US 2020/0092839 A1 · ACCESS POINT ASSOCIATION AND TRACKING OF PHYSICAL ADDRESSES

Abstract

Disclosed in various examples are methods, systems, devices, and machine-readable mediums used for identifying and tracking device and access point geographic locations of wireless (e.g., Wi-Fi) networks. In an example, operations performed by an infrastructure system for provisioning location information include: receiving access point identification information (e.g., a MAC address) that identifies an access point of a wireless network; validating the access point identification information in a list of known wireless networks (e.g., a whitelist); determining an assigned location corresponding to the access point; communicating an indication of the assigned location to the device; and facilitating a communication session with the device, using the wireless network, as the communication session uses the indication of the assigned location by the device. Further operations involving administrator involvement and approval of the location, and client use of the whitelist and the assigned location information, are also disclosed.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A computing device adapted for communication operations using a tracked geographic location for an access point, the computing device comprising:

at least one hardware processor;
and
at least one memory device, including instructions, which when executed, cause the hardware processor to perform operations comprising:
obtaining access point information, the access point information identifying an access point of a connected wireless network which has network connectivity established with the computing device;
providing the access point information from the computing device to a tracking system via the connected wireless network;
obtaining, from the tracking system, an indication of an assigned geographic location corresponding to the access point, the assigned geographic location provided from the tracking system in response to the access point information;
and
providing the indication of the assigned geographic location to a communications service as part of a communication session between the computing device and the communications service, the communication session including voice communications, wherein the indication of the assigned geographic location is used by the communications service to associate the communication session with the assigned geographic location;
wherein data for the communication session is transmitted between the communications service and the computing device using the network connectivity provided by the connected wireless network.

6 more elements

A method for communication operations using a tracked geographic location for an access point, the method comprising operations performed by a computing device using one or more hardware processors, the operations comprising:

obtaining access point information, the access point information identifying an access point of a connected wireless network which has network connectivity established with the computing device;
communicating the access point information from the computing device to a tracking system via the connected wireless network;
obtaining, from the tracking system, an indication of an assigned geographic location corresponding to the access point, the assigned geographic location provided from the tracking system in response to the access point information;
and
communicating the indication of the assigned geographic location to a communications service as part of a communication session between the computing device and the communications service, the communication session including voice communications, wherein the indication of the assigned geographic location is used by the communications service to associate the communication session with the assigned geographic location;
wherein data for the communication session is transmitted between the communications service and the computing device using the network connectivity provided by the connected wireless network.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Access point association and tracking of physical addresses

Life of this patent

Access point association and tracking of physical addresses

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20