Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100156714 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MONITORING THE INTEGRITY OF SATELLITE TRACKING DATA USED BY A REMOTE RECEIVER - A method and apparatus for monitoring the integrity of satellite tracking data used by a remote receiver is described. In one example, a first set of satellite tracking data is received at a server. Integrity data for a second set of satellite tracking data is generated using the first set of satellite tracking data. The integrity data is then transmitted to at least one remote receiver having the second set of satellite tracking data. | 06-24-2010 |
20110151889 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INTERNET PROTOCOL INITIAL POSITIONING THROUGH CALIBRATED RANGING - A global navigation satellite system (GNSS) enabled mobile device comprising an Internet protocol (IP) interface may be operable to determine a reference position based on a registered public IP address associated with the GNSS enabled mobile device and range uncertainty for the registered public IP address. The GNSS enabled mobile device may identify the registered public IP address associated with the GNSS enabled mobile device and a packet travel time to reach the registered public IP address utilizing a network trace test. The GNSS enabled mobile device may be operable to determine the range uncertainty for the identified registered public IP address and validate the registered public IP address for a reference position based on the determined range uncertainty. The GNSS enabled mobile device may be operable to acquire a latitude/longitude associated with the validated registered public IP address for the reference position. | 06-23-2011 |
20110163917 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ANTENNA ORIENTATION COMPENSATION FOR POWER RANGING - A mobile device comprising an antenna may be operable to adjust a plurality of received signal strength indications (RSSIs) for a plurality of known RF nodes based on an orientation of the antenna and an antenna gain profile (AGP) of the antenna. The mobile device may be operable to calculate a position of the mobile device utilizing a power ranging based on the adjusted plurality of RSSIs. The mobile device may generate an antenna orientation report (AOR) utilizing a magnetometer and an accelerometer in the mobile device and determine the orientation of the antenna based on the AOR. The mobile device may be operable to determine an antenna gain value associated with each of the plurality of RSSIs for the plurality of known RF nodes based on the orientation of the antenna and the AGP of the antenna. | 07-07-2011 |
20110199255 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING A POSITION FIX INDOORS - A location server may be operable to refine a location for a RF node based on a weight applied to one or more location samples that are received from one or more mobile devices. The received location samples may be weighted based on a manufacturer and/or a model information of each of the mobile devices, properties and/or conditions of a RF environment associated with each of the mobile devices, a GNSS dilution of precision, motion sensors used by each of the mobile devices and/or a geometrical population condition associated with each of the mobile devices within range of the RF node. A valid location for the RF node may be generated utilizing the weighted location samples. The location server may update location information for the RF node, which may be stored in a location database, utilizing the valid location for the RF node. | 08-18-2011 |
20110199257 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR UPDATING ALTITUDE INFORMATION FOR A LOCATION BY USING TERRAIN MODEL INFORMATION TO PRIME ALTITUDE SENSORS - Methods and systems for updating altitude information for a location by using terrain model information to prime altitude sensors are disclosed and may include determining an altitude of a wireless device including one or more altimeters. The determination of altitude may include determining a location of the wireless device, receiving an altitude value for the location from an altitude database, and measuring a change in the altitude using the altimeters. The database may include a worldwide terrain database that may be stored on a remote device, such as a server. Part of the database may be stored on the wireless device and may be updated as the wireless device moves. The location may be determined utilizing a global navigation satellite system, which may include GPS, GLONASS, and GALILLEO. The location may be measured utilizing cellular service triangulation or by utilizing one or more access points with known locations. | 08-18-2011 |
20110199261 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR STABILIZING A GNSS CLOCK BY REDUCING INTERFERENCE - Methods and systems for stabilizing a GNSS clock by reducing interference are disclosed and may include stabilizing a frequency of a temperature compensated crystal oscillator (TCXO) on a chip in a GNSS device. A clock signal may be generated for the device by temporarily configuring circuitry adjacent to the TCXO at a constant power level. Temperature and electromagnetic interference of the TCXO may be stabilized by the constant power level of the adjacent circuitry, which may be on the chip or external to the chip. The frequency of the TCXO may be stabilized by temporarily disabling the adjacent circuitry. A GNSS clock signal may be stabilized by the configuring of the constant power level while a GNSS location may be calibrated. A GNSS location of a fixed wireless device, such as a wireless access point, may be calibrated utilizing the configured constant power level and shared with other wireless devices. | 08-18-2011 |
20110200023 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING A POSITION FIX INDOORS - Whenever a mobile device in a building is within proximity of a RF communication device, the mobile device may be operable to receive location information transmitted, for example by broadcasting it, from a RF communication device. The transmitted location information comprises altitude information of the RF communication device. At least an altitude of the mobile device may be determined based on the received altitude information of the RF communication device. The RF communication device may be located in an elevator car and/or on a particular floor in the building. Whenever the RF communication device is located in the elevator car, the altitude information of the RF communication device may be received by the RF communication device from an elevator controller. In instances when the RF communication device also transmits its latitude/longitude (LAT/LON), the mobile device may be operable to determine a 3-dimentional (3D) location of the mobile device. | 08-18-2011 |
20110201305 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ENSURING USER AND/OR DEVICE ANONYMITY FOR LOCATION BASED SERVICES (LBS) - A mobile device may communicate with a location server during location based services (LBS) operations using a secure identifier. The secure identifier abstracts identification information of the mobile device and/or identification information of a user of the mobile device in instances that the mobile device and/or user identification information are deemed protectable from the location server. The location server may be operable to store location data corresponding to the mobile device and/or the user in a location reference database based on the secure identifier. The secure identifier may comprise a unique value, which may be randomly generated. The secure identifier may also be generated based on the mobile device and/or user identification information, by applying, for example, encryption algorithms to the mobile device and/or user identification information. Service providers for the mobile device may retrieve the abstracted mobile device and/or user identification information from the secure identifier. | 08-18-2011 |
20110201348 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OPTIMIZING UPLOADING OF LOCATION DATA FOR LOCATION BASED SERVICES - A mobile device may be operable to collect location data for a RF node and cache the collected location data in the mobile device. Resources that may be utilized for improving the uploading of the cached location data to a location server may be determined by the mobile device. The cached location data may be communicated, to the location server for updating a location database, by the mobile device utilizing the determined resources. The mobile device may determine and utilize an opportunistic transport based on a data usage and/or an access. The mobile device may store a subset of the location database locally for comparing with the cached location data for redundancy. The compared location data may be transmitted by the mobile device to the location server for updating the location database if the compared location data are not redundant data. | 08-18-2011 |
20110202416 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTHORIZING TRANSACTIONS BASED ON DEVICE LOCATION - Aspects of a method and system for authorizing network transactions based on device location are provided. In this regard, a request may be received to approve a transaction that was initiated from a first communication device and comprises a need to access an account. In response to the request, a second communication device that is associated with the account may be determined, and it may be determined whether to approve the transaction based on received data relating to the identity and location of the second communication device. The transaction may be associated with the second communication device via a database stored on the location server. The transaction may be approved in instances that the first communication device is in a location associated, via the database, with the second communication device. The transaction may be approved in instances that the first communication device is in substantially the same location as the second communication device. | 08-18-2011 |
20110202460 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTHORIZING TRANSACTIONS BASED ON RELATIVE LOCATION OF DEVICES - Aspects of a method and system for authorizing transactions based on relative location of devices are provided. In this regard, data relating to a location of a first communication device and data relating to a location of a second communication device may be received, a distance between the first communication device and the second communication device may be determined based on the received data, and whether to approve a transaction may be determined based on the determined distance. The transaction may have been initiated from one of the first communication device and the second communication device, and may comprise a need to access an account. The transaction may be approved in instances that the first communication device and the second communication device are within a predetermined distance of each other. The received data may comprise distance information determined via communications between the first communication device and the second communication device. | 08-18-2011 |
20110202461 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTHORIZING NETWORK TRANSACTIONS BASED ON RADIO FREQUENCY (RF) CHARACTERIZATION OF A DEVICE'S LOCATION - Aspects of a method and system for authorizing network transactions based on radio frequency (RF) characterization of a device's location are provided. In this regard, whether to approve a communication device to perform a network transaction may be determined based on results of a comparison between a radio frequency (RE) characterization of a location of the communication device and one or more approved RF characterizations. The RF characterization may be based on information from a plurality of receivers within the communication device. The one or more approved characterizations may be stored in the network device. The RF characterization may indicate a quantity of RF sources detected and identified by the communication device at the location. The RF characterization may indicate signal strength of signals received from RF sources detected and indentified by the communication device at the location. | 08-18-2011 |
20110207471 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING LOCATION WITHIN A BUILDING BASED ON HISTORICAL LOCATION INFORMATION - A mobile device may be operable to receive historical location trail information of a building. A location of the mobile device within the building may be determined by placing, moving or snapping a reference location of the mobile device onto a trail according to the received historical location trail information. The historical location trail information may be acquired from a location server. The historical location trail information stored in the location server may be generated using a plurality of location samples that are provided by one or more other mobile devices that have been within the building. The historical location trail information may also be acquired from an indoor map of the building that is used by the mobile device for navigation within the building. The determined location of the mobile device may then be utilized by the mobile device to navigate within the building for location-based services. | 08-25-2011 |
20110212732 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING A LOCATION OF A MOBILE DEVICE BASED ON A PLURALITY OF LOCATION SAMPLES - A mobile device may be operable to receive three or more location samples for the mobile device from each of three or more resources. Two or more valid location samples may be selected based on an accuracy indicator associated with each of the received location samples. A location of the mobile device may be determined utilizing the selected two or more valid location samples. A region around each of the received location samples may be determined based on the accuracy indicator and a condition of a geographic environment that is associated with each of the received location samples. Two or more valid location samples among the received location samples may be selected in instances when at least a portion of the region of each of the selected valid location samples overlaps with at least a portion of the regions of each of other selected valid location samples. | 09-01-2011 |
