Wireless location patents

Several Apple patent applications have today been published by the US Patent and Trademark Office, focusing around wireless location technology. The first involves Bluetooth devices, and specifically a means of finding them when they are lost; a master device "pings" the lost slave, which in turn makes audible or visible signals to lure a person towards its hiding place. The master could also be used gauge the distance to the slave, narrowing its location down even further.

The application makes specific reference to a cellphone as the master, and the slave being a headset; in theory this would allow iPhone owners to locate missing earpieces, but the current model does not have such a function. The invention was first submitted to the USPTO in November of 2006.

Another published document describes a technology related to wireless range, in which users of a device would be warned that they are wandering out of range. Apple notes that while many devices will tell people that their signal is low, its invention would deliver an estimated time before signal is lost. The technology would again apply mainly to cellphones, but virtually any kind of wireless could be supported, including WiFi, PCM and even infrared. This patent was also originally filed for in 2006.

by MacNN Staff