CallWave Communication LLCv. Sprint Nextel Corp. et al.

Filing 1

COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT filed with Jury Demand against Google Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp. - Magistrate Consent Notice to Pltf. ( Filing fee $ 350, receipt number 0311-1190005.) - filed by CallWave Communications LLC. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit C, # 4 Civil Cover Sheet)(els)

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EXHIBIT A 111111 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 US006771970Bl United States Patent (10) Dan (12) (45) EP Patent No.: US 6, 771,970 Bl Date of Patent: Aug. 3, 2004 0 785 535 A1 7/1997 5/1998 (54) LOCATION DETERMINATION SYSTEM (75) Inventor: (73) Assignee: Locationet Systems 2000 Ltd., Natanya (IL) International Search Report; International Application No. PCT!IL 00/ 00617; Feb. 9, 2001. ( *) Notice: * cited by examiner Meir Dan, Tel Aviv (IL) Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 534 days. (21) Appl. No.: 09/677,827 (22) Filed: (60) Related U.S. Application Data Provisional application No. 60/157,643, filed on Oct. 4, 1999. (51) (52) (58) Oct. 2, 2000 References Cited (56) U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS A A A A B1 B1 * * * * 6/1993 12/1998 7/2000 10/2000 4/2001 12/2001 Mansell et a!. ............. 342/357 DeLorme et a!. ........... 701!200 Prabhakaran Girerd et a!. Twitchell et a!. Verdonk FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS DE 44 27 913 A1 50 2/1996 wo 98/20434 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Primary Examiner-Erika Gary Assistant Examiner-Buy Nguyen (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery (57) Int. Cl? .................................................. H04Q 7/20 U.S. Cl. ................................ 455/456.1; 455/456.2; 455/456.3; 455/456.5; 455/457; 342/357.1; 342/357.14; 342/357.15 Field of Search .............................. 455/456.1, 457, 455/456.2, 456.3, 456.5; 340/988, 989, 990, 991, 993; 701/208, 212, 213, 200, 207; 342/357.1, 357.14, 357.15 5,223,844 5,848,373 6,087,952 6,131,067 6,222,483 6,330,454 wo ABSTRACT A system for location tracking of mobile platforms, each mobile platform having a tracking unit is described. The system includes a location determination system communicating through a user interface with at least one subscriber; said communication including inputs that include the subscriber identity and the identity of the mobile platform to be located; a communication system communicating with said location determination system for receiving said remote platform identity; and, a plurality of remote tracking systems communicating with said communication system for determining the location of the remote platform; The communication system is arranged to determine an appropriate one of the plurality of remote tracking systems and to communicate said remote platform identity, the appropriate remote tracking system receiving said mobile platform identity and returning mobile platform location information, said communication system being arranged to pass said mobile platform location information to said location detention system. The location determination system is arranged to receive said mobile platform location information and to forward it to said subscriber. 19 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets v21 ~22 8:'23 ~24 U.S. Patent C) u:: Aug. 3, 2004 Sheet 1 of 4 US 6, 771,970 Bl U.S. Patent Aug. 3, 2004 US 6, 771,970 Bl Sheet 2 of 4 Internet Browser -· A ~). 60 Entities registered Allthantlcallon with system. Fig. 2 Location request \ 50 I r-- '-.7 '-../ m j ~ It! .. .. ~ r-- ~ ~ 'r-- ~ - ~ I 0:: '-- <( 11 'v7 li • L..--13 / <( Jo 21 bod ~ 22 ~ 14 /v ~ ~ 23 f-- .7 ~ ~ jf-~ 1- 12 j 1- 0:: 1- 1- 1-- ~ 24 A 3 :s- t- Internet 1- v 1--z I- Ql v . c::?<: 1- 1- .... ' I"< 1- .. I c i a: ,..._ h iii G) r--- • Ill G) Q) ~ I-- I--- I WebSite ,__ Location and Map boO bo 0 U.S. Patent 3rd Party Applications 131 1 Billing/ Advertising 134 124 Management Applications 133 130 Information & Navigation 132 US 6, 771,970 Bl Sheet 3 of 4 Aug. 3, 2004 Emergency Services 20 5 60 100 Fig. 3 142 14 11 2 U.S. Patent Aug. 3, 2004 Sheet 4 of 4 US 6,771,970 Bl Fig. 4a 200 210 \ 300 310 Fig. 4b 320 330 340 US 6,771,970 Bl 1 2 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the present invention, there is This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional provided a system for location tracking of mobile platforms, Application No. 60/157,643, filed Oct. 4, 1999. each mobile platforms having a tracking unit; the system 5 including: FIELD OF THE INVENTION a location determination system communicating through a The present invention is in the general field of location user interface with at least one subscriber; said communication including inputs that include the subscriber tracking services and is particularly suitable for vehicle identity and the identity of the mobile platform to be tracking. located; 10 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION a communication system communicating with said locaTracking the location of vehicles in large fleets is tion determination system for receiving said remote platform identity; and, complex, expensive and time consuming. Technologies such as GPS (Global Positioning System), EOTD (Enhanced a plurality of remote tracking systems communicating with said communication system for determining the Observed Time Difference), Cell ID, AMPS (Advanced 15 location of the