20110212735 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SEAMLESS CONSUMMATION OF AN ELECTRONIC TRANSACTION BASED ON LOCATION RELATED DATA - A mobile device may determine its location, receive transaction related information, and initiate, based on its determined location and/or the transaction related information, a transaction at the current location. The transaction related information may be received from a location server. The mobile device and/or its users may also be authenticated, using the location server. The initiated transaction may be completed automatically, without user input. The device user may also be prompted for authorization and/or information for completing the transaction. The transaction related information may specify if and/or when transactions are to be completed automatically. The mobile device may track user actions via the mobile device, and may generate based on that tracking, user action data pertaining transactions initiated and/or conducted by the user. The generated user action data may be communicated to the location server, and may be used to update the profile data maintained by the location server. | 09-01-2011 |
20110222471 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OPTIMIZED TRANSFER OF LOCATION DATABASE INFORMATION - A servicing communication device may receive a subset of a location reference database that is maintained by a plurality of location servers, and may provide location related data to a mobile device that is communicatively coupled to the servicing communication device based on the received subset. The servicing communication device may determine capabilities and/or requirements of the mobile device, and may generate the location related data based on that determination. The servicing communication device may determine attributes and/or parameters that may affect determination of the subset of the location reference database. The subset of location reference database may be requested based on the determined attributes and/or parameters. The attributes and/or parameters may comprise a location of the servicing communication device. The servicing communication device may determine its location, directly based on GNSS transmissions and/or indirectly based on assisted GNSS (A-GNSS) data received from the plurality of location servers. | 09-15-2011 |
20110223931 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CHARACTERIZING LOCATION AND/OR RANGE BASED ON TRANSMIT POWER - A transmitting communication device may iteratively adjust its transmit power, and may estimate, based on iterative transmit power adjustment, relative location of a receiving communication device. The transmit power may be initialized to a maximum value, and the transmit power may be iteratively reduced until connectivity with the receiving communication device is lost. The loss of connectivity may be determined based on reception of responses to ping messages transmitted by the transmitting communication device. The transmitting communication device may authenticate the receiving communication device and/or a user of the receiving communication device. The authentication may comprises utilizing transmit power adjustment and/or relative location estimation therefrom to ensure that a separation between the devices does not exceed a maximum value. The transmitting communication device may generate location info associated with the receiving communication device based on the relative location estimation, and may communicate the location info to a location server. | 09-15-2011 |
20110227788 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR GENERATING AND PROPAGATING LOCATION INFORMATION BY A MOBILE DEVICE USING SENSORY DATA - A mobile device may determine its initial absolute location; may track using a plurality of sensors, its movements relative to the initial absolute location; and may generate location related data for a location based on that tracking. Tracking movement of the mobile device may comprise generating data corresponding to three-dimensional (3D) linear and/or rotational changes in position and/or location of the mobile device. The initial absolute location may be determined directly by the mobile device, based on GNSS signals and/or assisted GNSS (A-GNSS) data received from one or more location servers; and/or it may be estimated based on a location of a communication device that is communicatively coupled to the mobile device. The generated location related data may propagated by the mobile device to other mobile and/or communication devices, and/or to the location servers, where a reference database for supporting location related services (LBS) may be updated accordingly. | 09-22-2011 |
20110237185 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING A LOCATION FOR A RF COMMUNICATION DEVICE BASED ON ITS PROXIMITY TO A MOBILE DEVICE - A mobile device may be operable to determine, based on a known location of the mobile device, a location for a RF communication device that communicates with the mobile device, whenever the mobile device is within proximate range of the RF communication device. The determined location for the RF communication device may be stored in a location database in a location server and/or a memory in the RF communication device. The stored location of the RF communication device may then be used to determine a location for other mobile devices that may communicate with the RF communication device and are within proximate range of the RF communication device. The RF communication device may comprise a radio-frequency identification (RFID) device and/or a near field communication (NFC) device. The determined location for the RF communication device may comprise the known location of the mobile device. | 09-29-2011 |
20110299410 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING QUALITY OF SERVICE VIA A BROADBAND GATEWAY - Aspects of a method and system for managing quality of service via a broadband gateway are provided. In this regard, a broadband gateway that supports one or more first QoS protocols may determine, based on communications with a plurality of communication devices, whether each of the plurality of communication devices supports the one or more first QoS protocols. The gateway may communicate a result of the determination to a content provider and/or service provider. In this manner, the content provider and/or service provider may determine whether to utilize one or more second QoS protocols to deliver content to a particular one of said plurality of communication devices based on whether said particular of communication devices based on whether said particular one of said plurality of communication devices supports the one or more first QoS protocols. The gateway may be operable to map between QoS protocols. | 12-08-2011 |
20110299412 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR UTILIZING A BROADBAND GATEWAY TO PROVIDE ENERGY EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT IN A HOME NETWORK - A broadband gateway may provide energy management service within a home network. The energy management service may enable reducing and/or enhancing energy consumption within the home network. The energy management service may comprise managing one or more devices in the home network by the broadband gateway. The energy management service may be performed based on energy-related information associated with devices, and the information may be stored by the broadband gateway. At least some of the energy-related information may be acquired from the managed devices. The energy management service may comprise controlling and/or configuring the managed devices, and/or communications between the managed devices within the home network. The broadband gateway may track actual energy usage by the managed devices. Information corresponding to energy-related activities and/or usage may be displayed via a user interface. The information may also be reported to entities external to the home network. | 12-08-2011 |
20110299541 | Method and System for Recognizing Energy Efficient Certified Devices Through a Gateway - A broadband gateway, which enables communication with a plurality of devices, may be operable to identify an energy efficient certified device from the plurality of devices. The broadband gateway may handle at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. Information related to the identified energy efficient certified device, including usage information of the device, may be communicated to one or more entities. The broadband gateway may acquire the usage information of the energy efficient certified device by monitoring whether the device is operating in an energy efficient mode. The broadband gateway may obtain a credit and/or a reward from the one or more entities based on the usage information of the energy efficient certified device. The broadband gateway may deposit the credit and/or the reward to an account associated with the energy efficient certified device. | 12-08-2011 |
20110299542 | Method and System for Providing Directory Services by a Gateway for Peer-to-Peer Communications - A broadband gateway, which enables communication with a plurality of devices and handles at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider, may be operable to identify one or more individuals with whom a user desires to engage in peer-to-peer communications. The user is associated with one or more of the plurality of devices. A directory may be generated by the broadband gateway for the peer-to-peer communications based on the identified one or more individuals. The directory may comprise name information, location information, contact information, communication device information, and/or content sharing information. The broadband gateway may communicate the directory to one or more network access service providers and/or one or more content providers. Peer-to-peer exchanges and/or network resource allocations for the peer-to-peer communications may be controlled and/or monitored by the network access services providers and/or the content providers based on information in the directory. | 12-08-2011 |
20110299543 | Method and System for Providing Virtual Gateway Services - A broadband gateway configured to operate as a virtual broadband gateway may comprise a network portion and a local portion. The network portion is communicatively coupled to the local portion via a plurality of physical layer connections to one or more network access service providers. The virtual broadband gateway may acquire content from one or more providers, process the content for delivery to one or more local devices, and deliver the content to the one or more local devices. The remote portion may be implemented in one or more network devices. The network devices may be owned and/or operated by one or more content providers, one or more network access service providers, and/or one or more independent entities. Gateway functions performed by the network portion may comprise, for example, content downloading, content streaming, content authentication, data format conversion, service negotiation, service selection, data encryption, data decryption and/or data storage. | 12-08-2011 |
20110299544 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING BANDWIDTH BY A BROADBAND GATEWAY - Aspects of a method and system for managing bandwidth by a broadband gateway are provided. In this regard, broadband gateway may, upon receiving a request for content from a user of the communication device, present, via a graphical user interface, a message that offers a benefit to the user in exchange for deferring consumption of the content until a later time. The gateway may then deliver the content to the communication device at a time determined by a response to the message received from the communication device. The message may provide several times at which the content may be delivered and a corresponding benefit available for each of the times. The times may correspond to times at which it is expected there will be less traffic in the network over which the content is to be delivered. | 12-08-2011 |
20110299545 | CUSTOMIZED ACQUISITION OF CONTENT BY A BROADBAND GATEWAY - Aspects of a method and system for customized acquisition of content by a broadband gateway are provided. A broadband gateway may be operable to determine options for acquiring particular content. The broadband gateway may be operable to rank the determined options. The ranking may be based on one or more characteristics of the options and based on user-specified criteria. The broadband gateway may be operable to select one of the options for acquiring the content based on results of the ranking. One or more of the options may be available via a first physical layer connection and one or more of the options may be available via a second physical layer connection. The gateway may rank the determined options based on attributes of one or more devices via which the particular content will be consumed. | 12-08-2011 |
20110299546 | Method and System for Optimizing Communication in a Home Network Via a Gateway - A method and system are provided in which a content request may be received by a broadband gateway from a device connected to the broadband gateway through a home network. The broadband gateway may select content that corresponds to the request from content that is available through a network access service provider and/or from other devices in the home network. The selection of the content corresponding to the request may be based on capability information of the device. The capability information may comprise display, audio reproduction, encoding, decoding, and/or storage capabilities, for example. The selection may be based on an optimization associated with a bandwidth to transfer the content within the home network and/or a power consumed to process the content. The content that is selected may be received and processed by the broadband gateway, and/or by another device in the home network, before being communicated to the device. | 12-08-2011 |
20110299547 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING ENERGY COSTS UTILIZING A BROADBAND GATEWAY - Aspects of a method and system for managing energy costs utilizing a broadband gateway are provided. In this regard, a broadband gateway may determine usage patterns for one or more electronic devices communicatively coupled to the broadband gateway. The broadband gateway may control tasks performed and/or to be performed based on the patterns of use and based on a pricing structure for energy supplied to the broadband gateway and/or the one or more electronic devices. Controlling tasks to be performed may comprise, for example, scheduling performance of the tasks. Exemplary tasks may comprise downloading multimedia content and configuring a state of operation of the one or more electronic devices. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a state of operation of the electronic device(s) may be configurable between a plurality of states comprising: a powered-off state, a standby state, and a powered-on state. | 12-08-2011 |
