Methods for providing a navigation route based on network availability and device attributes

1. A method for providing a navigation route, comprising:

receiving, at a mobile device, a request for a navigation route;

querying a centralized database to obtain accessibility information relating to accessibility of at least one wireless network at different geographic locations along the navigation route and device specific information relating to technical attributes of the mobile device, wherein the accessibility information and the device specific information are crowd-sourced by a plurality of other mobile devices at different geographic locations;

determining, via the mobile device, the navigation route based at least in part on the obtained accessibility information and the obtained device specific information; and

providing, via the mobile device, the navigation route.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the navigation route takes into account a quality of service (QoS) priority level.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the accessibility information comprises:

signal strength information of the wireless network;

network congestion information of the wireless network;

communication standard information of the wireless network; and

geographic location information of the wireless network.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the network congestion information comprises network congestion information in relation to time.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the device specific information comprises:

manufacturer information of the mobile device;

operating system information of the mobile device; and

mobile subscriber plan information of the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the accessibility information and the device specific information reside within a centralized database accessible by the mobile device.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising prefetching data for use by an application residing on the mobile device based on the accessibility information, wherein the accessibility information comprises wireless network handover information.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the accessibility information is periodically received by the mobile devices.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the accessibility information is forwarded, via the mobile device, to a personal navigation device for providing the navigation route.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the other mobile devices are on the same wireless network.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising computing estimated battery consumption for the mobile device based on the accessibility information.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising disabling a radio of the mobile device based on the accessibility information.

13. An apparatus for providing a navigation route, comprising:

a navigation module configured to provide a navigation route;

a processor coupled to the navigation module;

wherein the processor is configured to receive a request for the navigation route;

wherein the processor is configured to query a centralized database to obtain accessibility information relating to accessibility of at least one wireless network at different geographic locations along the navigation route and device specific information relating to technical attributes of a mobile device, wherein the accessibility information and the device specific information are crowd-sourced by a plurality of other mobile devices at different geographic locations;

wherein the processor is configured to determine the navigation route based at least in part on the obtained accessibility information and the obtained device specific information; and

wherein the processor is configured to provide the navigation route.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the navigation route takes into account a quality of service (QoS) priority level.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the accessibility information comprises:

signal strength information of the wireless network;

network congestion information of the wireless network;

communication standard information of the wireless network; and

geographic location information of the wireless network.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the network congestion information comprises network congestion information in relation to time.

17. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the device specific information comprises:

manufacturer information of the mobile device;

operating system information of the mobile device; and

mobile subscriber plan information of the mobile device.

18. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the accessibility information and the device specific information reside within a centralized database accessible by the mobile device.

19. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the processor is further configured to prefetch data for use by an application residing on the mobile device based on the accessibility information, wherein the accessibility information comprises wireless network handover information.

20. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the accessibility information is periodically received by the mobile devices.

21. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the accessibility information is forwarded, via the mobile device, to a personal navigation device for providing the navigation route.

22. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the other mobile devices are on the same wireless network.

23. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the processor is further configured to compute estimated battery consumption for the mobile device based on the accessibility information.

24. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the processor is further configured to disable a radio of the mobile device based on the accessibility information.

25. A non-transitory computer program product residing on a processor-readable medium and comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause a processor to:

receive, via a mobile device, a request for a navigation route;

query a centralized database to obtain accessibility information relating to accessibility of at least one wireless network at different geographic locations along the navigation route and device specific information relating to technical attributes of the mobile device, wherein the accessibility information and the device specific information are crowd-sourced by a plurality of other mobile devices at different geographic locations;

determine the navigation route, based at least in part on the obtained accessibility information and the obtained device specific information; and

provide, via the device, the navigation route.

26. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 25 wherein the accessibility information comprises:

signal strength information of the wireless network;

network congestion information of the wireless network;

communication standard information of the wireless network; and

geographic location information of the wireless network.

27. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 25 wherein the device specific information comprises:

manufacturer information of the mobile device;

operating system information of the mobile device; and

mobile subscriber plan information of the mobile device.

28. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 25 wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the processor to prefetch data for use by an application residing on the mobile device based on the accessibility information, wherein the accessibility information comprises wireless network handover information.

29. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 25 wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the processor to compute estimated battery consumption for the mobile device based on the accessibility information.