Location-transmitting device for determining location of a wireless communication device

1. A method performed under control of a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

receiving, using a short-range radio communication protocol and absent prior interrogation, radio signals from a plurality of nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting devices;

detecting, by the wireless communication device, location data in a radio signal from a nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device of the plurality of nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting devices, wherein the radio signal is a strongest radio signal, among the radio signals, that includes the location data;

retaining, by the wireless communication device, the location data from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device, wherein retaining the location data comprises retaining the location data until the wireless communication device detects another location data from a different nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device;

estimating a distance of the wireless communication device from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device based on a received signal level of the radio signal; and

transmitting, by the wireless communication device, the retained location data and data, which represents the estimated distance, to a third party.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the radio signals using the short-range radio communication protocol comprises receiving the radio signals using a Bluetooth protocol.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the location data comprises detecting a format of the location data, and wherein the format of the location data includes a uniform resource locator (URL).

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating the distance of the wireless communication device from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device is based on a difference between a transmit power level of the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device and the received signal level of the radio signal.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating the distance of the wireless communication device from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device based on the received signal level comprises calculating a path loss between the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device and the wireless communication device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the location data comprises detecting a format of the location data, and wherein the format of the location data includes one or more of: longitude coordinates, street address, a location-specific code corresponding to a location database entry, and a combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising receiving a transmit power level from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device, wherein calculating the path loss comprises calculating the path loss based on the transmit power level and the received signal level.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the retained location data to the third party comprises transmitting the retained location data to a server.

9. A method performed under control of a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

receiving, using a short-range radio communication protocol and absent prior interrogation, radio signals from a plurality of nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting devices;

detecting, by the wireless communication device, location data in a radio signal from a nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device of the plurality of nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting devices, wherein the radio signal is a strongest radio signal, among the radio signals, that includes the location data;

measuring, by the wireless communication device, a received signal level of the radio signal from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device; and

transmitting, by the wireless communication device, the location data and the received signal level of the radio signal, to a third party.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein receiving the radio signals using the short-range radio communication protocol comprises receiving the radio signals using a Bluetooth protocol.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising estimating a distance of the wireless communication device from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device based on the received signal level, wherein the estimated distance includes a range of distances.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising estimating a distance of the wireless communication device from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device based on a difference between a transmit power level of the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device and the received signal level.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein transmitting the location data to the third party comprises transmitting the location data to a server, and wherein a format of the location data includes a uniform resource locator (URL).

14. A method performed under control of a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

receiving, using a short-range radio communication protocol and absent prior interrogation, radio signals from a plurality of nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting devices;

detecting, by the wireless communication device, location data in a radio signal from a nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device of the plurality of nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting devices, wherein the radio signal is a strongest radio signal, among the radio signals, that includes the location data, and wherein a format of the location data is selected from one or more of: longitude/latitude coordinates, street address, street address with unit number, raw global positioning system (GPS) data, a location-specific code corresponding to a location database entry, and a combination thereof;

retaining, by the wireless communication device, the location data from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device, wherein retaining the location data comprises retaining the location data until the wireless communication device detects another location data from a different nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device;

estimating a distance of the wireless communication device from the nearby autonomously transmitting radio-transmitting device based on a received signal level of the radio signal; and

transmitting, by the wireless communication device, the retained location data and data, which represents the estimated distance, to a third party.