Patents by Inventor Stephen W. Edge

Stephen W. Edge has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20150319571
    Abstract: Techniques for supporting network independent location services (LCS) are described. In one design, a location center may communicate with a terminal to establish an account for the terminal with the location center for location services. The location center may establish the account for the terminal independent of a home network or a serving network for the terminal. During signup to establish the account, the location center may (i) provide address information for the location center, security information, and/or other information for the location center and (ii) receive public identity information and/or other information for the terminal. The location center may thereafter provide location services to the terminal based on the established account and without interacting with the home or serving network for the terminal. Techniques for supporting delivery of assistance data are also described.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 10, 2015
    Publication date: November 5, 2015
    Inventor: Stephen W. Edge
  • Publication number: 20150319574
    Abstract: An example method includes: obtaining a location of a reference mobile terminal; and either: (1) sending, to a target mobile terminal, the location of the reference mobile terminal and a trigger parameter associated with a trigger event, the trigger parameter defining a moving geographical target area; and receiving an indication that the trigger event has occurred; or (2) determining a location of the moving geographical target area; determining a location of the target mobile terminal relative to the moving geographical target area; and determining whether the trigger event has occurred; where the trigger event comprises the target mobile terminal being inside the moving geographical target area, being outside the moving geographical target area, entering the moving geographical target area, and/or leaving the moving geographical target area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 22, 2015
    Publication date: November 5, 2015
    Applicant: QUALCOMM INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Andreas K. Wachter, Stephen W. Edge, Kirk Allan Burroughs
  • Patent number: 9154907
    Abstract: A user equipment (UE) communicating with a radio access network (RAN) sends to a network entity (e.g., an MSC/SGSN) a request for periodic reporting of the UE location to a client entity. After the request is approved, the MSC/SGSN sends to the RAN signaling to initiate periodic location reporting for the UE. The RAN may request a positioning center (e.g., a SAS) to send assistance data to the UE. The RAN may coordinate and control the periodic location reporting or may pass the control over to the positioning center. For each location reporting, the UE sends location information (e.g., measurements made by the UE or a location estimate computed by the UE) to the RAN. The SAS computes a location estimate if the UE sends measurements. The RAN then sends the location estimate for the UE to the MSC/SGSN, which forwards the location estimate toward the client entity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Stephen W. Edge, Sven Fischer, Kirk Allan Burroughs
  • Patent number: 9137770
    Abstract: Techniques to support emergency circuit-mode calls are described. The techniques may be used for various 3GPP and 3GPP2 networks, various location architectures, and various types of User Equipment (UE). A UE establishes a circuit-mode call with a wireless network for emergency services. The UE interacts with a location server indicated by the wireless network. The UE performs user plane location with the location server during the circuit-mode call to obtain a position estimate for the UE. The UE communicates with a PSAP, which may be selected based on the position estimate, for the emergency circuit-mode call. The UE may perform positioning with the location server to obtain an updated position estimate for the UE, e.g., whenever requested by the PSAP.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Stephen W. Edge, Kirk Allan Burroughs, Andreas Klaus Wachter
  • Patent number: 9125018
    Abstract: Techniques for supporting triggered location services are described. In one design, at least one location related measurement for a terminal may be obtained and used to detect for a trigger event. For an equidistance triggered service, a trigger event may be declared if the distance traveled by the terminal exceeds a predefined distance. For a relative terminal to terminal triggered service, a trigger event may be declared if the terminal is inside or outside, or enters, or leaves a moving geographical target area defined by a reference terminal. For a velocity triggered service, a trigger event may be declared if the maximum velocity of the terminal exceeds a predefined velocity. For a time-distance-velocity combination triggered service, a trigger event may be declared based on distance traveled by the terminal, velocity of the terminal, and time since the last report. For all services, a report may be sent if a trigger event has occurred.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Andreas K. Wachter, Stephen W. Edge, Kirk Allan Burroughs
  • Patent number: 9100787
    Abstract: Techniques for initiating and, if desired, modifying location services for Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) and other location architectures are described. To initiate SUPL service, a SUPL Location Platform (SLP) transmits a SUPL initial session message applicable to any service request to a SUPL enabled terminal (SET) and receives in response the service capabilities of the SET. The SLP selects and requests service from the SET consistent with the service capabilities of the SET. The SET may initiate SUPL service by requesting the service capabilities of the SLP. The SET selects and requests service from the SLP that is consistent with the service capabilities received from the SLP. The SET and SLP communicate to determine a position estimate for the SET. The service may be modified before or while communicating between the SET and the SLP to determine a position estimate for the SET.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Andreas Klaus Wachter, Stephen W. Edge, Ie-Hong Lin
  • Patent number: 9094784
