Using wireless characteristic to trigger generation of position fix
View Patent ↗A wireless characteristic of a wireless signal may be used to trigger generation of a position fix. A mobile computing device may include a wireless transceiver, a location determination circuit and a processing circuit. The wireless transceiver may be configured to receive a wireless signal over a short range wireless network from a wireless system. The processing circuit may be configured to detect a change in the wireless signal and, in response to the detected change, to generate a position fix using the location determination circuit.
1. A mobile computing device, comprising:
a wireless transceiver configured to receive a wireless signal over a short range wireless network from a wireless system;
a location determination circuit including at least one member of the group consisting of a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver, an access point, and a cellular receiver;
a memory resource;
a display; and
a processing circuit to: (i) determine whether there is a change in the wireless signal, (ii) in response to determining that there is a change in the wireless signal, generate a position fix using the at least one member of the group consisting of the GPS receiver, the access point, and the cellular receiver of the location determination circuit, (iii) in response to generating the position fix, store the position fix and an identifier of the wireless system in the memory resource, and (iv) control the display based on the position fix and the identifier of the wireless system.
2. The mobile computing device of claim 1 , wherein the wireless transceiver is configured to receive the wireless signal over the wireless network operating according to at least one of an IEEE 802.11 protocol or a Bluetooth protocol.
3. The mobile computing device of claim 1 , wherein the change is a change in signal strength of the wireless signal below a predetermined threshold.
4. The mobile computing device of claim 1 , wherein the change is a change in signal strength of the wireless signal above a predetermined threshold.
5. The mobile computing device of claim 1 , wherein the change is a loss of the wireless signal.
6. The mobile computing device of claim 1 , wherein position data based on the position fix and wireless system data based on the identifier are displayed on a map presented on the display of the mobile computing device.
7. The mobile computing device of claim 1 , wherein the wireless transceiver is configured to receive the wireless signal over the wireless network operating according to at least one of an IEEE 802.11 protocol or a Bluetooth protocol, wherein the processing circuit is configured to store the position fix and an identifier of the wireless system and to control a display to display an indication of a location of the wireless system.
8. The mobile computing device of claim 1 , wherein the change is indicative that the wireless signal was not previously being received and is now being received.
9. A method for generating a position fix for a mobile computing device, the method being performed by one or more processors and comprising:
receiving a wireless signal over a short range wireless network from a wireless system via a wireless transceiver of the mobile computing device;
determining whether there is a change in the wireless signal;
in response to determining that there is a change in the wireless signal, generating a position fix using at least one member of the group consisting of a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver, an access point, and a cellular receiver provided within a location determination circuit;
in response to generating the position fix, storing the position fix and an identifier of the wireless system in a memory resource of the mobile computing device; and
controlling a display of the mobile computing device based on the position fix and the identifier of the wireless system.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein receiving the wireless signal over the short range wireless network comprises receiving the wireless signal according to at least one of an IEEE 802.11 protocol or a Bluetooth protocol.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining whether there is a change in the wireless signal includes determining whether a change in signal strength of the wireless signal is below a predetermined threshold.
12. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining whether there is a change in the wireless signal includes determining whether a change in signal strength of the wireless signal is above a predetermined threshold.
13. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining whether there is a change in the wireless signal includes determining whether the wireless signal is lost.
14. The method of claim 9 , wherein controlling the display of the mobile computing device further comprises:
displaying position data based on the position fix; and
displaying wireless system data based on the identifier.