AUTOMATIC ACTIVATION OF SPEED MEASUREMENT IN MOBILE DEVICE BASED ON AVAILABLE MOTION

It is generally beneficial to know when a mobile communications device is
in motion and at what speed. For example, the knowledge of the speed of
mobile devices has many uses in the wireless industry, Such knowledge may be
used to better characterize the radio channel. Accurate channel characterization
plays an important role in determining data rate selection in future wireless
networks and can assist with optimization techniques if the radio channel.
Additionally, a driver safety feature may be activated upon determining
that a mobile device is moving in excess of a threshold speed, which may, if
configured, disable some features of the device that are considered to be
distracting to an operator of a motor vehicle, such as accepting input at an input
device or generating output at an output device of the mobile device.
While satellite navigation systems such as GPS are becoming increasingly
more common in mobile devices and provide accurate speed measurement,
when activated, they consume considerable power (one estimate is that a
receiver may draw up to 40 mA), which is generally at a premium In mobile
devices. If activated on a full-time basis, the standby time of a mobile device
could be limited to a few hours, which is generally considered to be undesirable
from a user point of view.
Radio-based motion sensing methods such as triangulation or counting
the number of handoffs of a call between base stations, on the other hand, rely
on information that is routinely gathered by the mobile device during its normal
operation, so that power consumption is not typically a concern.
However, such methodologies are generally not very accurate and may
result in a considerable number of false alarm conditions, False negative
situations, in which the mobile device was actually in motion but not detected by
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such methodologies may be problematic in that any contemplated measures in
response to motion of the mobile device may not be initiated.
However, even false alarms of the false positive variety could be problematic
in that the perceived effectiveness of such measures may be artificially reduced.
While useful in situations where satellite navigation capability is not available
on the mobile device, methodologies including a timing component configured to
perform a plurality of Doppler shift measurements on a timing signal received by the
mobile device and also including a processing component configured to correlate the
size of the range of the Doppler shift measurements to the speed at which the mobile
device is moving are problematic in that they tend to trigger false alarms, particularly
of the false positive variety. For example, an environmental change or a mobile
device situated in a stationary car parked at the side of the road at an intersection at
which two buses approach and cross in front of it, may very well incorrectly result in
an indication of movement on the part of the mobile device.
Other attempts have been made to determine mobile speed by monitoring
the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of a signal from a base station and
using the level crossing rate (LCR) and/or autocorrelation function (ACF) of such
RSSI as an indicator of a mobile device's speed, However, such methods are
generally most effective when the mobile device's speed is very large, for
example, when sitting in a high speed train. It has been previously suggested to
use RSSI as a mechanism to turn off cellular telephone capability in the
Japanese high speed train system, where culturally, it is considered rude to
speak on the telephone in such a public setting.
The United States Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0121995 entitled
"Mobile Terminal Device And Positional Information System", filed on behalf of Niwa
et a! on December 31, 2002 and published on July 10, 2003 discloses a
geomagnetic sensor for detecting geomagnetism which is provided in the mobile
terminal device. The output value of the geomagnetic sensor is compared with the
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first set value that has been set in advance, and the mobile terminal device is
determined to be stationary when the output value of the geomagnetic sensor
continues to be smaller than a first set value for at least a first set time period that
has been set in advance, and the mobile terminal device is determined to be moving
when the output vaiue of the geomagnetic sensor fluctuates by at least the first set
value. The determination results are transmitted to the base station, and the base
station decreases the number of times for executing a process of registering the
position of the mobile terminal device to the base station when the mobile terminal
device is stationary, and increases the number of times of executing the process for
registering position when the mobile terminal device is moving.
United States Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0119508 entitled
"Method And Apparatus For Conserving Power On A Mobile Device For Motion
Awareness" filed by Miller on November 19, 2004 and published on June 8, 2006
discloses an apparatus and method for conserving power on a mobile device
through motion awareness. The method includes a motion model that receives
location information from one or more receivers and an accelerometer. The
motion model determines whether the mobile device is in motion based on the
received information. If the mobile device is in motion, a scanning rate for the one or
more receivers is determined based on a velocity vector, the velocity vector being
determined from the received information; the determined scanning rate is sent to
the one or more receivers to enable them to operate at the determined scanning
rate; and the process is repeated. If the mobile device is not in motion, the scanning
operations for the one or more receivers are halted while the mobile device is
stationary; scanning operations for the one or more receivers are resumed when an
indication that the mobile device is moving again is received from the accelerometer;
and the process is repeated.
United States Patent No. 7,359,713 entitled "Battery Consumption
Optimization For Mobile Users" issued April 15, 2008 to Tiwari discloses systems
and methods to provide power management for a mobile communication device
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having a location determination function. The frequency of the location determination
function may be adjusted based on whether the mobile communication device is
moving and may be further adjusted based on battery voltage or expected battery
life.
United States Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0234935 entitled "Multi-
Sensor Data Collection And/Or Processing" filed by Wolf et al on March 24, 2008
and published September 25, 2008 relates to the control and utilization of multiple
sensors within a device. For an example, motion of a device may be detected in
response to receipt of a signal from a first sensor disposed in the device and a power
state of a second sensor also disclosed in the device may be changed in response to
detected motion.
United States Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0255874 entitled
"Motion Disabled Cell Phone Method" filed by Stewart-Baxter ef al and published
on November 17, 2005 discloses a system and method for detecting motion of a
ceil phone and disabling the use of a cell phone while moving or driving. The
invented system includes: a cell phone; a sensor to detect motion of the ceil
phone; software and the cell phone to disable the use of the cell phone when
motion is detected, In a preferred embodiment, the system also recognizes the
near proximity of an automobile and disables use of the cell phone in this near
proximity.
United States Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0026850 entitled
"Managing Features Available On A Portable Communication Device Based On A
Travel Speed Detected By The Portable Communication Device" filed by Keohane et
al on July 28, 2005 and published February 1, 2007 disclosed a portable
communication device that detects a current speed of travel of the portable
communication device and independent of any vehicle temporarily transporting the
portable communication device. A speed based setting controller of the portable
communication device compares the current speed to at least one threshold value
set at the portable communication device. Responsive to the current speed
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exceeding the threshold value, the speed based setting controller automatically
assigns a separate speed based setting to a current setting for each feature
assigned to the threshold value, wherein each current setting for each feature
designated the operability of that feature within the portable communication device,
such that the current setting for each feature adjusts with a speed of travel as
detected by the portable communication device.
The embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described by
reference to the following figures, in which identical reference numerals in different
figures indicate identical elements and in which:
FIGURE 1 is a flow chart showing example processing steps according to an
example embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIGURE 2 is a diagram of a plurality of example ranges of frequency offsets
according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIGURE 3 is a graphical representation of a front view of an example of a
mobile communications device for performing the processing steps of Figure 1;
FIGURE 4 is a simplified block diagram of the example device of Figure
3; and
FIGURE 5 is a simplified block diagram of a communications environment
suitable for the example device of Figure 3.
A system and method is disclosed that permits speed measurement of a
mobile device using a speed sensor such as a satellite navigation system or an
accelerometer without such speed sensor having to be continually activated.
The system and method disclosed herein make use of a monitor of one or
more motion indicia for identifying when the mobile device may be travelling in
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excess of the threshold, based on information already available to the mobile
device, including but not limited to: correlating the Doppler shift measurements
of a timing signal; monitoring the timing advance of a cellular radio signal;
monitoring the number of base stations visible to the mobile device; monitoring
the frequency of base station handover, however determined; monitoring the
level crossings and/or the autocorrelation of an RSSI signal; and/or triangulation
of the position of the mobile device.
When such monitor identifies that the mobile device may be travelling in
excess of a threshold speed, the speed sensor is activated to obtain (without
false alarms) measurement of the speed of the mobile device. Preferably, when
the speed sensor determines that the speed of the mobile device has slowed to a
sufficient amount, the speed sensor is deactivated.
The present disclosure will now be described in detail for the purposes of
illustration only, in conjunction with certain embodiments shown in the enclosed
drawings,
The Global Positioning System (GPS)
The concept of the Global Positioning System was originally proposed as a
worldwide means of navigation for the US military, It originally consisted of a
series of 24 satellites in orbit at an altitude of about 20,200 kilometers above the
earth's surface. As of September 2007, there are 31 actively broadcasting
satellites in the GPS constellation. The additional satellites improve the
navigation satellite receiver calculations by providing redundant measurements.
This high orbit, which lies well above the earth's atmosphere, yields an
orbit that may be measured by a ground station. The orbit of each satellite is
monitored twice daily by each of five monitoring stations.
The position of each satellite is known at any given time, including minor
adjustments for gravitational effects of other planetary bodies, such as the sun
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and rnoon. Typically, this information is stored in an almanac v^ithin each
navigation satellite, subject to periodic adjustments through message signals
transmitted by each of the satellites,
Each satellite makes a complete orbit every 11 hours, 58 minutes, 2
seconds. The original constellation was spread out in six orbital planes. Thus, at
any given point in time, from any point on earth, at least four or five satellites
may lie above the horizon and thus remain in view. With the increased number
of satellites, the constellation was changed to a non-uniform arrangement shown
to improve reliability and availability of the system upon a multiple satellite
failure, relative to the former uniform system.
Each satellite continuously transmits high-frequency radio signals
comprising a coded message that contain timing information and data about the
satellite's orbit. One of the frequency channels, denoted LI, is typically used by
GPS applications for the general public. Other channels, denoted L2, L3, L4 and
L5, are also defined and used by specific applications such as the U.S. military's
special receivers. Some of them may also be used by certain civilian
applications. These signals (such as on LI) are received by an antenna,
amplified by an amplifier and forwarded to the GPS satellite receiver,
Each signal consists of a coded pseudo-random timing signal generated
using a common reference clock signal and a message signal that identifies the
transmitting satellite and from which its position may be determined, in
conjunction with the almanac.
Each GPS satellite receiver makes use of the pseudo-random timing signal
from typically at least four different satellites. The signals from each of these
satellites are synchronized with each other.
The delay between the signals received by the navigation satellite receiver
from the satellites and the signal generated by it when synchronized thereto
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may be used to derive the distance between the corresponding satellite and the
navigation satellite receiver, by multiplying the delay by the speed of light.
Thus, with each received signal, the position of the navigation satellite
receiver is constrained to lie on the surface of an imaginary sphere having a
diameter equal to the distance between the navigation satellite receiver and the
transmitting satellite and centered about the known position of the transmitting
satellite.
The position of the navigation satellite receiver may thus be obtained by
trilateration. With data from only three satellites, a geographic non-elevation
two-dimensional fix may be obtained, while a three-dimensional fix including
elevation may be obtained with data from a minimum of four satellites, from
satellites widely distributed across the sky.
