Patent Publication Number: US-10776784-B2

Title: System and method for automated analysis comparing a wireless device location with another geographic location

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/903,663 filed May 28, 2013, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/652,173 filed May 26, 2012 and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/659,934 filed Jun. 14, 2012, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/903,663 is also a continuation-in-part, and claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/992,064, filed Feb. 9, 2011, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/053,152 filed May 14, 2008 each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/903,663 is also a continuation-in-part of and claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/343,015, titled “System and Method for Wireless Device Based User Authentication,” filed Dec. 23, 2008, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. U.S. Ser. No. 12/343,015 claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/027,892 titled “System and Method for Wireless Device Based On-Line User Authentication,” filed Feb. 12, 2008. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/903,663 is also a continuation-in-part of and claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Ser. No. 12/332,878 titled “System and Method for Authenticating a User of Multiple Computer Applications, Networks, or Devices Via a Wireless Device,” filed Dec. 11, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,116,731 issued Feb. 14, 2012, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. U.S. Ser. No. 12/332,878 claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/058,621 filed Jun. 24, 2008. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/903,663 is also a continuation-in-part of and claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Ser. No. 11/933,803 titled “System and Method for Automated Analysis Comparing a Wireless Device Location with Another Geographic Location,” filed Nov. 1, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,374,634 issued Feb. 12, 2013 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. U.S. Ser. No. 11/933,803 claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/979,663 filed Oct. 12, 2007; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/909,718 filed Apr. 3, 2007; and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/895,144 filed Mar. 16, 2007. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field of the Invention 
     The present application primarily relates generally to systems and methods directed to location-based services within a wireless telecommunications or data communications network, and more particularly to other technical fields such as technologies used to authenticate secure transactions, technologies to verify and validate user identities and for use with any application where the results of comparing two or more geographic locations has some utility or value. 
     2. Background of Related Art 
     Wireless device location information is necessary for the operation of cellular telecommunications services. This location information enables calls to be established from these devices and calls to be delivered to these devices wherever they may be, even if they are outside a user&#39;s home network. Location information is also used to effect hand-offs among cell sites within the cellular network. The term “cellular” refers to a network of individual “cells” or “cell site” areas covered by radio transceiver systems that control communications within that cell site. Each cell site provides a limited range and radius of radio coverage to wireless devices across a defined and limited geographic area. Cellular radio transceivers within a cell site serve wireless devices within the radius of that particular cell site. Multiple cellular radio transceiver systems (or cell sites) are controlled by a centralized computer switching system. This switching system, known as the Mobile Switching Center (MSC), has information about which cell sites currently provide radio communications services to particular wireless devices. Hence, a particular MSC also has a defined and limited geographic coverage area which is defined as the aggregate of all of the cell site geographic areas of the cells that it controls. Cell site areas may also be subdivided into smaller “cell sectors.” This subdivision of cell sites into sectors enables more efficient use of radio spectrum which, in turn, enables cellular telecommunications service to be provided to more wireless devices within the original cell site area. The defined geographic areas of MSCs, cell sites and cell site sectors are location areas for which the MSC controls voice and data communications to and from individual wireless devices. Therefore, the MSC maintains current information about which wireless devices are served by which cell sites and cell site sectors. The geographic area of an MSC may be quite large, hundreds or thousands of square miles. The geographic area of a cell site typically covers a few square miles or less (especially in urban areas) and the geographic area of a cell site sector is about one-third that of a cell site. However, for a variety of vital wireless communications services, as well as the ability to enable additional value-added services, much more precise positioning information of wireless devices may be required. 
     Precise wireless device location information derived by a wireless network has become increasingly important in recent years. So-called “Location Based Services” (LBS) were originally required to locate wireless telecommunications network users in emergency situations. An individual may use a wireless device to call for emergency assistance. The wireless telecommunications network automatically derives the location of the mobile device and uses that location information to inform emergency services personnel of the whereabouts of the caller. This scenario is in contrast to wireline telephones used to call for emergency assistance as a wireline telephone used to make an emergency call is always associated with a static geographic location or address. Wireless or mobile devices, on the other hand, can be in any geographic location and can be moved from place to place. Hence, technologies required to precisely, automatically and dynamically locate a moveable wireless device in real-time were implemented and deployed by the wireless network operators. These technologies have proven highly useful and valuable enabling emergency services personnel to locate individuals in emergency situations. 