20110299549 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ENERGY EFFICIENT BASED SERVICE OPTIMIZATION BY A BROADBAND GATEWAY - A broadband gateway may provide energy efficient management of services delivered to a home network. The energy efficient service management may enable reducing and/or enhancing energy consumption within access networks utilized during the managed services. The energy management service may comprise determining energy-related costs associated with providing services, based on use of external physical layer connections. The services may then be provisioned based on energy-related costs associated with the services. The service provisioning may comprise controlling and/or adjusting bitrate selection, physical (PHY) layer selection, and/or service level agreement (SLA) parameters. The broadband gateway may negotiate with the network access service providers during the provisioning of the services. This may comprise negotiating and/or configuring micro-leases for use in providing the services. A dedicated energy messaging protocol may be utilized for communicating by the broadband gateway, and/or by network access service and/or content providers during the energy efficient service management. | 12-08-2011 |
20110299550 | UTILIZING A GATEWAY FOR BROKERING AND/OR ARBITRATING SERVICE CONSUMPTION OPTIONS - A broadband gateway may provision services requested in a home network managed and/or serviced by the broadband gateway by a user associated with the broadband gateway, based on determination of criteria related to the requested service. The requested service may comprise obtaining and/or delivering content for consumption by one or more of a plurality of devices serviced by the broadband gateway in the home network. The criteria may comprise device related data, user preference related information, service performance related parameters, payment related information, and/or energy use related information. The broadband gateway may store information associated with the determined criteria. Provisioning requested services may comprise negotiating with at least one remote resource that may support at least a portion of the requested service. The negotiation may comprise brokering and/or arbitrating a plurality of options of remote resources utilized for providing the at least a portion of the requested service. | 12-08-2011 |
20110300825 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING EMERGENCY RELATED SERVICES VIA A BROADBAND GATEWAY - Aspects of a method and system for providing emergency-related services via a broadband gateway are provided. In this regard, a broadband gateway may receive one or more emergency notification messages, generate one or more alert messages in response to the received emergency notification message(s), and communicate the alert message(s) to the electronic device(s). Accordingly, each of the one or more alert messages may be formatted for communication to a corresponding one or corresponding ones of the one or more electronic devices. The emergency notification message(s) may be generated by an emergency services provider in response to an emergency. The emergency services provider may send a notification message to the broadband gateway device upon determining that the broadband gateway device, a person associated with the broadband gateway device, and/or a location associated with the broadband gateway device meets particular criteria. | 12-08-2011 |
20110301963 | Method and System for Providing Energy Related Information Associated with Gateway Connected Devices - A broadband gateway which enables communication with a plurality of devices may be operable to determine an energy consumption metric associated with each application usage in each of the devices. The broadband gateway may handle at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. The energy consumption metric and/or related information may be communicated to a user who may be associated with one or more of the plurality of devices. The energy consumption metric and/or the related information may be communicated to the user via a graphical user interface (GUI), a text-based interface, an audio interface and/or an electronic program guide (EPG). The broadband gateway may offer a credit and/or a reward based on a selection of a choice of consuming the application with reduced energy consumption. The broadband gateway may generate alerts based on monitored energy consumption and a monthly threshold. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302010 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING INCENTIVIZED BENEFITS IN A BROADBAND GATEWAY - Aspects of a method and system for providing incentivized benefits in a broadband gateway are provided. In this regard, credits may be added to a subscriber account associated with a broadband gateway based on input provided by a user of an electronic device in communication with the broadband gateway, and it may be determined whether to provide services and/or content via the broadband gateway based on a number of credits in the subscriber account. The input may comprise, for example, feedback regarding content consumed via the broadband gateway, and responses to surveys, polls, or questionnaires presented via the broadband gateway. The broadband gateway may be operable to handle a plurality of physical layer connections to a corresponding plurality of network access service providers. The broadband gateway may be operable to communicate the user input to a provider associated with the subscriber account via one or more of the physical layer connections. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302068 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MULTI-TIER BILLING FOR DOWNLOADING CONTENT VIA A BROADBAND GATEWAY - A broadband gateway may be used to provide multi-tier billing services in a home network. The broadband gateway may determine whether a transaction requested from the broadband gateway is performable in a plurality of steps, may associate a charge and/or a credit with each of the determined plurality of steps, and may perform the requested transaction based on the associated charges and/or credits. The broadband gateway may determine a plurality of cost combinations for performing the requested transaction based on the determined associated charges and/or credits, and may offer the generated plurality of cost combination for selection by user. The transaction may comprise obtaining content for consumption by devices serviced by the broadband gateway. In this regard, a charge and/or a credit may also be associated with one or more criteria associated with obtaining content. The broadband gateway may communicate with users during multi-tier billing services via a user interface. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302077 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ACCOUNT MAINTENANCE VIA A BROADBAND GATEWAY - Aspects of a method and system for account maintenance via a broadband gateway are provided. In this regard, a subscriber associated with a gateway may have a plurality of subscriber accounts with a corresponding plurality of service/content providers. Information associated with the accounts may be stored in the gateway, and the gateway may present a user interface via which the subscriber may manage settings and balances associated with the accounts. The user interface may enable submitting a single payment such that funds from the single payment are applied to each of the accounts. Activity of the plurality of accounts may be displayed via the user interface. The gateway may be operable to monitor activity of one or more of the plurality of accounts. The gateway may be operable to generate one or more alerts based on the activity and based on criteria established for each of the plurality of accounts. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302248 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR UTILIZING A BROADBAND GATEWAY FOR PEER TO PEER COMMUNICATIONS - A broadband gateway may be used to provide peer-to-peer communications with other broadband gateways. One or more peer-to-peer connections may be configured with each of the other broadband gateway, for use in peer-to-peer communications, which may be utilized to communicate shared content among the broadband gateways. Users may receive incentives for participating in peer-to-peer communications, comprising sharing credits and/or reduced charges. The broadband gateway may track and/or aggregate sharing credits based on communication of shared content. Peer-to-peer connections may be configured using at least one physical layer connection utilized by the broadband gateway in communicating with corresponding access network service provider. Peer-to-peer connections may also be configured using direct connections and/or links between the broadband gateways. The broadband gateway may generate a directory for use in conjunction with peer-to-peer operations. The directory may be presented via a user interface. The broadband gateway may generate and/or communicate peer-to-peer related alerts. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302275 | Method and System for Matching Content Consumption Preference Via a Broadband Gateway - A broadband gateway, which enables communication with a plurality of devices and handles at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service providers, may be operable to receive a request for content from a particular device of the plurality of devices. Content which corresponds to the request may be selected by the broadband gateway from content that may be available in one or more content sources, based on user preference information associated with a particular type of the content. The broadband gateway may receive the selected content from a selected content source of the one or more content sources for communication to the particular device. The broadband gateway may receive the selected content from a content provider and/or a network access service provider via broadcast communications and/or Internet communications. The selected content may also be received from a communication device via peer-to-peer communications. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302276 | ADAPTIVE MULTIMEDIA DELIVERY VIA A BROADBAND GATEWAY - Aspects of a method and system for adaptive multimedia delivery via a broadband gateway are provided. A broadband gateway may be operable to determine which one or more of a plurality of devices is communicatively coupled to the broadband gateway. Content may be requested from, and/or scheduled to be delivered to, one or more of the devices. The gateway may be operable to select a provider from which to request the content based on results of the determining. The provider may be selected based on a bandwidth of a link between the broadband gateway and the one or more devices to which the content is to be delivered. The gateway may be operable to select one of a plurality of versions of the content based on results of the determining and requesting the selected version of the content from the selected content provider. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302296 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING SECURE TRANSACTIONS VIA A BROADBAND GATEWAY - A broadband gateway may be used to authorize transactions associated with one or more accounts, which may be associated with a user of the broadband gateway. The transaction may be handled by the broadband gateway. The authorizations may be performed based on information associated with the accounts, whose storage may be controlled by the broadband gateway. The broadband gateway may block and/or terminate transactions failing authentication and/or validation, which may be performed based on the stored information. The transactions may be initiated within a network serviced by the broadband gateway. The transactions may also be initiated outside the serviced network. The stored information may comprise a user profile, which may comprise a plurality of settings for controlling and/or managing authorization performed by the broadband gateway. The user profiles may be configurable by users, wherein configuration may comprise initializing and/or modifying one or more of the transaction related settings. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302308 | Method and System for Providing User-Generated Content Via a Gateway - A method and system are provided in which a broadband gateway may be operable to handle at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. The broadband gateway may receive content and associated metadata through the at least one network access service provider. The broadband gateway may determine, based on the received metadata and on one or more rules associated with a user profile, whether to enable access to at least a portion of the received content by a device connected in a peer-to-peer configuration with the broadband gateway. The broadband gateway may communicate to such device an indication that at least a portion of the received content is available for sharing. The metadata may comprise rating information, copyright information, language information, and privacy rules. The rating information may be modified based on information received by the broadband gateway from other users. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302313 | Method and System for Utilizing a Gateway to Enable Peer-to-Peer Communications in Service Provider Networks - A broadband gateway may be operable to receive network topology information to enable peer-to-peer communications between a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device is communicatively coupled to the broadband gateway. The broadband gateway may be operable to handle at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. A communication link which may bypass core layer network components and/or resources for enabling the peer-to-peer communications between the first communication device and the second communication device may be established by the broadband gateway, based on the received network topology information, a location of the first communication device and a location of the second communication device. The broadband gateway may establish the communication link to enable the peer-to-peer communications by marking traffic such as by inserting QinQ tags into traffic between the first communication device and the second communication device. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302324 | CUSTOMIZED DELIVERY OF CONTENT BY A BROADBAND GATEWAY - Aspects of a method and system for customized delivery of content by a broadband gateway are provided. A broadband gateway may be operable to determine one or more characteristics of acquired content. The gateway may be operable to determine, based on the determined characteristics and based attributes of one or more electronic devices that will be utilized for consuming the content, whether the acquired content may be compatible with the device(s). In instances that the acquired content is not compatible with the device(s), the gateway may transcode the acquired content to make it compatible with the device(s). The one or more characteristics may comprise an identity or a type of a provider associated with the acquired content, a quality of the acquired content, and/or power consumption associated with communicating the acquired content to a destination device, and/or power consumption associated with presenting or otherwise processing the acquired content on a destination device. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302431 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING POWER CONSUMPTION UTILIZING INTER-GATEWAY COMMUNICATION - Aspects of a method and system for managing power consumption utilizing inter-gateway communication are provided. In this regard, a first broadband gateway residing in a first location may determine past, present, and/or expected power consumption of the first location. The gateway may receive, from one or more other broadband gateways residing in one or more other locations, information that enables determining past, present, and/or expected power consumption of the other location(s). The gateway may control power consumption of the first location by controlling a state of operation of devices residing in the first location. The gateway may determine aggregate power consumption of the first location and the other location(s). The gateway may control power consumption of the first location by enabling operation of one or more devices during periods of lower aggregate power consumption and disabling operation the devices during periods of higher aggregate power consumption. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302442 | Method and System for Combining and/or Blending Multiple Content From Different Sources in a Broadband Gateway - A method and system are provided in which a broadband gateway may receive different content from different sources, may combine the content to produce a combined content, and may communicate the combined content to a device connected to the broadband gateway. The content may be automatically and/or manually synchronized. The synchronization may be based on a clock signal received from the device, a clock signal from another device connected to the broadband gateway, and/or a clock signal received through one or more network access service providers. The content may be video image data and/or audio data. Moreover, user-generated content may be received and combined by the broadband gateway when in a peer-to-peer communication configuration with the source of the content. When more than two different content are received, the broadband gateway may be utilized to select which contents to combine. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302497 | Method and System for Supporting a User-Specified and Customized Interface for a Broadband Gateway - A method and system are provided in which a user interface application may be received by a broadband gateway and may be configured to generate a user interface for display in a display device. The user interface may be generated based on programming information and/or associated metadata received through one or more network access service providers. Each of the network access service providers may be handled by the broadband gateway through a corresponding physical layer access. More than one user interface application may be received by the broadband gateway. In such instances, the broadband gateway may enable the selection of one of the available user interface applications to generate the user interface. For each user interface application, the associated user interface that is generated may have a particular layout, visual characteristics, set of functions, and/or theme that is different from that of the other user interfaces. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302596 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TRUSTED RATINGS FOR CONTENT CONSUMPTION VIA A BROADBAND GATEWAY - Aspects of a method and system for trusted ratings for content consumption via a broadband gateway are provided. A first broadband gateway may collect information regarding users of a first one or more electronic devices and information regarding content handled by the first broadband gateway. The first broadband gateway may utilize the collected information to generate ratings for content. The ratings may be customized for one or more users of the first electronic device(s). The first broadband gateway may be operable to restrict, promote, or otherwise govern access to content based on the generated ratings. The ratings may be generated based on criteria input by users of the first electronic device(s). The first electronic device(s) may be coupled to the first gateway. The first broadband gateway may also collect information from users of a second one or more electronic device(s) which may be coupled to a second broadband gateway. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302598 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTENT FILTERING IN A BROADBAND GATEWAY - Aspects of a method and system for content filtering in a broadband gateway are provided. In this regard, a broadband gateway may be operable to determine whether to allow access to content based on attributes of the content and based on one or more of: which of a plurality of electronic devices is attempting to access the content, sensor information identifying a user attempting to access the content, and a time at which a user is attempting to access the information. Attributes of the content may be determined by analyzing the content utilizing one or more pattern recognition techniques. The gateway may be operable to allow a first subset of the electronic devices to access the content during a first period of time, and allow a second subset of the electronic devices to access the content during a second period of time. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302610 | UTILIZING AN ELECTRONIC PROGRAM GUIDE (EPG) FOR CUSTOMIZED CONTENT SERVICE IN A GATEWAY - A broadband gateway, which that enables communication with a plurality of devices, handles at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. The broadband gateway may identify EPG information from service providers. The identified EPG information may be adapted to device attributes such as display resolution, and/or user profiles to generate user-specific EPG information for the corresponding devices. The generated user-specific EPG information may be dynamically configured in response to updates in the identified EPG information, the device attributes and/or the user profiles. The configured user-specific EPG information may be communicated to the corresponding devices, either upon the requests from the devices or by initiation of the broadband gateway, for content selection and/or content scheduling. Advertising content, selected based on analysis of the user behavior and/or the user feedbacks, may be communicated in the user-specific EPG information to the devices to support behavioral marketing. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302612 | Method and System for Providing Channel Changes Via a Gateway - A broadband gateway, which enables communication with a plurality of devices and handles at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider, may be operable to receive one or more programs in preview formats from one or more program sources. Each of the one or more programs may be specified in a list. The programs specified in the list may be from different program sources. The broadband gateway may process the received one or more programs in the preview formats for presentation to one or more of the plurality of devices. The processed one or more programs in the preview formats may be communicated by the broadband gateway to the one or more of the plurality of devices, via a programming guide, for program preview by one or more users during program selections from the list. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302632 | Method and System for Supporting Visitor Access Via a Broadband Gateway - A method and system are provided in which a broadband gateway may enable a guest or visitor to access content available to the broadband gateway. The content may be received by the broadband gateway through one or more of a plurality of network access service providers that may provide separate physical layer access to the broadband gateway. After a visitor's device is connected to the broadband gateway, the broadband gateway may classify the device. Based on the classification, the device may be authorized to access a portion of the content received. Once the authorization process is complete, the appropriate content may be made available and transferred to the device. The authorization process may include the authentication of a device identifier and/or a user identifier. The authorized access may be time-limited, but may be renewed or enabled when a request is received within a determined period of time. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302634 | PROVIDING SECURE COMMUNICATION AND/OR SHARING OF PERSONAL DATA VIA A BROADBAND GATEWAY - A broadband gateway may manage confidential data associated with users in a home network managed and/or serviced by the broadband gateway. The broadband gateway may store the user confidential data broadband gateway in a distributed manner, wherein the confidential data may be divided into a plurality of portions and stored separately in multiple storage locations or devices. When users authorize the transfer of the confidential data, all portions may be communicated to enable aggregating them such that the confidential data may be obtained. The user confidential data may be encrypted. The broadband gateway may securely communicate and/or share the user confidential user data. This may be achieved by tracking communication of the user confidential data, by using tags incorporated into the data. The broadband gateway may also ensure that communicated confidential data is rendered unusable under certain conditions, based on use for various timing tags for example. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302663 | Method and System for Securing a Home Domain From External Threats Received by a Gateway - A method and system are provided in which a broadband gateway may handle at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. The broadband gateway may receive content comprising an application through the at least one network access service provider and may store the content in a first portion of a memory. A software agent may be utilized to request the content and/or to store the received content in the first portion of the memory. The broadband gateway may execute the application after access by the application to a second portion of the memory is disabled. After the execution of the application is completed, access to the second portion of the memory may be enabled. In some instances, the application may be verified to determine whether it is secure for utilization and/or distribution. When verification fails, the application may be deleted. | 12-08-2011 |
20130344808 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING A LOCATION FOR A RF COMMUNICATION DEVICE BASED ON ITS PROXIMITY TO A MOBILE DEVICE - A mobile device may be operable to determine, based on a known location of the mobile device, a location for a RF communication device that communicates with the mobile device, whenever the mobile device is within proximate range of the RF communication device. The determined location for the RF communication device may be stored in a location database in a location server and/or a memory in the RF communication device. The stored location of the RF communication device may then be used to determine a location for other mobile devices that may communicate with the RF communication device and are within proximate range of the RF communication device. The RF communication device may comprise a radio-frequency identification (RFID) device and/or a near field communication (NFC) device. The determined location for the RF communication device may comprise the known location of the mobile device. | 12-26-2013 |
20130345885 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR UTILIZING A BROADBAND GATEWAY TO PROVIDE ENERGY EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT IN A HOME NETWORK - A broadband gateway may provide energy management service within a home network. The energy management service may enable reducing and/or enhancing energy consumption within the home network. The energy management service may comprise managing one or more devices in the home network by the broadband gateway. The energy management service may be performed based on energy-related information associated with devices, and the information may be stored by the broadband gateway. At least some of the energy-related information may be acquired from the managed devices. The energy management service may comprise controlling and/or configuring the managed devices, and/or communications between the managed devices within the home network. The broadband gateway may track actual energy usage by the managed devices. Information corresponding to energy-related activities and/or usage may be displayed via a user interface. The information may also be reported to entities external to the home network. | 12-26-2013 |
20140082219 | Customized Delivery of Content by a Broadband Gateway - Aspects of customized delivery of content by a broadband gateway are provided. A broadband gateway may be operable to determine one or more characteristics of acquired content. The gateway may be operable to determine, based on the determined characteristics, whether the acquired content may be compatible with a device. In instances that the acquired content is not compatible with the device, the gateway may transcode the acquired content to make it compatible with the device. The one or more characteristics may comprise an identity or a type of a provider associated with the acquired content, a quality of the acquired content, power consumption associated with communicating the acquired content to a destination device, or power consumption associated with presenting or otherwise processing the acquired content on a destination device. | 03-20-2014 |
20140122211 | Method and System for Recognizing Energy Efficient Certified Devices Through a Gateway - A broadband gateway, which enables communication with a plurality of devices, may be operable to identify an energy efficient certified device from the plurality of devices. The broadband gateway may handle at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. Information related to the identified energy efficient certified device, including usage information of the device, may be communicated to one or more entities. The broadband gateway may acquire the usage information of the energy efficient certified device by monitoring whether the device is operating in an energy efficient mode. The broadband gateway may obtain a credit and/or a reward from the one or more entities based on the usage information of the energy efficient certified device. The broadband gateway may deposit the credit and/or the reward to an account associated with the energy efficient certified device. | 05-01-2014 |