In addition to a positional fix, time of day and velocity information may be
deduced from the signals transmitted by the satellites.
Optimal reception is obtained when the navigation satellite receiver is
situated outdoors and with good visibility to most of the sky, Significantly
degraded performance may be obtained when the navigation satellite receiver is
situated indoors, in caves or in deep canyons where sky visibility may be
severely restricted. Typically, clouds or bad weather do not degrade receiver
performance.
Clearly, the performance and accuracy of the navigation satellite receiver
is dependent upon synchronization of the coded timing signals transmitted by
each satellite. Several atomic reference clocks are used in the satellite to
generate and synchronize the reference clock signals used to encode the coded
timing signals to a common reference clock frequency.
Typically, the navigation satellite receiver contains a fixed, free-running
clock oscillator circuit, making use of a quartz crystal to determine its frequency.
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From the foregoing, a GPS ov other navigation satellite receiver may
comprise, if implemented or bundled within a mobile device such as device 300,
shown in Figure 3, a speed sensor.
For the purposes of the present disclosure, alternative speed sensors may
be used in conjunction with or as a substitute for a GPS or other navigation
satellite receiver. Such other speed sensors may include an accelerometer
implemented or integrated within a mobile device 300, for various other
purposes, for example, to detect movement of the device when used as a game
controller and the like.
Processing flow
Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a flow chart of example processing
steps that may be followed by a mobile device 300 in accordance with the
present disclosure.
Upon initialization (not shown), a monitor 471 associated with the mobile
device 300 may obtain 100 an indication of the speed of the mobile device 300
using one or more motion indicia as will be discussed in detail below.
The indication of the speed of the mobile device 300 is then compared
110 against an initial threshold that may be indicative of an upper bound for
pedestrian traffic. The threshold may be, for example, on the order of 10 to 15
kilometers per hour or other suitable value, Depending upon the indiclum used,
obtaining the indication itself may inherently involve a comparison against the
initial threshold.
If the indication is less than or equal to the initial threshold 111, then a
further indication of the speed of the mobile device 300 may be obtained 100
by the monitor 471, either instantaneously or after a brief wait interval 115
(shown in dashed outline to indicate that it is optional).
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It is only when the indication is greater than the initial threshold 112, that
the speed sensor, for example, the GPS satellite receiver 460 shown in Figure
4, is activated 120, In the discussion that follows, the GPS (or other
navigation) satellite receiver 460 is considered to be the speed sensor, although
other components may aiso be suitable, Preferably, the GPS satellite receiver
460 is not activated at step 120 if it is already powered up through another
mechanism (not discussed herein).
Thereafter, the monitor 471 is disregarded for the time being and the
speed of the mobile device 300 is accurately monitored, more or less
continuously, by the GPS satellite receiver 460.
The speed of the mobile device 300 is thereafter compared, either
constantly or periodically, against the initial threshold 140,
If the speed of the mobile device 300 as measured by the GPS satellite
receiver 460 is less than or equal to the initial threshold 111, the GPS satellite
receiver 460 is deactivated 145 so as to conserve battery power and a further
indication of the speed of the mobile device 300 may be obtained 100 using the
monitor 471, either instantaneously or after a brief wait interval 115.
Preferably, the GPS satellite receiver 460 is not deactivated at step 145 if it has
already been powered down through another mechanism (not discussed herein).
This scenario may arise in one of two ways. First, and the most likely
scenario, is that the monitor 471 provided an indication of speed that
inaccurately read higher than its actual speed. In this way, false positives are
easily dealt with by the disclosed methodology, as they will be ignored, Second,
it is possible that the indication of speed provided by the monitor 471 was
accurate, but that in the time to energize the GPS satellite receiver 460, the
speed of the mobile device 300 had dropped below the initial threshold.
In any event, it is only where the GPS satellite receiver 460 determines
that the mobile device 300 is greater than the initial threshold that any
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processing relying or conditioned on the motion of the mobile device 300 is
initiated. Such processing may include better characterizing the radio channel,
including determining data rate selection and/or applying optimization
techniques through an optimizer (not shown) and/or engaging a driver safety
and/or other function controller such as, by way of non-limiting example, the
driver safety feature disclosed in co-pending and commonly assigned U.S. Patent
Application No. 12/043,495 described above, and may have additional controls
disclosed therein or inferred therefrom that, for example, permit a user to
selectively disengage the driver safety feature if the user is a passenger in a
vehicle as opposed to being a driver.
Such processing may also or in the alternative comprise engaging other
user features, for example, automatic enablement of a mapping module (shown
as 447 in Figure 4) to take advantage of the engagement of the GPS satellite
receiver 460, or of an output device, for example, a display view on the mobile
communications device 300 or audio indicator, for example, to show the current
speed, heading and/or salient points of interest to a driver, or indeed to obtain a
position fix for the mobile device 300,
There may be a myriad of alternative user and/or system features that
may benefit from knowledge that the mobile device 300 is travelling in excess of
a certain initial threshold speed (whether or not related to an upper bound of
conventional pedestrian traffic),
Thereafter, the GPS satellite receiver 460 will continue to monitor the
speed of the mobile device 300, whether continuously, as is likely to be the case
where the speed sensor is the GPS satellite receiver 460, or periodically and
compared against a second threshold value 170.
If the speed of the mobile device 300 should happen to fall below such
second threshold value 171, the at-speed processing function controllers may be
reversed or disengaged 175. Thereafter, the GPS satellite receiver 460 is
powered down 145 so as to conserve battery power and a further indication of
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the speed of the mobile device 300 may be obtained 100 using the monitor
471, either instantaneously or after a brief'wait interval 115.
On the other hand, if the speed of the mobile device 300 continues to
meet or exceed such second threshold 172, then the GPS satellite receiver 460
may simply continue to monitor 160 the speed of the mobile device 300.
If the second threshold is the same as the initial threshold and the mobile
device 300 is travelling at around the speed corresponding thereto, the at-speed
processing and the GPS satellite receiver 460 may be relatively continuously
engaged and disengaged. To protect against this eventuality, and to take into
account the delay in energizing and powering down the GPS satellite receiver
460 and/or in engaging and disengaging, the second threshold may be
preferably set lower than the initial threshold, so as to provide a measure of
hysteresis and to minimize the likelihood of relatively frequently engagement
and disengagement cycles (thrashing).
In this manner, the power-intensive use of the GPS satellite receiver 460
may be restricted only to situations where it is determined, by the more energy
efficient monitor 471, that it is likely that the speed of the mobile device 300
exceeds the initial threshold. As indicated, it is conventionally understood that
such occasions are only a small fraction of the time that the mobile device 300
is in operation,
Given the foregoing description of the processing flow, false positive
readings can be relatively easily dispensed with, but that false negative readings
will not be readily detected. As such, in setting out the parameters for a given
motion indicium, in the monitor 471, it may be preferable to tune such indicia, a
number of which will be discussed below, to tend to produce more false positive
readings than false negative readings.
On the other hand, operational considerations may dictate that such false
negative scenarios are acceptable at least to a certain frequency.
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The Monitor
As indicated above, any number of motion indicia may be suitable for the
purposes of the present disclosure. The monitor 471 is configured to monitor
one or more of such indicia and to return an indication that the mobile device
300 may be travelling at a speed above the initial threshold based on the indicia
it is monitoring. A few potential mechanisms are disclosed herein by way of
non-limiting example only. These include: correlating the Doppler shift
measurements of a timing signal; monitoring the timing advance of a cellular
radio signal; monitoring the number of base stations visible to the mobile device
300, monitoring the frequency of base station handover, however determined;
monitoring the level crossing and/or the autocorrelation of an RSSI signal;
and/or trianguiation of the position of the mobile device 300.
More than one of such motion indicia may be monitored concurrently by
the monitor 471, Additionally, in certain scenarios, one or more of such motion
indicia may be preferred in the assessment of speed.
a. Correlating the Doppler shift measurements of a timing signal
As discussed in co-pending and commonly assigned U.S. Patent
Application No, 12/050,351, the mobile device 300 may be configured to
perform a plurality of Doppler shift measurements on a timing signal received by
it, In this embodiment, the mobile device 300 includes a processing component
configured to correlate the size of the range of the Doppler shift measurements
to the speed at which the mobile device 300 is moving. More specifically, the
width or spread of a frequency error distribution of the Doppler shifts of a radio
signal received by the mobile device 300 from a network element is used to
indicate the speed of the mobile device 300.
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This mechanism relies on the concept that the network element can
transmit a timing signal that the mobile device 300 can use to compensate for
Doppler effects and keep the mobile device 300 synchronized with the network,
Mobile devices typically include a timing component, such as an Automatic
Frequency Control (AFC) system, that can receive information contained in the
timing signal and use it to compensate for Doppler effects that could cause a
loss of synchronization between the mobile device 300 and the network, The
timing component may include a voltage controlled temperature compensated
crystal oscillator (VCTCXO) or a similar element that can produce a radio
frequency (RF) output. The timing component is then able to compare the
internally produced RF output to the timing signal to determine the amount of
Doppler shift experienced by a moving mobile device 300.
However, factors such as multi-path interference, fading effects due to
environmental change, and variability between base station line of sight and
direction of travel of the mobile device 300 can cause difficulties in measuring
the Doppler shift as experienced by the mobile device 300 at a given time.
Moreover, the inherent limits of accuracy of the timing component, which may
be due to noise in the timing component, short-term temperature drift,
resolution limits of the processing components in the timing component and/or
in the mobile device 300, and other factors, may cause inconsistency of results,
resulting in a frequency error distribution of measurements.
As illustrated in Figure 2, two curves 210 depict an qualitative or
idealized representation of frequency error distribution for Doppler shift
measurements made by the mobile device 300 where the mobile device 300 is
stationary or is being carried by a pedestrian 210a and where the mobile device
300 is in a vehicle moving at a higher speed 210b. It may be seen that the
width 220 of the frequency error distribution may be used by the monitor 471
as an indication of the speed of the mobile device 300, for example, by
identifying certain frequency error distribution widths 220 and associating them
with particular ranges of speeds.
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This indicium does not entail any significant additional power, inasmuch as
the timing signal is provided by the network element to the mobile device 300 in
any event for synchronization of communications between them.
b. Monitoring the timing advance of a cellular radio signal
A second motion indicium relies upon the timing advance of a mobile
device 300 that has communications with a network element.
In the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) cellular mobile
telephone standard, timing advance corresponds to the length of time a signal
from the mobile device 300 takes to reach its associated base station. This
information is of use because GSM shares a single frequency between multiple
users, assigning sequential timeslots (total of 8) to each user sharing a common
frequency, with each user transmitting periodically for less than l/8lh of the time
within one of the eight timeslots, Because the users sharing a frequency may be
various distances from the base station, the time at which the mobile device
300 should transmit its burst of traffic within a timeslot is adjusted using the
timing advance. The timing advance value ranges from a value of between 0
and 63, each step representing an advance of one symbol period (approximately
3.69 us,). Thus, with radio waves travelling at the speed of light (3 x 108 m/s),
a single timing advance step represents a change in round trip distance of about
1,1 km or about 550 m in distance between the mobile device 300 and the base
station.
Similar concepts are in use in other communications standards, for
example, code division multiple access (CDMA).
As a result, changes in the timing advance and related concepts may be
used to provide the monitor 471 with an indication of movement and
consequently of speed of the mobile device 300. Care should be taken to
ensure that changes in timing advance are with respect to the same base
station. However, even if handover has occurred, there will likely be sufficient
15