     In the late 1990s, both as a result of government regulations requiring location-based technologies for emergency services and the creation of technology standards and specifications to provide location information for wireless devices, many other value-added applications and services were created to make use of wireless location information. These applications and services are provided by both the wireless network operators themselves as well as by third-party application and services providers. Principally among these are two categories of applications and services: 1) mapping and navigation services and 2) so-called “concierge” services. Mapping and navigation services provide wireless device users the ability to find points of interest, proximity to those points of interest and real-time directions to get to those points of interest. Concierge services provide a variety of information to a user based on their current and real-time location or a location input by the user. Among these services are listings of closest locations of points of interest such as hotels, restaurants, transportation and entertainment venues. Many of these services, including emergency services, require precise location information which may only be obtained if the wireless network employs additional sophisticated location technologies. Chief among these technologies is the satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS). Use of GPS for precise location services requires GPS technology to be incorporated into wireless devices as well as within the wireless network. However, to provide precise location information about wireless devices where GPS is not used, smart antenna technology may be employed. Smart antenna technology requires special equipment to be deployed at each cell site. This equipment analyzes multiple radio transceiver signals coming from wireless devices. Mathematical algorithms are used to determine the position of the wireless device based on the time difference of arrival (TDOA) or the angle of arrival (AOA) of the radio signals, or both. GPS is typically more accurate for precise positioning of a wireless device; however, both GPS and smart antenna technology have the potential to provide Latitude and Longitude coordinates for a wireless device from a few feet to a few hundred yards. Therefore, wireless networks currently maintain the ability to provide positioning information for particular wireless devices for areas as wide as an MSC serving area, to smaller cell site areas, to smaller cell site sector areas and many provide positioning information to a high degree of resolution by providing more precise latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates. 
     In a seemingly unrelated area of technology, distinct from wireless device location technology, there exists a myriad of current methods that provide for authentication, verification and validation of user activity as well as for user identity. These technologies are used to ensure that an individual is the actual person claimed for the benefit of the activity or transaction. Today, many employed technologies have greatly reduced fraudulent transactions, but instances of fraudulent activity still occur. These technologies are employed, for instance, when an individual engages in some transaction that requires some degree of security. An automated financial transaction is a common example of a secure transaction requiring mechanisms to authenticate, verify and validate the identity of the individual attempting to perform the transactional activity. Primary examples of such transactions include accessing automated teller machines (ATMs) to obtain money or to perform some other banking function and the use of credit or debit cards at a point of sale (POS) to make a purchase. Even electronic commerce-based transactions (e-commerce) and online banking, where an individual enters financial information into a website form on a personal computer to make a purchase or to perform a financial activity, require some form of authentication, verification and validation. Typical means to authenticate individuals attempting a secure transaction include use of personal identification numbers (PINs) or some other type of information that is assumed to be known only by an authorized user involved in the transaction. Other means of documentation may also be used to verify identity, such as a driver&#39;s license or other form of photo identification. Even the use of biometric devices, such as fingerprint scanners, may be used to authenticate an individual attempting to perform a secure transaction. However, even with these and many other technologies employed, fraudulent activity still occurs and identity theft and misrepresentation remains a problem. 
     In addition, many existing fraud detection and prevention technologies can and do provide a false positive indication of fraudulent activity. Besides the fraud detection and prevention mechanisms already mentioned, other technologies may be employed such as behavioral profiling which is used to detect anomalous behavior. These technologies employ intelligent algorithms to analyze past user behavior when a user attempts to engage in a some activity or transaction that is similar to a previous activity or transaction. If the individual&#39;s behavior when engaging in a secure activity is not consistent with that individual&#39;s past behavior, a likelihood of fraudulent activity may be deduced. Common examples of this situation are when an individual uses a credit card to purchase some product or service in a foreign country where they have never previously performed a similar transaction. Or, the amount of a particular transaction is significantly different from any previous transaction. This behavior may appear anomalous to a fraud detection system and the activity or transaction being performed may be terminated before any potential fraud is perpetrated. If this is in fact a false positive indication and the individual is actually an authorized user, the user suffers the consequences of a failed transaction and the service provider is perceived to have provided a poor quality of service. 
     Also, debit or credit cards may be stolen, PINs may become compromised and information meant to be held only by authorized users may become known to others. The reality is that other means to perform authentication, verification and validation of authorized users to assist in an authentication process continues to have relevance for transactions where fraudulent activity remains a problem. In many of the examples provided, the authentication technology employed involves some user interaction with a computerized device that is typically connected to a data communications network. The data communications network may maintain location information representing the actual geographic place where a secure transaction or some activity by an individual is occurring. This is true in the case of ATM transactions, automated POS transactions, personal computer-based transactions and others. 
