Automated proximate location association mechanism for wireless emergency services

Abstract

Automatic Location Information (ALI) data that is representative of a landline address is digitally retrieved, and automatically transferred to an emergency call taker over a wireless system emergency network Importantly, the ALI information is determined based on association to a proximate location. Before an emergency call is initiated, additional environmental information, such as a RFID tag, location beacon, WiFi access point, Bluetooth device, or other communication signal with a known location, is included in the wireless session data exchange, used to match one or more location inputs to a fixed civic location (street address) which is used to dispatch emergency responders. Alternatively, the mechanism matches to a precise geodetic location (e.g., where no civic location is available).

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A method comprising:
 receiving a location request for a mobile device from a requesting device;   retrieving an historical address profile of the mobile device, the historical address profile including civic address information and communication signal information, wherein the communication signal information characterizes a communication signal received by the mobile device while at a corresponding civic address included in the historical address profile;   receiving a current proximate location from the mobile device that characterizes an identifier (ID) of a current serving cell of the mobile device, wherein the address profile of the mobile device includes at least two previous civic addresses for the mobile device corresponding to the ID of the current serving cell and a time associated with each of the at least two civic addresses;   determining automatic location information (ALI) data based on a best match of the current proximate location to each of the at least two previous civic addresses and the associated time in the historical address profile, wherein the ALI data includes a fixed civic location and a confidence value characterizing a probability that the wireless device is located at the fixed civic location; and   providing a reliability of the determined ALI data to the requesting device, wherein the reliability includes data characterizing the confidence value.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the fixed civic location is a street address employed to dispatch an emergency responder.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the historical address profile is populated prior to an emergency call being initiated by the mobile device.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein:
 a given one of the at least two previous civic addresses is further associated with an identity of a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein:
 a given one of the at least two previous civic addresses is further associated with an identity of a WiFi access point.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein:
 a given one of the at least two previous civic addresses is further associated with an identity of a Bluetooth device.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 receiving an emergency call initiated by the mobile device.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the ALI data further includes latitude and longitude coordinates for the fixed civic location.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the requesting device is a Public Answering Safety Point (PSAP) computing terminal.   
     
     
         11 . A server comprising:
 a non-transitory memory to store machine readable instructions; and   one or more processors that access the memory and execute the machine readable instructions, the machine readable instructions causing the server to:   receive a location request for a mobile device from a requesting device in response to an emergency call from the mobile device;   retrieve an historical address profile of the mobile device, the historical address profile including civic address information and associated communication signal information, wherein the associated communication signal information characterizes a communication signal being received by the mobile device while at a corresponding civic address included in the historical address profile;   receive information that characterizes an identifier (ID) of a current serving cell of the mobile device, wherein the address profile of the mobile device includes at least two previous civic addresses for the mobile device corresponding to the ID for the current serving cell and a time associated with each of the at least two civic addresses;   determine automatic location information (ALI) data based on a best match of the current serving cell to each one of the at least two previous civic addresses and the associated time in the historical address profile, wherein the ALI data includes a fixed civic location and a confidence value characterizing a probability that the mobile device is located at the fixed civic location; and   provide a reliability of the determined ALI data to the requesting device, wherein the reliability includes data characterizing the confidence value.   
     
     
         12 . The server of  claim 11 , wherein:
 the fixed civic location is a street address employed to dispatch an emergency responder.   
     
     
         13 . The server of  claim 11 , wherein:
 the historical address profile is populated prior to an emergency call being initiated by the mobile device.   
     
     
         14 . The server of  claim 11 , wherein:
 a given one of the at least two previous civic addresses is further associated with an identity of a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag.   
     
     
         15 . The server of  claim 11 , wherein:
 a given one of the at least two previous civic addresses is further associated with an identity of a WiFi access point.   
     
     
         16 . The server of  claim 11 , wherein:
 a given one of the at least two previous civic addresses is further associated with an identity of a Bluetooth device.   
     
     
         17 . The server of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 receiving an emergency call initiated by the mobile device.   
     
     
         18 . The server of  claim 11 , wherein:
 the ALI data further includes latitude and longitude coordinates for the fixed civic address.   
     
     
         19 . A method comprising:
 receiving a current serving cell for a mobile device and location information characterizing latitude and longitude coordinates of the mobile device;   determining a plurality of candidate locations for the mobile device that are within a polygon corresponding to a cell site sector of the serving cell;   determining automatic location information (ALI) data based on a best match of the plurality of candidate locations based on the location information, wherein the ALI data includes a fixed civic location and a confidence value characterizing a probability that the mobile device is located at the fixed civic location; and   providing a reliability of the determined ALI data to a requesting device, wherein the reliability includes data characterizing the confidence value.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein:
 the requesting party is a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) terminal.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 receiving data characterizing a WiFi access point in communication with the mobile device.