information regarding the relative locations of the base stations that timing
advance information may be a sufficient indicator of movement to actuate the
accurate speed sensor,
Speed indication using timing advance is largely dependent upon the
direction of motion relative to the base station. For example, if the motion is
transverse to a line interconnecting the base station and the mobile device 300,
a mobile device 300 travelling at a considerable speed may not reflect any
change in the apparent speed resulting in a false negative reading. However, it
is expected that movement in such a direction is unlikely to be consistent in
most cases, with the result that after a small delay, the direction of travel of the
mobile device 300 will change sufficiently that this motion indicium will register
sufficient movement to energize the GPS satellite receiver 460, which can
thereafter track movement of the mobile device 300 in any direction.
A related indicium may involve the use of an Internet Control Message
Protocol (ICMP) request in which a ping is manually requested. The time for the
mobile device 300 to transmit the ping signal to the base station and to get it
returned is measured as an indication of range relative to the base station. Care
should be taken to ensure, however, that the base station returns the ping signal
within a known and determinate period upon receipt of the ping signal from the
mobile device 300, which may not necessarily be the case in ail situations. Even
so, at best, an indeterminate delay may result in a number of false positive
and/or false negative conditions, which may be acceptable, having regard to the
propensity of the disclosed method and system to discard and take into account
at (east false positive indications.
As well, in most 3G or higher generation networks, it is contemplated to
incorporate broadcast channels including digital video broadcast signals which
may have timing information that may be monitored and processed by the base
station in a similar manner to the timing advance information.
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c. Monitoring the number of base stations visible to the mobile
device
A third motion indicium may be the number of base stations visible to the
mobile device 300. Typically, in cellular communications, the mobile device 300
keeps track of the number of base stations that are visible to it at any given
time, This information is maintained so that if the signal from the currently
associated base station degrades to the extent that handover to another base
station is called for, the mobile device 300 knows which base stations are visible
to it and will communicate this knowledge to the currently associated base
station so that it can initiate handover.
Significant changes in the number and/or identity of base stations visible
to the mobile device 300 within a given time period may serve as another de
facto indicator that the mobile device 300 is travelling at a speed above the
initial threshold sufficient to trigger the energizing of the GPS satellite receiver
460.
This indicium will not easily translate into a numerical estimate of speed,
but rather, may comprise a constellation of conditions that, when satisfied,
identifies a condition of sufficient speed to trigger energizing the GPS satellite
receiver 460.
d. Monitoring the frequency of base station handover
This indicium is related to but separate from the previous indicium. Under
the previous indicium, information gathered by the mobile device 300 in order
to prepare for handover is included as part of the information monitored by the
monitor 471 to obtain an indication of speed against the indicium. Actual
handover need not take place.
In this fourth indicium, the number of occasions, as a function of time,
that handovers actually take place may also act as a trigger to energize the GPS
17

