WO2010001181A2

WO2010001181A2 - Method and system for providing location information between users

Info

Publication number: WO2010001181A2
Application number: PCT/GB2009/050792
Authority: WO
Inventors: Patrick Verdon
Original assignee: Zyb Aps
Priority date: 2008-07-04
Filing date: 2009-07-06
Publication date: 2010-01-07
Also published as: GB0812243D0; EP2314047A2; WO2010001181A3

Abstract

A social networking system comprisingfirst and second mobile telephone devices relating to first and second users respectively, each device being adapted in use to facilitate telephone calls between the respective user and other telephones.The first and second mobile telephone devices comprising resident first and second client applications respectively, a social network server; anda network providing communication between the mobile telephone device and the social network server. The system being adapted in use such that the first client application is adapted to obtain first location data representing the location of the mobile telephone device of the first user and location accuracy data selected by the first user and transmit the first location data and location accuracy data to the social network server using the network. The social network server is adapted to generate second location data in accordance with the first location data and the location accuracy data such that the accuracy of the second location data is determined by the location accuracy data and transmit the second location data to the second client application resident of the mobile telephone device of a second user using the network. The second client application is adapted to receive the second location data and present the second location data to the second user.

Description

Method and system for Providing Location Information between Users

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method and system for providing location information between users.

Background to the Invention

In recent years there have been particularly rapid advances in the fields of mobile telephone communications and in communications between users implemented by computer systems. It is now commonplace for people, particularly in industrialised nations, to own a mobile telephone device which they typically keep about their person and use frequently as a primary means of voice communication with remotely positioned "contacts" such as family, friends, work colleagues and other acquaintances.

In parallel with these developments there have been rapid advances in the provision of connectivity between computers throughout the world and this in turn has increased the connectivity possible between people. Relatively recently, a new phenomenon has emerged whereby users interact with one another through a web-enabled site to which each person has access and has registered an "account", part of which is typically a "profile" of that person, giving information about them which is visible to others. Such a website allows users to share information including text, sound files, images and other data. The use of such websites including Facebook and MySpace has given rise to the concept of "online social networking".

There is an increasing tendency for such services to be required on demand upon personal handheld devices such as mobile telephone devices. As part of this increased mobility there is the possibility for the location of a particular individual to be made public or otherwise known to other individuals. A disadvantage of this is that it brings the technology into potential conflict with the privacy of individuals whereby they may not wish their whereabouts to be generally known to other members of a social network.

There is therefore a need to provide greater control of location information which originates from the mobile telephone devices of users and it is in this context in which the present invention has arisen.

Summary of the Invention

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention we provide a method of providing location information between mobile telephone devices of first and second users of a social network system, the method comprising:- a) using a first client application resident upon a mobile telephone device of the first user to obtain, from the mobile telephone device, first location data representing the location of the mobile telephone device of the first user; b) using the first client application to obtain location accuracy data selected by the first user; c) transmitting the first location data and location accuracy data from the first client application to a social network server using a wireless telephone network; d) generating second location data in accordance with the first location data and the location accuracy data such that the accuracy of the second location data is determined by the location accuracy data; e) transmitting using a wireless telephone network the second location data to the second client application resident upon a mobile telephone device of a second user; and, f) presenting the second location data to the second user.

The present invention enables a user of a social network system to provide information from their mobile telephone device to the mobile telephone devices of other users. Location information is usually considered as private information that requires careful control to ensure it is only distributed to recipients (second users) authorised for its receipt by the sender (first user). The invention recognises that different levels of location information detail are beneficial since not all users that receive the information share the same type of relationship with the sender. Thus the invention safeguards the provision of location information to the users by ensuring that this is provided with location accuracy information. The location accuracy information is provided as location accuracy data with the location information (first location data). This is then used at the social network server to generate outbound information for the ultimate recipient (second location data) that has a controlled level of detail (accuracy). The recipient therefore cannot receive more detailed information regarding the location of the sender than is permitted by the sender.

The second user is typically an individual user or a number of different users. However the second user may also be the first user (the same person), in which case the first user is able to confirm that the location data that they have permitted to be sent to others is correct. A further advantage is that where additional mapping functions are provided, the first user may be able to obtain a map of their location so as to enable them to plan a route and to confirm their position.

