GB2482334A

GB2482334A - Negotiating peer-to-peer information sharing rules between mobile devices using network handover messages

Info

Publication number: GB2482334A
Application number: GB1012838.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ankur Khandelia; Rajiv Rajan Azhapilli; German Jose D'jesus Bencci
Original assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2010-07-30
Filing date: 2010-07-30
Publication date: 2012-02-01
Anticipated expiration: 2030-07-30
Also published as: GB2482334B; GB2482334A8; GB201012838D0

Abstract

A wireless network environment 10 has a plurality of wireless networks 12a, 12b, 12c and a plurality of mobile devices 20a, 20b, 20c. An information server 30 provides handover messages to assist handovers from one of the wireless networks 12a to another network 12b. A first mobile device 20a is arranged to negotiate information sharing rules with the information server 30 using capability exchange messages and to provide shared information according to the information sharing rules to be received by a second mobile device 20b. The first device 20a may transmit the shared information directly to the second mobile device 20b by peer-to-peer (P2P) communication using Near Field Communication (NFC) e.g. Bluetooth, according to the information sharing rules. The shared information may be GPS location information and/or access point information derived from the handover messages. The information server 30 may be a Media Independent Information Server (MIIS) for Media Independent Handovers (MIH).

Description

A WIRELESS NETWORK ENVIRONMENT, A MOBILE DEVICE,

AN INFORMATION SERVER AND A METHOD OF PROVIDING INFORMATION IN A

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

The present invention relates in general to a wireless network environment, a mobile device, an information server and a method of providing information in a wireless network environment.

Description of Related Art

Several different wireless networks may coexist in one particular location, such as where several networks are offered by different providers and where different wireless network technologies are overlapped. In this heterogeneous wireless network environment, mobile devices may have a choice of available access points at each location, and this choice changes frequently as the mobile devices move around.

Protocols such as IEEE8O2.21, and others, have been developed to provide handover services that assist handovers (HO) from one access point to another and from one type of network to another, while maintaining services over the wireless networks to the mobile devices. These protocols provide additional services such as predictive handovers, wherein a handover is initiated to another access point before a signal from a current access point is lost, so as to minimise downtime between access points. However, some mobile devices (e.g. non-MIH devices) are unable to participate in these additional services for media independent handovers. As general background information, W02006/052,805 describes a media independent handover (MIH) method featuring a simplified beacon for MIH services.

Many mobile devices are able to generate location information that corresponds to a geographical location of the mobile device. The location information allows the mobile device to obtain location based services which are relevant to that specific geographical location. For example, the location information is provided in order to access additional services for media independent handovers, such as the predictive handovers based on the current geographical location of the mobile device. However, obtaining the location information tends to increase the power consumption of the mobile device and shortens battery life. Also, the wireless network carries additional network traffic in order to provide the location information and support the location based services of the mobile device. Meanwhile, devices which are not equipped to generate the location information (e.g. devices without a GPS locator) are unable to take advantage of these location based services.

It is now desired to achieve a wireless network environment wherein information is provided efficiently. In one example, it desired to achieve a wireless network environment wherein network traffic is reduced. In one example, it desired to conserve battery power of the mobile devices. In another example, it is desired to achieve a method of providing information in a wireless network environment wherein the information is provided efficiently.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a wireless network environment, a mobile device, an information server and a method, as set forth in the appended claims. Other features of the invention will be apparent from the dependent claims, and the description which follows.

In one aspect, a wireless network environment has a plurality of wireless networks and a plurality of mobile devices. An information server provides handover messages to assist handovers between the wireless networks. A first mobile device is arranged to negotiate information sharing rules with the information server. The first mobile device then provides shared information according to the information sharing rules. The shared information is provided to be received by a second mobile device. In one example, the information is shared between the devices directly by peer communication (e.g. Bluetooth). In one example, the shared information may be GPS location information and/or access point information derived from the handover messages. The mobile devices may also gather information about nearby items and objects such as by a peer communication identity or by taking camera images, which are then shared with the other mobile devices.

In one aspect there is provided a wireless network environment, comprising: a plurality of wireless networks; a plurality of mobile devices; and an information server. The information server is arranged to provide handover messages to assist the mobile devices in performing a handover from one of the wireless networks to another of the wireless networks. A first mobile device is arranged to negotiate information sharing rules with the information server and to provide shared information. The shared information is received by a second mobile device according to the information sharing rules.

In one aspect, the first mobile device is arranged to transmit the shared information directly to the second mobile device by peer communication.

In one aspect, the second mobile device is arranged to initiate the information sharing by sending a request for information sharing to the information server.

In one aspect, the second mobile device is arranged to identify the first mobile device as being proximal using peer communication, obtain a peer communication identifier relating to the first mobile device, and provide the peer communication identifier to the information server in the request for information sharing.

In one aspect, the information server comprises an information sharing rule database which holds the information sharing rules.

In one aspect, the first mobile device is arranged to negotiate the information sharing rules with the information server during a capability exchange message between the first mobile device and the information server.

In one aspect, the first mobile device transmits the shared information to the information server during the capability exchange message. During the capability exchange message, the first mobile device may include shared information embedded in one of the messages. For example, within the message get info request (location)', the first mobile device may include its location.

