Locating a mobile device

A computer program product for use in a location system, the location system providing a location service for determining a location of a mobile device, and the computer program product comprising code embodied on a computer-readable medium and configured so as when executed on a node of the location system to perform operations of:

• operating a wireless interface of said node to communicate wirelessly according to a standardized wireless networking protocol, said protocol defining a request message for sending a request from the mobile device to node, the request message having a network ID field for specifying a network to which the request is directed;
• receiving, from the mobile device, an instance of said request message including an ID of said location service, the ID of the location service being carried in said field, wherein at least at the time of receiving said instance of the request message from the mobile device, the ID of the location service is at least not an ID of any network of the wireless networking protocol for which said node currently functions as a wireless access point;
• detecting the ID of the location service in said field;
• and
• in response to said detection, capturing a measurement of the received instance of said request message, for use in determining the location of the mobile device in conjunction with information on measurements taken by other nodes of the location system based on instances of the request message received by the other nodes.

A method of operating a node of a location system, the location system providing a location service for determining a location of a mobile device, and the method comprising:

• operating a wireless interface of said node to communicate wirelessly according to a standardized wireless networking protocol, said protocol defining a request message for sending a request from the mobile device to the node, the request message having a network ID field for specifying a network to which the request is directed;
• receiving, from the mobile device, an instance of said request message including an ID of said location service, the ID of the location service being carried in said field, wherein at least at the time of receiving said instance of the request message from the mobile device, the ID of the location service is at least not an ID of any network of the wireless networking protocol for which said node currently functions as a wireless access point;
• detecting the ID of the location service in said field;
• and
• in response to said detection, capturing a measurement of the received instance of said request message, for use in determining the location of the mobile device in conjunction with information on measurements taken by other nodes of the location system based on instances of the request message received by the other nodes.