     To provide authentication or additional authentication confidence where individuals attempt to perform some automated secure transaction or activity, the location of the secure transaction or activity may be ascertained from the network that is being accessed via the transactional application. As the use of wireless devices has become ubiquitous, it may be reasonably assumed that individuals carrying such a device would have the device with them while attempting to engage in a secure transaction or activity. In this case, comparing the location of the wireless device obtained from the wireless network with the location where the user of the wireless device is attempting to engage in a secure transaction or activity, may provide resultant information that may be used to authenticate, verify or validate that the user is in fact who he claims to be. Moreover, if the result from such a geographic location comparison reveals that the wireless device is in some location other than where the secure transaction or activity is taking place, it may be reasonably assumed that the user is not who he claims to be. Depending on the resolution of the geographic locations obtained from both the wireless network and some other data communications network where an activity or transaction occurs, varying degrees of confidence may be ascertained as to the authenticity of that activity or transaction. False positive indications of anomalous behavior may also be avoided. An example of this may be when an individual performs an activity or transaction and that individual is in a significantly different location than previously visited but the individual is in fact who he claims to be. 
     Besides the mitigation of fraudulent activity, knowledge of the location of one or more individuals for use in value-added applications may be useful. Such knowledge of both the location of a wireless device as well as the location of the wireless device user performing some automated activity or transaction may provide utility regardless of whether that activity requires security. Many value-added applications may benefit from such comparative geographic location information such as social networking applications or multiplayer online gaming applications where it may be desirable for an individual to know the proximity of friends with which they wish to communicate. These friends may be engaging in some automated activity where the application is connected to a computer network where location information may be ascertained or they may be wireless device users themselves where the location of their wireless devices may be obtained from the same or another wireless network. 
     Many automated fraud detection and prevention systems may assign a value or range of values indicating the likelihood of fraudulent activity. These assigned values may depend on the security level required for a particular transaction or activity as well as the methods used to indicate fraud. Such a mechanism may also be employed when the comparison of two or more locations, at least one being the location of a wireless device obtained from a wireless network, results in the ability to ascertain varying degrees of confidence based on the proximity of the two geographic locations being compared. 
     To successfully compare two or more geographic locations, one of which being the location of a wireless device obtained from a wireless network, one or more unique wireless device identification values is required to appropriately associate the geographic locations with each other. Many unique wireless identification values are available for use. Among those that may be appropriate is the Mobile Directory Number (MDN) which is defined as the dialable directory number of the wireless device. The MDN is a uniquely provisioned value for each cellular-based telecommunications user. Other unique wireless device identification values that may be used include the serial number of the wireless device or the unique subscription identifier that may be found, for example, on a smart card used within a wireless device. Depending on the wireless technology and device used, the unique wireless device identifier appropriate for the device may be used to facilitate the geographic location comparison. Besides cellular telecommunications technology, other wireless devices from which location information may be derived and obtained from a data communications network may be supported. These wireless devices may include any type of Global Positioning System (GPS) device, Mobile Internet Device (MID), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) device, Near Field Communications (NFC) device (such as Bluetooth or infrared-based devices) or any wireless device. 
     When performing a comparison among two or more particular geographic locations, the location information for a wireless device may be provided in a variety of formats. Mobile Switching Center (MSC) identification, cell site identification, cell sector identification and even Latitude and Longitude or other coordinates may be provided as well as a geographic area or place name mapped to these identifiers and coordinates. For location information obtained from other types of data communications networks, the format may be in the form of a physical geographic address (e.g., street number, street name, city, state, province, country, postal code, ZIP code, etc.), a physical data communications address (e.g., an Internet Protocol geographic address of the form XX.XX.XX.XX), a logical or virtual place or data communications address (e.g., a post office box or a uniform resource locator or URL address), some representation of an address (e.g., an alias name or label identifying an address), a geographic place name (e.g., “Central Park”), mapping coordinates (e.g., Latitude and Longitude or other projection coordinates) or a mapping identifier in some customized format. A system and method that compares such geographic locations with each other that may be obtained in any of these formats requires a mechanism to convert these different location formats into a common format type enabling comparison. A method or mechanism to derive proximity among the geographic locations that are compared may also be beneficial. 