In one aspect, the information server extracts the shared information sent from the first mobile device during the capability exchange message. In one aspect, the information server then transmits the extracted shared information to the second mobile device. After the information server receives the capability exchange message, such as the get info request (location)', it may extract the location information provided by the first mobile device and transmit this shared information to the second mobile device.

In one aspect, the information sharing rules are based on a device status of a hardware component of the information providing first mobile device. In one aspect, the information sharing rules are based on a device status of a hardware component of the information receiving second mobile device. In one aspect, the hardware component is a battery and the device status is a power level of the battery. In one aspect, the battery level is compared with a threshold value. In one aspect, the information sharing rules are based on a location of the mobile device. In one aspect, the current location of the device is compared with a predefined location (e.g. home, work).

In one aspect, the second mobile device is arranged to send a request for information sharing to the information server, the information server is arranged to issue a command requesting information sharing to the first mobile device according to the information sharing rules, and the first mobile device is arranged to share information by peer communication with the second mobile device in response to the command.

In one aspect, the first mobile device includes a location device which obtains location information based on a geographical location of the first mobile device, the first mobile device is arranged to share the location information with the second mobile device as the shared information, and the second mobile device is arranged to access a location based service over the wireless network using the location information shared by the first mobile device.

In one aspect, the information server is arranged to aggregate a plurality of the mobile devices into a sharing group based on location information, speed information and/or direction information provided by the mobile devices which indicates that the plurality of mobile devices are in the same location suitable for sharing information using the peer communication.

In one aspect, the information server is further arranged to send the handover messages including access point information relating to a predictive handover from one access point to another access point, and the first mobile device is arranged to share the access point information with the second mobile device as the shared information.

In one aspect, the first mobile device is arranged to gather item information about one or more items which are encountered by the mobile device according to the information sharing rules; and the information server is arranged to receive the gathered item information from the first mobile device, and to selectively provide the gathered item information to one of the mobile devices in response to a request for the item information.

In one aspect, the first mobile device is arranged to gather the item information as peer information about one or more peer communication devices which are encountered by the peer communication and/or as image information captured by a camera of the first mobile device. In one example, an information gathering unit gathers a peer community identity of the peer device and records a time of day and a location of when contact with the peer device was lost (e.g. because the device was misplaced and became out of range). Later, when the user wishes to find the misplaced peer device, the information gathering unit retrieves the gathered peer information, which indicates the last known position of the peer device and the user is better able to track and locate lost devices. In one example, the mobile device is arranged to upload the gathered peer information to the information server, to be stored in a gathered information database.

In one aspect there is provided an information server for use in a wireless network environment wherein a plurality of mobile devices are coupled to a plurality of wireless networks. The information server may comprise an information sharing rules database arranged to store information sharing rules relating to at least a first mobile device; and a handover information services unit arranged to receive a request for information sharing from a second mobile device, determine that the first mobile device is capable of sharing information based on the stored information sharing rules and to issue a command requesting information sharing to the first mobile device according to the information sharing rules. The first mobile device then provides the shared information, suitably by peer communication, to be received by the second mobile device.

In one aspect there is provided a mobile device as an information providing device for use in a wireless network environment. The mobile device may comprise a handover unit arranged to perform handovers within the wireless network environment with reference to handover messages provided by an information server; a peer communication unit arranged to communicate directly with one or more other mobile devices in the vicinity of the mobile device; a rule setting unit arranged to negotiate information sharing rules with the information server; and an information sharing unit arranged to share information from the mobile device with the other mobile devices according to the information sharing rules negotiated by the rule setting unit.

In one aspect there is provided a mobile device as an information receiving device for use in a wireless network environment. The mobile device may comprise a handover unit arranged to perform handovers within the wireless network environment with reference to handover messages provided by an information server; a peer communication unit arranged to communicate directly with one or more other mobile devices in the vicinity of the mobile device; a rule setting unit arranged to negotiate information sharing rules with the information server; and an information sharing unit arranged to receive shared information from the other mobile devices according to information sharing rules negotiated by the rule setting unit.

In one aspect there is provided a method of providing information in a wireless network environment. The method may comprise: providing handover messages from the information server to the plurality of mobile devices; performing a handover by at least one of the mobile devices from one wireless network to another wireless network using the handover messages; negotiating information sharing rules with a first mobile device; and sharing information between the first mobile device and a second mobile device, such as directly by peer communication, according to the information sharing rules.

In one aspect the method further comprises the steps of sending a request for information sharing from the second mobile device to send to the information server, issuing a command requesting information sharing to the first mobile device according to the information sharing rules, and transmitting the shared information by peer communication from the first mobile device to the second mobile device in response to the command, according to the information sharing rules.