In most cases the first location data is obtained from the mobile telephone device automatically, this might involve the first client application accessing devices onboard the mobile telephone device. An example of such a device is a global positioning system (GPS) receiver. The first location data may therefore include global positioning data (latitude/longitude). The mobile telephone device is typically adapted to communicate with base stations arranged in a network, with each base station comprising an associated cell having an associated cell identifier. In this case the first location data comprises the cell identifier.

Additionally in some cases the first user may be able to provide their location to the first client application manually, by entering text or latitude and longitude coordinates for example. The location accuracy data is preferably selectable by the first user via the first client application. A number of predetermined levels of detail of the location accuracy data may be provided, such that the level of detail may be selected by the first user.

Once the first location and accuracy data has been provided to the social network server, during step (d) the social network server obtains, from a location database, text data representative of the first location data. The server then modifies the text data in accordance with the location accuracy data such that the second location data includes the modified text data. The operation of the server during step (d) is largely dependent upon the implementation of the system. In most cases textual information regarding the location of the users is provided as the second location data and therefore this must be generated based upon the first location data and the location accuracy data. The location database may therefore relate cell identifiers or GPS coordinates directly to text locations. The location database may include two or more databases which are accessed by the server. For example a proprietary database or databases owned by mobile telephone network operators may be used to obtain coordinates or a post/ZIP code relating to cell identifiers and then this information may be passed to a public third party server system (such as are available via the Internet) for returning text information describing the location such as street, town, city, country.

At step (d) the social network server may alternatively or in addition, select and obtains from a mapping database a map image representative of the first location data based upon the first location data and the location accuracy data such that the second location data includes the map image and wherein the map image is presented to the second user in step (f). This map "lookup" may occur by instigation of the second user at a later stage once following the provision of the initial second location data. The location information detail or accuracy may also be embodied in the map image such that the map image selected has a map scale dependent upon the location accuracy data. In order to provide an enhanced user experience, as a further option, the second client application may determine the position of the first user and indicate the position of the first user upon the map image. Similarly the position of the second user may also be determined and indicated upon the map image.

It is preferred that in each case of issuing first location data from any source, this data is arranged to include timestamp data. From the user perspective the timestamp data is useful since it may be used to indicate to the second user the amount of time elapsed since the timestamp. The timestamp information is also useful internally to the system since it allows control over how long this information is made available to the second user before it is deemed too old to be of assistance. Furthermore, when additional sources of the first location data are provided (via the Internet for example), then the timestamp allows the most recent data to be provided within the second location data.

Typically when in use the social network comprises a number of first users, each having mobile telephones with resident client applications. It is therefore expected that at least the first location data for one or more of the first users changes over time. When such a change in location occurs, the method of steps (a) to (f) is repeated using revised first location information relating to the new location of the user. Preferably any revised first location data from the first users is provided during contact between the social network server and the respective mobile telephone devices of the users at regular intervals. This may be achieved by "polling" between the mobile telephone devices of the users and the social network server. The regularity of the polling intervals is preferably selectable by a respective user using the client application upon their mobile telephone device. A choice of two or more such intervals may be provided.

The first and second location data and the location accuracy data are preferably transmitted to and from the social network server using an HTTP protocol over a wireless mobile telephone network. The polling via this mechanism allows a compromise between the amount of data transferred, the age of the most current information and the battery life of the mobile telephone device. In principle an "always on" connection could be provided although this would be detrimental to battery life and network speed. Where it is particularly desired to ensure information updates are provided as soon as possible to the recipients, the first and second location data may be provided to and from the social network server using a background SMS message. Thus the second location data is provided to the second client application immediately following receipt by the first client application of the first location data and location accuracy data. This system might be used in addition to the polling methodology or indeed as an alternative where only small amounts location data are used, such as text only data.

The social network upon the server is preferably arranged such that the first users define a social network group. Rules may be provided to control group membership. For example in order to join the social network group each first user and the second user must consent to the communication of the first location data between the fi rst users and the social network server and the communication of the second location data between the social network server and the second user respectively. It will be understood that the social network server may provide additional information and functionality between the users in addition to location data and therefore there may be a larger set of users between whom information is passed concerning the user set and whereby the social network group described above may be a subset of that set.

