US 2014/0192667 A1 · Proximity Offloading and Service Continuity Support for Mobile Communication Devices

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided to facilitate direct wireless communication between mobile communication devices while avoiding the need for mobile communication devices to periodically scan for in-range devices and avoiding unwanted breaks in traffic caused by changes in the source and/or destination IP address of packets. Mobile communication devices periodically update their positions to a server, which can send a notification when a mobile communication device comes within range. Further, mobile communication devices can encapsulate packets with an IP address used for direct wireless communication to facilitate this direct wireless communication without disrupting traffic over a core network.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A mobile communication device, comprising:

a processor configured to:
send information regarding a geographic location of the mobile communication device to a server, and
receive a message from the server indicating that a second mobile communication device is within a predetermined range of the geographic location;
and
a wireless local area network (WLAN) module configured to:
establish a direct wireless communication link with the second mobile communication device.

3 more elements

A server, comprising:

a database configured to:
store a plurality of geographic locations associated with a plurality of mobile communication devices;
and
a proximity detection module configured to:
determine, based on a message received from a first mobile communication device in the plurality of mobile communication devices, whether the first mobile communication device is geographically close enough to a second mobile communication device in the plurality of mobile communication devices for direct wireless communication, and
notify the first mobile communication device that the first mobile communication device is geographically close enough to the second mobile communication device for direct wireless communication.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application

14/150,440Filed 8 Jan 2014

Priority

8 Jan 2013

Published

10 Jul 2014

Term ends

Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification8 codes

H04W 52/0209
Power saving arrangements: in terminal devices
H04W 76/14
Connection setup: direct-mode setup
H04W 4/023
Services making use of location information: using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets…
H04W 64/00
Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes

Proximity Offloading and Service Continuity Support for Mobile Communication Devices

Life of this patent

Proximity Offloading and Service Continuity Support for Mobile Communication Devices

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20