    Abstract: Techniques for supporting network-initiated location services for a terminal are described. A location server may not be able to reach the terminal in a normal manner in certain operating scenarios. The terminal may perform registration with the location server if the terminal determines that it may not be reachable by the location server in the normal manner. For the registration, the terminal may identify itself to the location server, instigate mutual authentication of the terminal and the location server, and provide an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the terminal to the location server. The terminal may perform registration with the location server whenever the IP address changes and/or periodically whenever a timer expires. The terminal may set the timer to a value received from the location server. The location server may use the IP address to send messages to the terminal for network-initiated location services.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Stephen W. Edge, Andreas K. Wachter
  • Patent number: 9083745
    Abstract: Techniques for supporting network independent location services (LCS) are described. In one design, a location center may communicate with a terminal to establish an account for the terminal with the location center for location services. The location center may establish the account for the terminal independent of a home network or a serving network for the terminal. During signup to establish the account, the location center may (i) provide address information for the location center, security information, and/or other information for the location center and (ii) receive public identity information and/or other information for the terminal. The location center may thereafter provide location services to the terminal based on the established account and without interacting with the home or serving network for the terminal. Techniques for supporting delivery of assistance data are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventor: Stephen W. Edge
  • Patent number: 9066308
    Abstract: Techniques to support positioning for terminals in Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) are described. A SUPL Enabled Terminal (SET) may receive supported network information from a SUPL Location Platform (SLP), which is a location server in SUPL. The supported network information may indicate one or more radio access networks supported by the SLP, one or more types of measurement supported by the SLP, and/or information that the SET is allowed to send to the SLP. The SET may send network measurement information for a supported radio access network to the SLP. The network measurement information may include cell and/or access point (AP) information for one or more access points or base stations in the supported radio access network. The SLP may determine a location estimate for the SET based on the network measurement information from the SET.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Andreas K. Wachter, le-Hong Lin, Kirk Allan Burroughs, Stephen W. Edge
  • Patent number: 9042917
    Abstract: Techniques for positioning access points and terminals in WLANs and other wireless networks are described. For access point positioning, measurements are obtained for at least one access point in a WLAN. The measurements may be based on transmission sequences (e.g., beacon frames) transmitted periodically by each access point. The measurements may be made by multiple terminals at different locations or a single mobile terminal at different locations. The location of each access point is determined based on the measurements and known locations of the terminal(s). For terminal positioning, measurements for at least one access point in a WLAN are obtained. The location of the terminal is determined based on the measurements and known location of each access point. The measurements may be round trip time (RTT) measurements, observed time difference (OTD) measurements, time of arrival (TOA) measurements, signal strength measurements, signal quality measurements, etc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventor: Stephen W. Edge
  • Patent number: 8965413
    Abstract: An apparatus and method are disclosed in connection with a mobile device locating a wireless local area network (WLAN) associated with a wireless wide area network (WWAN). These concepts involve obtaining and recording maximum and minimum geometric time differences (GTDs) for a pair or pairs of transmitters in the WWAN while coverage is provided by the WLAN, and using these differences to later compare a contemporaneous GTD to determine whether the mobile device is more likely within the coverage area of the WLAN.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventor: Stephen W. Edge
  • Patent number: 8954068
    Abstract: Techniques for transferring new capability information in an efficient and backward compatible manner are described. A user equipment (UE) may send a new capability indicator to a wireless network to indicate that the UE has new capability information to send. This new capability indicator may be implemented with a spare bit in an information element included in an initial message sent to the network. The network may request for the information or indicate that it can receive the information. The UE may then send the new capability information to the network upon receiving the request or the indication. Alternatively, the network may convey that it supports transfer of new capability information, e.g., via a broadcast message or a unicast message. The UE may then send new capability information at any time to the network, without having to send the new capability indicator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Stephen W. Edge, Sven Fischer, Yongjin Jiang
  • Publication number: 20150031395
    Abstract: Techniques for selecting positioning protocols consistent with the capabilities of the location server in a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) based service are described. The SUPL Location Platform (SLP) transmits the service capabilities of the SLP, such as the positioning protocol capabilities of the SLP. The SLP transmits its capabilities of the SLP in an initiation message to the SUPL enabled terminal (SET) or after receiving an initiation message from the SET. The SET may transmit a positioning initiation message and the SLP and SET communicate to determinate one or more position estimates for the SET. The SET may include in the positioning initiation message a positioning protocol positioning message that is consistent with the SLP service capabilities.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 15, 2014