     There is a need for additional and improved systems and methods to assist, for example, with fraud management systems and identity recognition and authentication. These systems are employed in a variety of industries, including banking and finance, commerce, security and others. In many cases, existing technologies employ detection methods as opposed to prevention methods. That is, many technologies and systems currently in place attempt to detect some fraudulent activity after it has occurred, and then prevent similar fraudulent activity in the future based on this detection. These methods are not optimal as fraudulent activity may be successful in at least one instance prior to detection and subsequent prevention. Prevention of fraudulent activity the first time an attempt is made is certainly preferable, as well as reducing incidences of false positive indications of fraud. No fraud detection and prevention system is perfect and there is always a need to employ additional technologies to further reduce fraud and identity theft, thereby reducing the economic impact of such undesired activity. Although many fraud detection and prevention technologies exist today, these technologies are constantly evolving and new fraud prevention technologies can always be employed to maintain additional security and lessen the economic impact. In addition, a system that can provide proximity information among one or more locations has implications beyond fraud prevention. Proximity information can add great value to other technologies such as social communications among groups and individuals. Any technology that enables such social communications may be enhanced by allowing users of that technology to know the proximity of other users. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
       Features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description with reference to the drawings. Embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by way of example, and not limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings, and in which like references indicate the same or similar elements. 
         FIG. 1  depicts the functional entities and modules of an example Location Comparison Engine. Included in the depiction is example connectivity to a Wireless Network, an Activity Mediation System, a Results Processing System, a Wireless Device Location Database, an Activity Source Location Database, a Location Comparison Module, and a Location Comparison Results Module, in accordance with the principles of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  shows exemplary connectivity of a Wireless Network to the Wireless Device Location Module and the concerned functional entities of an exemplary Wireless Network including the Cell Sites, Mobile Switching Center and a Mobile Location Server. 
         FIG. 3  shows exemplary entries in a Wireless Device Location Database depicting an association of a unique Wireless Device ID to an obtained Location Position and a Geographic Place. 
         FIG. 4  shows exemplary connectivity of an Activity Mediation System to the Activity Source Location Module and the concerned functional entities of an exemplary Activity Mediation System including an exemplary Location Capture Module and an optional Location Resolution Database. 
         FIG. 5  shows exemplary entries in an Activity Source Location Database depicting an association of a unique Wireless Device ID to an obtained Activity Source Location. 
         FIG. 6  shows an exemplary scenario whereby the location of an online user transaction from a personal computer is compared with the location of a wireless device where the result of such a location comparison is close location proximity. 
         FIG. 7  shows an exemplary scenario whereby the location of an online user transaction from a personal computer is compared with the location of a wireless device where the result of such a location comparison is far location proximity. 
         FIG. 8  shows an exemplary scenario whereby the location of an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) transaction is compared with the location of a wireless device where the result of such a location comparison is close location proximity. 
         FIG. 9  shows an exemplary relationship of the information elements to attain a location comparison encompassed by the Location Comparison Module. 
         FIG. 10  shows an exemplary information flow diagram of the Location Comparison Engine. 
         FIG. 11  shows an exemplary process flow diagram of the Location Comparison Engine. 
         FIG. 12  shows an exemplary scenario whereby the location of a user transaction with a payment terminal is compared with the location of a wireless device where the result of such a location comparison is close location proximity. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS 
     This patent application is intended to describe one or more embodiments of the present invention. It is to be understood that the use of absolute terms, such as “must,” “will,” and the like, as well as specific quantities, is to be construed as being applicable to one or more of such embodiments, but not necessarily to all such embodiments. As such, embodiments of the invention may omit, or include a modification of, one or more features or functionalities described in the context of such absolute terms. 
     Embodiments of the invention may be operational with numerous general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples of well known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with the invention include, but are not limited to, personal computers, server computers, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and the like. 
     Embodiments of the invention may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer and/or by computer-readable media on which such instructions or modules can be stored. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer storage media including memory storage devices. 
     Embodiments of the invention may include or be implemented in a variety of computer readable media. Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media include volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can accessed by computer. Communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of the any of the above should also be included within the scope of computer readable media. 
     According to one or more embodiments, the combination of software or computer-executable instructions with a computer-readable medium results in the creation of a machine or apparatus. Similarly, the execution of software or computer-executable instructions by a processing device results in the creation of a machine or apparatus, which may be distinguishable from the processing device, itself, according to an embodiment. 
