System and method for determining a position of a mobile wireless device

A mobile wireless device, comprising:

• an access point positioning system configured to estimate a position of the mobile wireless device based on locations of wireless local area network access points (APs) disposed about the mobile wireless device;
• wherein the access point positioning system is configured to:
• access an AP database;
• provide, to the database, one or more medium access controller (MAC) addresses and a value indicating an area of interest;
• and
• retrieve from the database:
• positioning parameters, comprising:
• location information for each AP corresponding to at least one of:
• the provided MAC addresses, and
• a location within the area of interest;
• and
• at least one of:
• signal parameters associated with APs proximate to the wireless device;
• a geographic area within which each of the MAC addresses can be received;
• and
• an indication of a scan type to use for identifying the APs proximate to the wireless device;
• and
• determine a position based on the positioning parameters.

A wireless local area network based positioning system, comprising:

• an access point location database configured to provide access point location information to an accessing device, the location information comprising at least one of:
• channel frequencies actively used by local area networks proximate to the accessing device;
• network protocols applicable to access points proximate to the accessing device;
• a received signal strength indication range value for access points proximate to the accessing device;
• a geographic area within which signals transmitted by an access point proximate to the accessing device are receivable;
• and
• an indication of a scan type to use for identifying access points proximate to the accessing device.

A method, comprising:

• receiving, by a mobile wireless device, transmissions from one or more wireless local area network access points (APs);
• providing, by the mobile wireless device, identification and signal strength values for the APs to an AP location database;
• retrieving from the database, responsive to the providing,
• location information for each of the APs corresponding to one of the provided MAC addresses;
• and a parameter comprising at least one of:
• signal parameters associated with APs proximate to the mobile wireless device;
• a definition of a geographic area within which each of the MAC addresses can be received;
• and
• an indication of a scan type to used for identifying the APs proximate to the mobile wireless device;
• and
• estimating a position of the mobile wireless device based on the location information.