In some cases location data may be provided exclusively by the client applications running upon the mobile telephone devices of the first users. However it is also contemplated that the users may provide additional location information by other means. One such means is the user contacting the server using a personal computer. In this case the user might access their "profile" upon the social network server and amend their location manually. The social network server may also be arranged in contact with other information sharing or social networking systems for example via the Internet. If such systems provide the ability for the user to input location data then this may be obtained by the social network server (preferably accompanied by timestamp data) and used as additional location data for sending to the second user although modified by the location accuracy data for example obtained from the client application of the user. The most recent of the additional first location data and the first location data obtained from the client application is used to generate the second location data. If no timestamp information is provided then, as an alternative, the social network server may provide an approximate timestamp according to the system time at which the data was received at the server in each case.

The invention is typically embodied as software executable upon mobile telephone devices and computer servers. Therefore the invention extends to a computer program installable upon a mobile telephone device and comprising program code means adapted to perform the function of the first and/or second client application or the social network server according to the first aspect of the invention.

In accordance with a second aspect of the invention we provide a social networking system comprising:- first and second mobile telephone devices relating to first and second users respectively, each device being adapted in use to facilitate telephone calls between the respective user and other telephones, the first and second mobile telephone devices comprising resident first and second client applications respectively; a social network server; and a network providing communication between the mobile telephone device and the social network server; the system being adapted in use such that:- the first client application is adapted to obtain first location data representing the location of the mobile telephone device of the first user and location accuracy data selected by the first user and transmit the first location data and location accuracy data to the social network server using the network; the social network server is adapted to generate second location data in accordance with the first location data and the location accuracy data such that the accuracy of the second location data is determined by the location accuracy data and transmit the second location data to the second client application resident of the mobile telephone device of a second user using the network; and, the second client application is adapted to receive the second location data and present the second location data to the second user.

Preferably the system is adapted in use to perform any of the methods described in accordance with the first aspect of the invention.

Brief Description of the Drawings

An example of a method and system according to the present invention is now described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of the example system;

Figure 2 shows a schematic representation of some components of a mobile telephone device according to the example system;

Figure 3 shows some components of a social network server of the example system;

Figure 4 is a flow diagram showing the example method;

Figure 5 shows a schematic phonebook display showing location information; Figure 6 is a flow diagram showing the provision of a map to a user;

Figure 7 shows a schematic map display at a high detail level; and,

Figure 8 shows a schematic map display at a medium detail level.

Description of Examples

An example system for implementing the invention, generally indicated at 1 , is now described in association with Figure 1. Within the system 1 a number of individuals referred to as users A, B, C, D are each equipped with mobile telephones 2, 3, 4, 5 respectively. The discussion will concentrate primarily upon the activities of users A and B. Within this example each of users B, C, D is a friend, relative, colleague or acquaintance of user A and thus the mobile telephone numbers of each of the users B, C, D are stored as user data in the mobile telephone of user A. As is well established in the field of mobile telephony, the user A is able to make a telephone voice call or indeed send an SMS message to any of the users B, C, D by navigating an on-screen list of users whose details are stored in the mobile phone of user A. Such communications are effected by use of a network generally indicated at 10 in Figure 1. The network 10 provides the connectivity between each of the mobile phones 2, 3, 4, 5 and is provided by known technology such as a mobile telephone network including a number of controlled and connected distributed base stations, each having an associated "cell". The network 10 not only includes a representation of mobile telephone networks which operate via wireless communication at microwave frequencies, this also representing the connectivity of such a wireless network to a wired network, in this case the Internet. Connected to this network 10 is a computer server in the form of a social network server 12.

As illustrated in Figure 1 , the connections between the mobile telephones 2, 3, 4 are indicated by the solid lines 6, 7, 8 respectfully as providing a different kind of connection to that of the dashed line 9 from the mobile telephone 5 of user D. These lines are to indicate the relationships established between the mobile telephone devices 2, 3, 4 of the users A, B, C and the social network server 12, such a relationship notably not being established by the user D and the respective mobile telephone 5. Each of the users A, B, C is not only in possession of a mobile telephone device, but also has access to a respective personal computer 15, 16, 17, each of these being connectable to the network 10 by known means such as via the Internet. These might be located at the workplace or home addresses of the users.