remote platform; Mobile Phone Service), GSM (Global System for Mobile wherein said communication system is arranged to deterCommunication), CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data), mine an appropriate one of the plurality of remote EDACS (Enhanced Digital Access Communication System) tracking systems and to communicate said remote and MSAT (Mobile Satellite communications) allow a platform identity, the appropriate remote tracking sysvehicle, mobile telephone or other mobile entity to be 20 tem receiving said mobile platform identity and returnlocated. The mobile entity has a communication device from ing mobile platform location information, said commuwhich the location of the entity can be determined. In order nication system being arranged to pass said mobile to locate an entity, a base station communicates with a platform location information to said location determicommunication system such as a satellite in orbit or an array nation system; of transmitter/receivers, which in turn triangulates the posi- 25 said location determination system being arranged to tion of the entity. This is technically complicated process receive said mobile platform location information and requiring expensive equipment and access to expensive to forward it to said subscriber. resources such as satellite time. Organizations with a need The location determination system may communicate for instantaneous information on the whereabouts of their with a mapping system having at least one map database, vehicles normally employ the services of a location tracking 30 said mapping system accepting mobile platform location service provider. Such service providers offer access to the information, correlating said location information with a equipment and technology necessary to locate the vehicles location on a map from said at least one map database, to a number of organisations. An authorised member of an generating a map on which said location is marked and organisation subscribing to one of the service providers is communicating said map to said location determination able to submit a request for a location of one of the 35 system, wherein said location determination system is organisation's vehicles to the service provider's system. The arranged to forward said map to said subscriber. location of the vehicle is determined and returned to the The mapping system may communicate with at least requestor. However, due to the complexity of the underlying location information system, said location information syssystems, communication with a service provider's systems tem accepting mobile platform location information, obtainis normally made via expensive and complex client soft- 40 ing location information and returning said location inforware. Each service provider collects data using different mation for association with said map. technologies and stores this data in its own proprietary The location information system may obtain location format. In addition, many service providers have their own information from selected ones of traffic information proprietary communication formats in which position systems, electronic Yellow Page databases, video databases, requests must be made and in which location data is 45 L-commerce systems and free advertising systems. received. This results in confusion for customers who need The map database may include maps formatted as at least to consider the various advantages, disadvantages and cost one of the following: Raster Map in various scales, vector implications associated with each of the various location maps and air photo. systems offered by service providers. Furthermore, the softThe user interface may accept multiple mobile platforms ware is usually so complex that only a few trained personnel 50 to be located, the mapping system accepting multiple mobile in every organization can operate the vehicle tracking softplatform location information and generating a map on ware. The software is often resource-heavy, expensive and which each location is marked. not intuitive for the users. Retrieval of data can only be done Data forwarded to said subscriber may comprise at least from a few terminals thereby making the information speone mobile platform location in a map represented in HTML cialized and highly inaccessible. Furthermore, the differ- 55 and an image. ences in proprietary data and communication formats make Communication between said subscriber and said location it extremely difficult for an organisation to customise the determination system may be over the Internet. client software or to develop systems capable of communiCommunication between said communication system and cating with the service provider's systems and accepting the the corresponding remote tracking service is over the Interlocation is data. 60 net. The location determination system, the mapping system There is accordingly a need in the art to simplify the process by allowing inter alia extraction of information from and the communication system may be accommodated in the multiple tracking service providers. There is a further need same web site. in the art to provide a relatively simple to operate location A mobile platform may be a vehicle, a person, a portable tracking service adapted for use by common subscribers 65 computer, a mobile telephone or any other mobile entity that whilst obviating the need to install and use a cumbersome can be tracked or have a tracking device installed or vehicle tracking software. attached. LOCATION