초록 ▼

A system dynamically discovers the geographic location of entities of a computer network. A network entity is configured to include a location determination engine and a radio frequency (RF) receiver unit. A plurality of RF base stations are disposed in the area proximate to the network entity. Eac

A system dynamically discovers the geographic location of entities of a computer network. A network entity is configured to include a location determination engine and a radio frequency (RF) receiver unit. A plurality of RF base stations are disposed in the area proximate to the network entity. Each RF base station has a beacon for transmitting a radio frequency (RF) signal encoded with the location, e.g., the physical coordinates, of the respective RF base station and the time of transmission. The encoded RF signals are received by the RF receiver unit at the network entity and passed to the location determination engine, which uses the received information to compute its location. The location determination engine then reports its location by loading the computed location into a network message and transmitting that message to a central repository.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A network entity configured to source and/or sink messages in a computer network, the network entity comprising: a location determination engine; a radio frequency (RF) receiver in communicating relationship with the location determination engine, the RF receiver configured t

What is claimed is: 1. A network entity configured to source and/or sink messages in a computer network, the network entity comprising: a location determination engine; a radio frequency (RF) receiver in communicating relationship with the location determination engine, the RF receiver configured to capture beacon signals transmitted by a plurality of base stations, the beacon signals encoded with location information of the respective base stations, the location information of a particular base station having longitude and latitude and height of the particular base station, the height including an indication of a floor of a building; the location determination engine configured to decode the longitude and latitude of the plurality of base stations from received beacon signals, and to compute a longitude and latitude location of the network entity in response to longitude and latitude of the plurality of base stations by comparison of a time of transmission of each beacon signal with a time of reception of that beacon signal at the network entity and determination there from of a distance that beacon signal has traveled; and the location determination engine further configured to compute a floor of the building location of the network entity, in response to the floor of the building height information of the plurality of base stations encoded in the beacon signals. 2. The network entity of claim 1, further comprising: a communication facility in communicating relationship with the location determination engine, the communication facility configured to send and receive messages to and from the computer network. 3. The network entity of claim 2, wherein the location determination engine is further configured to generate one or more location identifier (ID) messages that contain the latitude, longitude, and floor of the building location for the network entity, the location ID messages to be transmitted by the communication facility. 4. The network entity of claim 3, wherein the location identifier (ID) messages are further configured to be received by one or more location repositories having a location table that stores latitude, longitude, and floor of the building locations of a plurality of different network entities of the computer network. 5. The network entity of claim 2, further comprising: a call signaling entity configured to initiate a call from the network entity to another network entity, the call signaling entity in communication relationship with the communication facility. 6. The network entity of claim 5, wherein the call signaling entity is further configured to append the network entity's latitude, longitude, and floor of the building location to the call. 7. The network entity of claim 6, wherein the call is an emergency call. 8. The network entity of claim 1, wherein the location determination engine is configured to detect that the network entity has been moved and, in response, to compute a new latitude, longitude, and floor of the building location for the network entity. 9. The network entity of claim 1, wherein the beacon signals are transmitted according to a technique selected from the group consisting of: continuous transmission; continuous transmission in phase; transmission in pulses; transmission in pulses with different pulse rates for each base station; and transmission at different frequencies for each base station. 10. The network entity of claim 1, wherein the beacon signals are transmitted as Loran signals. 11. The network entity of claim 1, wherein the beacon signals are transmitted as very high frequency (VHF) omnidirectional range (VOR) signals. 12. The network entity of claim 1, wherein the network entity is selected from the group consisting of: a personal computer; a server; a router; a switch; and a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone device. 13. The network entity of claim 1, wherein wherein the beacon signals are transmitted as very high frequency (VHF) omnidirectional range (VOR) signals. 14. A method for operating a network entity, comprising: receiving radio frequency (RF) beacon signals transmitted by a plurality of base stations, the beacon signals encoded with location information of the respective base stations and a time of transmission of the beacon signals, the location information of a particular base station having longitude and latitude and height of the particular base station encoded therein, the height including an indication of a floor of a building; computing a longitude and latitude location of the network entity in response to longitude and latitude of the plurality of base stations and time of transmission of the received beacon signals, the longitude and latitude of the plurality of base stations decoded from the received beacon signals; computing a floor of the building location of the network entity in response to the floor of the building of the plurality of base stations encoded in the beacon signals; transmitting the latitude, longitude, and floor of the building location in a message, the message transmitted over a computer network. 