The personal computers 15, 16, 17 may be operated by the respective users A, B, C to access the social network server 12 via the Internet as part of the network 10. Each of the users A, B, C, D also has a user account with a first remote server 20 and a second remote server 21. Each of the remote servers 20, 21 represents a third party service which may be joined and which allows interactivity in terms of the sharing of information between users. For example the first remote server 20 may represent a service operated by an entity such as "Facebook" and the second remote server 21 may represent another kind of third party server such as one which allows the sharing of images as is provided by an entity such as "Flickr".

It will be appreciated that the entities illustrated in Figure 1 represent a simple schematic example for the purposes of illustrating the invention and therefore in practice there may be a large number of users which have mobile telephone devices. The example contemplates that multiple remote server services exist which are not limited to social networking or sharing applications and which may include for example email services, online dating services, user groups, and so on.

Figure 2 is a schematic representation of a mobile telephone device such as device 2 of the user A in more detail. This comprises a processor 30 in communication with a display 31 input/output devices 32 such as the telephone keyboard, microphone, networking device, USB connection and so on. A GPS receiver 33 is also indicated, although this is optional since such receivers are not yet provided as standard in mobile phone handsets. Onboard memory 34 is provided, within which applications such as a client application 60 is loaded for communicating with the online social network service 12. Each mobile telephone device 2, 3, 4, 5 has an associated client application 60, 61 , 62, 63 (see Figure 1 ). The store 34 also includes an area for holding user data including user names such as users B, C, D and the relevant contact data (mobile telephone numbers) to enable these users to be contacted by their mobile telephone 3, 4, 5. The components shown in Figure 2 are of course not exhaustive. Other components which are not shown include the hardware for effecting the transmission and receipt of telephone signals at microwave frequencies and so on.

Turning now to Figure 3, a schematic representation of the social network server 12 is provided. This may be implemented on many different types of computer systems including distributed computer systems. For simplicity, the server 12 is illustrated as containing a user information database 40 and memory 41 in which resides application software for operating all functions of the server 12 including receiving information and transmitting information to the personal computers and mobile devices of the users, together with communicating the remote servers 20, 21. The function of the social network server 12 is handled by a processor 42, upon which runs the application software which communicates with the network 10 via a network device interface 43. Again the components illustrated are of course not exhaustive.

It will be appreciated that the element discussed in association with Figures 2 and 3 are described somewhat schematically since computing devices, networking devices and mobile telephone devices are well known to persons of ordinary skill in the art.

Referring now to Figure 4 , a flow d iagram of an example method of communicating location data between the users of the system 1 is described. At step 100 of Figure 4, the system is set up such that in this case users A, B and C each agree to share location information between them. Thus user A in this example is to be the recipient of location information relating to the locations of at least users B and C.

The mobile telephones 2, 3, 4 of the users A, B, C ordinarily communicate with the social network server 12 at regular intervals according to a "polling" methodology. The frequency of this polling is controllable by the user of each mobile telephone through the client interface 60, 61 , 62. In the present example this may be set at a range of possible settings from a minimum period of 15 minutes to a maximum of 2 hours. The more frequent the polling, the more up to date the information is that is received from the server 12, whereas the less frequent the polling the greater the battery life of the mobile telephone in question. The communication between the mobile telephone devices and the social network server as a result of the polling is performed using the HTTP format which provides relatively high rates of data exchange. Whilst in principle each of the mobile telephone devices could be provided in permanent online contact with the server, this could cause slowing of the network according to currently implemented mobile telephone network systems at least and would be very limiting to the battery life of the mobile telephone devices.

At step 101 each of the users operates their mobile telephone interface and sets up user preferences for sharing location information under the control of their respective mobile telephone client application. Taking user A as an example, the location preferences include, for each of users B and C, whether or not user A wishes to obtain location information from them. Optionally if user A does wish to obtain this information, then the level of detail (equivalent to location accuracy in this case) may also be selected by user A for this received information. These settings are therefore related to received location information. User A also sets preferences relating to the provision of information concerning their location. These preferences include to whom the location information of user A may be sent (to users B and C in this case), and the accuracy of the location data in each case. The accuracy of the location data is essentially the degree of accuracy of user A's position which is provided to other users. User A is able to prevent their location information being provided to any or each user entirely. These settings therefore relate to the degree of transmitted information provided, that is outbound information relating to the location of user A.