DETERMINATION SYSTEM US 6,771,970 Bl 3 4 Each remote tracking system may belong to a different Between them, the systems (11-14) are capable of trackcompany and supervises a different group of mobile plating the location of one or more vehicles, mobile telephones forms. or other entities. These are shown in this example as a According to another aspect of the present invention, mobile telephone (21), a car (22), a laptop computer (23) and there is provided a method of determining the location of 5 a briefcase (24). remote platforms, said remote platforms between them The systems (11-14) of the various location tracking being locatable by a plurality of remote tracking systems, the service providers communicate over the Internet (30) with a method comprising the steps of: communication subsystem (3) of the location determination (a) accepting inputs from a subscriber identifying one or system (1). Communication is made using, typically, a more remote platforms to be located; 10 communication protocol specific to each location tracking (b) determining for each remote platform one of the remote system provider. tracking systems that is capable of locating said remote The location determination system (1) is linked to a user platform; database that cross-references vehicles and other entities to (c) communicating the identity of the one or more remote be tracked with the location tracking service that is capable platforms to be located to the determined remote tracking 15 of tracking them. The location determination system (1) is system(s); also linked to a map server ( 4) operating a map engine for (d) receiving the location of each remote platform from the accessing a map database (5). The map server ( 4) is capable respective remote tracking system; and, of correlating between maps stored in the database (5) and (e) transmitting the location of each remote platform to said positioning information received from the respective locasubscriber. 20 tion tracking system (11-14). The map server ( 4) may Step (e) may further comprise the step of correlating the support various types of maps, such as, for example, Raster location of each remote platform with a map database and maps in various scales, vector maps and air photographs. transmitting a map having marked said remote platform In a prefer red non-limiting embodiment of the invention, location(s) to said subscriber. the location determination system (1) hosts a World Wide 25 Web site (50) on the Internet (30). The Web site (50) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS includes a home page (51) operating as the entry point to the Web site (50) for visitors, information pages (52-53) and a For a better understanding, the invention will now be service access form (54). described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of 30 the system of FIG. 1. A subscriber to the location determiFIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a location tracking nation system (1) equipped with a computer (60) running an system in accordance with the invention; Internet browser requests the location of a specific vehicle FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of (22). The subscriber can be a stand-alone user or, for the system of FIG. 1; example, a member of a number of licensed subscribers in FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the system of FIGS. 1 35 a given organization, all as required and appropriate. and 2 illustrating preferred features of the invention; and, The user logs on to the Web site (50) and selects the FIGS. 4a and 4b are schematic diagrams illustrating vehicle (22) for which the location is sought via the service protocol data units used in a preferred embodiment of the access form (54). The request is passed from the Web site invention. 40 (50) to the location determination system (1) which accesses a database (2) to determine the appropriate location tracking DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED system (11-14) for the vehicle. The location determination EMBODIMENT system (1) passes the request and details of the appropriate location tracking system (11-14) to the communication Turning first to FIG. 1, there is shown a schematic diagram of a location determination system (1) in accor- 45 subsystem (3). The communication subsystem (3) formats the request for dance with the invention. In the example of FIG. 1, there are Z location tracking service providers (referred to also as transmission to the respective location tracking system (11-14) and transmits it via the Internet (30). The location service providers), each offering access to a respective tracking system (11-14) receives the request and determines location tracking system. For the purposes of this example only 4 location tracking systems are shown (designated 50 the location of the vehicle (22). This information is then transmitted back to the communication subsystem (3) via the generally as (11), (12), (13) and (14)). One of the location tracking systems may be, for example, a Motorola tracking Internet (30). Upon receipt of the information, the commulocation system such as systems based around Motorola's nication subsystem (3) associates the information with the request and passes it to the location determination system MLU (Mobile Logic Unit). Other location tracking systems may be based around, for example, the Ituran VLU (Vehicle 55 (1). The location determination system (1) passes the locaLogic Unit) or PAL(PersonalAlarm and Location) or Nexus tion of the vehicle (22) to the map server ( 4) which obtains Telocation's RMU (Remote Monitoring Unit) based system. a map of the area in which the vehicle (22) is located using the map engine, marks the position of the vehicle (22) on the For the purpose of tracking vehicles, each vehicle is map and passes it to the location determination system (1). preferably equipped with an individual tracking unit (not shown). Most mobile telephones already have appropriate 60 The map is then passed via the Internet (30) to the Web browser running on the subscriber's computer (60). functionality to interact with the location tracking systems. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the system of FIGS. 1 Other entities such as people, computers, briefcases or other and 2 illustrating preferred features of the invention. valuables to be tracked require a tracking unit to be in-built or carried. The tracking unit, or equivalent, transmits data In addition to the Web site (50), the location determination via a wireless data transmission protocol, such as GSM radio 65 system (1) may host a WML-based Web site (not shown) on transmissions to the associated location tracking service the Internet (30). WAP-enabled mobile telephones (100) and other communication devices can communicate via a WAP provider. US 6,771,970 Bl 5 6 server (110) to submit location requests and receive location may also contain a timeslot field (210) designating a point in time for which the location of the item is requested. In FIG. maps or coordinates. 2b, a location data unit is shown. The data unit is transmitted The map server (4) may be linked to map databases (5) in from the respective tracking system (11-14) to the commuformats such as Raster, Vector, Topographic or aerial photographs. In addition, data related to the determined location 5 nication subsystem (3) and includes the fields ItemiD (300) and Coord (310). The Coord field (310) may be in Latitude/ could also be incorporated in the output. A location data Longditude format or in UTM formal The data unit may server (120) may be linked to a number of location include the optional fields of Accuracy (320) indicating the databases, examples of which include traffic information location accuracy in Meters and Date (330) and Time (340) databases (121), Yellow Pages databases (122) and datafields indicating the date and time at which the item was at bases of video of the location (123). In addition, the location 10 the specified location. data server may accept connections and/or data from exterIf necessary, a translation system may be installed at nal data providers via an open content layer (124) that location tracking systems that are not compatible with the establishes a standard data communication protocol. As an open format communication protocol in order to intercept automatic procedure, or upon request of a subscriber, requests from the communication subsystem (3), convert the selected or all data on the location determined by the 15 request to the location tracking system's proprietary format location determination system (1) that is available from the and to convert the location data from the location tracking databases is obtained from the location data server (120) by service back into the open format for transmission to the communication subsystem (3). the map server (4) and incorporated in the output map. The description above exemplifies the simplicity and The location data received by a subscriber is normally an HTML representation of the information requested. This 20 flexibility of the system over hitherto known solutions. Thus, a single subscriber can access from his home comrepresentation may be composed of, for example, HTML puter (equipped with commercially available browser) a web and a GIF (image) component. Of course the invention is not site (50) and inquire as to location of vehicles or other limited to the specific user interface data, which could be entities of interest Obviously, the vehicles or entities may be made up of, or converted to, any appropriate format. 25 spread among more than one company (e.g. they may Preferably, multiple requests for the location of the same belongs to different groups (21) to (24), each supervised by entity are detected and processed as one request, the location a respective different location company). Consider that the data being sent to both parties. Multiple requests from one operational center communicates with the Company Locasubscriber may be processed so that the locations of the tion Systems over the Internet; the sought vehicles may be entities are superimposed on one map. Alternatively, each 30 located in remote locations not necessarily in the same request may result in a location map being displayed in a country or to even continent. separate window. The application of the present invention is not bound to In addition to supplying map-based location data to motor vehicles and may used for any mobile platform, e.g. requesting Web browsers, the location determination system (1) may also be configured to communicate with external 35 for tracking persons. Whilst the examples described have separated the funcapplication servers (130) via the Internet, PSTN or other tionality of the location determination system into a number communication medium. The application server may run a of computer servers, databases and is modules, it will be proprietary or commercial software system for, for example, apparent that the functionality of the system could be