Determining device location

1. A method, comprising:

communicating wirelessly with a mobile device through a base station, the base station being at a base station location;

determining that the base station uses multiple directional beams for wirelessly communicating with mobile devices;

causing the mobile device to switch to the base station that uses beamforming, based at least in part on determining that the base station uses the multiple directional beams for wirelessly communicating with the mobile devices;

identifying a set of the multiple directional beams that are formed by the base station and used for communications between the base station and the mobile device;

calculating a device direction relative to the base station location as an average direction of the set of the multiple directional beams, the device direction comprising an average tilt of the set of the multiple directional beams, the average tilt being defined with respect to a vertical direction;

identifying location information comprising an elevation of the mobile device that is based on the average tilt of the set of the multiple directional beams formed by the base station; and

providing the location information, the base station location, and the device direction to a position calculation function for determination of a mobile device location, the position calculation function determining the mobile device location based at least partly on the elevation of the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location information further comprises one or more of:

global positioning system (GPS) data;

global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) data;

geographic coordinates;

a cell ID;

wi-fi access point data;

time-difference of arrival data;

timing advance data;

distance data;

signal strength data; or

a strength of a signal between the base station and the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a strength of a signal used between the base station and the mobile device; and

providing the strength to the position calculation function for the determination of the mobile device location.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a request for the mobile device location; and

providing the mobile device location in response to receiving the request.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the request is on behalf of an emergency services responder and the mobile device location is provided for use by the emergency services responder.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising causing the mobile device to communicate with the base station using one or more of the directional beams in response to receiving the request for the location of the mobile device.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mobile device location indicates the elevation of the mobile device.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mobile device location indicates a floor of a building in which the mobile device is located.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the elevation of mobile device is with respect to the base station.

10. The method of claim 1 , the actions further comprising:

determining a distance of the mobile device from the base station based on a strength and propagation time of a signal between the base station and the mobile device,

wherein the mobile device location determined by the position calculation function is further determined based at least partly on the determined distance of the mobile device from the base station.

11. The method of claim 1 , the actions further comprising:

measuring a strength and propagation time of a signal used between the base station and the mobile device; and

determining distance data including a distance between the mobile device and the base station based on the measured strength and propagation time,

wherein the mobile device location determined by the position calculation function is further determined based at least partly on the determined distance data.

12. One or more components of a mobile communications network, the one or more components being configured to perform actions comprising:

determining that a base station uses multiple directional beams for wirelessly communicating with mobile devices;

causing a mobile device to switch to the base station that uses beamforming, based at least in part on determining that the base station uses the multiple directional beams for wirelessly communicating with the mobile devices;

receiving an identification of a set of the multiple directional beams that are formed by the base station and used by the base station to communicate wirelessly with the mobile device, the base station being at a known base station location;

determining a direction of each directional beam of the set of the multiple directional beams relative to the base station location;

calculating a device direction as an average direction of the directions of the set of the multiple directional beams, the device direction comprising an average tilt of the set of the multiple directional beams, the average tilt being defined with respect to a vertical direction; and

indicating, to a position calculation function, the base station location and the device direction for determining a location of the mobile device, the position calculation function determining the location of the mobile device based at least partly on an elevation of the mobile device,

wherein the elevation of the mobile device is based on the average tilt of the set of the multiple directional beams formed by the base station.

13. The one or more components of claim 12 , the actions further comprising:

determining a strength of a signal used between the base station and the mobile device; and

providing the strength to the position calculation function for determining the location of the mobile device.

14. The one or more components of claim 12 , the actions further comprising:

receiving, on behalf of an emergency services responder, a request for the location of the mobile device; and

providing the location of the mobile device in response to receiving the request.

15. The one or more components of claim 14 , the actions further comprising causing the mobile device to communicate with the base station using one or more of the directional beams of the base station in response to receiving the request for the location of the mobile device.

16. The one or more components of claim 12 , the actions further indicating location data to the position calculation function to be used in determining the location of the mobile device, the location data comprising one or more of:

global positioning system (GPS) data;

global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) data;

geographic coordinates;

a cell ID;

wi-fi access point data;

time-difference of arrival data;

timing advance data;

distance data;

signal strength data; or

a strength of a signal between the base station and the mobile device.

17. A method, comprising:

determining that a base station uses multiple directional beams for wirelessly communicating with mobile devices;

causing a mobile device to switch to the base station that uses beamforming, based at least in part on determining that the base station uses the multiple directional beams for wirelessly communicating with the mobile devices;

identifying a set of the multiple directional beams that are used for wirelessly communicating with the mobile device;

calculating a device direction as an average direction of the multiple directional beams of the set, the device direction comprising an average tilt of the set of the multiple directional beams, the average tilt being defined with respect to a vertical direction; and

determining an estimated location of the mobile device based at least in part on the device direction and an elevation of the mobile device,

wherein the elevation of the mobile device is based on the average tilt of the set of the multiple directional beams.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein determining the estimated location is further based at least in part on one or more of:

global positioning system (GPS) data;

global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) data;

geographic coordinates;

wi-fi access point data;

time-difference of arrival data;

timing advance data;

distance data;

signal strength data; or

a strength of a signal between the base station and the mobile device.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein determining the estimated location is further based at least in part on a strength of a signal between the base station and the mobile device.

20. The method of claim 17 , the actions further comprising causing the mobile device to communicate using one of the multiple directional beams in response to receiving a request for a location of the mobile device on behalf of an emergency services responder.