In one aspect there is provided a tangible computer readable medium having recorded thereon instructions which, when executed, perform the steps of: receiving handover messages from an information server to a first mobile device in a wireless network environment having a plurality of wireless networks; performing a handover by the first mobile devices from one of the wireless networks to another of the wireless networks using the handover messages; negotiating information sharing rules relating to the first mobile device with the information server; and sharing information from the first mobile device to a second mobile device according to the information sharing rules.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the invention, and to show how example embodiments may be carried into effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an example wireless network environment; Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the example wireless network environment in more detail; Figure 3 is another schematic diagram of the example wireless network environment; Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example method of providing information in a Figure 5 is another flowchart illustrating an example method of providing information in a Figure 6 is another schematic diagram of the example wireless network environment; Figure 7 is another schematic diagram of the example wireless network environment; Figure 8 is another schematic diagram of the example wireless network environment; and Figure 9 is another schematic diagram of the example wireless network environment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

The example embodiments will be described with reference to independent handover in a heterogeneous network environment. The following examples relate in particular to media independent handover using the IEEE8O2.21 protocol as described, for example, at www.ieee802.org. However, the principles and teachings herein are also applicable to other convergence technologies for heterogeneous networks, as will be appreciated from the

following description and discussion.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an example heterogeneous wireless network environment 10. In this simplified example, the wireless network environment 10 includes one or more wireless networks 12a, 12b, 12c each with an associated set of the access points 14, so that many individual mobile devices 20 can access the wireless networks from diverse locations. The network 10 will typically span entire cities, regions or countries. The many access points 14 often have overlapping coverage at a specific location (such as in an airport or on a particular street), whereby the mobile devices 20 may choose between the available access points 14 at that location. This set of available access points 14 changes frequently as the mobile devices 20 move around the region covered by the wireless network environment 10.

In the example embodiments, the wireless networks 12a-12c are implemented using a plurality of wireless network technologies. The wireless networks 12a-12c may include cellular telephony networks using technologies such as GSM, GPRS, EDGE, or CDMA, or wireless local area networks such as IEEE8O2.11 (WiFi) or IEEE8O2.16 (WiMAX), amongst others, as will be familiar to those skilled in the art. More recently, protocols and standards such as IEEE8O2.21 have been developed to aid media independent handovers (HO) from one access point 14 to another and from one network 12 to another, while maintaining services to the mobile devices 20. Most wireless networks 12 provide homogeneous (horizontal) handovers within the same network. However, IEEE8O2.21 is an example of convergence for media independent handover (MIH) which also supports vertical handovers in a heterogeneous network environment. Other examples include UMNGAN (Unlicensed Mobile Access/Generic Access Network) as part of ETSI 3GPP (European Telecommunications Standards Institute 3rd Generation Partnership Project), and ANDSF (Access Network Discovery And Selection Function).

The access points 14 are any suitable equipment or station used to provide a network connection or point of access to communicate wirelessly with the mobile devices 20. For example, the access points include base stations or base transceivers for routing network traffic to the mobile devices 20.

The mobile devices 20 (also termed mobile nodes or MN) are capable of connecting to one or more of the wireless networks 12. Typically, the mobile devices 20 are smartphones, PDAs, notebooks, webbooks or other suitable portable communication devices. These mobile devices 20 suitably have multi radio capability and are capable of connecting to several different types of the wireless networks 12.

One or more wired backbone networks 16 may be provided coupled to the wireless networks 12 as will be familiar to those skilled in the art. These backbone networks allow services to be provided across each of the wireless networks 16. As one example, the backbone is based on Internet Protocol (IP).

As shown in Figure 1, a plurality of servers 30, 31 are provided coupled to the wireless networks 12. In this simplified example, an information server 30 and another network server 31 are provided. These servers 30, 31 provide services to the mobile devices 20 over the networks 12. For example, the information server 30 may be an information server for handover services, such as a media independent information server (MIIS) for media independent handovers (MIH). In one example, the information server 30 is compatible with a protocol for media independent handover, such as 802.21, UMNGAN, or ANDSF.

The information server 30 suitably includes a list of available networks (802.11/16/22, GSM, UMTS, etc), link layer information, and neighbour maps that plot the geographical location or coverage area of particular access points 14. The information server 30 may also provide higher layer services (e.g. internet service provider ISP, multimedia server MMS, etc).

In particular, the information server 30 is arranged to provide an information service that assists network discovery and selection, which in turn leads to more effective handover decisions by the mobile devices 20.

In one example, the mobile devices 20 provide cell information based on their current access point 14. The information server 30 is suitably arranged to respond with events or notifications that assist handovers from one access point 14 to another. In one example, the handover is initiated by the mobile device 20 and is assisted by the information server 30 based on information generated by the mobile device (such as the cell information). In another example, the handover is initiated by the current serving network 12a and is assisted by information server 30 based on the provided information. Suitably, the information server 30 provides handover data which allows the mobile device 20 or the network 12a, as appropriate, to decide if a handover is required and to select the target access point 14 that will be used next. The handover can then be performed quickly and efficiently with minimal loss of service for the applications or services which are being executed on the mobile device 20.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the example wireless network environment 10 in more detail, including the information server 30, a first mobile device 20a, a second mobile device 20b, and a third mobile device 20c.

In this example, the information server 30 includes an information sharing rule database 32 and a handover information services unit 33.

In this example, the first mobile device 20a includes a handover unit 210, a peer communication unit 220, an information sharing unit 230, and a rule setting unit 240.

Meanwhile, the second mobile device 20b also includes the handover unit 210, the peer communication unit 220, the information sharing unit 230, and the rule setting unit 240.

As discussed above, the handover unit 210 is arranged to communicate with the networks 12 to perform efficient handovers between the access points 14. As one example, the handover unit 210 is arranged to communicate with the information server 30 according to a handover protocol, such as 802.21, etc., as discussed above.

In one example, handover messages are exchanged between the networks 12 and the mobile device 20 performing the handover. These messages may include event notifications such as "wireless link going down", commands such as "Initiate Handover" which may also include a list of alternative access points, or an information service such as performance information (e.g. delay from the wireless layer), network information (e.g. a request for the current ISP Name), or the availability of location-based services.