     Correspondingly, it is to be understood that a computer-readable medium is transformed by storing software or computer-executable instructions thereon. Likewise, a processing device is transformed in the course of executing software or computer-executable instructions. Additionally, it is to be understood that a first set of data input to a processing device during, or otherwise in association with, the execution of software or computer-executable instructions by the processing device is transformed into a second set of data as a consequence of such execution. This second data set may subsequently be stored, displayed, or otherwise communicated. Such transformation, alluded to in each of the above examples, may be a consequence of, or otherwise involve, the physical alteration of portions of a computer-readable medium. Such transformation, alluded to in each of the above examples, may also be a consequence of, or otherwise involve, the physical alteration of, for example, the states of registers and/or counters associated with a processing device during execution of software or computer-executable instructions by the processing device. 
     As used herein, a process that is performed “automatically” may mean that the process is performed as a result of machine-executed instructions and does not, other than the establishment of user preferences, require manual effort. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, a Location Comparison Engine is provided that enables the location of a wireless device obtained from the wireless network to be compared with the location of the wireless device user engaging in some automated application, transaction or activity at some place where that location information may be automatically derived. 
     In one embodiment, a Location Comparison Module of the present invention receives both wireless device location information and wireless device user location information in a multiplicity of formats. In this embodiment, the Location Comparison Module determines the resulting proximity among two or more obtained locations being compared. The results of the comparison are then passed to a Location Comparison Results Module that properly formats those results for use with an application. The results may be provided in a multiplicity of formats and used to authenticate, verify or validate a transaction or activity performed through the application, or provide some utility to an application where the results of a comparison of those locations is required. Examples of the obtained formats for wireless device location are Mobile Switching Center (MSC) ID, Cell Site ID, Cell Sector ID, Latitude and Longitude coordinates, other projection coordinates or a geographic area or place name. 
     In an exemplary operation of the Location Comparison Engine, the Activity Source Location Module receives location information from some Activity Mediation System, such as an Internet Protocol (IP) address. The Activity Mediation System may be any network or system that performs as an intermediary system between an automated transaction or activity by a user and the Location Comparison Engine. The location information may be obtained in a multiplicity of formats according to the capabilities of the Activity Mediation System. Examples of the obtained wireless device user&#39;s location are a physical geographic address (e.g., street number, street name, city, state, province, country, postal code, ZIP code, etc.), a physical data communications address (e.g., an Internet Protocol geographic address of the form XX.XX.XX.XX), a logical or virtual place or data communications address (e.g., a post office box or a uniform resource locator or URL address), some representation of an address (e.g., an alias name or label identifying an address), a geographic place name (e.g., “Central Park”), mapping coordinates (e.g., Latitude and Longitude or other projection coordinates) or a mapping identifier in some customized format. The location information is obtained along with a Wireless Device Identifier (ID). The Wireless Device ID is associated with a wireless device user engaging in some automated activity, for example, accessing an ATM to receive money. The Wireless Device ID may have been previously registered with, for example, a financial institution and is associated with the personal database records of that user. The unique Wireless Device ID is typically the dialable Mobile Directory Number (MDN) of the user&#39;s wireless device, but may assume other values as appropriate, such as an Electronic Serial Number (ESN) of the device, an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) or an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). Use of the MDN is typical due to global uniqueness among wireless device users and its common use in wireless industry network communications protocols. The MDN may also be an identifier that is commonly used by individuals for personal profiles that may be registered in a variety of service databases, such as for electronic commerce transactions. The MDN of the wireless device may be used to query the Wireless Network via the Wireless Device Location Module for current or last known location information of the wireless device, or location information pertaining to the wireless device may be obtained autonomously by the Wireless Device Location Module from the Wireless Network. Either one of the modules (the Wireless Device Location Module and the Activity Source Location Module) may receive location information independently of one another and based on independent events. Location information may be requested by these modules or the location information may be obtained autonomously. 
     Once two or more locations are obtained by the Location Comparison Engine, this location information is passed along with the associated and corresponding Wireless Device ID to databases within the Location Comparison Engine to resolve the location information into an appropriate format for adequate comparison. The exemplary Wireless Device Location Database and Activity Source Location Database are employed, to resolve the obtained location information into appropriate geographic mapping information to be used for a particular comparison. The resulting sets of geographic location values derived from the respective databases and associated with the unique Wireless Device ID previously obtained are sent to the Location Comparison Module. 