In the case of the transmitted information (although similarly for received information if desired) user A in this example sets their preference to one of the following settings: Exact, City, Country, Hide Location.

The location sharing preferences of each user (A, B, C) are therefore set at step 101 in a similar manner as described above for user A.

At step 102, the social networking system is operational and data relating to the users is passed selectively between each user A, B, C and the social network server 12. Notably user D is not a member of the social network operated by server 12 and therefore no location information is received or transmitted to this user. In this example it is assumed that user B is equipped with a mobile telephone 3 which does not have an enabled global positioning system (GPS) receiver 33, whereas user C is equipped with a mobile telephone 4 which does have a GPS receiver 33.

At step 103 user B in this example arrives at a new location, for example due to travelling by train to see a friend for the weekend. In order to minimize network traffic the system 1 is arranged such that in the case of each of the social network server 12 and the mobile telephone clients 60, 61 , 62, information relating to the users is only exchanged between server and mobile telephone when certain information has changed. Thus if a particular user does not change their location then preferably no information relating to their location is provided to the server 12. However, the movement of user A to a new location due to their visiting a friend does cause a potential change in their location information. In this example the user B has set their preference such that user A may see their "exact" location.

The mobile telephone client application 61 of user B may regularly monitor cell identification information made available to client application 61 by the mobile telephone device 3. The arrival at a new location causes the mobile telephone 3 to register with a local base station which has an associated unique cell identifier available to client 61. At step 104 this cell identifier is obtained by the client 32 and formed into location data for transmitting to the server 12 as part of the next polling cycle or it may be obtained as part of the polling sequence and only sent to the server if it has changed. The decision regarding whether the cell identifier has changed may alternatively be made at the server. As part of the location data, the client application 61 attaches the present time as a timestamp for later user by the server 12.

At step 105 the client application 61 obtains the preference information set by the user at step 101 and forms this into location accuracy data for transmission to the server 12. In the present case that the location accuracy preference set by user B was "exact".

Each of the location and location accuracy data are transmitted to the server 12 at step 106 during the next polling cycle.

The server 12 receives the transmitted data and at step 107 queries a database 65 (see Figure 1 ) relating the cell identifier contained within the location data with a physical location. The database 65 is queried used in the location data. The database 65 in Figure 1 may represent one or more databases operated by the system 1 or third parties and may be local to the server 12 or remote and connectable by the Internet. In the present case the database 65 represents two different physical databases, a first obtainable from a mobile telephone network operator relating the cell identified to a physical latitude/longitude and the second being a th ird party mapping database relating the physical latitude/longitude to a text address and, optionally, a corresponding map image.

As a result of step 107, the database 65 returns a location of the mobile telephone base station cell. In this example this is Oxford Street, London, United Kingdom". This is the text representation of the "exact" user location of user B.

At step 108, the social network server 12 then selects the users with whom user B has agreed to share their location information. In the case of each user or for all users depending upon the system implementation, the location information provided by the database is subjected to a modification in accordance with the accuracy data selected by the user at step 105. For example if the user B has chosen to provide "exact" location information then the server 12 will share the full location information with the other users, namely "Oxford Street, London, United Kingdom". In the case of a reduced accuracy being selected by user B, this may be modified to "London, United Kingdom" (for "City" accuracy) or "United Kingdom" (for "Country" accuracy). At step 109, the modified location data is transmitted as second location data to the respective users according to the next polling cycle. The server also includes within the second location data, the timestamp information received from the mobile telephone of user B, either in raw form (as received) or in a text form for direct presentation to the recipient user. Such a text form may indicate the time of the event occurring (such as "11.30am") or the time elapsed since that event ("1 hour ago").

It is noted here that location information is private information which must be treated with great care. The present method ensures that this is achieved by three mechanisms. The first is that the accuracy of the location data is selected by the user on their mobile telephone itself (via the client application). The second is that the location accuracy data is always transmitted with the location data from each mobile telephone to the server. The third is that the modification of the location data looked up from the database 65 is performed at the server

12 and therefore the second location data never contains higher accuracy location information than intended by the originating user.

Once the mobile telephone device 2 of user A has received the second location information from the server 12, this is then presented to user A under the control of the mobile telephone client 60.