20140219136 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING DIRECTORY SERVICES FOR PEER-TO-PEER COMMUNICATIONS - A broadband gateway, which enables communication with a plurality of devices and handles at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. A user may be associated with one or more of the plurality of devices. A directory may be generated by the broadband gateway for the peer-to-peer communications based on the identified one or more individuals. The directory may comprise name information, location information, contact information, communication device information, and/or content sharing information. The broadband gateway may communicate the directory to one or more network access service providers and/or one or more content providers. Peer-to-peer exchanges and/or network resource allocations for the peer-to-peer communications may be controlled and/or monitored by the network access services providers and/or the content providers based on information in the directory. | 08-07-2014 |
20140223483 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING PROGRAM PREVIEW OF A PARTICULAR PROGRAM DURING CHANNEL CHANGES VIA A GATEWAY - A gateway (e.g., a broadband gateway), which enables communication with a plurality of devices and handles at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider, may be operable to receive one or more programs in preview formats from one or more program sources. Each of the one or more programs may be specified in a list. The programs specified in the list may be from different program sources. The broadband gateway may process the received one or more programs in the preview formats for presentation to one or more of the plurality of devices. The processed one or more programs in the preview formats may be communicated by the broadband gateway to the one or more of the plurality of devices, via a programming guide, for program preview by one or more users during program selections from the list. | 08-07-2014 |
20140323154 | Method and System for Optimized Transfer of Location Database Information - A servicing communication device may receive a subset of a location reference database that is maintained by a plurality of location servers, and may provide location related data to a mobile device that is communicatively coupled to the servicing communication device based on the received subset. The servicing communication device may determine capabilities and/or requirements of the mobile device, and may generate the location related data based on that determination. The servicing communication device may determine attributes and/or parameters that may affect determination of the subset of the location reference database. The subset of location reference database may be requested based on the determined attributes and/or parameters. The attributes and/or parameters may comprise a location of the servicing communication device. The servicing communication device may determine its location, directly based on GNSS transmissions and/or indirectly based on assisted GNSS (A-GNSS) data received from the plurality of location servers. | 10-30-2014 |
20150051748 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING POWER CONSUMPTION UTILIZING INTER-GATEWAY COMMUNICATION - Aspects of a method and system for managing power consumption utilizing inter-gateway communication are provided. In this regard, a first broadband gateway residing in a first location may determine past, present, and/or expected power consumption of the first location. The gateway may receive, from one or more other broadband gateways residing in one or more other locations, information that enables determining past, present, and/or expected power consumption of the other location(s). The gateway may control power consumption of the first location by controlling a state of operation of devices residing in the first location. The gateway may determine aggregate power consumption of the first location and the other location(s). The gateway may control power consumption of the first location by enabling operation of one or more devices during periods of lower aggregate power consumption and disabling operation the devices during periods of higher aggregate power consumption. | 02-19-2015 |
20150082415 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING SECURE TRANSACTIONS VIA A BROADBAND GATEWAY - A broadband gateway may be used to authorize transactions associated with one or more accounts, which may be associated with a user of the broadband gateway. The transaction may be handled by the broadband gateway. The authorizations may be performed based on information associated with the accounts, whose storage may be controlled by the broadband gateway. The broadband gateway may block and/or terminate transactions failing authentication and/or validation, which may be performed based on the stored information. The transactions may be initiated within a network serviced by the broadband gateway. The transactions may also be initiated outside the serviced network. The stored information may comprise a user profile, which may comprise a plurality of settings for controlling and/or managing authorization performed by the broadband gateway. The user profiles may be configurable by users, wherein configuration may comprise initializing and/or modifying one or more of the transaction related settings. | 03-19-2015 |
20150106421 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR COMBINING AND/OR BLENDING MULTIPLE CONTENT FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES IN A BROADBAND GATEWAY - A method and system are provided in which a broadband gateway may receive different content from different sources, may combine the content to produce a combined content, and may communicate the combined content to a device connected to the broadband gateway. The content may be automatically and/or manually synchronized. The synchronization may be based on a clock signal received from the device, a clock signal from another device connected to the broadband gateway, and/or a clock signal received through one or more network access service providers. The content may be video image data and/or audio data. Moreover, user-generated content may be received and combined by the broadband gateway when in a peer-to-peer communication configuration with the source of the content. When more than two different content are received, the broadband gateway may be utilized to select which contents to combine. | 04-16-2015 |
20150126158 | Method and System for Characterizing Location and/or Range Based on Transmit Power - A transmitting communication device may iteratively adjust its transmit power, and may estimate, based on iterative transmit power adjustment, relative location of a receiving communication device. The transmit power may be initialized to a maximum value, and the transmit power may be iteratively reduced until connectivity with the receiving communication device is lost. The loss of connectivity may be determined based on reception of responses to ping messages transmitted by the transmitting communication device. The transmitting communication device may authenticate the receiving communication device and/or a user of the receiving communication device. The authentication may comprises utilizing transmit power adjustment and/or relative location estimation therefrom to ensure that a separation between the devices does not exceed a maximum value. The transmitting communication device may generate location info associated with the receiving communication device based on the relative location estimation, and may communicate the location info to a location server. | 05-07-2015 |
20150229492 | UTILIZING A GATEWAY FOR BROKERING AND/OR ARBITRATING SERVICE CONSUMPTION OPTIONS - A broadband gateway may provision services requested in a home network managed and/or serviced by the broadband gateway by a user associated with the broadband gateway, based on determination of criteria related to the requested service. The requested service may comprise obtaining and/or delivering content for consumption by one or more of a plurality of devices serviced by the broadband gateway in the home network. The criteria may comprise device related data, user preference related information, service performance related parameters, payment related information, and/or energy use related information. The broadband gateway may store information associated with the determined criteria. Provisioning requested services may comprise negotiating with at least one remote resource that may support at least a portion of the requested service. The negotiation may comprise brokering and/or arbitrating a plurality of options of remote resources utilized for providing the at least a portion of the requested service. | 08-13-2015 |
20150312628 | CUSTOMIZED ACQUISITION OF CONTENT BY A BROADBAND GATEWAY - Aspects of a method and system for customized acquisition of content by a broadband gateway are provided. A broadband gateway may be operable to determine options for acquiring particular content. The broadband gateway may be operable to rank the determined options. The ranking may be based on one or more characteristics of the options and based on user-specified criteria. The broadband gateway may be operable to select one of the options for acquiring the content based on results of the ranking One or more of the options may be available via a first physical layer connection and one or more of the options may be available via a second physical layer connection. The gateway may rank the determined options based on attributes of one or more devices via which the particular content will be consumed. | 10-29-2015 |
20160007078 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING USER-GENERATED CONTENT VIA A GATEWAY - A method and system are provided in which a broadband gateway may be operable to handle at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. The broadband gateway may receive content and associated metadata through the at least one network access service provider. The broadband gateway may determine, based on the received metadata and on one or more rules associated with a user profile, whether to enable access to at least a portion of the received content by a device connected in a peer-to-peer configuration with the broadband gateway. The broadband gateway may communicate to such device an indication that at least a portion of the received content is available for sharing. The metadata may comprise rating information, copyright information, language information, and privacy rules. The rating information may be modified based on information received by the broadband gateway from other users. | 01-07-2016 |
20160043994 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SUPPORTING VISITOR ACCESS VIA A BROADBAND GATEWAY - A method and system are provided in which a broadband gateway may enable a guest or visitor to access content available to the broadband gateway. The content may be received by the broadband gateway through one or more of a plurality of network access service providers that may provide separate physical layer access to the broadband gateway. After a visitor's device is connected to the broadband gateway, the broadband gateway may classify the device. Based on the classification, the device may be authorized to access a portion of the content received. Once the authorization process is complete, the appropriate content may be made available and transferred to the device. The authorization process may include the authentication of a device identifier and/or a user identifier. The authorized access may be time-limited, but may be renewed or enabled when a request is received within a determined period of time. | 02-11-2016 |
20160080824 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OPTIMIZING COMMUNICATION IN A HOME NETWORK VIA A GATEWAY - A method and system are provided in which a content request may be received by a broadband gateway from a device connected to the broadband gateway through a home network. The broadband gateway may select content that corresponds to the request from content that is available through a network access service provider and/or from other devices in the home network. The selection of the content corresponding to the request may be based on capability information of the device. The selection may be based a bandwidth to transfer the content within the home network to process the content. | 03-17-2016 |
20160099838 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR UTILIZING A BROADBAND GATEWAY FOR PEER TO PEER COMMUNICATIONS - A broadband gateway may be used to provide peer-to-peer communications with other broadband gateways. One or more peer-to-peer connections may be configured with each of the other broadband gateway, for use in peer-to-peer communications, which may be utilized to communicate shared content among the broadband gateways. Users may receive incentives for participating in peer-to-peer communications, comprising sharing credits and/or reduced charges. The broadband gateway may track and/or aggregate sharing credits based on communication of shared content. Peer-to-peer connections may be configured using at least one physical layer connection utilized by the broadband gateway in communicating with corresponding access network service provider. Peer-to-peer connections may also be configured using direct connections and/or links between the broadband gateways. The broadband gateway may generate a directory for use in conjunction with peer-to-peer operations. The directory may be presented via a user interface. The broadband gateway may generate and/or communicate peer-to-peer related alerts. | 04-07-2016 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090088180 | COMPUTING GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF A MOBILE RECEIVER USING NETWORK MEASUREMENT REPORTS - A method and an apparatus for determining a location of a mobile receiver including the steps of measuring a plurality of signal strengths received by a mobile receiver, wherein the plurality of signal strengths are associated with a plurality of cellular stations, wherein the plurality of signal strengths is associated with a specific point in time, combining the plurality of signal strengths with a plurality of signal path modeling parameters to create a propagation path loss model of the path between the plurality of cellular stations and the mobile receiver, applying a non-linear estimation algorithm to the propagation path loss model, generating a plurality of distances, wherein each distance is associated with the mobile receiver and each of the plurality of cellular stations and computing the location of the mobile receiver by iterating the non-linear estimation algorithm and resulting mobile receiver position until converged. | 04-02-2009 |
