Geo-locating end-user devices on a communication network

An apparatus comprising:

• a communication interface to communicatively couple the apparatus to a communication network;
• a processing circuit coupled to the communication interface and configured to:
• obtain a network path to a user device;
• obtain a last hop network device in the network path to the user device;
• obtain a first geographical location of the last hop network device;
• obtain a plurality of pairs of ping times to the user device and corresponding ping times to the last hop network device;
• obtain a smallest time difference among the plurality of pairs of ping times to the user device and corresponding ping times to the last hop network device;
• determine the distance for a last leg path between the last hop network device and the user device using, at least in part, the smallest time difference;
• and
• determine a first user device geographical location for the user device based on the geographical location of the last hop network device and the distance of the last leg path.

A networked apparatus comprising:

• means for obtaining a network path to a user device;
• means for obtaining a last hop network device in the network path to the user device;
• means for obtaining a first geographical location of the last hop network device;
• means for obtaining a plurality of pairs of ping times to the user device and corresponding ping times to the last hop network device;
• means for obtaining a smallest time difference among the plurality of pairs of ping times to the user device and corresponding ping times to the last hop network device;
• means for determining the distance for a last leg path between the last hop network device and the user device using, at least in part, the smallest time difference;
• and
• means for determining a first user device geographical location for the user device based on the geographical location of the last hop network device and the distance of the last leg path.

A processing device comprising:

• a communication interface to communicatively couple the processing device to a communication network;
• a circuit coupled to the communication interface and configured to
• identify a last hop network device having a known first geographical location in a first network path to a user device;
• obtain a plurality of pairs of ping times to the user device and corresponding ping times to the last hop network device;
• obtain a smallest time difference among the plurality of pairs of ping times to the user device and corresponding ping times to the last hop network device;
• determine a last leg distance between the last hop network device and the user device based, at least in part, on the smallest time difference;
• and
• determine a user device geographical location based on the known first geographical location and the last leg distance.

A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having one or more instructions for determining a geographic location of a user device communicatively coupled to a communication network, which when executed by a processor causes the processor to:

• identify a last hop network device having a known first geographical location in a first network path to a user device;
• obtain a plurality of pairs of ping times to the user device and corresponding ping times to the last hop network device;
• obtain a smallest time difference among the plurality of pairs of ping times to the user device and corresponding ping times to the last hop network device;
• determine a last leg distance between the last hop network device and the user device based at least in part on the smallest time difference;
• and
• determine a user device geographical location based on the first geographical location and the last leg distance.