Mobility based service in wireless environment
A system and method are described for providing proximity-based Internet server access in mobile network environments such as cellular environments to reduce latency and enhance customer satisfaction. In an embodiment of the invention, a Mobile Positioning Center (MPC) caches location information regarding the mobile device. When the mobile device later attempts to resolve the domain name of a distributed service, the domain name service (DNS) server, via a policy manager, queries the MPC for the location of the user. The policy manager of the DNS server may then choose a server based on a number of criteria, including, for example, the geographical proximity of the user to the server.
1. A method for providing a network address of a web portal to a wireless mobile device, the method comprising:
receiving a request from the mobile device at a DNS server to resolve the network address for the web portal, the network address for the web portal corresponding to one of a plurality of web portals from which a distributed network service is available, the distributed network service being mirrored across the plurality of web portals;
transmitting a request from the DNS server to a separate cache device to request a geographic location of the wireless mobile device cached at the separate cache device;
receiving at the DNS server a response from the separate cache device, the response containing the cached geographic location of the wireless mobile device; and
selecting, via the DNS server, one of the plurality of web portals as a desired web portal from which the distributed network service is available based at least in part on a proximity of the selected one of the plurality of web portals to the geographic location of the wireless device.
2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the network address of the selected one of the plurality of web portals to the wireless device.
3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising denying a desired service to the wireless device based on the location of the wireless device.
4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the desired service is PTT service.
5. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the desired service is a data service.
6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of selecting one of the plurality of web portals as the desired web portal is further based at least in part on a traffic load of at least one of the plurality of web portals.
7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the selected web portal is farther from the wireless device than at least one other of the plurality of web portals.
8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the selected web portal is the nearest one of the plurality of web portals to the wireless device.
9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having thereon computer-executable instructions for providing a network address of a web portal to a wireless mobile device, the instructions comprising:
instructions for receiving a request from the mobile device at a DNS server to resolve the network address for the web portal, the network address for the web portal corresponding to one of a plurality of web portals from which a distributed network service is available, the distributed network service being mirrored across the plurality of web portals;
instructions for transmitting a request from the DNS server to a separate cache device to request a geographic location of the wireless mobile device cached at the separate cache device;
instructions for receiving at the DNS server a response from the separate cache device, the response containing the cached geographic location of the wireless mobile device; and
instructions for selecting, via the DNS server, one of the plurality of web portals as a desired web portal from which the distributed network service is available based at least in part on a proximity of the selected one of the plurality of web portals to the geographic location of the wireless device.
10. The computer-readable medium according to claim 9 , further comprising instructions for transmitting the network address of the selected one of the plurality of web portals to the wireless device.
11. The computer-readable medium according to claim 9 , further comprising instructions for denying a desired service to the wireless device based on the location of the wireless device.
12. The computer-readable medium according to claim 11 , wherein the desired service is a push-to-talk service.
13. The computer-readable medium according to claim 11 , wherein the desired service is an SMS-to-Email service.
14. The computer-readable medium according to claim 9 , wherein selecting one of the plurality of web portals as a desired web portal is further based at least in part on a traffic load of at least one of the plurality of web portals.
15. The computer-readable medium according to claim 14 , wherein the selected web portal is farther from the wireless device than at least one other of the plurality of web portals.
16. The computer-readable medium according to claim 9 , wherein the selected web portal is the nearest one of the plurality of web portals to the wireless device.