In a typical handover procedure, the handover unit 210 in the mobile device 20a receives a "link going down" indication relating to a cellular network 12a that the mobile device is currently using (also termed the "serving network"). The handover unit 210 may check from policy configuration parameters if the link has gone down below a threshold value for a specified period of time and, if so, triggers a "Get Information Request" to the information server 30. The serving network 12a then responds with information about neighbouring networks 12b, 12c, which includes a list of the networks, their cost of connection, security parameters, quality of service, operator identity, etc. Suitably, this neighbour information is based on cell identity information provided by the mobile device 20a relevant to the current access point 14. The handover unit 210 then evaluates the list of networks based on its policy configuration parameters and decides one or more candidate networks. The handover unit 210 then sends the selected candidate networks 12b, 12c a query request such as a "candidate query request". This query request is typically passed to a mobility management server (not shown) in that candidate network 12b, 12c. After a candidate query response from the candidate network, the handover unit 210 sends a "commit request" to the mobility management server in the respective candidate network. After a commit response, the handover unit 210 starts preparing a selected link adaptor, by opening up the link adapter for the new network 12b, 12c or new access point 14. When the adaptor opening is successful, the handover unit 210 sends a "complete request" to the new candidate network 12b or 12c.

After the complete request", the handover unit 210 informs relevant applications executing on the mobile device 20a (e.g. voice call continuity VCC, Session Initiation Protocol SIP, mobile internet protocol MIP, etc) to handover to the selected candidate network 12b or 12c.

A change from one of the access points 14 to another access point 14 in the same network 12a, 12b, 12c, is usually supported by the relevant wireless technology of that network. For example, a VoIP call from a WiFi handset to a WiFi access point can be handed over to another WiFi access point within the same network, e.g. within a corporate network.

However if the handover is from a WiFi access point in a corporate network to a public WiFi hotspot, then a vertical handover is required, because the two access points cannot communicate with each other at a link layer, and are in general on different IF subnets.

As shown in Figure 2, the peer communication unit 220 is arranged to communicate directly with other mobile devices, such as with the second mobile device 20b and/or the third mobile device 20c, which are in the locality of the first mobile device 20a. As one example, the peer communication unit 220 performs personal area networking, such as using Bluetooth. As another example, the peer communication unit 220 uses Near Field Communication (NFC).

Thus, the peer communication unit 220 is able to communicate directly with the other nearby devices 20b, 20c.

The information sharing unit 230 is arranged to share information from the first mobile device 20a with the other devices 20b, 20c using the peer communication unit 220. That is, the information sharing unit 230 suitably broadcasts the information to the nearby devices 20b, 20c, according to information sharing rules.

The rule setting unit 240 arranged to negotiate the information sharing rules with the information server 30 and to set the sharing rules in the mobile device 20a. The information sharing unit 230 then applies these sharing rules to determine the information sharing with the other nearby devices 20b, 20c.

As shown in Figure 2, the information sharing rule database 32 suitably holds the information sharing rules relevant to each of the capable mobile devices 20a, 20b. In the example embodiment, these rules are negotiated by the handover information services unit 33 during a "capability exchange" message between the relevant mobile device 20a, 20b and the information server 30. Also, the rules can be updated, e.g. by using a "get_information_indication" service. As an example, the information sharing rules are negotiated for the first mobile device 20a according to "Information sharing allowed when battery is above 50%". Thus, the information sharing rules are suitably based on a device status of the mobile devices. This device status suitably relates to a hardware component of the mobile devices, such as the battery. As another example, the sharing rules are suitably based on a location of the mobile devices (e.g. share information when "away from home" but not when "at home", or vice versa).

As one example, the first mobile device 20a further includes a location device 250 such as global positioning system (GPS) location device which calculates location information (e.g. location coordinates) based on satellite signals. It will be appreciated that other positioning devices are also applicable. The mobile device 20 suitably transmits this location information to the information server 30 using the handover unit 210. Optionally, the location information further includes direction information and/or speed information, which may be obtained such as from speed sensors and/or direction sensors within the mobile device 20a or from plotting successive locations over time.

In this example, the second mobile device 20b is also configured to communicate with the information server 30. In this case, the handover unit 210 within the second mobile device 20b informs the information server 30 of information sharing request information relevant to the second mobile device 20b, such as location information, device status information and device requirements.

For example, the second mobile device 20b requests the information server 30 to provide assistance from other devices for obtaining GPS-type location information. Hence, the second mobile device 20b is a device that desires to receive a function or feature that can be fulfilled by sharing information.

In one example, the second mobile device 20b informs the information server 30 of its location. Thus, the information server 30 is able to identify other nearby devices that are suitable for sharing information.

In one example, the second mobile device 20b scans for other nearby mobile devices to obtain identity information of the nearby devices. For example, the second mobile device 20b scans for nearby devices using the peer communication unit 220 and so obtains the peer communication identity (e.g. Bluetooth identity) of, in this case, the first mobile device 20a.

Suitably, the second mobile device then transfers the gathered identity to the information server 30 to identify the first mobile device 20a as a candidate for providing information.

