# US 2014/0155086 A1 · Distributed system architecture to provide wireless transmitter positioning > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0155086 A1 - Document ID: US20140155086A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/748,286 - Filed: 2013-01-23 - Published: 2014-06-05 - Earliest claimed: 2012-11-30 - Assignees: QUALCOMM Incorporated - Applicants: Qualcomm Incorporated - Inventors: Ashok Bhatia - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140155086A1 ## CPC - H04W 4/02: Services making use of location information - H04W 64/00: Locating users or terminals {or network equipment} for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management - G01S 5/0236: {Assistance data, e.g. base station almanac} - G01S 5/0242: {Determining the position of transmitters to be subsequently used in positioning (G01S5/0289 takes precedence)} - H04L 67/568: Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching - H04W 4/029: Location-based management or tracking services - H04W 4/18: Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals - H04W 4/20: Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel - H04W 4/21: for social networking applications - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) - G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract A distributed architecture provides the location of wireless transmitters to mobile devices for positioning, the location determined from at least one of crowdsourcing and wardriving. A server receives location data for wireless transmitters, such as an access point, a femtocell, Bluetooth Transmitter, radio-frequency identification (RFID) and near-field communication (NFC) station etc., from mobile devices. The server determines the locations of the wireless transmitters using the location data and provides the locations to the respective wireless transmitters. The wireless transmitters broadcast their identities and locations. Thus, a mobile device may receive the location directly from the wireless transmitter, eliminating the requirement of contacting a central server and downloading a regional almanac for positioning. This eliminates in a large number of scenarios the need to have data connectivity at the time of position calculation. Additionally, the wireless transmitters may transmit validation data to the server to validate or invalidate the determined location. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method comprising: receiving location data about a wireless transmitter, the location data obtained from at least one of crowdsourcing and wardriving; determining a location for the wireless transmitter using the location data; and providing the location for the wireless transmitter to the wireless transmitter. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: authenticating that the wireless transmitter is authorized to receive the location for the wireless transmitter prior to providing the location for the wireless transmitter to the wireless transmitter. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving data from the wireless transmitter; and determining validity of the location for the wireless transmitter using the data received from the wireless transmitter. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein the data received from the wireless transmitter is data selected from a group consisting of an identity of a nearby wireless transmitter, and a time and duration of a power cycle for the wireless transmitter. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein determining the validity of the location comprises using data selected from the group consisting of the identity of the nearby wireless transmitter, and the time and duration of the power cycle to determine if the wireless transmitter has likely been moved. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless transmitter is selected from a group consisting of an access point, a femtocell, Bluetooth Transmitter, radio-frequency identification (RFID) and near-field communication (NFC) station. ### Claim 7 An apparatus comprising: an external interface capable of communicating with mobile devices to receive location data about a wireless transmitter, the location data obtained from at least one of crowdsourcing and wardriving; and a processor configured to determine a location for the wireless transmitter using the location data, and to cause the external interface to transmit the location for the wireless transmitter to the wireless transmitter. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The apparatus of claim 7, wherein: the external interface is further capable of communicating with the wireless transmitter to receive verification data from the wireless transmitter, wherein the processor is further configured to determine validity of the location for the wireless transmitter using the verification data received from the wireless transmitter. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the verification data received from the wireless transmitter is data selected from a group consisting of an identity of a nearby wireless transmitter, and a time and duration of a power cycle for the wireless transmitter. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processor is configured to determine the validity of the location by being configured to use the data selected from the group consisting of the identity of the nearby wireless transmitter, and the time and duration of the power cycle to determine if the wireless transmitter has likely been moved. ### Claim 11 (depends on 7) The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the wireless transmitter is selected from a group consisting of an access point, a femtocell, Bluetooth Transmitter, radio-frequency identification (RFID) and near-field communication (NFC) station. ### Claim 12 An apparatus comprising: means for receiving location data about a wireless transmitter, the location data obtained from at least one of crowdsourcing and wardriving; means for determining a location for the wireless transmitter using the location data; and means for providing the location for the wireless transmitter to the wireless transmitter. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising: means for authenticating that the wireless transmitter is authorized to receive the location for the wireless transmitter prior to providing the location for the wireless transmitter to the wireless transmitter. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising: means for receiving data from the wireless transmitter; and means for determining validity of the location for the wireless transmitter using the data received from the wireless transmitter. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the data received from the wireless transmitter is data selected from a group consisting of an identity of a nearby wireless transmitter, and a time and duration of a power cycle for the wireless transmitter. ### Claim 16 A non-transitory computer-readable medium including program code stored thereon, comprising: program code to determine a location for a wireless transmitter using location data received about the wireless transmitter, the location data obtained from at least one of crowdsourcing and wardriving; and program code to provide the location for the wireless transmitter to the wireless transmitter. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, further comprising: program code to determine validity of the location for the wireless transmitter using data received from the wireless transmitter. ### Claim 18 A method of controlling a wireless transmitter, the method comprising: receiving with the wireless transmitter a location of the wireless transmitter from a remote server, the location determined using at least one of crowdsourcing and wardriving; and broadcasting an identity of the wireless transmitter with the location. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, further comprising: transmitting verification data about the wireless transmitter to the remote server; and receiving an invalid location indicator when the location of the wireless transmitter is no longer reliable. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, wherein the verification data is data selected from a group consisting of an identity of a nearby wireless transmitter, and a time and duration of a power cycle for the wireless transmitter. ### Claim 21 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, wherein the wireless transmitter is selected from a group consisting of an access point, a femtocell, Bluetooth Transmitter, radio-frequency identification (RFID) and near-field communication (NFC) station. ### Claim 22 A wireless transmitter comprising: an interface that receives a location of the wireless transmitter from a remote server, the location determined using at least one of crowdsourcing and wardriving; and a processor configured to cause the interface to broadcast an identity of the wireless transmitter with the location. ### Claim 23 (depends on 22) The wireless transmitter of claim 22, wherein the interface comprises: a first interface to receive the location of the wireless transmitter from the remote server; and a second interface to wirelessly broadcast the identity of the wireless transmitter with the location. ### Claim 24 (depends on 22) The wireless transmitter of claim 22, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the interface to transmit verification data about the wireless transmitter to the remote server; and to receive an invalid location indicator when the location of the wireless transmitter is no longer reliable. ### Claim 25 (depends on 24) The wireless transmitter of claim 24, wherein the verification data is data selected from a group consisting of an identity of a nearby wireless transmitter, and a time and duration of a power cycle for the wireless transmitter. ### Claim 26 (depends on 22) The wireless transmitter of claim 22, wherein the wireless transmitter is selected from a group consisting of an access point, a femtocell, Bluetooth Transmitter, radio-frequency identification (RFID) and near-field communication (NFC) station. ### Claim 27 A wireless transmitter comprising: means for receiving a location of the wireless transmitter from a remote server, the location determined using at least one of crowdsourcing and wardriving; and means for broadcasting an identity of the wireless transmitter with the location. ### Claim 28 (depends on 27) The wireless transmitter of claim 27, further comprising: means for transmitting verification data about the wireless transmitter to the remote server; and means for receiving an invalid location indicator when the location of the wireless transmitter is no longer reliable. ### Claim 29 (depends on 28) The wireless transmitter of claim 28, wherein the verification data is data selected from a group consisting of an identity of a nearby wireless transmitter, and a time and duration of a power cycle for the wireless transmitter. ### Claim 30 A non-transitory computer-readable medium including program code stored thereon, comprising: program code to receive a location of a wireless transmitter from a remote server, the location obtained using at least one of crowdsourcing and wardriving; and program code to broadcast an identity of the wireless transmitter with the location. ### Claim 31 (depends on 30) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 30, further comprising: program code to transmit verification data about the wireless transmitter to the remote server; and program code to receive an invalid location indicator when the location of for the wireless transmitter is no longer reliable. ### Claim 32 A method comprising: receiving with a mobile device control frames from a plurality of wireless transmitters, each control frame comprising an identity of a wireless transmitter and a location of the wireless transmitter, wherein the wireless transmitter is selected from a group consisting of an access point, a femtocell, Bluetooth Transmitter, radio-frequency identification (RFID) and near-field communication (NFC) station; performing a position calculation for the mobile device using the location of each of the plurality of wireless transmitters; and reporting a position of the mobile device for a location based service application when the position calculation is successful. ### Claim 33 (depends on 32) The method of claim 32, further comprising requesting from a server a location of any wireless transmitters that did not include the location in a received control frame when the position calculation for the mobile device is not successful. ### Claim 34 (depends on 33) The method of claim 33, further comprising using the location received from the server and locations received from control frames to determine the position of the mobile device. ### Claim 35 A mobile device comprising: a wireless interface capable of receiving control frames from a plurality of wireless transmitters, each control frame comprising an identity of a wireless transmitter and a location of the wireless transmitter, wherein the wireless transmitter is selected from a group consisting of an access point, a femtocell, Bluetooth Transmitter, radio-frequency identification (RFID) and near-field communication (NFC) station; and a processor configured to perform a position calculation for the mobile device using the location of each of the plurality of wireless transmitters, and report a position for a location based service application when the position calculation is successful. ### Claim 36 (depends on 35) The mobile device of claim 35, wherein the processor is further configured to request from a server via the wireless interface a location of any wireless transmitters that did not include the location in a received control frame when the position calculation is not successful. ### Claim 37 (depends on 36) The mobile device of claim 36, further comprising using the location received from the server and the locations received from control frames to determine the position of the mobile device. ### Claim 38 A mobile device comprising: means for receiving with a mobile device control frames from a plurality of wireless transmitters, each control frame comprising an identity of a wireless transmitter and a location of the wireless transmitter, wherein the wireless transmitter is selected from a group consisting of an access point, a femtocell, Bluetooth Transmitter, radio-frequency identification (RFID) and near-field communication (NFC) station; means for performing a position calculation for the mobile device using the location of each of the plurality of wireless transmitters; and means for reporting a position of the mobile device for a location based service application when the position calculation is successful. ### Claim 39 (depends on 38) The mobile device of claim 38, further comprising means for requesting from a server a location of any wireless transmitters that did not include the location in a received control frame when the position calculation for the mobile device is not successful. ### Claim 40 (depends on 39) The mobile device of claim 39, further comprising means for using the location received from the server and the locations received from control frames to determine the position of the mobile device. ### Claim 41 A non-transitory computer-readable medium including program code stored thereon for determining a position of a mobile device, comprising: program code to receive with a mobile device control frames from a plurality of wireless transmitters, each control frame comprising an identity of a wireless transmitter and a location of the wireless transmitter, wherein the wireless transmitter is selected from a group consisting of an access point, a femtocell, Bluetooth Transmitter, radio-frequency identification (RFID) and near-field communication (NFC) station; program code to perform a position calculation for the mobile device using the location of each of the plurality of wireless transmitters; and program code to report the position of the mobile device for a location based service application when the position calculation is successful. ### Claim 42 (depends on 41) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 41, further comprising program code to request a location from a server for any wireless transmitters that did not include the location in a received control frame wherein when the position calculation for the mobile device is not successful. ### Claim 43 (depends on 42) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 42, further comprising program code to use the location received from the server and the locations received from control frames to determine the position of the mobile device.