supplying navigation information (131), managing movement of resources (132), such as for route planning between 40 provided by a single appropriately programmed computer server. Alternatively, the functionality could be further multiple destinations, billing and/or advertising (133) and divided across a number of computer servers that may be in emergency service management (134). The data supplied to remote locations. the application server (130) may include maps or may just The present invention has been described with a certain be location coordinates in a predetermined format. The location determination system (1) may also communicate 45 degree of particularity but various alternations and modifications may be carried out without departing from the spirit location data to non-Internet based clients. For example, it and scope of the following claims. may be linked to an SMS (Simple messaging service) server What is claimed is: (140) and supply locations as coordinates, street names 1. A system for location tracking of mobile platforms, derived from map databases or other location data available each mobile platform having a tracking unit; the system to mobile telephones (141), pagers (142) etc. 50 including: It is preferred that the communication subsystem (3) is an a location determination system communicating through a XML server. Communication with location tracking systems user interface with at least one subscriber; said com(11-14) is preferably asynchronous. In this manner, as no munication including inputs that include the subscriber communication channel or session is held open while the identity and the identity of the mobile platform to be location is determined (which may take anywhere from a 55 located; few seconds to a number of minutes), the use of system a communication system communicating with said locaresources and communication costs are limited without any tion determination system for receiving said mobile negative effect on the response time of the system. platform identity; and, Communication between the communication subsystem a plurality of remote tracking systems communicating (3) and location tracking system (11-14) is preferably made 60 with said communication system each of the remote using an open format communication protocol. The protocol tracking systems being adapted to determine the locais illustrated in the schematic diagram of FIGS. 4a and 4b. tion of a respective mobile platform according to a In FIG. 4a, a request protocol data unit is shown. The data property that is predetermined for each mobile platform unit is transmitted by the communication subsystem (3) to for determining the location of the mobile platform; the respective location tracking system (11-14) and includes 65 wherein said location determination system is arranged to the field ItemiD (200), which contains the location tracking system's identifier of the item to be located. The data unit determine an appropriate one of the plurality of remote US 6,771,970 Bl 7 8 tracking systems, the appropriate remote tracking sys(c) communicating the identity of the one or more mobile tem receiving said mobile platform identity from said platforms to be located to the determined remote trackcommunication system and returning mobile platform ing system(s); location information, said communication system (d) receiving the location of each mobile platform from being arranged to pass said mobile platform location 5 the respective remote tracking system; and information to said location determination system; (e) transmitting the location of each mobile platform to said location determination system being arranged to said subscriber. receive said mobile platform location information and 15. A method according to claim 14, wherein transmitting to forward it to said subscriber. the location of each mobile platform further comprises 2. A system according to claim 1, wherein said location 10 correlating the location of each mobile platform with a map determination system communicates with a mapping system database and transmitting a map having marked said mobile having at least one map database, said mapping system platform location(s) to said subscriber. accepting mobile platform location information, correlating 16. A computer program product comprising a computer said location information with a location on a map from said useable medium having computer readable program code at least one map database, generating a map on which said location is marked and communicating said map to said 15 embodied therein to enable determination of the location of mobile platforms, said mobile platforms between them location determination system, wherein said location deterbeing locatable by a plurality of remote tracking systems, mination system is arranged to forward said map to said each which is adapted to determine the location of a respecsubscriber. tive mobile platform according to a property that is prede3. A system according to claim 2, wherein said mapping system communicates with at least one location information 20 termined for each mobile platform, the computer readable system, said location information system accepting mobile program product comprising: platform location information, obtaining location informacomputer readable program code for causing a computer tion and returning said location information for association to accept inputs from a subscriber identifying one or with said map. more mobile platforms to be located; 4. A system according to claim 3, wherein said location 25 computer readable program code for causing the cominformation system obtains location information from puter to determine for each mobile platform one of the selected ones of traffic information systems, electronic Yelremote tracking systems that is capable of locating said low Page databases, video databases, L-commerce systems remote platform; and free advertising systems. computer readable program code for causing the com5. A system according to claim 2, wherein said map 30 puter to communicate the identity of the one or more database includes maps formatted as at least one of the mobile platforms to be located to the determined following: Raster Map in various scales, vector maps and air remote tracking system(s); photo. 