Network Operating Environment

Exemplary Operating Environment 

Figure 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary network operating environment 100 for the mobile devices of Figure 1 through figure 15. Mobile device(s) a 112 and mobile device(s) b 114 can, for example, communicate over one or more wired and/or wireless network(s) 102 in data communication. For example, a wireless network 110, e.g., a cellular network, can communicate with a wide area network 104 (WAN), such as the internet, by use of a gateway 108. Likewise, an access device 106, such as an 802.11g wireless access point, can provide communication access to the wide area network 104. 

In some implementations, both voice and data communications can be established over wireless network 110 and the access device 106. For example, mobile device(s) a 112 can place and receive phone calls (e.g., using voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) protocols), send and receive e-mail messages (e.g., using Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3)), and retrieve electronic documents and/or streams, such as web pages, photographs, and videos, over wireless network 110, gateway 108, and wide area network 104 (e.g., using Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) or User Datagram Protocol (UDP)). Likewise, in some implementations, the mobile device(s) b 114 can place and receive phone calls, send and receive e-mail messages, and retrieve electronic documents over the access device 106 and the wide area network 104. In some implementations, mobile device(s) a 112 or mobile device(s) b 114 can be physically connected to the access device 106 using one or more cables and the access device 106 can be a personal computer. In this configuration, mobile device(s) a 112 or mobile device(s) b 114 can be referred to as a “tethered” device. 

Mobile device(s) a 112 and mobile device(s) b 114 can also establish communications by other means. For example, wireless device 1802a can communicate with other wireless devices, e.g., other mobile devices, cell phones, etc., over the wireless network 110. Likewise, mobile device(s) a 112 and mobile device(s) b 114 can establish peer-to-peer communications 116, e.g., a personal area network, by use of one or more communication subsystems, such as the Bluetooth.TM. communication devices. Other communication protocols and topologies can also be implemented. 

The mobile device(s) a 112 or mobile device(s) b 114 can, for example, communicate with one or more services, location service(s) 118 and map service 120 over the one or more wired and/or wireless networks. For example, one or more location service(s) 118 can conduct surveys of venues, generate location fingerprint data for each venue, and provide the location fingerprint data to mobile device(s) a 112 or mobile device(s) b 114. Map service 120 can, for example, provide maps of venues, e.g., maps of structures of buildings to mobile device(s) a 112 or mobile device(s) b 114. 

Mobile device(s) a 112 or mobile device(s) b 114 can also access other data and content over the one or more wired and/or wireless networks. For example, content publishers, such as news sites, Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds, web sites, blogs, social networking sites, developer networks, etc., can be accessed by mobile device(s) a 112 or mobile device(s) b 114. Such access can be provided by invocation of a web browsing function or application (e.g., a browser) in response to a user touching, for example, a web object. 

A number of implementations of the invention have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.