A number of modifications to the above general method are contemplated. For example, in the case of user C whose mobile telephone device 4 is provided with a GPS received 33, step 105 may involve the client application 62 of device 4 obtaining latitude/longitude data from the receiver 33. In this case, the mapping database part of database 65 is used without reference to cell identifiers. It will be appreciated however that GPS receivers are not always able to provide a location fix and therefore the cell identifier may be used when this is not possible.

As a further feature of the system 1 , the user B may be able to receive the information which is transmitted about their location to other users, as if user B were themselves a different user. This provides a further degree of comfort to the user B in that they can view exactly the same information as is being received, by other users, about their location.

Figure 5 illustrates a schematic example of how the information provided in step 110 may be presented to other users. Figure 5 shows a modified phonebook upon the mobile telephone device 2 of user A under the control of client application. The top entry ("Me") is that of user B themselves. User B in this case has set a low level of accuracy as their location preference and therefore the country is the only information provided concerning the location. To the right of the country information is the timestamp information part of the second location data, this indicating the latest of: the time that this location information was transmitted by user B, or the time that the mobile telephone device 3 of user B was polled. The entry beneath user B, that of "Andrew Jones" shows no location information at all. This may be because this user has not joined the system (represented by user D) or because the user has joined but has their preferences set to "hide location". The entry for David Brown has preference for location set at an accuracy level of "City", whereas that of Patrick Smith has "exact" set as their location preference. Thus Patrick Smith may represent user C for example.

It will be recalled that the database 65 may be provided with mapping information. As a further enhancement to the system described in association with Figure 4, a map of the location in question may be made available to the user showing the user location in accordance with their accuracy preference. This may be provided as an additional user-initiated event as now described below, although alternatively it may be performed as part of the method steps of Figure 1 such that a map is provided as the second location data.

In Figure 6, following the presentation of the second location data to the user at step 110, the user such as user A, may instruct the client application 60 to provide further information regarding the location of the users by selecting a map function. For example at step 1 1 1 , the user selects an entry within the phonebook, such as that of Patrick Smith and the identity of the user (Patrick Smith) is transmitted to the server 12 as part of a map request. Preferably the location information sent as text to the users also includes background data such as latitude and longitude information (to a corresponding accuracy level), and data giving the level of accuracy of the information. This is used in forming the map request. The map request therefore contains the latitude and longitude, accuracy level information and map scale information.

Upon receipt, at step 112, the social network server uses the map request information to query the mapping database of database 65.

The map scale is selected from a group of appropriate map scales having a one- to-one relationship with the levels of the accuracy data. For example, the "exact" level of accuracy may be related to a map scale giving street detail, a "city" accuracy may be related to a national map indicating the location of the city and a "country" accuracy may be related to a world regional or global map showing the location of the country in question.

In the case of Patrick Smith a high level of accuracy is permitted by the user preferences and therefore the map database query contains a request for a street map scale corresponding to the latitude and longitude of the cell identifier or GPS location (as appropriate).

In the present example maps are held upon a remote third party server in the form of map tiles corresponding to particular latitude and longitude ranges. The map database receives the map coordinates and the accompanying scale, performs an appropriate look-up in the database and transmits the corresponding map as an image in a format such as JPEG to the social network server 12 (step 113).

Upon receipt, the server 12 then makes any appropriate amendments to the map data so as to provide the map image in a convenient resolution and format for the mobile telephone device and then transmits this over the mobile telephone network via the HTTP format for receipt by the client application of the user A (step 114). It will be appreciated here that the map data request from the mobile telephone and the resulting map image transmission to the mobile telephone may have associated attributes to ensure an appropriate map image is received by the mobile telephone device and to assist with later processing. For example the map image may be accompanied by data indicating the latitude/longitude of corner positions of the map tile or other data such as scaling information allowing positions upon the map image itself to be calculated.

Once received by the client application 60, the map image may be overlaid with additional information such as title information (step 115). In addition, provided appropriate attribute data is provided, the client application may calculate the position of the user in question upon the map and then indicate this position with an appropriate icon. As a further function, the client application 60 may review the location information of other users and if sufficient location information is available, the location of such other users may be indicated upon the map (provided of course the map range includes their position). Such other users may also include the user of the mobile telephone device 2 upon which the application is resident. This latter function also allows a user to obtain a map of their present location at any time which can be of great assistance in terms of local navigation.

The annotated map is presented to the user at step 116 in Figure 6.

