Location based messaging
Systems and methods are provided for messages, such as short messages and multi-media messages. In one implementation a message is received from a sender, a location of the sender is determined, the message is modified to include the location of the sender, and the modified message is transmitted to a recipient.
1. A method of processing a message, comprising:
receiving a message, from a physical sender device, directed to a physical recipient device, said message including a destination number to direct said message to said physical recipient device and including a location-request code;
receiving location information from a plurality of network probes for current locations of a plurality of physical network user devices including said physical sender device;
periodically caching said location information for said plurality of physical network user devices including said physical sender device;
retrieving, at said physical location server, a current location of said physical sender device from said cache of location information;
modifying, based on said location-request code, said message to include said current location of said physical sender device; and
transmitting said modified message to said physical recipient device.
2. The method of processing a message according to claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting said modified message to said physical recipient device associated with said destination number.
3. The method of processing a message according to claim 1 , wherein:
said message is a multi-media message.
4. The method of processing a message according to claim 1 , wherein:
said message is a short message.
5. The method of processing a message according to claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting said message to an intermediate physical location server based on said location-request code.
6. The method of processing a message according to claim 5 , wherein:
said physical location server modifies said message to remove said location-request code from said destination number.
7. The method of processing a message according to claim 5 , further comprising:
sending a request from said physical location server to a physical location-enabled server; and
receiving, at said physical location server, said current location of said physical sender device from said physical location-enabled server.
8. The method of processing a message according to claim 1 , further comprising:
modifying said message to add a location-request code to a sender number included in said message, where said location-request code is a request to include a current location of said physical recipient device in a reply message to said message.
9. The method of processing a message according to claim 1 , wherein:
said destination number comprises a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
10. A method of processing a message, comprising:
receiving a message, from a physical sender device, directed to a physical recipient device, said message including a destination number to direct said message to said physical recipient device and including a location-request code;
determining a current location of said physical recipient device;
determining if a current location of said physical recipient device can be included in a message originating from said physical recipient device; and
if said current location of said physical recipient device can be included, modifying said message to add a location-request code to a sender number included in said message, where said location-request code is a request to include said current location of said physical recipient device in a reply message to said message;
modifying, based on said location-request code, said reply message to include said current location of said physical recipient device; and
transmitting said modified reply message to said physical sender device.
11. The method of processing a message according to claim 1 , wherein said determining a current location of said sender comprises:
querying a physical location enabled server for said current location of said physical sender device; and
receiving said current location of said physical sender device from said physical location enabled server.
12. A method of processing a message, comprising:
receiving a message, from a first physical messaging service center, directed from a physical sender device to a physical recipient device, said message including a destination number to direct said message to said physical recipient device, and including a location-request code;
receiving location information from a plurality of physical network probes for current locations for a plurality of physical network user devices including said physical sender device;
intermittently caching said location information for said plurality of physical network user devices including said physical sender device;
retrieving a current location of said physical sender device from said cache of location information;
modifying, based on said location-request code, said message to include said current location of said physical sender device; and
transmitting said modified message to a second messaging service center.
13. The method of processing a message according to claim 12 , wherein:
said message is a short message, and said first physical messaging service center and said second physical messaging service center are physical short messaging service centers.
14. The method of processing a message according to claim 12 , wherein:
said message is a multi-media message, and said first physical messaging service center and said second physical messaging service center are physical multi-media messaging service centers.
15. The method of processing a message according to claim 12 , wherein:
said first physical messaging service center and said second physical messaging service center are a same messaging service center.
16. The method of processing a message according to claim 12 , further comprising:
servicing, with said first physical messaging service center, a physical mobile network used by said physical sender device; and
servicing, with said second physical messaging service center, a mobile network used by said physical recipient device.
17. The method of processing a message according to claim 12 , further comprising:
modifying said message to remove said location-request code from said destination number.
18. The method of processing a message according to claim 12 , further comprising:
sending a request to a physical location-enabled server; and
receiving said current location of said sender from said physical location-enabled server.
19. The method of processing a message according to claim 12 , further comprising:
retrieving said current location for said physical sender device from a cache of location information.
20. The method of processing a message according to claim 12 , wherein:
said destination number comprises a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
21. A system for processing a message, comprising:
a sender mobile station configured to receive a user input and based on the user input transmit a message over a mobile network for delivery to a recipient messaging entity associated with a destination number, where the message includes a request to include a current location of the sender mobile station in the message;
a messaging service center configured to:
receive from a sender mobile station a message;
process the message to determine if the message includes a request to include a current location of the sender mobile station in the message;
transmit the message to a location server;
receive a modified message from a location server;
transmit the modified message to a recipient messaging entity;
a location server configured to:
receive a message from a messaging center, the message including a request to include a current location of a sender mobile station in the message;
determine a current location of the sender mobile station;
modify the message to include the current location of the sender mobile station; and
transmit the modified message to a messaging center; and
a recipient messaging entity configured to receive a modified message from the location server, the modified message including a current location of a sender mobile station from which the message originated.
22. The system of claim 21 , wherein:
the message is a short message, and the messaging service center is a short messaging service center.
23. The system of claim 21 , wherein:
the message is a multi-media message, and
the messaging service center is a multi-media messaging service center.