     Additionally, the date, time or both of the obtained location information may be recorded as well as other information such as the identifier of the network from which the location was obtained. This date and time information may be especially important during the authentication, verification and validation process to potentially compare the times of past known locations of wireless devices with the times of the most currently known locations of those devices. The age of the last obtained location of a wireless device may assist in determining the authenticity of some purported activity being performed by the wireless device user. Also, time information may assist in evaluating a location comparison. The location information obtained from the wireless network may have become stale, while the location of the purported wireless device user performing some automated activity changes. Depending on the obtained time, along with the location information, of a wireless device, a wireless device user&#39;s behavior may be either confirmed or determined to be suspect when compared with the previously or last known obtained time and location. 
     The Location Comparison Module uses the Wireless Device ID to mutually associate the obtained wireless device location with the obtained location of some automated activity by a wireless device user. The Wireless Device ID may be used as a unique identifier to query the wireless network for the location of that wireless device. That same Wireless Device ID may also be used as a unique identifier within a personal profile that maintains attributes about a wireless device user within some other independent network or system. The Location Comparison Module then analyzes the associated locations and determines the degree of proximity among those locations. The Location Comparison Module then passes the proximity results of the comparison along with the associated Wireless Device ID to a Location Comparison Results Module. The Location Comparison Results Module analyzes the obtained proximity information and assigns one or more results to the Wireless Device ID. The results may be attributed to and made available in a multiplicity of exemplary formats such as arithmetic rankings or scores based on an acceptable predefined distance or a Boolean expression based on a predetermined distance threshold (e.g., a “true” result if the comparison is within a predefined distance or a “false” result if the comparison is outside a predefined distance). The results may also take the form of the appropriately formatted independent locations themselves for use in a particular application. This may be the case, for example, when an application requires the locations themselves to add utility or value to the application, such as in any social communications application, for example in social networking or online multiplayer gaming applications. 
     The Location Comparison Results Module may then pass the appropriately formatted results of the location comparison for a particular application along with the associated Wireless Device ID to a Results Processing System. The Results Processing System may reside within, or be the same as, the Activity Mediation System or some other system that requires the location comparison results. An exemplary Results Processing System may apply the comparison results to any type of application regardless of the results or the type of application. These applications may include identity authentication systems, activity fraud management systems, social networking applications or online multiplayer gaming applications. 
     In  FIG. 1 , one embodiment of a Location Comparison Engine of the present invention includes a Wireless Device Location Module  140 , an Activity Source Location Module  150 , a Wireless Device Location Database  120 , an Activity Source Location Database  130 , a Location Comparison Module  100 , and a Location Comparison Results Module  110 , in accordance with the principles of the present invention. The Location Comparison Module  100  compares location information that is obtained from both the Wireless Network  200  and the Activity Mediation System  300  and subsequently passed to this module from both the Wireless Device Location Database  120  and the Activity Source Location Database  130 . The Wireless Network provides location information for the Wireless Device  214  and the Activity Mediation System provides location information from some Activity by the Purported Wireless Device User at a Source Geographic Location  310 . Results of the location comparison are sent from the Location Comparison Results Module  110  to a Results Processing System  320 . The Results Processing System  320  may then apply the location comparison results to an application that is being used by the Wireless Device User  310 . If the location comparison results demonstrate close proximity of the user to the application being accessed or the activity being performed, a reasonable assertion may be made that the user is authentic, or the activity being performed is valid. In contrast, if the location comparison results demonstrate far proximity of the user to the application being accessed or the activity being performed, a reasonable assertion may be made that the user is not authentic, or the activity being performed is invalid. The Results Processing System  320  may be the same functional entity as the Activity Mediation System  300  or may be a separate functional entity from the Activity Mediation System  300 . 