satellite receiver 460. This indicium is discussed to some extent in commonly
assigned U.S. Patent Application No. 11/335,807 filed on January 18, 2006 by
Pecen and entitled "Method And Apparatus For Use In Switching Communication
Operations Between A Wireless Wide Area Network And A Wireless Local Area
Network", the text of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein, in
which the visited cell site history information of the traversed environment may
be used to provide an estimation of whether the mobile device 300 is moving
"quickly" or "slowly" through the environment. Both the number of cells visited
within a given time period and the number of times each such cell is selected
may provide a rough assessment of whether the mobile device 300 is moving
quickly throughout a geographic region. Such an indication is used to determine
the maximum data rate that can be alfowed in higher generation communication
protocols, which are generally a function of the speed of the mobile device 300.
There may be alternative indicia which may suggest base station
handover and which may be monitored by monitor 471 as an indicium of the
speed of the mobile device 300.
For example, the IP address assigned to a mobile device 300 with
wireless internet capability is generally a temporary address assigned and
identifiable as being associated with a particular base station. As a result,
monitoring the rate at which the IP address assigned to the mobile device 300
varies may be suitable as a motion indicium,
As well, the frequency of handover from one ceil sector serviced by a base
station to another may potentially be indicative of the speed of the mobile device
300 as in related 3GPP standard TS 51.010-1 version 7.5.0 Release 7 576 ETSI
TS 151 010-1 V7.5.0 (2007-03) ETSI. Care should be taken, however, in such
cases, because some intra-base station or "soft" handovers are not as a result of
mobile device 300 movement, but as a result of the capacity loading of a given
frequency band.
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e. Monitoring the level crossing and/or the autocorrelation of an
RSSI signal
In B. Zhou, "Mobile Velocity Estimation in Multipath Fading Channels",
M.Sc. Thesis, Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, June, 1999
(http://citeseerx.ist.PSU.edu/viewdoc/summarv7doi-10.1.1.9.659), methods of
estimating mobile velocity are disclosed using level crossing rate (LCR) and
autocorrelation (ACF) functions on discrete-time fading signals corrupted by
additive noise. It appears that both methods produce close estimates to actual
velocity and can be used as motion indicia, although the ACF methodology may
be superior in low SNR conditions.
f. Triangulation of the position of the mobile device
A sixth motion indicium of the mobile device 300 may be derived from
triangulation of the mobile device 300 relative to a plurality of base stations. An
example method of so doing is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 6,950,664 issued
September 27, 2005 to Chen et a!, and entitled "Geolocation Using Enhanced
Timing Advance Techniques", in which the timing advance value for the mobile
device 300 with respect to a plurality of neighboring base stations is identified
and used to triangulate a position of the mobile device 300 relative to the
known positions of such base stations. The methodology is likely to be used to
provide geolocation capability for purposes of compliance with the E-911
initiative.
It should be noted that using such a methodology as the motion indicium
may be counter productive, however, given that in order to obtain the timing
advance from the plurality of base stations involves monitoring each of the
plurality of base stations and the concomitant increased current draw.
Alternative methods of geolocation by triangulation may also be suitable.
For example, the RSSI from each of a plurality of base stations may be used,
provided some mechanism is developed to take into account multipath effects.
19

The Mobile Device
Referring now to Figure 3, there is shown a graphical representation of a
front view of an example of a mobile device 300 to which example embodiments
described herein can be applied. The mobile device 300 has two-way electronic
messaging communications capabilities and possibly also voice communications
capabilities. Depending on the functionality provided by the mobile device 300,
in various embodiments the mobile device 300 may be a wireless handset, a
data communications device, a multipie-mode communications device configured
for both data and voice communication, a mobile telephone, a pager, a persona!
digital assistant (PDA), which may be enabled for wireless communications, a
personal entertainment device, a telecommunications device installed within a
vehicle, a portable, laptop, notebook and/or tablet computer with a wireless
modem or wireless network card, or a portable, laptop, notebook and/or tablet
computer or a phone device with a fixed connection to a network, among other-
things. Many suitable devices may combine some or all of these functions, The
mobile device 300 may support specialized activities, such as gaming, inventory
control, job control and/or task management functions and the like.
The mobile device 300 is, in at least one example embodiment, a
handheld device having a casing or housing that is dimensioned to fit into a
purse, pocket o\- belt-mounted device holster.
The mobile device 300 includes a display screen 310, an alphanumeric
keyboard or keypad 320, optionally one or more non-keyboard inputs, such as
buttons 321-328, which may be navigational, function, exit and/or escape keys,
which may be inwardly depressed to provide further input function, or touch-
sensitive areas (not shown) within the display screen 310, and/or a rotatable
input device such as a trackball 330 or scrollwheel or trackwheel (not shown)
and a speaker 341, visible indicator 342 or other alert 340 (shown on Figure
4).
20

The keyboard or keypad 320 may comprise a touch-sensitive surface (not
shown). In some example embodiments keys in the keyboard 320 may contain
one or more letters aligned in a QWERTY layout, In some embodiments the keys
in the keyboard 320 may not be actual physical keys but may be virtual keys
displayed on a touch screen display (not shown). In some example
embodiments, the keyboard 320 includes a QWERTZ layout, an AZERTY layout,
a Dvorak layout, sequential type layouts or the like, or a traditional numeric
keypad (not shown) with alphabetic Setters associated with a telephone keypad.
In some example embodiments, the keyboard 320 layout has reduced keys,
such as a reduced QWERTY layout.
Referring now to Figure 4, the mobile device 300 includes a controller
that includes at least one microprocessor and/or digital signal processor (DSP)
410 for controlling the overall operation of the mobile device 300. The
microprocessor / DSP 410 interacts with a communications subsystem shown
generally at 420, and with further device subsystems such as display 310,
which may include a touch-sensitive surface, keyboard or keypad 320, one or
more auxiliary input / output (I/O) subsystems or devices 433 (e.g. trackball
330, non-keyboard inputs 321-328 or a scrollwheel or trackwheel (not shown)
and their associated controllers), one or more alerts 340 (which may be audible
341, visible 342 and/or tactile (not shown)) and/or a headset port (not shown),
a microphone 435, a serial port 436, which may be a universal serial bus (USB)
port, a fiash memory 440, random access memory (RAM) 450, a removable
memory card 451, a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera 480, a global
positioning system (GPS) (or other navigation) satellite receiver 460, and any
other device subsystems generally designated as 470, including monitor 471
and potentially an accelerometer (not shown).
The microprocessor / DSP 410 operates under stored program control of
the operating system software and/or firmware 441 and various software and/or
firmware applications 449 used by the microprocessor/ DSP 410, which are, in
one example embodiment, stored in a persistent store such as flash memory
21

440 or similar storage element. The operating system 441, software
disclosures shown generally at 449, or parts thereof, may be temporarily loaded
into a volatile store such as RAM 450.
The microprocessor / DSP 410 executes operating system drivers that
provide a platform from which the rest of the software 441 and 449 operates.
The operating system drivers 490 provide drivers for the wireless device
hardware with standardized interfaces that are accessible to application
software. The operating system drivers 490 include application management
services ("AMS") (not shown) that transfer control between applications running
on the mobile device 300.
The microprocessor/ DSP 410, in addition to its operating system 441
functions, in example embodiments, enables execution of software applications
449 for interacting with the various device subsystems of the mobile device
300, by presenting options for user-selection, controls for user-actuation, and/or
cursors and/or other indicators for user-direction. The mobile device 300 may
further accept user data entry, including numbers to dial or various parameter
values for configuring the operation of the mobile device 300.
A predetermined set of software applications 449 may be executed in
response to user commands to control basic device operations, including data
and voice communication applications, such as a web browser module 442, a
telephone module 443, an address book module 444, an electronic messaging
module 445 (which may include e-mail, SMS messaging and/or PIN messaging)
and a calendar module 446, for example, will normally be installed on the
mobile device 300 during manufacture. Further software applications 448, such
as a mapping module 447, a media player module (not shown), a camera
module (not shown), one or more Java applications (not shown), may also be
loaded onto the communications device 300 during manufacture, or through
wired or wireless communications along the communications subsystem 420,
the auxiliary I/O subsystem 433, serial port 436, information carrier media such
22

as portable data storage media like the removable memory card 451, or any
other suitable subsystem 470, and installed in the RAM 450 or a non-volatile
store such as the flash memory 440 for execution by the microprocessor / DSP
410, These applications may configure the mobile device 300 to perform
various customized functions in response to user interaction. Such flexibility in
application installation increases the functionality of the mobile device 300 and
may provide enhanced on-device functions, communication-related functions, or
both. In some embodiments, some or part of the functionality of the functional
modules can be implemented through firmware or hardware components instead
of, or in combination with, computer software instructions executed by the
microprocessor / DSP 410 (or other processors (not shown)),
Under instructions from various software applications 449 resident on the
mobile device 300, the microprocessor/ DSP 410 is configured to implement
various functional components or modules, for interacting with the various
device subsystems of the mobile device 300. Additionally, the microprocessor /
DSP 410 may be configured and/or programmed over-the-air, for example from
a wireless base station 510, a wireless access point 521 (shown on Figure 5),
or a peer mobile device 300. The software application 449 may comprise a
compiled set of machine-readable instructions that configure the microprocessor
/ DSP 410 to provide the desired functionality, or the software applications 449
may be high-levef software instructions to be processed by an interpreter or
compiler to indirectly configure the microprocessor / DSP 410.
The web browser module 442 enables the display 310 to show a web
page and permits access to a specified web address, for example via data
transfer over one or more of the communications subsystem 420 components,
for example, by wireless communications with a wireless access point 521
(shown on Figure 5), a cell tower 511, a peer mobile device 300, or any other
wireless communication network or system 550. The network 550 is coupled to
a wired network 570, such as the Internet, through which the mobile device
300 may have access to information on various origin servers 580 for providing
23

