Identifying and locating users on a mobile network

摘要

A system and method of locating “friends” having mobile devices connected to a network and associated with a user account is disclosed. The method includes sending a request to a mobile device, the mobile device determining its present geographic location and responding to the requestor with this information. This information may be in the form of a coordinate location such as a GPS location or it may be in the form of a name that the mobile device owner assigned to a particular area (e.g., “home”). Having this location information, a user is able to view the location of the friend that is associated with the mobile device.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving, at a server, a request for a location of one or more requested devices from a requesting device; determining, by the server, whether the request for the location requires a relatively accurate response or only an approximate response, wherein the server determines a relatively accurate response is required when the request specifies a single requested device and the server determines only an approximate response is required when the request specifies more than one requested device; and sending, by the server, a shallow locate request to the one or more requested devices when it is determined that the request for location requires only an approximate response, the shallow locate request indicating an acceptable accuracy range for each of the one or more requested devices, allowing each of the one or more requested devices to determine a location using a degree of accuracy that is permitted under the acceptable accuracy range, and directing each of the one or more requested devices to provide the location to the server.