US-12621632-B2 - No service emergency locate for network coverage

Abstract

Aspects herein provide a system, media, and methods for/of an application that utilizes collected telecommunication data, to accurately identify directions from a UE to a nearest coverage area. In aspects, the technology assists a user (i.e., subscriber) by navigating the user, via a UE, to a geolocation that includes some type of wireless cellular coverage, for example, through a telecommunications carrier, a roaming carrier, and/or an emergency carrier. If the user is currently and physically located in an area with no coverage, the system will generate a map on the user's device showing a distance and a direction to the nearest coverage area.

Inventors

• Daniel C. Jensen

Assignees

• T-MOBILE INNOVATIONS LLC

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20231010

Claims (18)

1. 1 . A method for determining a distance to a cellular coverage area, the method comprising: determining that a user device is at a location that is outside a coverage area provided by a home carrier; determining an absence of any roaming carriers to provide coverage to the user device at the location; determining a precise location of the user device; and using the precise location, determining a distance from the user device to a location where coverage is provided, wherein determining the precise location of the device further comprises using latitude and longitude coordinate pairs on a map, wherein each latitude and longitude coordinate pair forms a vertex of a hexagon.
2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the user device utilizes a global positioning system (GPS) to determine the precise location.
3. 3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the absence of any roaming carriers further comprises scanning a local file on the user device.
4. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the coverage is provided by the 4 . home carrier or the roaming carrier.
5. 5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining that the user device is attempting to make an emergency call; determining that there are not any emergency-only carriers that can provide coverage to the user device at the location; determining the precise location of the user device; and using the precise location, determining a distance from the user device to a location where coverage is provided by an emergency-only carrier.
6. 6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the map is generated by a network component associated with the home carrier and is stored on the user device.
7. 7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the map comprises all of the coverage areas in the United States.
8. 8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the user device displays a direction and the distance to a nearest coverage area.
9. 9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the user device is capable of communicating using 4G or 5G.
10. 10 . A system for determining a distance to a cellular coverage area, the system comprising: one or more processors; and one or more computer storage hardware devices storing computer-usable instructions, that, when used by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: determine that a user device is at a location that is outside a coverage area provided by a home carrier; determine an absence of any roaming carriers to provide coverage to the user device at the location; determine a precise location of the user device; and using the precise location, determine the distance from the user device to a location where coverage is provided, wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to partition telecommunication service data into a plurality of hexagons that represent a plurality of areas within a defined geographic area, each hexagon in the plurality of hexagons being associated with a corresponding data set for a corresponding area within the plurality of areas.
11. 11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the coverage comprises one of: the home carrier, the roaming carrier, or an emergency-only carrier.
12. 12 . The system of claim 10 , further comprising generating and causing display of a graphical user interface on the user device, the graphical user interface displaying the plurality of hexagons that partition the defined geographic area into the plurality of areas.
13. 13 . A method for providing cluster data to a user device for determining a distance from the user device to a cellular coverage area, the method comprising: receiving telecommunication service data within a defined geographic area; identifying a first plurality of data sets in the telecommunication service data that correspond to coverage provided by a home carrier; identifying a second plurality of data sets in the telecommunication service data that correspond to coverage provided by a roaming carrier; generating a plurality of clusters within the defined geographic area using metrics obtained from the first plurality of data sets and the second plurality of data sets; and sending a map comprising the plurality of clusters to the user device on a telecommunications network, the map comprising the plurality of clusters used by the user device to determine a distance from the user device to a cellular coverage area.
14. 14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising generating the map comprising the plurality of clusters.
15. 15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the map comprising the plurality of clusters is used by the user device to display a direction and the distance to the cellular coverage area on the user device.
16. 16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the cellular coverage area comprises one of: the home carrier, the roaming carrier, or an emergency-only carrier.
17. 17 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising identifying a third plurality of data sets in the telecommunication service data that correspond to coverage provided by a non-roaming carrier.
18. 18 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising; identifying updated data sets in the telecommunication service data that correspond to coverage provided by one or more of the home carrier or the roaming carrier; generating a plurality of clusters within the defined geographic area using the metrics obtained from the updated data sets; generating an updated map; and sending the updated map to the user device.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION The present disclosure generally relates to wireless network coverage. SUMMARY This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolation as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. The present disclosure is directed to techniques for a user equipment (UE) to find the nearest coverage area, which intelligently identifies and locates various types of wireless networks with neighboring coverages areas using a map that is locally stored on the UE or satellite connection. In this manner, the technology assists a user (i.e., subscriber) by navigating the user, via a UE, to a geolocation that includes some type of wireless cellular coverage, for example, through a telecommunications carrier, a roaming carrier, and/or an emergency carrier. If the user is currently and physically located in an area with no coverage, the system will generate a map on the user's device showing a distance and a direction to the nearest coverage area, as shown and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, and as set forth more completely in the claims. According to various aspects of the technology, a UE actively searches for a network when it anticipates that it is located within an area of anticipated coverage by one or more terrestrial base stations. Cell search, selection, and reselection are some of the most intensely battery-consuming activities a UE can perform in a modern telecommunications network. Though most populated areas today have at least nearly ubiquitous cellular coverage, there are many times when a UE may depart said areas and consequently search for a terrestrial base station to select and attach. By way of background, modern mobile network operators seek to provide a high level of persistent coverage for their subscribers. One of the difficulties with providing wireless telecommunications coverage occurs when subscribers are out of a service state. A service state of the UEs may include, for example, an in-service state when a UE is in-network (i.e., using services of a primary provider to which the UE is subscribed to, otherwise referred to as a home carrier), or when the UE is roaming (i.e., using services of a secondary provider providing coverage to the particular geographic location of the UE that has agreements in place with the primary provider of the UE, otherwise referred to as a roaming carrier). The service state of the UE may also include, for example, an emergency only state when the UE is out-of-network and there are no agreements in place between the primary provider of the UE and the secondary provider providing coverage to the current geographic location of the UE. Finally, the service state of the UE may also include, for example, an out-of-service state when there are no service providers at the particular geographic location of the UE. When the UE is in an out-of-service state, it will not be able to make a phone call, even if it is an emergency. Since telecommunication coverage areas lines are invisible to the naked eye, the user of the UE may have no way of knowing which direction or how far away the nearest coverage area is to be able to send a message or make a call. Unlike conventional solutions, aspects herein utilize precise location services (e.g., geo-location data, GPS coordinates, etc.), to display a map on the subscriber's UE to view their location in comparison to the nearest telecommunication coverage areas. The map can calculate the direction and distance to the nearest network. The map of hexbins may be pre-loaded onto the UE as a display, and based on the precise location services, the UE can first scan the area for service state coverage, followed by roaming partners, and finally non-roaming partners (e.g., emergency only carriers). Based on the latitude and longitude of the UE, the map would show where in the hexbins the UE is located and how far away the UE is from network coverage (e.g., “3 miles south to get coverage”). In various aspects, the map may not be pre-loaded onto the UE, but may instead use satellite connection to determine the distance to the nearest coverage area. For example, the UE can get the subscriber's precise location and prompt the subscriber to consent to use the satellite connection. The satellite connection can then hone back to the subscriber's home (e.g., in-service) network where the home network can use the subscriber's precise location coordinates and plot them into a map to find the nearest coverage to the subscriber. The home network can send this information back via satellite to the UE where a map will display showing how far away the UE is from coverage via a navigation system of a list of directions. Accordingly, in a first aspect of the present di