    Publication date: January 29, 2015
    Inventors: Andreas K. WACHTER, Stephen W. Edge
  • Patent number: 8942660
    Abstract: Techniques for supporting handover of an emergency call between wireless networks are described. A UE may communicate with a first wireless network (e.g., a 3GPP E-UTRAN) for an emergency call and may receive an indication to perform handover to a second wireless network (e.g., a CDMA2000 1xRTT network). In an aspect, the UE may send a message including an emergency indication (an emergency global number, or a reserved emergency number, or some other indication) to initiate handover to the second wireless network. A designated network entity may recognize the emergency call based on the emergency indication and may map the emergency indication to a local emergency number or an Emergency Session Transfer Number for SRVCC (E-STN-SR), which may be used to establish a new incoming call leg to a network server anchoring the emergency call. The UE may then communicate with the second wireless network via the network server for the emergency call after handover.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Stephen W. Edge, Arungundram C. Mahendran
  • Patent number: 8917206
    Abstract: Apparatus and methods for performing mobile-based positioning in a wireless communications system are presented. A position estimate is computed based on assistance data intended for a first position method. The mobile device ignores if a second positioning method is not specifically supported by a network and computes a position estimate using the second position method and a subset of assistance data intended for the first positioning method, which is supported by the network and is different from the second positioning method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2014
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Stephen W. Edge, Parag Arun Agashe, Sven Fischer, Marc A. Ische, Nathan Edward Tenny
  • Patent number: 8848653
    Abstract: Techniques for transferring new capability information in an efficient and backward compatible manner are described. A user equipment (UE) may send a new compatibility indicator to a wireless network to indicate that the UE has new capability information to send. This new capability indicator may be implemented with a spare bit in an information element included in an initial message sent to the network. The network may request for the information or indicate that it can receive the information. The UE may then send the new capability information to the network upon receiving the request or the indication. Alternatively, the network may convey that it supports transfer of new capability information, e.g., via a broadcast message or a unicast message. The UE may then send new capability information at any time to the network, without having to send the new capability indicator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Stephen W. Edge, Sven Fischer, Yongjin Jiang
  • Patent number: 8849183
    Abstract: Techniques for sending and receiving broadcast information are described. In an aspect, broadcast metadata may be generated for broadcast information and may include location and time criteria used by terminals to filter the broadcast information. Each location and time criterion may include (i) a location criterion given by a target location and a presence or absence requirement and (ii) a time criterion given by a time period in which the location criterion applies. A terminal may receive the broadcast metadata prior to or with the broadcast information, obtain location and time criteria from the broadcast metadata, and filter the broadcast information based on the location and time criteria. The terminal may evaluate each location and time criterion by determining its location within a specified time period and determining whether its location is within or outside a specified target location, as indicated by the presence or absence requirement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Stephen W. Edge, Andreas K. Wachter, Prasanna Kannan, Charles N. Lo
  • Patent number: 8838132
    Abstract: Apparatus and methods for determining a location estimate of a mobile device based on an extended set of assistance data are presented. The extended assistance data includes assistance data for base stations, such as cellular base stations and access points, not expected to be viewable by the mobile device in a (current) first geographical area but expected to be viewable by the mobile device in a (future) second geographical area. By seeding the mobile device with assistance data expected to be useful in the future, the network reduces messaging between the network and mobile device and battery consumption by the mobile device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Rajat Prakash, Nathan E. Tenny, Parag A. Agashe, Stephen W. Edge
  • Publication number: 20140206390
    Abstract: In an aspect, a generic positioning protocol (GPP) may be used to support satellite-based positioning methods and terrestrial-based positioning methods for different access types. A terminal may exchange a first GPP message with first information for a positioning method and an access type supported by GPP. The terminal may exchange a second GPP message with second information for the positioning method and the access type. Each GPP message may include at least one position element, and each position element may be for a specific positioning method. The terminal may obtain a position estimate for itself based on the second information. In another aspect, positioning may be performed based on measurements for cells of different wireless access types. In yet another aspect, received transmission times may be transformed to converted times based on common timing, which may be applicable for multiple wireless access types.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2014
    Publication date: July 24, 2014
    Applicant: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventor: Stephen W. Edge
  • Patent number: 8786491
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses are provided for use by devices within in wireless communication network to request and/or provide assistance data and/or other like data associated with various Satellite Positioning Systems (SPSs).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Sven Fischer, Ie-Hong Lin, Kirk Allan Burroughs, Grant Alexander Marshall, Stephen W. Edge