content for display on the display 310. Alternatively/ the mobile device 300
may access the network 550 through a peer mobile device 300, acting as an
intermediary, in a relay type or hop-type connection.
The telephone module 443 enables the mobile device 300 to transmit and
receive voice and/or data over one or more of the communications subsystem
420 components.
The address book module 444 enables address book information, such as
telephone numbers, email and/or instant text messaging addresses and/or PIN
numbers to be stored and accessed on the mobile device 300.
The electronic messaging module 445 enables the mobile device 300 to
send and receive electronic messages over one or more of the communications
subsystems 420 components. Examples of electronic messaging include email,
personal identification number (PIN) messaging and/or short message service
(SMS) messaging.
The calendar module 446 enables appointment and/or task information to
be stored and accessed on the mobile device 300.
The mapping module 447 provides location-based services relative to the
current location of the mobile device 300, including but not limited to storage,
access and/or retrieval of detailed mapping information on the communications
device 300 and provision of turn-by-turn directions from an initial map position
to a desired destination map position in accordance therewith. Other location-
based service modules (not shown) may include the E911 cellular phone
positioning initiative of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC),
The media player application 448 configures the mobile device 300 to
retrieve and play audio or audiovisual media. The camera application 448
configures the mobile device 300 to image and take still or motion video
images. The Java applets 448 configure the mobile device 300 to provide
24

games, utilities, and other functionality. One or more components might provide
functionality related to speed measurement, disablement of device features,
and/or overriding of the disablement of device features as described herein.
Referring briefly to Figure 3 again, there is shown an example of a
mobile device 300 on which a plurality of user selectable icons are shown on its
display screen 310. The icons are each associated with functions that can be
performed by the mobile device 300. For example, Figure 3 shows a browser
icon 352 for accessing web browsing functions (associated with browser module
442), a "Phone" icon 353 for accessing phone functionality (associated with
telephone module 443), an "Address Book" icon 354 for accessing address book
functions (associated with address book module 442), a "Messages" icon 355
for accessing electronic messaging functions of the communications device 300
(associated with electronic messaging module 445), a "Calendar" icon 356 for
accessing calendar functions (associated with calendar module 446), a "Maps"
icon 357 for accessing mapping functions (associated with mapping module
447), a "Media" icon 361 for accessing media player functions (associate with
media player application 448), a "Camera" icon 362 for accessing camera
functions (associated with the camera application 448) and an options icon 359
(associated with an options module, which may be a separate module or
executed by one or more existing modules). An icon 350 is shown highlighted
or focused by a caret or selection symbol 360 which can be navigated by a
device user among the displayed icons through manipulation of the trackball
330 (or other navigational input device). The trackball 330 is also depressible,
such that depression of the trackball 330 when an icon is highlighted or focused
by selection symbol 360 results in the launch of functions of the associated
module.
Each of the software disclosures 449 may include layout information
defining the placement of particular fields, such as text fields, input fields, etc.,
in a user interface for the software disclosure 449.
25

In Figure 4, the communications subsystem 420 acts as an interface
between the mobile device 300 and a communications environment 500 shown
in Figure 5. The particular configuration of the communications subsystem 420
will be dependent upon the communications network(s) in the communications
environment 500 in which the communications device 300 is intended to
operate.
In Figure 5, the communications environment 500 is shown to include
one or more mobile devices 300 (only one of which is shown in Figure 5), a
wireless Wide Area Network (WAN) 510 and associated base station 511, a
Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) 520, and/or other interfaces. In some
example embodiments, the mobile device 300 is configured to communicate in
both data and voice modes over both wireless WAN 510 and WLAN 520
networks and to roam between such networks.
Thus, in the example embodiment shown in Figure 4, the
communications subsystem 420 includes a WAN communications module 421, a
WLAN communications module 422 and a short range communications module
423.
The wireless WAN communications module 421 is for two-way
communications with the wireless WAN 510 and the WLAN communications
module 422 is for two-way communications with the WLAN 520 along an access
point 521 associated therewith. According to one embodiment, the WAN 521
and WLAN 522 communications modules include respective antennas and
associated front end units (not shown), RF transceivers (not shown), and some
baseband and signal processing capabilities/ implemented, for example, by
microprocessor / DSP 410 or a different DSP (not shown).
The antenna and front end unit may be provided to convert between
wireless signals and electrical signals, enabling the mobiie device 300 to send
and receive information from WAN network 510, which may be a cellular
network or some other available wireless communications network or from a
26

peer mobile device 300. In an embodiment, the antenna and front end unit
may include multiple antennas to support beam forming and/or multiple input
multiple output (MIMO) operations. MIMO operations may provide spatial
diversity which can be used to overcome difficult channel conditions and/or
increase channel throughput. The antenna and front end unit may include
antenna tuning and/or impedance matching components, RF power amplifiers,
and/or low noise amplifiers.
The RF transceiver provides frequency shifting, converting received RF
signals to baseband and/or intermediate frequency (IF) and converting baseband
and/or IF frequency transmit signals to RF. In some descriptions a radio
transceiver or RF transceiver may be understood to include other signal
processing functionality such as modulation/demodulation, coding/decoding,
interleaving/deinterleavlng, spreading/despreading, inverse fast Fourier
transforming (IFFT)/fast Fourier transforming (FFT), cyclic prefix
appending/removal, and other signal processing functions. For the purposes of
clarity, the description here separates the description of this signal processing
from the RF and/or radio stage and conceptually allocates that signal processing
to the analog baseband processing unit and/or the microprocessor / DSP 410 or
other central processing unit,
The analog baseband processing unit may provide various analog
processing of inputs and outputs, for example analog processing of inputs from
the microphone 435 and outputs to the speaker 341 and/or other alerts 340.
To that end, the analog baseband processing unit may have ports for connecting
to the built-in microphone 435 and the alert(s) 340 that enable the mobile
device 300 to be used as a cell phone. The analog baseband processing unit
may further include a port for connecting to a headset or other hands-free
microphone and speaker configuration. The analog baseband processing unit
may provide digital-to-analog conversion in one signal direction and analog-to-
digital conversion in an opposing signal direction. In some embodiments, at
27

least some of the functionality of the analog baseband processing unit may be
provided by digital processing components, for example by the
microprocessor/DSP 410 or by other central processing units.
In some embodiments, the RF transceiver, portions of the antenna and
front end, and the analog baseband processing unit may be combined in one or
more processing units and/or application specific integrated circuits (ASICs).
The microprocessor/ DSP 410 may perform modulation/demodulation,
coding/decoding, interleaving/deinterieaving, spreading/desprcading, inverse
fast Fourier transforming (IFFT)/fast Fourier transforming (FFT), cyclic prefix
appending/removal, and other signal processing functions associated with
wireless communications. In an embodiment, for example in a code division
multiple access (CDMA) technology application, for a transmitter function the
microprocessor/ DSP 410 may perform modulation, coding, interleaving, and
spreading, and for a receiver function the microprocessor / DSP 410 may
perform despreading, deinterleaving, decoding, and demodulation. In another
embodiment, for example in an orthogonal frequency division multiplex access
(OFDMA) technology application, for the transmitter function the microprocessor
/ DSP 410 may perform modulation, coding, interleaving, inverse fast Fourier
transforming, and cyclic prefix appending, and for a receiver function the
microprocessor / DSP 410 may perform cyclic prefix removal, fast Fourier
transforming, deinterleaving, decoding, and demodulation. In other wireless
technology applications, yet other signal processing functions and combinations
of signal processing functions may be performed by the microprocessor / DSP
410.
The microprocessor / DSP 410 may communicate with a wireless network
via the analog baseband processing unit. In some embodiments, the
communication may provide Internet connectivity, enabling a user to gain access
to content on the Internet and to send and receive e-mail or text messages. The
28

flash memory 440, RAM 450 and the removable memory card 451 may provide
software and data to configure the operation of the microprocessor / DSP 410.
Among the interfaces may be the serial port 436 and the short range wireless
communication sub-system 423, The serial port 436 may be used to charge the
mobile device 300 and may also enable the mobile device 300 to function as a
peripheral device to exchange information with a personal computer or other
computer system. The short range wireless communication sub-system 423
may include an infrared port, a Bluetooth interface, an IEEE 802.11 compliant
wireless interface, or any other short range wireless communication sub-system,
which may enable the mobile device 300 to communicate wirelessly with other
nearby mobile devices and/or wireless base stations (not shown).
In a data communications mode, a received signal such as a text message
or web page download will be processed by the communications subsystem 420
and output to the microprocessor / DSP 410, which further processes the
received signal for output to the display 310, or alternatively to an auxiliary I/O
device 433.
The keyboard 320 and other various input devices, including, an auxiliary
1/0 device 433 (such as the buttons 321-328, the trackball 330, a display 310
with touch screen capability (not shown), the scroll wheel and/or track wheel)
and/or the microphone 435 on the mobile device 300 may also be used to
compose data items within the software applications 449, such as email
messages or voice communications, in conjunction with the display 310,
possibly d\~\ auxiliary I/O device 433 and/or the alerts 340. Such composed
items and/or voice communications may then be transmitted and received over
a communications network in the communications environment 500 through the
communications subsystem 420,
The alert 340, when triggered, causes the mobile device 300 to provide a
notice to the user, for example, by ringing, playing a melody, or vibrating. The
alert 340 may serve as a mechanism for alerting the user to any of various
29