20100039315 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING A POSITION OF A MOBILE COMMUNICATION DEVICE - A GNSS enabled mobile device transmits to a location server a combination of GNSS-based location data and non-GNSS based location data used to determining reference positions at the location server. The GNSS mobile device receives the determined reference positions from the location server to calculate an associated GNSS position fix. The transmitted GNSS-based location data comprises GNSS position fixes associated with the GNSS enabled mobile device. The transmitted non-GNSS-based location data comprises a serving Cell-ID, neighbor Cell-IDs, neighbor cell fingerprinting, timing advance parameters, and/or a mobile country code. Reference positions associated with the serving Cell-ID are determined and/or refined based on location information acquired from each of associated mobile devices. To respond to a reference position request from the GNSS enabled mobile device without an associated serving Cell-ID, the location server determines corresponding reference positions by combing subscriber population density with an associated MCC. | 02-18-2010 |
20100039323 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR GLOBAL POSITION REFERENCE MAP (GPRM) FOR AGPS - Aspects of a method and system for global position reference map (GPRM) for AGPS are provided. A GPS enabled device may transmit reference location data to a location server and responded with a global position reference map (GPRM) from the location server. The reference location data and/or the received GPRM may comprise reference positions, which may be any identifiable location information, for the GPS enabled device. The reference location data may be formatted via various location identifiers such as a RNC ID, MCC and/or a MNC indicating desired coverage areas for the received GPRM. The reference location data may be a portion of a reference position database inside the GPS enabled device. The reference position database may be updated via the received GPRM. A fast position fix for the GPS enabled device may be achieved by combining AGPS data or LTO AGPS data, and the reference position database. | 02-18-2010 |
20100220005 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR A LOCATION-BASED BROKER SERVICE (LBS) CLIENT BROKER - A GNSS enabled handset receives signals from different resources comprising GNSS satellites and/or from a wireless network. The GNSS enabled handset acquires location information comprising various positioning resource data comprising GPS data and/or WiFi data from the received signals. The GNSS enabled handset calculates a plurality of possible position fixes based on the acquired location information using various positioning approaches. A current position fix associated with the GNSS enabled handset is determined based on the plurality of calculated possible position fixes via running a location-based service (“LBS”) client on the GNSS enabled handset. The LBS client determines the plurality of possible position fixes using various positioning approaches in a particular or determined order. Confidence levels for each of the calculated plurality of possible positions are determined and used to refine the current position fix. The refined current position fix is used for a location-based service from a LBS application server. | 09-02-2010 |
20100259444 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DYNAMIC WIRELESS NODE CAPTURE FOR A LBS SERVER, CLIENT, AND REFERENCE DATABASE - A GNSS capable LBS client device sends a device RF environment report to a location server and subsequently receives a capture profile from the location server. A new RF environment report is generated according to the received capture profile. The device RF environment report comprises various encountered RF information, for example, state of radios, state of power and/or memory resource, and/or positioning variables. The received capture profile comprises information of a desired RF environment report expected from the GNSS capable LBS client device. The capture profile is determined according to the received RF environment report and a reference database. Desired RF environment data are captured according to the received capture profile, and time and location stamped to generate the new device RF environment report, which is sent to the location server to update the reference database to enhance locating the GNSS capable LBS client device when need. | 10-14-2010 |
20110012779 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR A VIRTUAL WIDE AREA GNSS REFERENCE NETWORK - A GNSS enabled mobile device receives GNSS assistance data in a determined format from a central processing station communicatively coupled to a wide area reference network (WARN). The WARN comprises a first plurality of GNSS tracking stations from which usable signals are received by the central processing station, and a second plurality of GNSS tracking stations from which unusable or no signals are received by the central processing station. The central processing station generates the GNSS assistance data using a complete set of GNSS reference feeds of the WARN. The complete set of GNSS reference feeds comprises actual GNSS reference feeds from the first plurality of GNSS tracking stations and virtual GNSS reference feeds derived for the second plurality of GNSS tracking stations from processed actual GNSS reference feeds. The generated GNSS assistance data is reformatted into a determined format and is communicated to the GNSS enabled mobile device, accordingly. | 01-20-2011 |
20110039575 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR POSITIONING NEIGHBOR CELLS IN A CELLULAR NETWORK USING LEARNED CELL DATA - A mobile device learns cell information for a serving cell and for neighbor cells. The learned cell information is communicated to a remote location server for locating base stations within the serving and/or neighbor cells. The learned cell information comprises cell signal strength information and/or other cell information such as cell identifiers (Cell-IDs) and Country Code (MCC). Received signal strength (RSS) on the serving cell and the neighbor cells are measured. Locations pertaining to the RSS measurements are determined. The mobile device location stamps the RSS measurements utilizing the determined locations to generate a neighbor cell report, which is utilized by a cellular communication network to prepare a handover operation whenever needed, and/or to build a local cell-learning database. A portion of the local cell-learning database is transmitted as cell data to the remote location server that collects cell data from a plurality of mobile devices. | 02-17-2011 |
20110199185 | BUILDING A LOCATION BASED SERVICE REFERENCE DATABASE BASED ON ENCOUNTERED RFID TAGS - A RFID reader of a RFID enabled mobile device receives RFID information from a RFID tag attached to an object. In instances where the RFID enabled mobile device is GNSS enabled, a GNSS position of the RFID enabled mobile device is determined to associate, for example, by location stamping, with the received RFID information. The location-stamped RFID information is communicated to a remote location server, where location-based RFID information is received from a plurality of users. The RFID enabled mobile device may communicate at least a portion of the received RFID information to the remote location server. When GNSS is not enabled, the RFID enabled mobile device estimates its own location utilizing location information, if available, for the object in the received RFID information. Otherwise, the RFID enabled mobile device acquires location-based RFID information from the remote location server so as to determine its own location. | 08-18-2011 |
20110199259 | SENSOR-ASSISTED LOCATION-AWARE MOBILE DEVICE - A GNSS enabled mobile device moves from a first area where GNSS signal quality and/or level is above a threshold to a second area where GNSS signal quality and/or level is below the threshold. The GNSS enabled mobile device in the second area determines its own location utilizing previous GNSS measurements in the first area. GNSS signals are received to calculate GNSS measurements whenever the GNSS enabled mobile device is in the first area. The calculated GNSS measurements are utilized to determine a location of the GNSS enabled mobile device within the first area. The GNSS enabled mobile device in the second area utilizes the most current GNSS measurements in the first area to determine its own location. Sensors such as an image sensor, a light sensor, an audio sensor and/or a location sensor are used to refine the location of the GNSS enabled mobile device in the second area. | 08-18-2011 |
20110199260 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING A LOCATION OF A CELLULAR BASE STATION UTILIZING MOBILE GNSS VELOCITY AND CORRESPONDING CELLULAR DOPPLER - A GNSS enabled mobile device concurrently receives GNSS signals from GNSS satellites and transmissions from a cellular base station. GNSS-based velocities and GNSS locations are determined for the GNSS enabled mobile device utilizing the received GNSS signals. A cellular Doppler is measured on the cellular base station. A location of the cellular base station is determined based on the determined GNSS-based velocity and corresponding cellular Doppler measurements. The cellular base station may be located by the GNSS enabled mobile device and/or by a remote location server. In this regard, the remote location server may determine the location for the cellular base station utilizing GNSS velocities and corresponding cellular Doppler measurements received from plural GNSS enabled mobile devices in a coverage area of the cellular base station. The determined location of the cellular base station is used to refine GNSS locations of the plurality of GNSS enabled mobile devices when needed. | 08-18-2011 |
20110199262 | ESTIMATING FREQUENCY OF A GNSS ENABLED DEVICE BASED ON TIME STAMPS - A GNSS enabled device that is communicatively coupled to a network, receives time stamps via the network. The time stamps are generated based on reference clock signals within the network. GNSS receiver clock signal frequency may be adjusted based on the time stamps. When GNSS satellite signals and/or SRN signals are not available, the time stamps enable synchronization with GNSS satellites. Network clock signals and/or time stamps may be generated by an access point, a DSL modem, a cable modem and/or a primary reference clock within the network. A series of time stamps may be utilized for adjusting frequencies. Clock signals may be generated for adjusting frequencies based on a comparison between time stamps and oscillator or mixer output. Clock signals are generated for baseband, intermediate and/or RF frequency signal processing. GNSS satellite signals may be demodulated, correlated with a pseudonoise code sequence and/or synchronized based on the time stamps. | 08-18-2011 |
20110199916 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING THE LOCATION OF A WIRELESS ACCESS POINT USING SINGLE DEVICE BASED POWER MEASUREMENTS - A mobile device measures power from different locations for an encountered wireless access point, a WiFi or Bluetooth access point, and communicates the power measurements to a remote location. The remote location server collects power measurements for the encountered wireless access point from a plurality of communication devices. The remote location server determines the location of the encountered wireless access point utilizing corresponding power measurements from a single communication device. The power measurements are performed at different locations and over a period of time. The power measurements are time stamped and transmitted to the remote location server. The single communication device is selected based on quality and/or availability of corresponding power measurements for the encountered wireless access point. The determined location of the encountered wireless access point is stored into a reference database so as to be shared among the plurality of communication devices. | 08-18-2011 |
20110199917 | COLLABORATIVE SHARING OF LOCATION INFORMATION AMONG DEVICES IN A NETWORK - A wireless communication device determines its location and communicates the location to other local devices utilizing a nonstandard, standard and/or proprietary protocol in combination with another protocol such as a Bluetooth, RFID, IEEE 802.11 and/or a cellular phone protocol. The location may be determined utilizing a GNSS receiver and/or network device information. A new location may be determined based on the determined location, a relative distance and/or a relative direction to other local devices. Determined location information may be communicated to other devices via a network. The wireless communication device may receive locations and/or corresponding location uncertainties from devices located within a limited range. The received information is utilized to determine a more accurate location. The more accurate location is communicated back to the devices within the limited range and/or to other communication devices. | 08-18-2011 |
20110199964 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING A LOCATION OF AN ACCESS POINT BASED ON ASSOCIATION OF THE ACCESS POINT WITH A COMMUNICATION DEVICE HAVING A KNOWN LOCATION - A communication device associated with a wireless access point, namely, a WiFi access point or a Bluetooth access point for example, communicates its location information to the wireless access point. The wireless access point determines its own location utilizing the communicated location information. The communicated location information comprises a device location address and/or a GNSS position of the associated communication device. The device address comprises a network accessible address, a device identifier, a telephone number, an IP address, a url and/or ftp location, an e-mail address, and/or an account number that identifies a corresponding location of the communication device. The wireless access point retrieves corresponding device location addresses and/or GNSS positions from a plurality of associated communication devices. The retrieved device location addresses are converted to determine corresponding locations for self-locating the wireless access point. The determined location of the wireless access point is shared with each associated communication device. | 08-18-2011 |
