Mobile device location

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9723436-B2
Application number	US-201414553252-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 25, 2014
Priority date	Dec 3, 2013
Publication date	Aug 1, 2017
Grant date	Aug 1, 2017

Abstract

A mobile device is associated with a mobile communications network. The mobile device comprises: a transmitter for sending a request, to the mobile communications network, for a secure location verification (LV) message; a receiver for receiving the requested LV message, wherein the LV message is digitally secured so as to enable a selected third party application program to verify an authenticity of the LV message, wherein the LV message comprises location data determined by the mobile communications network as representing a location of the mobile device and identification data for identifying the mobile device; and the transmitter for sending the received LV message to the third party application program so as to enable the third party application program to verify the location of the mobile device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A mobile device associated with a mobile communications network, the mobile device comprising:
a transmitter for sending a request, to a first computer coupled to the mobile communications network, for a secure location verification (LV) message, wherein the first computer comprises a mobile device location processor for identifying a real-time location of the mobile device, wherein the first computer comprises a location server module for producing the secure LV message, wherein the mobile device location processor determines the real-time location of the mobile device by identifying a cell within a cellular network that is currently being used by the mobile device, and wherein the location server processor produces the secure LV message in response to receiving the request that includes a device identifier of the mobile device;
a receiver for receiving the secure LV message, wherein the secure LV message is digitally secured so as to enable a selected third party application program on a second computer to verify an authenticity of the secure LV message, wherein the secure LV message comprises location data determined by the mobile communications network as representing a location of the mobile device and identification data for identifying the mobile device, and wherein a single geographical point and resolution data in the secure LV message define a geographical area in which the mobile device is currently located; and
the transmitter for sending the secure LV message to the third party application program on the second computer so as to enable the third party application program to verify the location of the mobile device, wherein the second computer provides multiple selected services to the mobile device based on a combination of the real-time location of the mobile device and the identification data for the mobile device that have been established by the first computer.

2. The mobile device according to claim 1 , wherein the request for the secure LV message is initiated by the third party application program.

3. The mobile device according to claim 1 , wherein the identification data is provided by the third party application program.

4. The mobile device according to claim 1 , wherein the third party application program comprises a transaction provider and the identification data comprises a transaction identifier.

5. The mobile device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
one or more processors in the mobile device for detecting that more than a predefined quantity of requests for the secure LV message have been transmitted to the first computer without successful receipt of the secure LV message; and
one or more processors in the mobile device for, in response to detecting that more than the predefined quantity of requests for the secure LV message have been transmitted without successful receipt of the secure LV message, blocking the second computer from providing the multiple selected services to the mobile device.

6. The mobile device according to claim 1 , wherein the secure LV message is digitally signed by a digital signature, and wherein the third party application program is provided with access to a public key for the digital signature.

7. The mobile device according to claim 1 , wherein the secure LV message comprises time stamp data corresponding to the location data.

8. A location server for use with a mobile communications network for providing verification of a location of a mobile device associated with the mobile communications network, wherein the location server is a first computer coupled to the mobile communications network, and wherein the location server comprises:
a mobile network interface for receiving a request from a mobile device on a mobile network for a secure location verification (LV) message, wherein the secure LV message comprises location data determined by the mobile communications network as representing a location of the mobile device and identification data for identifying the mobile device;
a location data interface for retrieving location data for the mobile device from the mobile network, wherein the first computer comprises a mobile device location processor for identifying a real-time location of the mobile device, wherein the first computer comprises a location server processor for producing the secure LV message, wherein the mobile device location processor determines the real-time location of the mobile device by identifying a cell within a cellular network that is currently being used by the mobile device, and wherein the location server processor produces the secure LV message in response to receiving the request that includes a device identifier of the mobile device; and
a processor configured to:
build the secure LV message comprising the retrieved location data for the mobile device and identification data identifying the mobile device, wherein a single geographical point and resolution data in the secure LV message define a geographical area in which the mobile device is currently located;
secure the secure LV message so as to enable a selected third party application program on a second computer to verify an authenticity of the secure LV message; and
transmit the secure LV message to the mobile device for subsequent provision to the third party application program on the second computer to enable the third party application program to verify the location data for the mobile device, wherein the second computer provides multiple selected services to the mobile device based on a combination of the real-time location of the mobile device and the identification data for the mobile device that have been established by the first computer.

9. The location server according to claim 8 , wherein the secure LV message is digitally signed by a digital signature, and wherein a public key for the digital signature is provided to the third party application program.

10. The location server according to claim 8 , wherein the secure LV message is communicated to the mobile device over the mobile network.

11. The location server according to claim 8 , wherein the request from the mobile device is a request for the secure LV message, and wherein the request for the secure LV message is initiated by the third party application program.

12. The location server according to claim 8 , wherein the identification data is provided by the third party application program.

13. The location server according to claim 8 , wherein the third party application program comprises a transaction provider and the identification data comprises a transaction identifier.

14. The location server according to claim 8 , wherein the secure LV message is digitally signed by a digital signature, and wherein the third party application program is provided with access to a public key for the digital signature.

15. An application server arranged to provide multiple location dependent services to a mobile device associated with a mobile communications network, the application server comprising:
a mobile network interface operable to receive a digitally secured location verification (LV) message from a mobile device associated with a mobile communications network, the digitally secured LV message comprising location data determined by the mobile communications network representing a location of the mobile device and identification data identifying the mobile device, wherein the location data identifies a cell within a cellular network that is currently being used by the mobile device; and
a processor arranged to:
verify contents of the digitally secured LV message, wherein the dig

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Bedi Bharat V
• Nicholson Robert B

Classifications

• H04W4/02 Primary

  Services making use of location information · CPC title

• H04W4/60

  Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits · CPC title

• H04W4/029 Primary

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title