18733485. Crowd Sourced Privacy Preserving Access Point Mapping simplified abstract (Apple Inc.)

Crowd Sourced Privacy Preserving Access Point Mapping

Organization Name

Apple Inc.

Inventor(s)

Rachid Kachemir of Mountain View CA (US)

Krishna M. Behara of Santa Clara CA (US)

Ashok Kumar Harikumar of Santa Clara CA (US)

Christopher R. Purcell of Dublin CA (US)

Welly Kasten of San Jose CA (US)

Crowd Sourced Privacy Preserving Access Point Mapping - A simplified explanation of the abstract

This abstract first appeared for US patent application 18733485 titled 'Crowd Sourced Privacy Preserving Access Point Mapping

Simplified Explanation

This patent application describes a system that uses crowd-sourced data to map access points while preserving user privacy. The system collects data from user devices to generate network topologies and improve network interactions.

• User devices report access point data to a server without revealing their exact locations.
• The server maps access points and their relationships to create network topologies and quality scores.
• The generated data is then used to enhance the efficiency of interactions between user devices and access points.

Key Features and Innovation

• Crowd-sourced access point mapping
• Privacy-preserving techniques
• Network topology generation
• Network quality score calculation
• Improved network interactions

Potential Applications

This technology can be used in:

• Wi-Fi network optimization
• Location-based services
• Network security enhancement

Problems Solved

• Preserving user privacy while collecting network data
• Improving network efficiency and quality
• Enhancing location-based services

Benefits

• Enhanced network performance
• Improved user privacy protection
• Better location accuracy for services

Commercial Applications

Potential commercial applications include:

• Network optimization tools for businesses
• Location-based advertising services
• Network security solutions for enterprises

Prior Art

Readers can explore prior art related to crowd-sourced network mapping, privacy-preserving techniques, and network topology generation in the field of networking and telecommunications.

Frequently Updated Research

Stay updated on research related to crowd-sourced data collection, privacy-preserving technologies, and network optimization in the field of networking and telecommunications.

Questions about Crowd-Sourced Access Point Mapping

How does this technology impact user privacy?

This technology ensures user privacy by collecting access point data without identifying user devices or their exact locations.

What are the potential commercial applications of this system?

The system can be used for network optimization tools, location-based services, and network security solutions in various commercial settings.

Original Abstract Submitted

In some implementations, a computing system can perform crowd sourced access point mapping using privacy preserving techniques. For example, a server device can receive access point data reports from multiple user devices that includes various attributes and/or measurements with respect to access points with which the user devices have established connections. The access point data reports can be delivered without identifying the user devices, or users thereof, and their exact locations. Based on the access point data reports, the server device can map locations of access points and relationships between access points to generate network topologies, network locations, network quality scores, and various other characteristics of networks and/or access points. The generated access point data can be served to user devices so that the user devices can improve the efficiency of the interactions between user devices and the detected access points and/or networks.