20110200024 | PROVIDING GNSS ASSISTANCE DATA VIA A WIRELESS LAN ACCESS POINT - A wireless mobile device, either a WLAN enabled mobile device or a Bluetooth enable device, which is within range of a WLAN access point, is operable to receive GNSS assistance data broadcasted from the WLAN access point. The GNSS assistance data are acquired by the WLAN access point from a reference database coupled to a location server. The broadcast GNSS assistance data comprise ephemeris data, LTO data, location information related to the WLAN access point and/or time information. The WLAN access point receives the acquired GNSS assistance data from the location server over a broadband IP network. The WLAN access point selects available resources for broadcasting the received GNSS assistance data to wireless mobile devices in range. The wireless mobile device receives the broadcast GNSS assistance data to calculate its own location. The calculated location of the wireless mobile device is used to update or refine the reference database. | 08-18-2011 |
20110201335 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR A LOCATION-BASED VERTICAL HANDOFF OVER HETEROGENEOUS MOBILE ENVIRONMENTS - A multi-radio mobile device receives data transmissions for a wireless communication session from a current serving access network in a coupled heterogeneous network system comprising a plurality of different access networks. The multi-radio mobile device initiates a handoff for the wireless communication session based on the current mobile location. The multi-radio mobile device acquires location based network connection information such as call drop in the current mobile location from a location server so as to make a handoff decision. When the handoff is to be performed, a target access network or a different base station in the current serving access network associated with the lowest call drop rate is selected. The wireless communication session is received from the selected target access network, as a new serving access network, or from the different base station in the current serving access network with the completion of the handoff. | 08-18-2011 |
20110201336 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OPTIMIZING USER-LEVEL QoS DURING A LOCATION-BASED HANDOFF OVER HETEROGENEOUS MOBILE ENVIRONMENTS - A multi-radio mobile device receives data transmission of a session from a serving access network in a heterogeneous network system comprising difference access networks. A handoff is performed based on the received data transmissions. User-level QoS for the wireless communication session is adjusted during the handoff based on connection QoS information in the current location of the multi-radio mobile device and/or a velocity of the multi-radio mobile device. Location-based network connection information, comprising call drop information and the connection QoS information, in the current location of the multi-radio mobile device is acquired from a location server. A target access network or a different base station in the serving access network associated with the highest connection QoS is selected. The user-level QoS is adjusted during the handoff for receiving the wireless communication session from the selected target access network or the different base station in the serving access network. | 08-18-2011 |
20110201347 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LOCATION-BASED DYNAMIC RADIO SELECTION - A multi-radio mobile device comprises a plurality of different radios. When a location update occurs, the multi-radio mobile device, at a specific location, acquires location-based radio information from a remote location server. The multi-radio mobile device selects a radio for use in the specific location based on the acquired location-based radio information comprising available radios in the specific location and radio weights. The radio is selected from the available radios based on the radio weights in the specific location. Transmissions of a desired service are received in the specific location utilizing the selected radio. Location-based radio measurements reports to the remote location server are generated utilizing signal strength measurements for the received signals. Radio quality information of the available radios is calculated by the location server utilizing location-based radio measurement reports from associated users. The radio weights of the available radios are determined based on the calculated radio quality information. | 08-18-2011 |
20110201349 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LOCATING A FEMTOCELL USING MEASUREMENT REPORTS - A Femtocell measures power from a serving and/or neighboring base stations in a radio access network specified in, for example, 3GPP, 3GPP2 and/or WiMAX. The power measurements are transmitted over a broadband IP network to a location server coupled to an associated mobile core network. Related location information comprising reference positions and/or actual location of the Femtocell are received from the location server over the broadband IP network. The Femtocell generates measurement reports of a serving and/or neighboring base stations in the radio access network. The generated measurement reports are transmitted to the location server over the broadband IP network. The location server identifies the reference positions of the Femtocell from a reference database based on the received measurement reports for calculating the location of the Femtocell by the location server and/or by the Femtocell itself. The calculated location of the Femtocell is used to update the reference database. | 08-18-2011 |
20110201357 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR REFINING A LOCATION OF A BASE STATION AND/OR A MOBILE DEVICE BASED ON SIGNAL STRENGTH MEASUREMENTS AND CORRESPONDING TRANSMITTER AND/OR RECEIVER ANTENNA PATTERNS - A mobile device receives data transmissions, via a coupled receiver antenna array, from a transmitter antenna array of a serving base station. The mobile device determines relative distances, with respect to the serving base station, associated with signal strength measurements on the received data transmissions. The signal strength measurements are compensated, at the mobile device and/or a remote location server, in three-dimensional space based on corresponding transmitter and/or receiver antenna pattern, and/or mobile orientation information for estimating the relative distances. The estimated relative distances are refined by fitting a function of the azimuth and elevation angles. A location for the serving base station and/or the mobile device is determined or refined based on the refined relative distances to be shared among a plurality of users of the remote location server. Fixed or adaptive antenna patterns are supported at the serving base station and/or the mobile device. | 08-18-2011 |
20110201358 | DETERMINING APPLICATION USAGE RELATIVE TO A PARTICULAR LOCATION - A mobile device collects information about application usage and associates collected application information with a location of the mobile device and/or a time that the application is accessed. The application is stored on the mobile device or on an external device and accessed via a network. The application information, location of the mobile device and time the application is accessed are communicated to another device and stored in a storage device which may be operated or managed by a service provider or another entity. The application information may comprise identification of a website, a network device or URL, the application and/or data that is input and/or output from the application. The location of the mobile device and/or the time, are determined utilizing a GNSS receiver and/or utilizing information from a network device. The application information, the location of the mobile device and/or the time may be utilized for targeted advertizing. | 08-18-2011 |
20110201360 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PHYSICAL MAP-ASSISTED WIRELESS ACCESS POINT LOCATING - A mobile device receives a server-assisted location for a wireless access point, either a WiFi access point or a Bluetooth access point, from a remote location server comprising a reference database. The received server-assisted location is refined using a physical map or image. The mobile device is operable to acquire the physical map or image for a map-assisted location for the wireless access point. The mobile device compares the two locations to generate a valid location for the wireless access point. In instances where the two locations are consistent, the mobile device utilizes one of the two locations as the valid location for the wireless access point. Otherwise, the mobile device refines the server-assisted location utilizing the map-assisted location. The resulting refined server-assisted location is utilized as the valid location for the wireless access point and is transmitted to the remote location server to refine the reference database. | 08-18-2011 |
20110205110 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROPAGATING GNSS ASSISTANCE DATA AMONG COMMUNICATION DEVICES IN A GNSS GROUP - A communication device within a GNSS group propagates GNSS assistance data to one or more other communication devices in the GNSS group utilizing direct device-to-device connections. The GNSS assistance data comprises ephemeris received from one or more GNSS satellites and/or predicted ephemeris. As a source device, the communication device generates, and/or acquires from other resources such as a remote location server, the predicted ephemeris. As a destination device, the communication device receives existing GNSS assistance data from a source device and/or other communication devices in the GNSS group. A GNSS position for the communication device and corresponding time information are used to refresh the received GNSS assistance data. In instances where the communication device further acts as a relay device, the refreshed GNSS assistance data is relayed to other communication devices over wired and/or wireless direct device-to-device connections utilizing appropriate communication technologies such as WiFi, Bluetooth and/or Bluetooth low energy. | 08-25-2011 |
20110207472 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CELLULAR CLOCK-ASSISTED WIRELESS ACCESS POINT LOCATING - A wireless access point comprising a cellular receiver receives radio signals from a cellular base station. A cellular reference clock, synchronized to the cellular base station, is detected from the received radio signals. The detected cellular reference clock is utilized to stabilize a local access point clock for GNSS positioning. A clock difference between the local access point clock and the detected cellular reference clock is determined and the local access point clock may be adjusted accordingly. The adjusted local access point clock is utilized for clocking communications between the wireless access point and other communication devices. A time offset between the adjusted local access point clock and the detected cellular reference clock is provided to a remote location server. The remote location server retrieves time offset information from wireless access points served by the cellular base station so as to determine relative distances among the wireless access points. | 08-25-2011 |
20110299411 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTENT AGGREGATION VIA A BROADBAND GATEWAY - A broadband gateway, which enables communication with a plurality of devices, handles at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. The broadband gateway determines network channel conditions for a requested service and identifies a user profile for a requesting device. The broadband gateway negotiates a service profile for the requested service with the at least one network access service provider based on the determined network conditions and the identified user profile. Content may be acquired and received for the requested service from the at least one network access service provider utilizing the negotiated service profile. The broadband gateway aggregates and assembles the received content. The resulting assembled content is communicated to the requesting device for the requested service. The broadband gateway may relay content among peer devices. Content conversion may be performed during the relay communication to match user profiles of subsequent peer devices. | 12-08-2011 |
20110299540 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MULTI-TRANSPORT AND MULTI-PROTOCOL PROCESSING IN A BROADBAND GATEWAY - A broadband gateway, which enables communication with a plurality of devices, handles at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. The broadband gateway may receive a packet from a network access service provider over a physical layer connection. The broadband gateway may determine which one of a set of possible transport protocols is utilized for the received packet. The determined transport protocol is utilized to identify or search for content of the received packet. The set of possible transport protocols are selected based on, for example, a channel type identified for the physical layer connection. The selected set of possible transport protocols may be utilized, sequentially or concurrently, to determine the transport protocol for the received packet. The identified content is marked utilizing the determined transport protocol for content distribution to devices for content consumption. | 12-08-2011 |
20110299548 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PORTING GATEWAY FUNCTIONALITY ASSOCIATED WITH A USER FROM A FIRST GATEWAY TO ONE OR MORE OTHER GATEWAYS - A broadband gateway, which enables communication with a plurality of devices, handles at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. The broadband gateway may operate as a home gateway to negotiate with one or more visited gateways, a common authorized service area or domain (ASD) for providing services to the visited gateways. The home gateway may establish one or more corresponding communication links with the visited gateways based on the negotiated common ASD. The home gateway communicates corresponding content for the services to the visited gateways via the established corresponding communication links. The home gateway communicates information about gateway functionalities required for the services to the visited gateways. The visited gateways may port gateway functionalities forwarded by the home gateway, or may perform gateway functionality conversion to support the services, which may be acquired via the home gateway and/or the visited gateways from networks. | 12-08-2011 |
