| US 7,590,720 B2 | ||
| Systems and methods for locating geographical regions of mobile computer users | ||
| Paramvir Bahl, Issaquah, Wash. (US) | ||
| Assigned to Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash. (US) | ||
| Filed on Nov. 06, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/557,058. | ||
| Application 11/557058 is a continuation of application No. 09/760180, filed on Jan. 12, 2001, granted, now 7,133,909. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2007/0066322 A1, Mar. 22, 2007 | ||
| This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer. | ||
| Int. Cl. G06F 15/16 (2006.01); G06F 15/173 (2006.01); H04W 24/00 (2006.01); H04M 11/04 (2006.01); G01S 13/06 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 709—223 [709/201; 709/217; 455/456.6; 455/404.1; 342/118; 342/126] | 16 Claims |
| 1. A method, comprising:
determining a geographical region in which a mobile computing unit is located, wherein the act of determining the geographical
region comprises receiving RF signals from a plurality of RF beacons having known locations and using environmental profiling
to establish the geographical region of the mobile computing unit, wherein environmental profiling comprises comparing a strength
of the received RF signal with a table of known locations inside a plurality of buildings and outside of the buildings and
a base station signal strength at those locations;
periodically transmitting, from the mobile computing unit, the geographical region of the mobile computing unit to a network
server together with a user name of a user using the mobile computing unit; and
including an active signal with the periodically transmitted information when the user is actively using the mobile computing
unit.
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