events such as an incoming call, a new text message, and an appointment
reminder by silently vibrating, or by playing a specific pre-assigned melody for a
particular caller.
The serial port 436 comprises a USB-type interface port for interfacing or
synchronizing with another device, such as a desktop computer (not shown).
The serial port 436 is used to set preferences through an external device or
software application. The serial port 436 may also be used to extend the
capabilities of the mobile device 300 by providing for information or software
downloads, including user interface information, to the mobile device 300.
The flash memory 440 or other persistent storage of the mobile device
300 may house, in addition to software and/or firmware stored program
instructions, certain information including address book information such as
telephone numbers, email and/or instant text messaging addresses and PIN
numbers, Such information may also be at least partially stored at least some of
the time in memory of a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card (not shown)
used with the mobile device 300, in volatile device memory (such as the RAM
450), and/or at a location accessible to the mobile device 300 over WAN 510.
Additionally, the flash memory 440 may be used to store data structures,
preferences and/or parameters.
The RAM 450, which may constitute non-volatile or volatile memory, with
or without battery backup, may be used as a supplement to, or in place of, flash
memory 440, and to maintain data and/or program instructions for use by the
microprocessor 410 in executing one or more of the functions of operating
system 441 and/or the software applications 449, including but not limited to
the mapping module 447,
The CCD camera 480, if equipped, enables the mobile device 300 to take
digital pictures and/or video. The microprocessor / DSP 410 communicates with
the CCD camera 480 via a camera controller (not shown). In another
30

embodiment, a camera operating according to a technology other than Charge
Coupled Device cameras may be employed,
The navigation satellite receiver 460 may comprise an antenna 461, an
amplifier 462, a crystal oscillator 463, a crystal 464 and a GPS or navigation
platform or module 466. While the American Global Positioning System (GPS) is
referenced in some instances throughout, methods and apparatus described in
this disclosure may equally be used in conjunction with other types of global or
regional navigation satellite systems, including but not limited to the European
Galileo, Russian GLONASS and Chinese Beidou Compass systems.
The navigation platform 466 is a conventional GPS or A-GPS receiver
platform, such as the GSC3 LTi GPS chip manufactured by SiRF Technology, Inc.
Preferably, the navigation platform 466 has a bi-directional communications
link 468 with the microprocessor 410 to permit the exchange of data and
control messages in compliance with the Assisted GPS (A-GPS) enhanced
performance system. A-GPS permits the navigation satellite receiver 460 to
make use of an assistance server (not shown) to reduce the time required by the
receiver to lock-on to an initial positional fix, or Time To First Fix (TTFF), which
may be considerable in poor signal conditions, such as in a high multipath
environment occasioned by tall buildings, being indoors or under trees.
One example of A-GPS may be related to the advent of the FCC's E911
mandate requesting the position of a celi phone to be available to emergency
call dispatchers. Under an A-GPS system, a GPS subsystem embedded in or
coupled to a cellular phone may benefit from aiding information provided to it by
the wireless network, Such information may range from an approximate
location based on identification of with which cell site the phone is connected,
the time of day, and/or provision of GPS satellite navigation data, which may be
used in the GPS receivers to derive orbital data on the position of the GPS
satellites 590, or used to enhance processing gain for improved sensitivity.
31

Additionally, an assistance server may provide information on lonospheric
conditions and other errors affecting the GPS signal.
The Communications Environment
Turning now to Figure 5, the WAN 510 may be implemented as a packet-
based cellular network that includes a number of base stations 511 (only one of
which is shown), where each of the base stations 511 provides wireless Radio
Frequency (RF) coverage to a corresponding area or cell. The wireless WAN 510
is typically operated by a cellular network service provider that sells subscription
packages to users of mobile electronic devices, The WAN 510 comprises a
number of different types of networks, for example, Mobitex Radio Network,
DataTAC, GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication), GPRS (Genera!
Packet Radio System), TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), CDMA (Code
Division Multiple Access), CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data), IDEN (Integrated
Digital Enhanced Network) or various other third generation networks such as
EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) or UMTS (Universal Mobile
Telecommunications Systems).
The communications environment 500 also includes a wireless network
gateway 512 and one or more network provider systems 540. The wireless
network gateway 512 provides translation and routing services between the
network provider systetn(s) 540 and the WAN 510, which facilitates
communication between the mobile electronic devices 300 and other devices
(not shown) connected, directly or indirectly, to the network provider system
540. The WAN 510 may also include location-based service services (not
shown) to provide applications and/or GPS assistance.
The WLAN 520 comprises a network which, in some example
embodiments, conforms to IEEE 802.11 standards such as 802.11b and/or
802.lig; however, other communications protocols may also be used for the
WLAN 520. The WLAN 520 includes one or more wireless RF Access Points (AP)
521 (one of which is shown), that collectively provide a WLAN coverage area.
32

The WLAN 520 may be operated by an enterprise (for example, a business or
university) and the access points 521 are connected to an access point (AP)
interface 522, The AP interface 522 provides translation and routing services
between the access points 521 and the network provider system 540 to
facilitate communication between the mobile electronic devices 300 and other
devices (not shown) connected directly or indirectly, to the network provider
system 540. The AP interface 522 is implemented using a computer, for
example, a server running a suitable computer program or software,
According to one embodiment, other interfaces may be implemented using
a physical interface 530, The physical interface 530 may include an Ethernet,
Universal Serial Bus (USB), Firewire and/or infrared (IR) connection
implemented to exchange information between the network provider system
540 and the communications device 300 when physically connected therewith,
The network provider system 540 comprises a server which is located
behind a firewall (not shown). The network provider system 540 provides
access for the communications device 300, through either the WAN 510, the
WLAN 520, or one of the physical interfaces 530 to the devices connected, for
example, through an enterprise network 550 (e.g. an intranet), to the network
provider system 540, such as a network 550, an email server 555, one or more
disclosure/content servers 560, a second WAN 570 and/or an origin server 580.
According to one embodiment, a mobile data delivery module 545
provides HTTP connectivity between the wireless WAN 510 and the WLAN 520
and the other physical connections 530 and devices and/or networks connected
directly or indirectly to the network provider system 540. In one embodiment,
the mobile data delivery module 545 is implemented on a computer, such as
one housing the network provider system 540. The network 550, the email
server 555, the disclosure/content server 560, the second WAN 570 and the
origin server 580 are individually and/or collectively in various combinations, a
content source for the network provider system 540. The system shown in
33

Figure 5 comprises one possible communications network or configuration for
use with the mobile communication device 300.
The network 550 may comprise a local area network, an intranet, the
Internet, a direct connection, or combinations thereof. According to one
embodiment, the network 550 comprises an intranet for a corporation or other
type of organization.
In one example configuration, the email server 555 is connected to the
network 550, This server 555 is configured to direct or redirect email messages
received over the second WAN 570 and internally within the enterprise network
550 to be addressed to the mobile electronic device 300,
The disclosure/content server 560 may be connected to the network 550
and also to another network, for example, the second WAN 570,
The second WAN 570 may further connect to other networks, In one
embodiment, the second WAN 570 comprises or is configured with the Internet,
a direct connection, a LAN, a wireless communication link, or any combination
thereof.
Content providers, such as the origin server 580, or Web servers, may be
connected to the second WAN 570.
The communications environment 500 may also include a network of'
Global Positioning System (GPS) or other system of navigation satellites 590.
In the foregoing disclosure, for purposes of explanation and not limitation,
specific details are set forth such as particular architectures, interfaces,
techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present
disclosure, However, the present disclosure may be practised in other
embodiments that depart from these specific details.
34