The information server 30 then refers to the rule setting database 32 and issues a command to one or more of the mobile devices near to the second mobile device 20b based on the negotiated rules. In one example, the information server 30 may contact the identified first mobile device 20a to perform the rules negotiation or update the negotiated rules, triggered by this request for information sharing made by the proximal second device 20b.

In one example, the first mobile device contains an identifier with a tag that identifies the first mobile device 20a to the information server 30 (e.g. Bluetooth# id). Further, this tag suitably defines whether or not the device is capable of performing the information sharing. For example, the tag contains "MIH" to identify that this device is MIH compatible. When the second mobile device 20b has a functionality or information requirement, the second mobile device 20b scans the nearby devices to identify compatible devices. After the first mobile device 20a is identified a potentially compatible device, the information sharing rules are negotiated and then implemented with the information server 30.

In this example, the information server 30 issues an information sharing command, which is received via the handover unit 210 of the first mobile device 20a and is passed to the information sharing unit 230. In response, the peer communication unit 220 is triggered to transmit the location information generated by the location information unit 210 over the peer communication network, such as NFS or Bluetooth, to be received by the nearby second mobile device 20b.

As noted above, the first mobile device 20a is suitably arranged to negotiate the information sharing rules with the information server 30 during a capability exchange message between the first mobile device and the information server. During the capability exchange message, the first mobile device 20a may include shared information embedded in one of the messages. For example, within the message get info request (location)', the first mobile device 20a may include its location. This message is normally used for identifying nearby access points 14 for handover procedures.

In this case, the information server 30 extracts the shared information from the first mobile device 20a during the capability exchange message, and then the information server transmits the shared information to the second mobile device 20b.

After the information server 30 receives the capability exchange message, such as the get info request (location)', it may extract the location information of the first mobile device 20a and transmit it to the second mobile device 20b, if the information sharing rules have been negotiated already.

Table 1 shows an example of the message structure used to establish the information sharing rules with the mobile devices 20. In this example, the information sharing rules are exchanged using structured information such as XML.

Table 1:

MIH Header Source Identifier = sending MIHF ID (Source MIHF ID TLV) Destination Identifier = receiving MIHF ID (Destination MIHF ID TLV) InfoResponseBinaryDataList (optional) lnfoResponseRDFDataList (optional) Table 2 shows an example of an information response provided from the information server 30 to the mobile device 20. In this example, the information server 30 sets an information sharing rule in which the first mobile device 20a is expected to share GPS location information with the mobile device having the client identity "Client MIHF_ID 1" for the next 10 minutes, provided that the battery level of the first mobile device 20a remains above "70%".

Table 2:

Sample Info response RDF Data List from information server: 0: <?xml versionr"1.0" encoding="uff-8"?> <sparql xmlns-"http:!!www.w3.org!2005!sparql-results#"> <head> <variable name="rule startup!> <!head> <results> <result> <binding name=rule start up><literal>config rule<!literal><!binding> <binding name="GPS sharing"><literal>ON<!literal><!binding> <binding name="Client ID"><literal>Client MIHF_ID 1<!literal><!binding <binding name=Accept Clients"><literal>ON<!literal><!binding> <binding name="Time interval"><literal>10 min<!literal><!binding> <binding name=Battery Lever><literal>70 %<!literal><!binding> <!resu It> <!results> <!sparql> Suitably, the mobile devices 20a, 20b are adapted to transmit a "get_information_client" request message and a corresponding "get_information_client" response message for this peer-to-peer communication between the mobile devices 20a, 20b, thereby using the close community communication interface (such as Bluetooth interface) to share information directly between the devices.

In this example, the information sharing is performed by the first mobile device 20a having relatively high battery power in order to assist the second mobile device 20b having relatively low battery power. The second mobile device 20b does not itself have a GPS function (i.e. the second mobile device 20b is a non-GPS device), but the second mobile device 20b is now able to take advantage of the GPS location provided by the first mobile device 20a in an efficient manner. In another example, the second mobile device 20b is provided with a corresponding GPS device 250, but the GPS device 250 of the second mobile device 20b can be temporarily switched off at this time to conserve power. As a result, battery power of the second mobile device 20b is conserved. Further, overall traffic on the wireless networks 12 can be reduced, because the first and second devices 20a, 20b share information directly by the peer communication.

Typically, the location based services are provided at a coarse level based on a cellular location, such as a cell identity of the current access point 14. However, the location based services are also provided on a fine level when the more accurate and detailed coordinate-based location information is available, such as a specific coordinates derived from the GPS location unit 250. Therefore, using the coordinate based location information such as GPS location information shared by the first mobile device 20a allows a better service to be obtained by the second mobile device 20b which is nearby to the first mobile device 20a.

In one example, the sharing roles as information provider and information receiver are suitably changed or redistributed periodically. For example, after a predetermined period, the second mobile device 20b reactivates its GPS locator device 250 and now shares the GPS location information with the first mobile device 20a, while the GPS unit 250 of the first mobile device 20a is now turned off to conserve power.

Figure 3 shows a further example embodiment including the same mobile devices 20a, 20b, 20c, etc., as discussed above. As shown in Figure 3, the third mobile device 20c suitably includes the peer communication unit 220 such as Bluetooth or NFS and therefore is also capable of receiving the information being shared by the first mobile device 20a. Suitably, the third mobile device 20c also includes an information receiving unit 290 which processes and delivers the received shared information to be used by applications within the third mobile device 20b. In this example, the third mobile device 20a does not include the handover unit 210 and so is not capable of communicating directly with the information server 30. However, the third mobile device 20a is still able to benefit from the information sharing that has been triggered using the information server 30.

Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example method of providing information in a wireless network environment. The steps in Figure 4 will be illustrated referring to the information server 30 and the mobile devices 20, etc, as discussed herein.

Step 401 comprises passing the handover messages between the information server 30 to the plurality of mobile devices 20a, 20b, 20c.

Step 402 comprises performing a handover by at least one of the mobile devices 20a from one of the wireless networks 12a to another of the wireless networks 12b using the handover messages. In one example, step 402 further comprises performing a handover from one of the access points 14 within the first network 12a to one of the access points 14 on the second network 12b using access point information provided by the information server 30 in the handover messages.

Step 403 comprises negotiating the information sharing rules by the first mobile device 20a with the information server 30. For example, the first mobile device 20a will allow sharing of GPS location information when battery level is above 50%.

Step 404 comprises sharing information from the first mobile device 20a to the second mobile device 20b directly by peer communication (such as Bluetooth) according to the information sharing rules. Here, the second mobile device 20b is in close range in the vicinity of the first mobile device 20a. The information sharing continues for a predetermined period.

Optionally, the information sharing roles are then reversed with the second mobile device 20b now sharing GPS location information with the first mobile device 20a.

Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating another example method of providing information in a wireless network environment. The steps 401, 402 and 403 are as discussed above. In this example, the method further includes the step 405 of sending a request for information sharing from the second mobile device 20b to the information server 30. This request is conveniently based on a hardware component of the second mobile device, such as whether a GPS unit is present in the device, whether the GPS unit is turned off, or whether a power level of a battery is below a preset threshold. Also, the method further includes the step 406 of issuing a command for information sharing to the first mobile device 20a according to the information sharing rules. That is, the information server 30 suitably checks the information sharing rule database 32 and finds that the first mobile device 20a is willing to share GPS information and is located near to the second mobile device 20b. The information server 30 then issues the command to the first mobile device 20a accordingly. For example, the command requests information sharing of GPS location information for a period of 10 minutes and provides the Bluetooth identity of the second mobile device 20b. Like step 404 above, the method further includes the step 407 of transmitting the shared information by the peer communication from the first mobile device 20a to the second mobile device 20b in response to the command, according to the information sharing rules.

Figure 6 shows a further example embodiment of the wireless network environment 10 including the same mobile devices 20a, 20b & 20c, etc., as discussed above. In this embodiment, the information server 30 is arranged to aggregate a plurality of the mobile devices 20 into a sharing group 300 based on the location information provided by the mobile devices 20. For example, the information server 30 determines that the first mobile device 20a and the second mobile device 20b are in the same location and are suitable for sharing information using the peer communication. As a result, the information server 30 allocates the first and second mobile devices 20a, 20b as a sharing group, and triggers the information sharing between the devices as described above. For example, the first mobile device 20a is triggered to share GPS location information and the GPS unit 250 of the second mobile device 20b is temporarily switched off to conserve power.

In one example, the information server 30 forms the sharing group based also on the speed and direction information received from the mobile devices 20. For example, the mobile devices 20 are all on board a train and hence will travel along the same path at the same speed. The information server 30 triggers the information sharing group based on this co-ordinated location information. The information is then shared by peer communication among the mobile devices 20 in the sharing group 300 according to the previously arranged sharing rules. Further, the third mobile device 20c which is also travelling on the same train can also now receive the shared information from the first mobile device 20a over the peer communication.

In one example embodiment, the information server 30 is further arranged to send predictive events or notifications, such as to assist a predictive handover from one access point 14 to another. Conveniently, these predictive events or notifications take advantage of location information provided by the mobile devices 20. Hence, the GPS coordinate-based location information allows the location based service to be provided at a detailed level. As discussed above, the information sharing of GPS location information by the first mobile device 20a allows the second mobile device 20b to take advantage of this location based service. In this example, the mobile devices 20 in the sharing group 300 are further arranged to share access point information relating to the access points 14 of the wireless networks 12a-12c.

That is, the information server 30 provides predictive notifications concerning a sequence of the access points 14 that will be available to the sharing group based on the provided location information and path information (speed & direction).

For example, the mobile devices 20 of the sharing group 300 are determined to be on a train and will encounter an access point A, then a tunnel with no coverage, followed by an access point B. This access point information is shared from the first mobile device 20a to the second mobile device 20b, etc. Sharing this access point information between the mobile devices 20 reduces overall network traffic compared with the information server 30 providing the access point information directly to each of the devices separately. Further, the shared access point information is also provided to other devices such as the third mobile device 20c.

In this example, the devices 20 in the sharing group 300 are all now able to predict the loss of coverage in the tunnel and prepare their applications accordingly, such as putting an application on hold while there is no network coverage. Further, all of the devices 20 are provided with the access point information to perform a predictive handover to the access point B ready for when the train emerges from the tunnel. In this example, each of the devices 20 in the sharing group 300 experience a better service, the service is extended to a wider group of devices, and overall network traffic is reduced.