15. A method for operating a network entity, comprising: receiving radio frequency (RF) beacon signals transmitted by a plurality of base stations, the beacon signals encoded with location information of the respective base stations, the location information of a particular base station having longitude, latitude and an indication of a floor of a building of the particular base station encoded therein; computing a longitude and latitude location of the network entity in response to longitude and latitude of the plurality of base stations by comparing a time of transmission of each beacon signal with a time or reception of that beacon signal at the network entity and determining there from a distance that beacon signal has traveled, the longitude and latitude of the plurality of base stations decoded from the received beacon signals; computing the floor of the building where the network entity is located in response to the floor of the building of the plurality of base stations encoded in the beacon signals; transmitting the latitude, longitude, and floor of the building location in a message, the message transmitted over a computer network. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of transmitting further comprises: directing the message to one or more location repositories having a location table that stores the latitude, longitude, and floor of the building locations of a plurality of different network entities of the computer network. 17. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of: initiating a call from the network entity to another network entity. 18. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of: appending the network entity's latitude, longitude, and floor of the building location to the call. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the call is an emergency call. 20. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of: detecting that the network entity has been moved and, in response, computing a new latitude, longitude, and floor of the building location for the network entity. 21. The method of claim 15, wherein the beacon signals are transmitted according to a technique selected from the group consisting of: continuous transmission; continuous transmission in phase; transmission in pulses; transmission in pulses with different pulse rates for each base station; and transmission at different frequencies for each base station. 22. The method of claim 15, wherein the beacon signals are transmitted as Loran signals. 23. The method of claim 15, wherein the network entity is selected from the group consisting of: a personal computer; a server; a router; a switch; and a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone device. 24. A network entity, comprising: means for receiving radio frequency (RF) beacon signals transmitted by a plurality of base stations, the beacon signals encoded with location information of the respective base stations and a time of transmission of the beacon signals, the location information of a particular base station having longitude and latitude and height of the particular base station encoded therein, the height including an indication of a floor of a building; means for computing a longitude and latitude location of the network entity in response to longitude and latitude of the plurality of base stations and time of transmission of the received beacon signals, the longitude and latitude of the plurality of base stations decoded from the received beacon signals; means for computing a floor of the building location of the network entity in response to the floor of the building of the plurality of base stations encoded in the beacon signals; means for transmitting the latitude, longitude, and floor of the building location in a message, the message transmitted over a computer network. 25. A network entity, comprising: means for receiving radio frequency (RF) beacon signals transmitted by a plurality of base stations, the beacon signals encoded with location information of the respective base stations, the location information of a particular base station having longitude and latitude and height of the particular base station encoded therein, the height including an indication of a floor of a building; means for computing a longitude and latitude location of the network entity in response to longitude and latitude of the plurality of base stations by comparing a time of transmission of each beacon signal with a time or reception of that beacon signal at the network entity and determining there from a distance that beacon signal has traveled, the longitude and latitude of the plurality of base stations decoded from the received beacon signals; means for computing a floor of the building location of the network entity in response to the floor of the building of the plurality of base stations encoded in the beacon signals; means for transmitting the latitude, longitude, and floor of the building location in a message, the message transmitted over a computer network. 26. The network entity of claim 25, further comprising: means for directing the message to one or more location repositories having a location table that stores the latitude, longitude, and floor of the building locations of a plurality of different network entities of the computer network. 27. The network entity of claim 25, further comprising: means for initiating an emergency call from the network entity to another network entity and appending the networks entity's latitude, longitude, and floor of the building location to the emergency call. 28. A computer readable medium containing executable program instructions for operating a network entity, the executable program instructions comprising program instructions configured to: receive radio frequency (RF) beacon signals transmitted by a plurality of base stations, the beacon signals encoded with location information of the respective base stations, the location information of a particular base station having longitude, latitude and an indication of a floor of a building of the particular base station encoded therein; compute a longitude and latitude of the network entity in response to longitude and latitude of the plurality of base stations by comparing a time of transmission of each beacon signal with a time or reception of that beacon signal at the network entity and determining there from a distance that beacon signal has traveled; compute the floor of the building where the network entity is located in response to the floor of the building of the plurality of base stations. 29. The computer readable medium of claim 28, further comprising program instruction configured to: initiate an emergency call from the network entity to another network entity and append the networks entity's latitude, longitude, and floor of the building location to the emergency call.