       FIG. 2  depicts an exemplary Data Communications Protocol  142  between the Wireless Device Module  140  of the Location Comparison Engine and an exemplary Mobile Location Server  202  within an exemplary Wireless Network  200 . Wireless device location information is obtained by the Wireless Device Location Module  140  via the Data Communications Protocol  142 . The Data Communications Protocol  142  may be based, for example, on the Internet Protocol (IP). Examples of the communications protocols used to transfer location information may include, but are not limited to, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP/IP), the User Datagram Protocol (UDP/IP) and the Hyper-Text Transport Protocol (HTTP). The exemplary Mobile Location Server  202  may retrieve and store location information about any wireless device served by the Wireless Network  200 . In  FIG. 2 , the Mobile Location Server  202  may obtain and store the current or latest known location information known about the Wireless Device  214 . The Mobile Location Server  202  may obtain and store the available location information about exemplary Wireless Device  214  by obtaining location information from a multiplicity of functional entities within the Wireless Network  200 . These functional entities may include, but are not limited to, the exemplary Mobile Switching Center (MSC)  206 , the exemplary Home Location Register (HLR)  208  or optionally, exemplary Location Derivation Equipment  204 . The MSC  206  and HLR  208  typically maintain the MSC identifier (MSC ID) as well as the identifier values for exemplary Cell Sites  210 ,  216 ,  220  and exemplary Cell Sectors  217 ,  218 ,  219  that the MSC  206  controls. The MSC ID is representative of the geographic location area encompassing all of the Cell Sites  210 ,  216 ,  220  and Cell Sectors  217 ,  218 ,  219  that provide radio communications coverage over an aggregated geographic area. An exemplary Cell Site  210  depicts the geographic location area where the exemplary Wireless Device  214  is currently located. Therefore, the exemplary Mobile Location Server  202  may transfer location information to the Wireless Device Location Module  140  that includes an MSC ID and a Cell Site ID representing the geographic areas represented by the MSC  206  and the Cell Site  210 . 
     In addition to the geographic location areas represented by MSC ID and Cell Site ID, more precise geographic location information may be obtained and stored by the Mobile Location Server  202  and subsequently passed to the Wireless Device Location Module  140 . Optional Location Derivation Equipment  204  may exist within a Wireless Network  200  to derive precise location information of Wireless Device  214  using, for example, Global Positioning System (GPS) technology or Smart Antenna technology. Precise location information may be derived via an exemplary Radio Transceiver System  212 , within Cell Site  210 , that communicates with Wireless Device  214 . The Radio Transceiver System  212  may employ assisted GPS or Smart Antenna Technology. The Radio Transceiver System  212  may work in conjunction with the Location Derivation Equipment  204  to derive precise coordinates for the location of Wireless Device  214 . The Location Derivation Equipment  204  may subsequently pass derived detailed coordinates such as Latitude and Longitude, or other projection coordinates, to the Mobile Location Server  202 . Regardless of the degree of resolution and the format of geographic location information supported, the Wireless Device Location Module  140  obtains that location information from the Mobile Location Server  202  via the exemplary Data Communications Protocol  142 . 
       FIG. 3  depicts exemplary entries in an exemplary Wireless Device Location Database  120  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . In particular, as depicted in  FIG. 3 , a first entry  124  includes an association among a Wireless Device ID  121  (e.g., in this case an MDN), the Location Position  122 , a Geographic Place  123  and the Date and Time  129 . The Wireless Device ID is used by the Wireless Device Location Module  140  in  FIGS. 1 and 2  to either request the Location Position  122  from the Mobile Location Server  202  within the Wireless Network  200  in  FIG. 2  or autonomously receive the Location Position  122  from the Mobile Location Server  202  within the Wireless Network  200 . The obtained Location Position  122  is then associated with the Geographic Place  123  as well as the Date and Time  129  in the database. The entries for Geographic Place  123  in the database may be pre-populated for the obtained Location Position  122  or otherwise derived based upon known mapping information within the database. 
     Examples of the Location Position  122  value obtained via the Wireless Device Location Module  140  in  FIGS. 1 and 2  may be MSC ID, Cell Site ID, Cell Site/Cell Sector ID, Latitude or Longitude coordinates or any other projection coordinates that may be associated with a Geographic Place  123 . Examples of the Geographic Place  123  entries in the database are a Geographic Name, some Geographic Identifier (ID) value that facilitates a subsequent location comparison or Coordinates that may take on the form of Latitude and Longitude or any other projection coordinates that may facilitate a subsequent location comparison. Examples of the Date and Time  129  entries in the database are also provided. The Date and Time  129  entries may, for example, represent a previously known date and time of a particular obtained wireless device location to assist in determining, for example, the authenticity or validity of some activity being performed. 
       FIG. 4  depicts an exemplary Data Communications Protocol  152  between the Activity Source Location Module  150  of the Location Comparison Engine and an exemplary and optional Location Resolution Database  304  within the Activity Mediation System  300 . The Location Resolution Database  304  may be used to resolve raw location information obtained via the Location Capture Module  302  of the Activity Mediation System  300  depending on the format of the location information obtained by the Location Capture Module  302 . 
