Method for pulling geographic location data from a remote wireless telecommunications mobile unit
View Patent ↗A method to remotely determine a location of a mobile unit without intervention by a user of the mobile unit is provided. The mobile unit may receive a location query, download location data from a GPS, and transmit the location data via a wireless telecommunications network. For example, a call center may initiate a location query using a voice channel call to the mobile unit. In addition, the mobile unit may select a mode of communication from a number of alternative modes of digital wireless communication based upon a determined characteristic of the transmission mode. By way of example, the determined characteristic could be a transmission speed, cost of transmission, or signal strength of the selected communication mode. Furthermore, the unit may be a battery pack or other accessory device attachable to a wireless telephone handset, or integrated within a mobile unit.
1. A remote method of determining a geographic location of a wireless mobile unit capable of communicating with a wireless telecommunications network, the method comprising the steps of:
at the mobile unit, receiving a location query via a wireless telecommunications network serving the mobile unit;
responsive to the location query, downloading location data from a GPS unit in the mobile unit; and
transmitting the location data via said wireless telecommunications network
wherein the mobile unit supports at least two communication modes and further comprising:
determining what wireless communication modes are currently available to the mobile unit on the network;
assessing at least one selected characteristic of each of the currently available communication modes;
based on the assessment, determining a preferred one of the currently available communication modes communication mode to transmit the location data; and
transmitting the location data via the preferred communication mode.
2. The method of determining a geographic location of a wireless mobile unit according to claim 1 wherein the location query is initiated by a call center.
3. The method of determining a geographic location of a wireless mobile unit according to claim 2 wherein the location query is initiated from the call center via a voice channel call to the mobile unit.
4. The method of determining a geographic location of a wireless mobile unit according to claim 2 wherein the location query is initiated by another user remote from the mobile unit.
5. The method of determining a geographic location of a wireless mobile unit according to claim 1 further comprising:
processing the location information transmitted by the mobile unit via said wireless telecommunications network; and
reporting the processed location information to another location remote from the mobile unit.
6. The method of determining a geographic location of a wireless mobile unit according to claim 1 further comprising receiving and processing the transmitted location data at a call center.
7. The method of determining a geographic location of a wireless mobile unit according to claim 1 wherein the selected characteristic is selected from a group of characteristics comprising return signal strength, cost, available bandwidth, transmission speed, user preference, carrier preference, data type and cellular roaming.