In some instances, detailed descriptions of well-known devices, circuits,
and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the present
disclosure with unnecessary detail. All statements herein reciting principles,
aspects and embodiments of the disclosure, as well as specific examples thereof,
are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof.
Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known
equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future, i.e., any elements
developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure.
Thus, for example, block diagrams reproduced herein can represent
conceptual views of illustrative components embodying the principles of the
technology.
Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, state transition
diagrams, pseudocode, and the like represent various processes, which may be
substantially represented in computer-readable medium and so executed by a
computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly
shown.
The present disclosure can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry,
or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combination thereof,
Apparatus of the disclosure can be implemented in a computer program product
tangibly embodied in a machine-readable storage device for execution by a
programmable processor; and methods actions can be performed by a
programmable processor executing a program of instructions to perform
functions of the disclosure by operating on input data and generating output.
The functions of the various elements including functional blocks labelled
as "processors" or "controllers" may be provided through the use of dedicated
hardware, as well as hardware capable of executing software in association with
appropriate software with sufficient processing power, memory resources, and
network throughput capability to handle the necessary workload placed upon it.
35

When provided by a processor the functions may be provided by a single
dedicated processor, by a single shared processor, or by a plurality of individual
processors, some of which may be shared or distributed. Moreover, explicit use
of the term "processor" or "controller" should not be construed to„refer
exclusively to hardware capable of executing software, and may include, without
limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, read-only memory (ROM) for
storing software, random access memory (RAM) and non-volatile storage,
The disclosure can be implemented advantageously on a programmable
system including at least one input device, and at least one output device. Each
computer program can be implemented in a high-level procedural or object-
oriented programming language, or in assembly or machine language, if desired;
and in any case, the language can be a compiled or interpreted language.
Suitable processors include, by way of example, both general and specific
microprocessors. Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from
a read-only memory and/or a random access memory. Generally, a computer
will include one or more mass storage devices for storing data file; such devices
include magnetic disks and cards, such as internal hard disks, and removable
disks and cards; magneto-optical disks; and optical disks. Storage devices
suitable for tangibly embodying computer program instructions and data include
all forms of volatile and non-volatile memory, including by way of example
semiconductor memory devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory
devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks;
magneto-optical disks; CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks; and buffer circuits such as
latches and/or flip flops. Any of the foregoing can be supplemented by, or
incorporated in ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits), FPGAs (field-
programmable gate arrays) and/or DSPs (digital signal processors).
Examples of such types of computer are programmable processing
systems contained in the microprocessor / DSP 410 and other DSPs (not
shown) suitable for implementing or performing the apparatus or methods of the
36

disclosure. The system may comprise a processor, (which may be referred to as
a central processor unit or CPU), which may be implemented as one or more
CPU chips, and that is in communication with memory devices including
secondary storage, read only memory (ROM), a random access memory, a hard
drive controller, and/or an input/output devices and/or controllers, and network
connectivity devices, coupled by a processor bus,
The secondary storage is typically comprised of one or more disk drives or
tape drives and is used for non-volatile storage of data and as an over-flow data
storage device if RAM is not large enough to hold all working data. Secondary
storage may be used to store programs which are loaded into RAM when such
programs are selected for execution. The ROM is used to store instructions and
perhaps data which are read during program execution. ROM is a non-volatile
memory device which typically has a small memory capacity relative to the
larger memory capacity of secondary storage. The RAM is used to store volatile
data and perhaps to store instructions. Access to both ROM and RAM is typically
faster than to secondary storage.
I/O devices may include printers, video monitors, liquid crystal displays
(LCDs), touch screen displays, keyboards, keypads, switches, dials, mice, track
balls, voice recognizers, card readers, paper tape readers, or other well-known
input devices.
The network connectivity devices may take the form of modems, modem
banks, ethernet cards, universal serial bus (USB) interface cards, serial
interfaces, token ring cards, fiber distributed data interface (FDDI) cards,
wireless local area network (WLAN) cards, radio transceiver cards such as code
division multiple access (CDMA) and/or global system for mobile communications
(GSM) radio transceiver cards, and other network devices. These network
connectivity devices may enable the processor to communicate with an Internet
or one or more intranets, With such a network connection, it is contemplated
that the processor might receive information from the network, or might output
37

information to the network in the course of performing the above-described
method steps. Such information, which is often represented as a sequence of
instructions to be executed using the processor, may be received from and
outputted to the network, for example, in the form of a computer data signal
embodied in a carrier wave. The network connectivity devices may also include
one or more transmitter and receivers for wirelessly or otherwise transmitting
and receiving signal as are well know to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Such information, which may include data or instructions to be executed
using the processor for example, may be received from and outputted to the
network, for example, in the form of a computer data baseband signal or signal
embodied in a carrier wave. The baseband signal or signal embodied in the
carrier wave generated by the network connectivity devices may propagate in or
on the surface of electrical conductors, in coaxial cables, in waveguides, in
optical media, for example optical fiber, or in the air or free space. The
information contained in the baseband signal or signal embedded in the carrier
wave may be ordered according to different sequences, as may be desirable for
either processing or generating the information or transmitting or receiving the
information. The baseband signal or signal embedded in the carrier wave, or
other types of signals currently used or hereafter developed, referred to herein
as the transmission medium, may be generated according to several methods,
The processor executes instructions, codes, computer programs, scripts
which it accesses from hard disk, floppy disk, optical disk (these various disk
based systems may all be considered secondary storage), ROM, RAM, or the
network connectivity devices. While only one processor is shown, multiple
processors may be present. Thus, while instructions may be discussed as
executed by a processor, the instructions may be executed simultaneously,
serially, or otherwise executed by one or multiple processors.
38

Various modifications and variations may be made to the embodiments
disclosed herein, consistent with the present disclosure, without departing from
the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.
While preferred embodiments are disclosed, this is not intended to be
limiting, Rather, the genera! principles set forth herein are considered to be
merely illustrative of the scope of the present disclosure and it is to be further
understood that numerous changes covering alternatives, modifications and
equivalents may be made without straying from the scope of the present
disclosure, as defined by the appended claims.
For example, the various elements or components may be combined ov
integrated in another system or certain features may be omitted, or not
implemented. Also, techniques, systems, subsystems and methods described
and illustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may be
combined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, or methods
without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Other examples of
changes, substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable by one skilled in the art
and could be made without departing from the spirit and scope disclosed herein.
Further, the foregoing description of one or more specific embodiments
does not limit the implementation of the invention to any particular computer
programming language, operating system, system architecture or device
architecture. Moreover, although some embodiments may include mobile
devices, not all embodiments are limited to mobile devices; rather, various
embodiments may be implemented within a variety of communications devices
or terminals, including handheld devices, mobile telephones, personal digital
assistants (PDAs), personal computers, audio-visual terminals, televisions and
other devices.
Also, the terms "couple" and/or "communicate" in any form is intended to
mean either an direct or indirect connection through some interface, device,
39

intermediate component or connection, whether electrically, mechanically,
chemically, or otherwise.
Moreover, all dimensions described herein are intended solely to be
exemplary for purposes of illustrating certain embodiments and are not intended
to limit the scope of the disclosure to any embodiments that may depart from
such dimensions as may be specified.
Directional terms such as "upward", "downward", "left" and "right" are
used to refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made unless
otherwise stated. Similarly, words such as "inward" and "outward" are used to
refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric centre of a
device, area and/or volume and/or designated parts thereof.
References in the singular form include the plural and vice versa, unless
otherwise noted.
The terms "including" and "comprising" are used in an open-ended
fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean "including, but not limited to".
The terms "example" and "exemplary" are used simply to identify instances for
illustrative purposes and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the
invention to the stated instances. In particular, the term "exemplary" should not
be interpreted to denote or confer any laudatory, beneficial or other quality to
the expression with which it is used, whether in terms of design, performance or
otherwise.
Certain terms are used throughout to refer to particular components.
Manufacturers may refer to a component by different names. It is not intended
to distinguish between components that differ in name but not in function.
The purpose of the Abstract is to enable the relevant patent office and/or
the public generally, and especially persons having ordinary skill in the art who
are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to quickly determine
40

from a cursory inspection the nature of the technical disclosure. The Abstract is
neither intended to define the invention of this disclosure, which is measured by
its claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of this disclosure in
any way.
According to a first broad aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure
there is disclosed a mobile device (300) comprising: a monitor (471) for identifying
(100) when the mobile device (300) may be travelling at a speed in excess of an
initial threshold (112) using an indicium chosen from a group consisting of: Doppler
shift measurements of a timing signal; timing advance; visible base stations (511);
base station handover; received signal strength indicator (RSSI); triangulation of the
location of the mobile device (300) from a plurality of visible base stations (511); and
any combination thereof; and a speed sensor (460) activated by the monitor (471) for
determining when activated, whether a speed at which the mobile device (300) is in
excess of the initial threshold (112).
According to a second broad aspect of an embodiment of the present
disclosure there is disclosed a method for determining a speed of a mobile
device (300), the method comprising the acts of: a, a monitor (471) identifying
(100) a situation when the mobile device (300) may be travelling at a speed in
excess of an initial threshold (112) using an indicium chosen from a group
consisting of; Doppler shift measurements of a timing signal; timing advance;
visible base stations (511); base station handover; received signal strength
indicator (RSSI); triangulation of the location of the mobile device (300) from a
plurality of visible base stations (511); and any combination thereof; and b.
upon identifying (100) such a situation, activating (120) a speed sensor (460) to
determine the speed of the mobile device (300) while disregarding the monitor
(471) and whether the speed is in excess of the initial threshold.
According to a third broad aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure
there is disclosed a monitor (471) associated with a mobile device (300) for
identifying (100) that the mobile device (300) may be travelling at a speed in excess
41