Figure 7 shows a further example embodiment including the same mobile devices 20a, 20b, etc., as discussed above. There is a difficulty in that users frequently misplace important devices such as their mobile phone, Bluetooth headset, etc. In this example, the mobile device 20a comprises an information gathering unit 260 which is arranged to gather and selectively store peer information about a plurality of peer communication devices 40a, 40b. This information is suitably gathered by the peer communication unit 220 according to the previously determined information gathering rules. These information gathering rules are suitably negotiated by the rule setting unit 240. Also, the information gathering rules may be stored centrally in an information gathering rules database 34 at a remote server such as the information server 30.

As an example, an information gathering rule is set whereby the information gathering unit 260 is arranged to gather and store a peer communication identity of each peer device 40a, 40b that is encountered by the peer communication unit 220, and to store the peer communication identity associated with location information when the peer device 40a, 40b becomes out of range. In this case, the information gathering rule is suitably of the form as

shown in Table 3.

Table 3: RULE:

<Store Bluetooth devices WHEN out of coverage> <Periodicity= 1 day> In this example, whenever a Bluetooth device in the local environment goes out of range, the information gathering unit 260 immediately stores the Bluetooth ID, Time, and GPS location of that peer device 40a, 40b.

Later, when the user wishes to find the misplaced peer device, in this case their Bluetooth headset 40a, the information gathering unit 260 retrieves the gathered peer information which indicates the last known position of the peer device. Accordingly, the user is better able to track and locate lost devices.

In one example, the mobile device 20 uploads all of the gathered peer information to the remote server, such as the information server 30, to be stored in a gathered information database 35. The gathered information is suitably uploaded periodically as set in the information gathering rules, in this case once every day.

Figure 8 shows a further example embodiment including the same mobile devices 20a, 20b, 20c, etc., as discussed above. In this example, each of the plurality of mobile devices 20a, 20b, 20c are provided with the information gathering unit 260 and hence gather the peer information 50 using the peer communication unit 220 for each of the peer devices 40a, 40b that are encountered. As a result, by uploading this gathered peer information 50 to the remote server, such as the information server 30, a collaborative database 35 is assembled of the gathered peer information.

As one example, the user of the first mobile device 20a has misplaced their Bluetooth headset 40a. Meanwhile, this headset 40a is encountered by the second mobile device 20b, which gathers and uploads the relevant peer information 50 to the database 35. Later, the first mobile device 20a makes an information request for the peer information relevant to this peer identity (in this case by providing the Bluetooth ID of the headset 40a) and in response the remote server 30 provides the gathered peer information 50 as gathered by the second mobile device 20b giving the last time and location information for the headset 40a.

Table 4 shows an example of a request made by the information server 30 to the mobile device 20 similar to Table 2 above, but this time also requesting information relating to two Bluetooth objects. Table 5 further shows the corresponding response from the mobile device which provides GPS location information relating to these two devices.

Table 4:

Sample Info response RDF Data List from server: 0: <?xml version="1.O" encoding="uff-8?> <sparql xmlns="http:!!www.w3.org!2005!sparql-results#"> <head> <variable name"rule startup!> <variable namerule info sharing!> <!head> <results> <result> <binding name=rule start up><literal>config rule<!literal><!binding> <binding name=GPS sharing><literal>ON</literal></binding> <binding name=Client ID><literal>Client MIHF_ID 1<!literal><!binding> <binding name=Accept Clients5<literal>ON<!literal><!binding> <binding name=Time interval><literal>1O min<!literal><!binding> <binding name=Battery Level5'<literal>70 %</literal></binding> <!result> <result> <binding name=rule info sharing><literal>Sharing <!literal><!binding> <binding name=Bluetooth objI D><literal>mykeys<!literal><!binding> <binding name=Bluetooth objlD><literal>mycamera<!literal><!binding> <!res u It> <!results> <!sparql>

Table 5:

Sample Info response RDF Data List from client: 0: <?xml version=1.O" encoding=uff-8?> <sparql xmlns=http:llwww.w3.org!2005!sparql-results#> <head> <variable name=rule info sharing!> <!head> <results> <result> <binding name=rule info sharing'><literal>Sharing <!literal><!binding> <binding name=mykeys><literal>GPS:108,100,100<!literal><!binding> <binding name=" my camera><Iiteral> GPS:190,11O,11O<!literal><!binding> <!res u It> <!results> <Isparql> Figure 9 shows a further example embodiment including the same mobile devices 20a, etc., as discussed above. In this example, the first mobile device 20a further includes a camera 270. The information gathering unit 260 is further arranged to activate the camera 270 to gather an image of the location of the peer device 40a. The image is suitably stored as part of the gathered peer information 50, to assist with locating the lost device.

In one example, the camera 270 is left on whenever the mobile device 20a has sufficient battery. Whenever the mobile device 20a comes into contact with an object that the user wishes to track, such as their car keys, the object is tagged by the mobile device and the image is gathered to the database of gathered information with the location, time, etc. Thus, when a user wishes to know the location of the item, the gathered information provides an indication of the last time and place that the object was in contact with the mobile device 20a.

At least some elements discussed herein may be constructed, partially or wholly, using dedicated special-purpose hardware. Terms such as component', module' or unit' used herein may include, but are not limited to, a hardware device, such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), which performs certain tasks.

