, wherein said location of said
`wireless local area network WLAN comprises one ofa street
`address, a map location, longitude andlatitude coordinates,
`and global positioning coordinates.
`7. An apparatus, comprising:
`
`a wireless transceiver (206) for transmitting and receiving
`communication over a wireless network; and
`
`a controller (210) for processing a request over said
`wireless network for a location of a wireless local area
`
`network WLAN (104) and processing receiving over
`
`said wireless network said location of said wireless
`local area network WLAN (104).
`8. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising wireless
`baseband circuitry (212) and WLAN baseband circuitry
`(214).
`9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein controller (210)
`processes said request for said location of said wireless local
`area network WLANbased on a user provided location.
`10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said controller
`(210) processes said receiving of said location of said
`wireless local area network WLAN by displaying said
`location as one of a street address, map coordinates, longi-
`tude and latitude, and global positioning coordinates.
`11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said wireless
`transmitter (206) and said controller (210) are within a
`cellular communication device.
`
`14. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said wireless
`network is a cellular telephone network.
`15. A communications system comprising:
`a wireless network (102) for providing wireless commu-
`nication services over a wireless service area (106), and
`a mobile device (110) for sending a request from said
`wireless service area across said wireless network for a
`location of a wireless local area network WLAN.
`16. The communication system of claim 15, wherein said
`location of said wireless local area network WLANis based
`on a location of said wireless service area.
`
`17. The communication system of claim 15, wherein said
`location of said WLLAN comprises oneofa street address,
`map coordinates, latitude and longitude, and global posi-
`tioning coordinates.
`18. The communication system of claim 15, wherein said
`wireless network (102) comprises a cellular telephone net-
`work.
`
`19. The communication system of claim 15, wherein said
`mobile device comprises a cellular telephone.
`20. The communication system of claim 15, wherein said
`mobile device comprises processing for receiving said loca-
`tion of said wireless local area network WLAN.
`*
`*
`*
`*
`*
`
`6
`
`