of an initial threshold (112) using an indicium chosen from a group consisting of;
Doppler shift measurements of a timing signal; timing advance; visible base stations
(511); base station handover; received signal strength indicator (RSSI); triangulation
of the location of the mobile device (300) from a plurality of visible base stations
(511); and any combination thereof; and for activating (120) a speed sensor (460)
that determines whether the speed at which the mobile device (300) is travelling and
is in excess of the initial threshold (112).
Aspects of the invention are defined in the following series of numbered
clauses:
2. The mobile device (300) according to claim 1, wherein the monitor
(471) monitors at least one motion indicium.
5. The mobile device (300) according to claim 3, wherein the
minimum threshold (171) is less than the initial threshold (112).
8. The mobile device (300) according to claim 5, wherein the function
controller is a driver safety module for deactivating the at least one function of
the mobile device (300).
9. The mobile device (300) according to clause 8, wherein the at least
one function is selected from a group consisting of a capability to provide
information on an output interface of the mobile device (300) and a capability to
input into an input interface of the mobile device (300).
13. The method according to claim 8, further comprising; c, if the speed
of the mobiie device (300) is less than a second threshold (171), deactivating
the speed sensor (460).
42

14. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: d. if the
speed of the mobile device (300) exceeds the initial threshold (112),
characterizing a radio channel used by the mobile device (300).
15. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: e. if the
speed of the mobile device (300) is less than a second threshold (171), stopping
the characterization.
16. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: f. if the speed
of the mobile device (300) exceeds the initial threshold (112), enabling or
disabling at least one function of the mobile device (300),
17. The method according to clause 16, further comprising: g, if the
speed of the mobile device (300) is less than the second threshold (171),
reversing the enabling or disabling of the at least one function of the mobile
device (300).
18. The method according to clause 16, wherein the at least one
function is selected from a group consisting of providing information to an output
interface of the mobile device (300) and accepting information input into an
input interface of the mobile device (300).
23, The method according to claim 12, wherein the act of monitoring a
frequency of base station handovers comprises monitoring a value selected from
a group consisting of a number of cells visited in a given time and a number of
times a cell is selected, in a visited ceil site history of the mobile device (300).
24. The method according to claim 12, wherein the act of monitoring a
frequency of base station handovers comprises monitoring a rate at which an IP
address assigned to the mobile device (300) changes.
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25. The method according to clause 24, wherein the act of monitoring a
frequency of base station handovers comprises monitoring a frequency of
handover of the mobile station from a first cell sector serviced by a base station
(511) to a second cell sector serviced by the base station (511).
27. The method according to claim 13, wherein the act of monitoring an
RSSI comprises monitoring a value selected from a group consisting of a level
crossing rate (LCR) and an autocorrelation function (ACF), associated with the
RSSI.
29. The method according to claim 14, wherein the parameter is a
timing advance parameter.
30. A selectively activated speed sensor (460) associated with a mobile
device (300) for determining, when activated, a speed at which the mobile
device (300) is travelling; the speed sensor (460) being activated when a
monitor (471) identifies that the mobile device (300) may be travelling at a
speed in excess of the initial threshold (112).
31. The speed sensor of clause 30, for deactivating itself when it
determines that the mobile device (300) is travelling at a speed less than a
second threshold (171).
33. A computer-readable medium in a selectively activated speed
sensor (460) associated with a mobile device (300), the medium having stored
thereon, computer-readable and computer-executable instructions which, when
executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform steps comprising:
determining, when activated, a speed at which the mobile device (300) is
travelling; the speed sensor (460) being activated when a monitor (471)
identifies that the mobile device (300) may be travelling at a speed in excess of
the initial threshold (112).
44

34. The computer-readable medium of clause 33, comprising computer-
readable and computer-executable instructions which cause the processor to
deactivate the speed sensor (460) when it determines that the mobile device
(300) is travelling a speed less than a second threshold (171).
35. A computer-readable medium in a monitor (471) associated with a
mobile device (300), the medium having stored thereon, computer-readable and
computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause
the processor to perform steps comprising: identifying (100) that the mobile
device (300) may be travelling at a speed in excess of an initial threshold (112)
and thereafter activating (120) a speed sensor (460) for determining a speed at
which the mobile device (300) is travelling.
Other embodiments consistent with the present application will become
apparent from consideration of the specification and the practice of the
disclosure disclosed herein,
45

CLAIMS:

1. A mobile device (300) comprising:
a monitor (471) for identifying (100) when the mobile device (300) may be
travelling at a speed in excess of an initial threshold (112) using an indicium
chosen from a group consisting of: Doppler shift measurements of a timing
signal; timing advance; visible base stations (511); base station handover;
received signal strength indicator (RSSI); triangulation of the location of the
mobile device (300) from a plurality of visible base stations (511); and any
combination thereof; and
a speed sensor (460) activated by the monitor (471) for determining when
activated, whether a speed at which the mobile device (300) is in excess of the
initial threshold (112).
2. The mobile device (300) according to claim 1, the speed sensor (460) for
deactivating itself when the mobile device (300) is travelling at a speed less than
a minimum threshold (171).
3. The mobile device (300) according to any preceding claim, further
comprising an optimizer for characterizing a radio channel used by the mobile
device (300) that is selectively activated when the mobile device (300) is
travelling at a speed in excess of the initial threshold (112).
4. The mobile device (300) according to any preceding claim, further
comprising a selectively activated function controller that is activated when the
mobile device (300) is travelling at a speed in excess of the initial threshold
(112).
5. The mobile device (300) according to claim 4, wherein the at least one
function is a mapping function that is activated when the speed of the mobile
device (300) exceeds the initial threshold (112).
46

6. The mobile device (300) according to any preceding claim, wherein the
speed sensor (460) is selected from a group consisting of: a satellite navigation
system (460) and an accelerometer.
7. A method for determining a speed of a mobile device (300), the method
comprising the acts of;
a. a monitor (471) identifying (100) a situation when the mobile device
(300) may be travelling at a speed in excess of an initial threshold (112) ) using
an indicium chosen from a group consisting of: Doppler shift measurements of a
timing signal; timing advance; visible base stations (511); base station
handover; received signal strength indicator (RSSI); trisngulation of the location
of the mobile device (300) from a plurality of visible base stations (511); and
any combination thereof; and
b. upon identifying (100) such a situation, activating (120) a speed sensor
(460) to determine whether the speed of the mobile device (300) is in excess of
the initial threshold.
8. The method according to claim 7', wherein the act of identifying (100)
comprises monitoring a Doppler shift measurement of a timing signal associated
with the mobile device (300).
9. The method according to claim 7 or claim 8, wherein the act of identifying
(100) comprises monitoring a timing advance of a cellular radio signal associated
with the mobile device (300),
10. The method according to any of claims 7 to 9, wherein the act of
identifying (100) comprises monitoring a number of base stations (511) visible
to the mobile device (300).
11. The method according to any of claims 7 to 10, wherein the act of
identifying (100) comprises monitoring a frequency of base station handovers of
the mobile device (300).
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12. The method according to any of claims 7 to 11, wherein the act of
identifying (100) comprises monitoring a received signal strength indicator
(RSSI) of a signal associated with the mobile device (300).
13. The method according to any of claims 7 to 12, wherein the act of
identifying (100) comprises monitoring a position of the mobile device (300)
relative to a plurality of base stations (51.1.) using a parameter associated with
each of the plurality of base stations (511),
14. A monitor (471) associated with a mobile device (300) for identifying
(100) that the mobile device (300) may be travelling at a speed in excess of an
initial threshold (112) using an indicium chosen from a group consisting of:
Doppler shift measurements of a timing signal; timing advance; visible base
stations (511); base station handover; received signal strength indicator (RSSl);
trianguiation of the location of the mobile device (300) from a plurality of visible
base stations (511); and any combination thereof; and for activating (120) a
speed sensor (460) that determines whether the speed at which the mobile
device (300) is travelling is in excess of the initial threshold (112),

Dated this 11th day of February 2010


Of Anand and Anand Advocates
Agents for the Applicant