20110299606 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING SELECTED LAYERED VIDEO SERVICE VIA A BROADBAND GATEWAY - A broadband gateway, which that enables communication with a plurality of devices, handles at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. The broadband gateway may identify video layer information required for a layered video service based on video decoding capabilities and/or power profiles for the devices. The identified video layer information, comprising number of required layers and corresponding video formats such as 720P60, 1080i60 and/or 1080P60, may be communicated to the at least one network access service provider. A base layer video and one or more enhancement layer videos, generated via scalable coding based on the communicated identified video layer information, may be received from the at least one corresponding network access service provider. The received base layer video and enhancement layer videos are selectively provided to the devices for the requested layered video service based on the corresponding video decoding capabilities and/or power profiles. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302309 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OPTIMIZING POWER CONSUMPTION IN A HOME NETWORK VIA A BROADBAND GATEWAY - A broadband gateway, which enables communication with a plurality of devices, handles at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. Before allowing the devices to access content from the service provider, the broadband gateway may identify a device power profile for each of the devices, and a network power profile for the content to select a corresponding content delivery mechanism to optimize power consumption. The content may be communicated to the devices utilizing the corresponding selected content delivery mechanism. Depending on configuration, content transcoding may be performed at the broadband gateway and/or at the devices. The content may be burst downloaded and stored in a local storage to be consumed by the devices thereafter. Upon completion of download, the broadband gateway may shut down receiving components to save resources and power. The receiving components may be tuned on to receive additional content when needed. | 12-08-2011 |
20110302624 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SECURE CONTENT DISTRIBUTION BY A BROADBAND GATEWAY - A broadband gateway, which enables communication with a plurality of devices, handles at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. Security boundaries such as conditional access (CA) and/or digital right management (DRM) boundaries associated with the broadband gateway are identified based on security profiles associated with the plurality of devices and/or a service from networks. The identified security boundaries are utilized to determine or negotiate CA information for content access for the service. The received content may be distributed according to the determined CA information and the security profiles of the corresponding devices. The broadband gateway may be automatically and dynamically configured based on the identified security boundaries to secure content distribution to the devices. Content distribution security schemes, for example, super encryption, simul-crypt, IPSec and/or watermarking, may be selected by matching the CA information with corresponding device security profiles. | 12-08-2011 |
20120075140 | Method and System for a Virtual Wide Area GNSS Reference Network - A GNSS enabled mobile device receives GNSS assistance data in a determined format from a central processing station communicatively coupled to a wide area reference network (WARN). The WARN comprises a first plurality of GNSS tracking stations from which usable signals are received by the central processing station, and a second plurality of GNSS tracking stations from which unusable or no signals are received by the central processing station. The central processing station generates the GNSS assistance data using a complete set of GNSS reference feeds of the WARN. The complete set of GNSS reference feeds comprises actual GNSS reference feeds from the first plurality of GNSS tracking stations and virtual GNSS reference feeds derived for the second plurality of GNSS tracking stations from processed actual GNSS reference feeds. The generated GNSS assistance data is reformatted into a determined format and is communicated to the GNSS enabled mobile device, accordingly. | 03-29-2012 |
20120075141 | Method and System for a Location-Based Broker Service (LBS) Client Broker - A GNSS enabled handset receives signals from different resources comprising GNSS satellites and/or from a wireless network. The GNSS enabled handset acquires location information comprising various positioning resource data comprising GPS data and/or WiFi data from the received signals. The GNSS enabled handset calculates a plurality of possible position fixes based on the acquired location information using various positioning approaches. A current position fix associated with the GNSS enabled handset is determined based on the plurality of calculated possible position fixes via running a location-based service (LBS) client on the GNSS enabled handset. The LBS client determines the plurality of possible position fixes using various positioning approaches in a particular or determined order. Confidence levels for each of the calculated plurality of possible positions are determined and used to refine the current position fix. The refined current position fix is used for a location-based service from a LBS application server. | 03-29-2012 |
20120223857 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING A POSITION OF A MOBILE COMMUNICATION DEVICE - A GNSS enabled mobile device transmits to a location server a combination of GNSS-based location data and non-GNSS based location data used to determining reference positions at the location server. The GNSS mobile device receives the determined reference positions from the location server to calculate an associated GNSS position fix. The transmitted GNSS-based location data comprises GNSS position fixes associated with the GNSS enabled mobile device. The transmitted non-GNSS-based location data comprises a serving Cell-ID, neighbor Cell-IDs, neighbor cell fingerprinting, timing advance parameters, and/or a mobile country code. Reference positions associated with the serving Cell-ID are determined and/or refined based on location information acquired from each of associated mobile devices. To respond to a reference position request from the GNSS enabled mobile device without an associated serving Cell-ID, the location server determines corresponding reference positions by combing subscriber population density with an associated MCC. | 09-06-2012 |
20130009813 | Method and System for a Virtual Wide Area GNSS Reference Network - A GNSS enabled mobile device receives GNSS assistance data in a determined format from a central processing station communicatively coupled to a wide area reference network (WARN). The WARN comprises a first plurality of GNSS tracking stations from which usable signals are received by the central processing station, and a second plurality of GNSS tracking stations from which unusable or no signals are received by the central processing station. The central processing station generates the GNSS assistance data using a complete set of GNSS reference feeds of the WARN. The complete set of GNSS reference feeds comprises actual GNSS reference feeds from the first plurality of GNSS tracking stations and virtual GNSS reference feeds derived for the second plurality of GNSS tracking stations from processed actual GNSS reference feeds. The generated GNSS assistance data is reformatted into a determined format and is communicated to the GNSS enabled mobile device, accordingly. | 01-10-2013 |
20130021201 | Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (AGNSS) with Precise Ionosphere Model Assistance - Embodiments enable higher accuracy GNSS performance by generating local/regional ionosphere models tailored to specific local/regional areas of interest and by using location-based delivery of the local/regional ionosphere models to mobile GPS receivers. Different types and levels of reference locations (e.g., Cell ID (CID), Location Area Code (LAC), Radio Network Controller ID (RNC-ID), Mobile Country Code (MCC)) can be used to estimate the location of mobile GPS receivers and to deliver the appropriate local/regional ionosphere models to the mobile GPS receivers. According to embodiments, the local/regional ionosphere models are fit into the same 8-parameter set as the broadcast global ionosphere model, therefore being compatible with existing GPS receivers that accept the broadcast global ionosphere model. | 01-24-2013 |
20130099966 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROPAGATING GNSS ASSISTANCE DATA AMONG COMMUNICATION DEVICES - A communication device within a GNSS group propagates GNSS assistance data to one or more other communication devices in the GNSS group. The GNSS assistance data includes ephemeris received from one or more GNSS satellites and/or predicted ephemeris. As a source device, the communication device generates, and/or acquires from other resources such as a remote location server, the predicted ephemeris. As a destination device, the communication device receives existing GNSS assistance data from a source device and/or other communication devices in the GNSS group. A GNSS position for the communication device and corresponding time information are used to refresh the received GNSS assistance data. In instances where the communication device further acts as a relay device, the refreshed GNSS assistance data is relayed to other communication devices over wired and/or wireless direct device-to-device connections utilizing appropriate communication technologies such as WiFi, Bluetooth and/or Bluetooth low energy. | 04-25-2013 |
20130122857 | DETERMINING APPLICATION USAGE RELATIVE TO A PARTICULAR LOCATION - A mobile device collects information about application usage and associates collected application information with a location of the mobile device and a time that the application is accessed. The application is stored on the mobile device or on an external device and accessed via a network. The application information, location of the mobile device and time the application is accessed are communicated to another device and stored in a storage device which may be operated or managed by a service provider or another entity. The application information may comprise identification of a website, a network device or URL, the application and/or data that is input and/or output from the application. The location of the mobile device and/or the time, are determined utilizing a GNSS receiver and/or utilizing information from a network device. The application information, the location of the mobile device and/or the time may be utilized for targeted advertising. | 05-16-2013 |
20140066076 | Method and System for Location-Based Dynamic Radio Selection - A multi-radio mobile device comprises a plurality of different radios. When a location update occurs, the multi-radio mobile device, at a specific location, acquires location-based radio information from a remote location server. The multi-radio mobile device selects a radio for use in the specific location based on the acquired location-based radio information comprising available radios in the specific location and radio weights. The radio is selected from the available radios based on the radio weights in the specific location. Transmissions of a desired service are received in the specific location utilizing the selected radio. Location-based radio measurements reports to the remote location server are generated utilizing signal strength measurements for the received signals. Radio quality information of the available radios is calculated by the location server utilizing location-based radio measurement reports from associated users. The radio weights of the available radios are determined based on the calculated radio quality information. | 03-06-2014 |
20140379886 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OPTIMIZING POWER CONSUMPTION IN A HOME NETWORK VIA A BROADBAND GATEWAY - A broadband gateway, which enables communication with a plurality of devices, handles at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. Before allowing the devices to access content from the service provider, the broadband gateway may identify a device power profile for each of the devices, and a network power profile for the content to select a corresponding content delivery mechanism to optimize power consumption. The content may be communicated to the devices utilizing the corresponding selected content delivery mechanism. Depending on configuration, content transcoding may be performed at the broadband gateway and/or at the devices. The content may be burst downloaded and stored in a local storage to be consumed by the devices thereafter. Upon completion of download, the broadband gateway may shut down receiving components to save resources and power. The receiving components may be tuned on to receive additional content when needed. | 12-25-2014 |
20150040241 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SECURE CONTENT DISTRIBUTION BY A BROADBAND GATEWAY - A broadband gateway, which enables communication with a plurality of devices, handles at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. Security boundaries such as conditional access (CA) and/or digital right management (DRM) boundaries associated with the broadband gateway are identified based on security profiles associated with the plurality of devices and/or a service from networks. The identified security boundaries are utilized to determine or negotiate CA information for content access for the service. The received content may be distributed according to the determined CA information and the security profiles of the corresponding devices. The broadband gateway may be automatically and dynamically configured based on the identified security boundaries to secure content distribution to the devices. Content distribution security schemes, for example, super encryption, simul-crypt, IPSec and/or watermarking, may be selected by matching the CA information with corresponding device security profiles. | 02-05-2015 |
20150333924 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTENT AGGREGATION VIA A BROADBAND GATEWAY - A broadband gateway, which enables communication with a plurality of devices, handles at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. The broadband gateway determines network channel conditions for a requested service and identifies a user profile for a requesting device. The broadband gateway negotiates a service profile for the requested service with the at least one network access service provider based on the determined network conditions and the identified user profile. Content may be acquired and received for the requested service from the at least one network access service provider utilizing the negotiated service profile. The broadband gateway aggregates and assembles the received content. The resulting assembled content is communicated to the requesting device for the requested service. The broadband gateway may relay content among peer devices. Content conversion may be performed during the relay communication to match user profiles of subsequent peer devices. | 11-19-2015 |