Techniques for determining actual and/or near states of proximity between mobile devices

Abstract

Techniques are provided that may be implemented in various methods, apparatuses and articles of manufacture for use by one or more electronic devices to support proximity services for a mobile device. In an example implementation, a computing device may determine whether a first mobile device and a second mobile device are each operatively provisioned to make use of a common proximity service, use a first procedure to determine whether a state of near proximity exists between at least two mobile devices, use a second procedure to determine whether a state of proximity exists between the at least two mobile devices, and initiate notification of a user and/or an application of at least one of the mobile devices in response to one or more of such determinations.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of supporting proximity services for a mobile device comprising, with a computing device:
 determining whether a first mobile device and a second mobile device are each operatively provisioned to make use of a common proximity service;   determining using a first procedure that a state of near proximity exists between the first mobile device and the second mobile device, wherein the first mobile device and the second mobile device are not in proximity;   determining at a subsequent time and using a second procedure that a state of proximity exists between the first mobile device and the second mobile device, wherein the second procedure differs from the first procedure; and   initiating notification of a user and/or an application of at least one of the first mobile device or the second mobile device that the state of proximity has occurred.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a distance threshold between the first mobile device and the second mobile device for determining the state of near proximity exceeds a distance threshold for determining the state of proximity. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first procedure uses fewer resources than the second procedure. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second procedure determines proximity more accurately than the first procedure. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first procedure uses at least one of a coarser location accuracy and/or a lower scan frequency than the second procedure. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first procedure is based, at least in part, on one or more of a serving cell, a location area, a tracking area, a previous location estimate, or a visible WiFi Access Point corresponding to at least one of the first mobile device and/or the second mobile device. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second procedure uses one or more of a geographic location estimate, a measured round trip propagation time, and/or a direct radio contact corresponding to at least one of the first mobile device and/or the second mobile device. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first procedure uses a geographic location area common to two or more networks. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first mobile device is served by a different network than the second mobile device. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second procedure is performed more frequently than the first procedure. 
     
     
         11 . An apparatus for use in supporting proximity services for a mobile device, the apparatus comprising:
 means for determining whether a first mobile device and a second mobile device are each operatively provisioned to make use of a common proximity service;   means for determining using a first procedure that a state of near proximity exists between the first mobile device and the second mobile device, wherein the first mobile device and the second mobile device are not in proximity;   means for determining at a subsequent time and using a second procedure that a state of proximity exists between the first mobile device and the second mobile device, wherein the second procedure differs from the first procedure; and   means for initiating notification of a user and/or an application of at least one of the first mobile device or the second mobile device that the state of proximity has occurred.   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein a distance threshold between the first mobile device and the second mobile device for determining the state of near proximity exceeds a distance threshold for determining the state of proximity. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein at least one of:
 the first procedure uses fewer resources than the second procedure,   the second procedure determines proximity more accurately than the first procedure,   the first procedure uses at least one of a coarser location accuracy and/or a lower scan frequency than the second procedure, and/or   
       the second procedure is performed more frequently than the first procedure. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the first procedure uses a geographic location area common to two or more networks. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the first mobile device is served by a different network than the second mobile device. 
     
     
         16 . A computing device to support proximity services for a mobile device, the computing device comprising:
 memory; and   a processor to:
 determine whether a first mobile device and a second mobile device are each operatively provisioned to make use of a common proximity service; 
 determine using a first procedure that a state of near proximity exists between the first mobile device and the second mobile device, wherein the first mobile device and the second mobile device are not in proximity; 
 determine at a subsequent time and using a second procedure that a state of proximity exists between the first mobile device and the second mobile device, wherein the second procedure differs from the first procedure; and 
 initiate notification of a user and/or an application of at least one of the first mobile device or the second mobile device that the state of proximity has occurred. 
   
     
     
         17 . The computing device of  claim 16 , wherein a distance threshold between the first mobile device and the second mobile device for determining the state of near proximity exceeds a distance threshold for determining the state of proximity. 
     
     
         18 . The computing device of  claim 16 , wherein the first procedure uses fewer resources than the second procedure. 
     
     
         19 . The computing device of  claim 16 , wherein the second procedure determines proximity more accurately than the first procedure. 
     
     
         20 . The computing device of  claim 16 , wherein the first procedure uses at least one of a coarser location accuracy and/or a lower scan frequency than the second procedure. 
     
     
         21 . The computing device of  claim 16 , wherein the first procedure is based, at least in part, on one or more of a serving cell, a location area, a tracking area, a previous location estimate, or a visible WiFi Access Point corresponding to at least one of the first mobile device and/or the second mobile device. 
     
     
         22 . The computing device of  claim 16 , wherein the second procedure uses one or more of a geographic location estimate, a measured round trip propagation time, and/or a direct radio contact corresponding to at least one of the first mobile device and/or the second mobile device. 
     
     
         23 . The computing device of  claim 16 , wherein the first procedure uses a geographic location area common to two or more networks. 
     
     
         24 . The computing device of  claim 16 , wherein the first mobile device is served by a different network than the second mobile device. 
     
     
         25 . The computing device of  claim 16 , wherein the second procedure is performed more frequently than the first procedure. 
     
     
         26 . An article comprising:
 a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer implementable instructions executable by a processor in a computing device to:
 determine whether a first mobile device and a second mobile device are each operatively provisioned to make use of a common proximity service; 
 determine using a first procedure that a state of near proximity exists between the first mobile device and the second mobile device, wherein the first mobile device and the second mobile device are not in proximity; 
 determine at a subsequent time and using a second procedure that a state of proximity exists between the first mobile device and the second mobile device, wherein the second procedure differs from the first procedure; and 
 initiate notification of a user and/or an application of at least one of the first mobile device or the second mobile device that the state of proximity has occurred. 
   
     
     
         27 . The article of  claim 26 , wherein a distance threshold between the first mobile device and the second mobile device for determining the state of near proximity exceeds a distance threshold for determining the state of proximity. 
     
     
         28 . The article of  claim 26 , wherein at least one of:
 the first procedure uses fewer resources than the second procedure,   the second procedure determines proximity more accurately than the first procedure,   the first procedure uses at least one of a coarser location accuracy and/or a lower scan frequency than the second procedure, and/or   the second procedure is performed more frequently than the first procedure.   
     
     
         29 . The article of  claim 26 , wherein the first procedure uses a geographic location area common to two or more networks. 
     
     
         30 . The article of  claim 26 , wherein the first mobile device is served by a different network than the second mobile device.