An example of a map view is shown in Figure 7. Here a map for the location of Patrick Smith is provided with a high accuracy location map. In this case, by coincidence a work colleague ("William Abbot") of user A who is also a member of the system 1 is within the vicinity of Patrick Smith and their location (also available as high accuracy) is shown. It will be appreciated that such a high level is detail is particularly envisaged with the use of GPS receivers 33. Within the view shown in Figure 7, the distance to Patrick Smith from the user A is indicated. Since the user A is in Denmark, this is a significant distance. The distance can be calculated by the client application 60 provided sufficient location information is present, or this can be achieved by the server (with appropriate accuracy control being applied to the distance information such that a city or a country is represented as a single latitude or longitude). If calculated by the server then the information can be sent as part of the second location data or as part of the response to the map request as appropriate. This distance information can of course be included within the phonebook view of Figure 5. Figure 8 shows a scaled out map at the "City" level of accuracy for the user David Brown (see Figure 5). No information is provided within the map (or indeed to user A) regarding where in London David Brown is located.

As will be understood, the provision of a map image is provided in real time "on demand" although maps could be automatically provided as part of the regular polling scheme when location information automatically includes maps. This however is rather data intensive.

It has been discussed that the location information is provided as part of the regular polling contact between the mobile telephone devices and the server. However, location information is perhaps the most likely of any communicated information relating to a user to change during a particular period. Thus the present application contemplates the provision of at least some location data by a second communication mechanism according to a "real time" (at least near real time, insofar as this is possible) scheme. In this case simple information concerning the location of a user may be provided from the social network server 12 to a mobile telephone device client application by the use of a background SMS message system. In this case a short message stream of encoded second location data is transmitted to the target mobile telephone device as soon as it becomes known to the server. Such a transmission is therefore not via the polled HTTP mechanism. Furthermore, whilst a one-way server to mobile telephone system may improve the up to date nature of the location information, this can be further improved by the use of two-way background SMS communication in which the client application of a mobile telephone transmits updates to the first location data as soon as it detects that a change has occurred. In some cases the user may wish to temporarily give more a more precise location than that provided automatically according to the system. In this case a temporary manual override may be provided in which the user provides the first location data as a text string. This can then be provided directly to other users. In an advanced example this text string may be parsed by the server 12 and converted into an appropriate map request for provision to users upon request. This is made simpler if the user is able to provide keyed in latitude and longitude information. As an alternative to this the user may be able to provide a postcode or ZIP code to assist the server 12 in providing a location look-up from the database 65. In this example with the manual override of the data, optionally the accuracy settings can be overridden such that the maximum accuracy is provided for the other users.

In the event that location information according to the associated timestamp is old (according to a predetermined elapsed time) the location information may be removed and marked as unknown or the server and client application may cause the information to be provided to the users in the format of "likely in...". This situation may occur for example when regular polling has ceased because the user is out of mobile telephone contact or has turned their telephone off.

Whilst in each example above the location information has originated from the mobile phone client application of a user, this need not be an exclusive source of such information. For example the system 1 may be arranged such that the user may interact with the server 12 during normal use and therefore the information retained concerning a user may be accessed and modified by that user by an Internet link between the personal computer 15, 16, 17 of that user and the server 12. This enables the user to update their location information manually upon the server. Social networking sites accessible via the Internet and other information sources such as remote servers 20, 21 may also be used as sources of the location information. In each case the location data is preferably accompanied by timestamp data so that the most up to date information may be transmitted over the mobile telephone network 10 to the mobile phones of the users. The location information may also be used by the client application to derive time zone information regarding the present time zone within which each user is located. For example if a user such as David Brown takes a trip to Japan his location information will be updated accordingly. The location of a user such as David Brown can be associated with a local time calculated, for example, relative to the system clock of the social network server. The local time may be provided within the location information to mobile telephone 3 of user B. This can be displayed to user B. As a further function, if user B calls another user for whom the local time is during the night (such as between 12am and 7am), then a warning may be displayed to user B, prior to proceeding with the call. Such a warning might require a further activation of the mobile telephone call button. As a further alternative an availability icon may be positioned adjacent the names of the users in the phonebook to indicate whether it is night time at their present location.

