Method and apparatus for providing country detection on cellular devices using cell tower information

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017280295-A1
Application number	US-201615077537-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 22, 2016
Priority date	Mar 22, 2016
Publication date	Sep 28, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

An electronic mobile device that supports a subscriber identification module (SIM) profile scans a base station cell that is associated with a different SIM profile in response to an inability to connect with a wireless network associated with the electronic mobile device's SIM profile. The electronic mobile device obtains cell information from the base station cell associated with the different SIM profile in response to the scanning. The cell information may include country associated data such as Mobile Country Code (MCC) or a System Identification (SID) data. Based on the obtained cell information, the electronic mobile device determines a current geographic location. The electronic mobile device may then adjust operation of a service, such as an application, of the electronic mobile device based on the determined country. Corresponding methods are also described.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A computer-executed method in an electronic mobile device that includes at least a first subscriber identification module (SIM) profile associated with a first wireless network comprising:
scanning at least one base station cell associated with a second and different SIM profile in response to an inability to connect with the first wireless network; obtaining cell information in response to scanning the at least one base station cell associated with the second and different SIM profile; determining a current geographic location of the electronic mobile device based on the cell information obtained from the at least one base station cell associated with the second and different SIM profile; and adjusting operation of at least one service of the electronic mobile device based on the determined current geographic location.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein determining the current gepgraphic location of the electronic mobile device based on the cell information obtained from the base station cell associated with the second and different SIM profile comprises:
receiving country associated data for a plurality of countries from a base station cell with a SIM profile compatible with the at least first SIM profile;
generating a country code map that maps a plurality of ranges of the country associated data to a particular country of the plurality of countries; and
determining, while the electronic mobile device is not connected to the first wireless network, the current geographic location of the electronic mobile device based on the generated country code map that maps the range of country associated data to a particular country of the plurality of countries.

3 . The method of claim 2 wherein determining, while the electronic mobile device is not connected to the first wireless network, the current geographic location of the electronic mobile device based on the generated country code map that maps the range of country associated data to a particular country of the plurality of countries comprises:
accessing the country code map that maps the plurality of ranges of country associated data to a particular country of the plurality of countries in memory;
comparing the obtained cell information to at least one range of the plurality of ranges of country associated data mapped by the country code map; and
determining the current geographic location based on the comparison of the obtained cell information to the at least one range of the plurality of ranges of country associated data mapped by the country code map.

4 . The method of claim 3 wherein determining the current geographic location based on the comparison of the obtained cell information to the at least one range of the plurality of ranges of country associated data mapped by the country code map comprises determining that the obtained cell information falls within the at least one range of the plurality of ranges of country associated data.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein adjusting the operation of the at least one service of the electronic mobile device based on the determined current geographic location of the electronic mobile device comprises:
notifying the at least one service of the determined current geographic location of the electronic mobile device;
storing an indication of the determined current geographic location of the electronic mobile device in memory; and
adjusting the operation of the at least one service of the electronic mobile device, while the electronic mobile device is not connected to the first wireless network, using the stored indication of the determined current geographic location of the electronic mobile device.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein determining the current geographic location of the electronic mobile device based on the cell information obtained from the base station cell associated with the second and different SIM profile comprises:
determining that the cell information obtained from the base station cell associated with the second and different SIM profile comprises Mobile Country Code (MCC) data; and
determining the current geographic location of the electronic mobile device based on the MCC data.

7 . The method of claim 1 wherein determining the current geographic location of the electronic mobile device based on the determined country associated data comprises:
determining that the cell information obtained from the base station cell associated with the second and different SIM profile comprises System Identification (SID) data; and
determining the current geographic location of the electronic mobile device based on the SID data.

8 . An electronic mobile device that includes at least a first subscriber identification module (SIM) profile associated with a first wireless network, the electronic mobile device comprising:
country cell information scan logic operative to:
scan at least one base station cell associated with a second and different SIM profile in response to an inability to connect with the first wireless network; and
obtain cell information in response to scanning the at least one base station cell associated with the second and different SIM profile;
country change notification logic operatively coupled to the country cell information scan logic and operative to determine a current geographic location of the electronic mobile device based on the cell information obtained from the at least one base station cell associated with the second and different SIM profile; and service adjustment based on country determination logic operatively coupled to the country change notification logic and operative to adjust operation of at least one service of the electronic mobile device based on the determined current geographic location.

9 . The electronic mobile device of claim 8 wherein the country change notification logic is operable to:
receive country associated data for a plurality of countries from a base station cell with a SIM profile compatible with the at least first SIM profile;
generate a country code map that maps a plurality of ranges of the country associated data to a particular country of the plurality of countries; and
determine, while the electronic mobile device is not connected to the first wireless network, the current geographic location of the electronic mobile device based on the generated country code map that maps the range of country associated data to a particular country of the plurality of countries.

10 . The electronic mobile device of claim 9 comprising a memory that is operable to store the country code mapping, wherein the country change notification logic is operable to:
access the country code map that maps the plurality of ranges of country associated data to a particular country of the plurality of countries in the memory;
compare the obtained cell information to at least one range of the plurality of ranges of country associated data mapped by the country code map; and
determine the current geographic location based on the comparison of the obtained cell information to the at least one range of the plurality of ranges of country associated data mapped by the country code map.

11 . The electronic mobile device of claim 10 wherein the country change notification logic is operable to determine that the obtained cell information falls within the at least one range of the plurality of ranges of country associated data.

12 . The electronic mobile device of claim 8 wherein the service adjustment based on country determination logic is operable to:
notify the at least one service of the determined current geographic location of the electronic mobile device;

Assignees

• Google Inc

Inventors

• Tan Weihua
• Agrawal Shishir Kumar

Classifications

• H04M1/72572

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04W8/205

  Transfer to or from user equipment or user record carrier · CPC title

• H04W4/025 Primary

  using location based information parameters · CPC title

• H04M1/72457

  according to geographic location · CPC title

• H04W48/18

  Selecting a network or a communication service · CPC title