6. A system according to claim 2, wherein said user computer readable program code for causing the cominterface accepts multiple mobile platforms to be located, puter to receive the location of each mobile platform the mapping system accepting multiple mobile platform 35 from the respective remote tracking system; and location information and generating a map on which each computer readable program code for causing the comlocation is marked. puter to transmit the location of each mobile platform 7. A system according to claim 2, wherein data forwarded to said subscriber. to said subscriber comprises at least one mobile platform 17. A computer program product according to claim 16, 40 location in a map represented in HTML and an image. further comprising computer readable code for causing the 8. A system according to claim 1, wherein the commucomputer to correlate the location of each mobile platform nication between said subscriber and said location determiwith a map database and to transmit a map having marked nation system is over the Internet. said mobile platform location(s) to said subscriber. 9. A system according to claim 1, wherein the commu18. A system for location tracking of mobile platforms, nication between said communication system and the cor- 45 each of which is equipped each with a tracking unit, each responding remote tracking service is over the Internet. being adapted to determine the location of a respective 10. A system according to claim 1, wherein said location mobile platform according to a property that is predeterdetermination system, said mapping system and said commined for each mobile platform; the system comprising: munication system are accommodated in the same web site. (a) a location server communicating through a user inter11. A system according to claim 1, wherein said mobile 50 face with at least one subscriber equipped with a platform is a vehicle. browser; said communication having inputs that 12. A system according to claim 1, wherein said mobile include at least the subscriber identity, the mobile platform is a person. platform identity and map information; 13. A system according to claim 1, wherein each remote tracking system belongs to a different company and super- 55 (b) at least one mobile platform location system coupled vises a different group of mobile platforms. to said location server for receiving the mobile platform 14. A method of determining the location of mobile identity and map information that pertain to mobile platforms, said mobile platforms between them being locatplatforms associated with the respective mobile platable by a plurality of remote tracking systems, each which form location system; each one of said mobile platform is adapted to determine the location of a respective mobile 60 location systems being associated with a map database platform according to a property that is predetermined for and map engine for manipulating said map database; each mobile platform, the method comprising: (c) at least one remote tracking service communicating (a) accepting inputs from a subscriber identifying one or with said respective mobile platform location system more mobile platforms to be located; for receiving mobile platform identity and returning mobile platform location information; (b) determining for each mobile platform one of the 65 remote tracking systems that is capable of locating said the at least one mobile platform location system being mobile platform; adapted to receive said mobile platform location infor- US 6,771,970 Bl 9 mation and access said map database for correlating map to said location information, so as to obtain correlated location information; said location server being adapted to receive the correlated location information and forward them to said 5 browser. 19. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method of determining the location of mobile platforms, said mobile platforms between them 10 being locatable by a plurality of remote tracking systems, each of which is adapted to determine the location of a respective mobile platform according to a property that is predetermined for each mobile platform, the method comprising: 10 (a) accepting inputs from a subscriber identifying one or more mobile platforms to be located; (b) determining for each mobile platform one of the remote tracking systems that is capable of locating said mobile platform; (c) communicating the identity of the one or more mobile platforms to be located to the determined remote tracking system(s); (d) receiving the location of each mobile platform from the respective remote tracking system; and (e) transmitting the location of each mobile platform to said subscriber. * * * * *

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