At least some elements may be may be configured to reside on an addressable storage medium and be configured to execute on one or more processors. That is, the elements may be implemented in the form of a tangible computer-readable storage medium having recorded thereon instructions that are, in use, executed by a computer or other suitable device. The elements may include, by way of example, components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. The tangible medium may take any suitable form, but examples include solid-state memory devices (ROM, RAM, EPROM, EEPROM, etc.), optical discs (e.g. Compact Discs, DVDs, and others), magnetic discs, magnetic tapes and magneto-optic storage devices.

The example embodiments have been described with reference to the example components, modules and units discussed herein. Where appropriate, these functional elements may be combined into fewer elements or separated into additional elements. In some cases the elements are distributed over a plurality of separate computing devices that are coupled by a suitable communications network, including any suitable wired networks or wireless networks.

Although a few preferred embodiments have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications might be made without departing from the scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A wireless network environment, comprising: a plurality of wireless networks; a plurality of mobile devices coupled to the plurality of wireless networks, including at least a first mobile device and a second mobile device; and an information server coupled to each of the plurality of wireless networks, wherein the information server is arranged to provide handover messages to the plurality of mobile devices to assist the mobile devices in performing a handover from one of the wireless networks to another of the wireless networks; wherein the first mobile device is arranged to negotiate information sharing rules with the information server; and the first mobile device is arranged to provide shared information according to the information sharing rules, and the second mobile device is arranged to receive the shared information provided by the first mobile device.
2. The wireless network environment of claim 1, wherein the first mobile device is arranged to transmit the shared information directly to the second mobile device by peer communication.
3. The wireless network environment of claim 1, wherein the second mobile device is arranged to initiate the information sharing by sending a request for information sharing to the information server.
4. The wireless network environment of claim 3, wherein the second mobile device is arranged to identify the first mobile device as being proximal using peer communication, obtain a peer communication identifier relating to the first mobile device, and provide the peer communication identifier to the information server in the request for information sharing.
5. The wireless network environment of claim 1, wherein the first mobile device is arranged to negotiate the information sharing rules with the information server during a capability exchange message between the first mobile device and the information server.
6. The wireless network environment of claim 1, wherein the information sharing rules are based on a device status of a hardware component of the first mobile device.
7. The wireless network environment of claim 1, wherein the first mobile device includes a location device which obtains location information based on a geographical location of the first mobile device, the first mobile device is arranged to share the location information with the second mobile device as the shared information, and the second mobile device is arranged to access a location based service over the wireless network using the location information shared by the first mobile device.
8. The wireless network environment of claim 1, wherein the information server is arranged to aggregate a plurality of the mobile devices into a sharing group based on location information, speed information and/or direction information provided by the mobile devices which indicates that the plurality of mobile devices are in the same location suitable for sharing information.
9. The wireless network environment of claim 1, wherein: the first mobile device is arranged to gather item information about one or more items which are encountered by the mobile device according to the information sharing rules; the information server is arranged to receive the gathered item information from the first mobile device, and to selectively provide the gathered item information to one or more others of the mobile devices in response to a request for the item information.
10. The wireless network environment of claim 9, wherein the first mobile device is arranged to gather the item information as peer information about one or more peer communication devices which are encountered by the peer communication and/or as image information captured by a camera of the first mobile device.
11. An information server for use in a wireless network environment wherein a plurality of mobile devices are coupled to a plurality of wireless networks, the information server comprising: an information sharing rules database arranged to store information sharing rules relating to at least a first mobile device of the plurality of mobile devices; and a handover information services unit arranged to receive a request for information sharing from a second mobile device of the plurality of mobile devices, determine that the first mobile device is capable of sharing information based on the stored information sharing rules and issue a command requesting information sharing to the first mobile device according to the information sharing rules for the first mobile device to share information with the second mobile device in response to the command.
12. A mobile device as an information providing device for use in a wireless network environment, the mobile device comprising: a handover unit arranged to perform handovers within the wireless network environment with reference to handover messages provided by an information server; a peer communication unit arranged to communicate directly with one or more other mobile devices in the vicinity of the mobile device; a rule setting unit arranged to negotiate information sharing rules with the information server; and an information sharing unit arranged to share information with the other mobile devices according to information sharing rules negotiated by the rule setting unit.
13. A mobile device as an information receiving device for use in a wireless network environment, the mobile device comprising: a handover unit arranged to perform handovers within the wireless network environment with reference to handover messages provided by an information server; a peer communication unit arranged to communicate directly with one or more other mobile devices in the vicinity of the mobile device; a rule setting unit arranged to negotiate information sharing rules with the information server; and an information sharing unit arranged to receive shared information from the other mobile devices according to information sharing rules negotiated by the rule setting unit.
14. A method of providing information in a wireless network environment, the method comprising: passing handover messages from an information server to a first mobile device in the wireless network environment having a plurality of wireless networks; performing a handover by the first mobile devices from one of the wireless networks to another of the wireless networks using the handover messages; negotiating information sharing rules between the information server and the first mobile device; and sharing information from the first mobile device to a second mobile device according to the information sharing rules.
15. A tangible computer readable medium having recorded thereon instructions which, when executed, cause a computer to perform the steps of: passing handover messages from an information server to a first mobile device in a wireless network environment having a plurality of wireless networks; performing a handover by the first mobile device from one of the wireless networks to another of the wireless networks using the handover messages; negotiating information sharing rules between the information server and the first mobile device;and sharing information from the first mobile device to a second mobile device according to the information sharing rules.