TCS Awarded with 13th Location Related Patent

By Johanne Torres

TMCnet Contributing Editor

 

TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) announced that it was awarded yet another location-related patent. This is the company's 13th patent awarded by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office relating to location technology. The new patent is number 7,113,128 titled "Culled Ephemeris Information for Quick, Accurate Assisted Locating Satellite Location Determination for Cell Site Antennas."

 

"We recognize the vital importance of intellectual property in today's marketplace," said TCS' senior vice president and chief technical officer Drew Morin in a statement on Tuesday. "TCS' sizeable patent portfolio reflects our ongoing commitment to deliver innovative products to our carrier customers."

 

With the new patent, now TCS holds a total of 46 patents. The company has more than 120 additional patent applications pending in the U.S. and jurisdictions globally.

 

Specifically, the company's invention would improve the process of "providing a location fix to a GPS-enabled handset," noted TCS' news release. The invention also "provides for the prioritized grouping of satellites for a specific reference point that enables the selection of the best group with which to communicate for determining the device's precise location."

 

TCS made news earlier this month when it was also awarded another patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's patent number 7,110,773 titled "Mobile Activity Status Tracker (MAST)."

 

According to the company's news release, the patent refers to an invention that "allows presence information and location information regarding a particular wireless device, which is contained in the Home Location Register (HLR) of a wireless carrier, to be made available to any authorized outside entity or application."

The information made available by this invention can later be used by authorized sources to target specialized services such as location-based advertising and couponing, mapping, mobile instant messaging (IM), traffic alerts and geo-fencing.

 

TeleCommunication Systems (News - Alert)

 

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Johanne Torres is contributing editor for TMCnet and INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine. To see more articles by Johanne Torres, please visit her columnist page.