Claims

1. A method of providing location information between mobile telephone devices of first and second users of a social network system, the method comprising:- a) using a first client application resident upon a mobile telephone device of the first user to obtain, from the mobile telephone device, first location data representing the location of the mobile telephone device of the first user; c) using the first client application to obtain location accuracy data selected by the first user; d) transmitting the first location data and location accuracy data from the first client application to a social network server using a wireless telephone network; e) generating second location data in accordance with the first location data and the location accuracy data such that the accuracy of the second location data is determined by the location accuracy data; f) transmitting using a wireless telephone network the second location data to the second client application resident upon a mobile telephone device of a second user; and, g) presenting the second location data to the second user.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the first user and the second user are the same person.

3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the first location data is obtained by the first client application automatically.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the first location data is obtained from a global positioning system (GPS) receiver onboard the mobile telephone device of the first user.

5. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the mobile telephone device is adapted to communicate with base stations arranged in a network, with each base station comprising an associated cell having an associated cell identifier and wherein the first location data comprises the cell identifier.

6. A method according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising the first user providing first location data manually to the first client application.

7. A method according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising the first user selecting the location accuracy data using the first client application from a number of predetermined levels of location accuracy data.

8. A method according to any of the preceding claims wherein, during step (d) the social network server obtains from a location database text data representative of the first location data, modifies the text data in accordance with the location accuracy data such that the second location data includes the modified text data.

9. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein during step (d) the social network server selects and obtains from a mapping database a map image representative of the first location data based upon the first location data and the location accuracy data such that the second location data includes the map image and wherein the map image is presented to the second user in step (f)-

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the map image selected has a map scale dependent upon the location accuracy data.

1 1. A method according to claim 9 or claim 10, wherein the second client application determines the position of the first user and indicates the position of the first user upon the map image.

12. A method according to any of claims 9 to 11 , wherein the second client application determines the position of the second user and indicates the position of the second user upon the map image.

13. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the first location data includes timestamp data and wherein in step (f) the amount of time elapsed since the timestamp is presented to the second user.

14. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the social network comprises a number of first users each having mobile telephones with resident client applications and wherein at least the first location data for one or more of the first users changes over time and wherein, upon a change in location of the respective user, the method of steps (a) to (f) is repeated using revised first location information relating to the new location of the user.

15. A method according to claim 14, wherein any revised first location data from the first users is provided during contact between the social network server and the respective mobile telephone devices of the users at regular intervals.

16. A method according to claim 15, wherein the regularity of the intervals is selectable by a respective user using the client application upon their mobile telephone device.

17. A method according to any of claims 14 to 16, wherein the first and second location data and location accuracy data are transmitted to and from the social network server using an HTTP protocol over a wireless mobile telephone network.

18. A method according to any of claims 14 to 17, further comprising providing the first and second location data to and from the social network server using a background SMS message and wherein each the second location data is provided to the second client application immediately following receipt by the first client application of the first location data and location accuracy data.

19. A method according to any of claims 14 to 18, wherein the first users define a social network group and wherein, in order to join the social network group, the method comprises each first user and the second user consenting to the communication of the first location data between the first users and the social network server and the communication of the second location data between the social network server and the second user.

20. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein additional first location data is obtained from at least one remote server connected to the social network server via the Internet.

21. A method according to claim 20, wherein the most recent of the additional first location data and the first location data are used to generate the second location data.

22. A computer program installable upon a mobile telephone device and comprising program code means adapted to perform the function of the first and/or second client application or the social network server according to any of the preceding claims.

23. A social networking system comprising:- first and second mobile telephone devices relating to first and second users respectively, each device being adapted in use to facilitate telephone calls between the respective user and other telephones, the first and second mobile telephone devices comprising resident first and second client applications respectively; a social network server; and a network providing communication between the mobile telephone device and the social network server; the system being adapted in use such that:- the first client application is adapted to obtain first location data representing the location of the mobile telephone device of the first user and location accuracy data selected by the first user and transmit the first location data and location accuracy data to the social network server using the network; the social network server is adapted to generate second location data in accordance with the first location data and the location accuracy data such that the accuracy of the second location data is determined by the location accuracy data and transmit the second location data to the second client application resident of the mobile telephone device of a second user using the network; and, the second client application is adapted to receive the second location data and present the second location data to the second user.

24. A social network system according to claim 23, further adapted to perform the method according to any of claims 1 to 21.