     Activity source location information is obtained by the Activity Source Location Module  150  via the Data Communications Protocol  152 . The Activity Source Location Module  150  may receive an autonomous request from the Activity Mediation System  300  to compare the location of the wireless device with the location of the user accessing an application or engaged in some automated activity supported by the Activity Mediation System  300 . Similarly, a request may be made by the Activity Source Location Module  150  to obtain the activity source location to be used for comparison. The Data Communications Protocol  152  may be based, for example, on the Internet Protocol (IP). Examples of the communications protocols used to transfer location information may include, but are not limited to, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP/IP), the User Datagram Protocol (UDP/IP) and the Hyper-Text Transport Protocol (HTTP). The exemplary Location Capture Module  302  may retrieve and store location information about any purported transaction or activity detected from a transactional or other application-based activity by a Wireless Device User accessing the system or network at some Source Geographic Location  310 . In  FIG. 4 , the Location Capture Module  302  may obtain and store the current or latest known location information detected from a transactional or other application-based activity by the Wireless Device User  310 . Examples of transactional or application-based activities may be a point of sale (POS) consumer transactions, financial interactions with Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) or accessing social communications applications such as social networking applications or online multiplayer gaming applications. The Location Capture Module  302  may obtain and store the location information derived from the Source Geographic Location  310 . The format of the obtained Source Geographic Location  310  information may be a commonly used format or some custom format used by a particular Activity Mediation System  300 . Example formats of this location information may be a physical geographic address (e.g., anyone, or more, of street number, street name, city, state, province, country, postal code, ZIP code, etc.), a physical data communications address (e.g., an Internet Protocol geographic address of the form XX.XX.XX.XX), a logical or virtual place or data communications address (e.g., a post office box or a uniform resource locator or URL address), some representation of an address (e.g., an alias name or label identifying an address), a geographic place name (e.g., “Central Park”), mapping coordinates (e.g., Latitude and Longitude or other projection coordinates) or a mapping identifier in some customized format. 
     In addition to the example Source Geographic Location  310  areas provided, more precise geographic location information may be obtained and stored by the Location Capture Module  302  and subsequently passed to the Activity Source Location Module  150 . For example, the Wireless Device User  310  may be accessing a GPS-based application or the Activity Mediation System  300  may in fact be a Wireless Network that is the same Wireless Network  200  or another Wireless Network that has similar capabilities to Wireless Network  200 . 
       FIG. 5  depicts exemplary entries in an exemplary Activity Source Location Database  130  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 4 . In particular, as depicted in  FIG. 5 , a first entry  134  includes an association among a Wireless Device ID  121  (e.g., in this case an MDN), the Activity Source Location  132 , a Geographic Place  133  as well as the Date and Time  138  in the database. The Wireless Device ID is used by the Activity Source Location Module  130  in  FIGS. 1 and 4  to either request the Location Position  132  from the Location Capture Module  302  (or optionally from the Location Resolution Database  304  that may be used within the Activity Mediation System  300  in  FIG. 4  to apply an appropriate format to facilitate use of the derived location information) within the Activity Mediation System  300  in  FIG. 4  or autonomously receive the Activity Source Location  132  from the Location Capture Module  302  within the Activity Mediation System  300 . The obtained Activity Source Location  132  is then associated with the Geographic Place  133  in the database. The entries for Geographic Place  133  in the database may be pre-populated for the obtained Activity Source Location  132  or otherwise derived based upon known mapping information within the database. Examples of the Activity Source Location  132  value obtained via the Activity Source Location Module  150  in  FIGS. 1 and 4  may be a commonly used format or some custom format used by a particular Activity Mediation System  300 . Example formats of this location information may be a physical geographic address (e.g., anyone, or more, of street number, street name, city, state, province, country, postal code, ZIP code, etc.), a physical data communications address (e.g., an Internet Protocol geographic address of the form XX.XX.XX.XX), a logical or virtual place or data communications address (e.g., a post office box or a uniform resource locator or URL address), some representation of an address (e.g., an alias name or label identifying an address), a geographic place name (e.g., “Central Park”), mapping coordinates (e.g., Latitude and Longitude or other projection coordinates) or a mapping identifier in some customized format. Examples of the Geographic Place  133  entries in the database are a Geographic Name, some Geographic Identifier (ID) value that facilitates a subsequent location comparison or Coordinates that may take on the form of Latitude and Longitude or any other projection coordinates that may facilitate a subsequent location comparison. Examples of the Date and Time  138  entries in the database are also provided. The Date and Time  138  entries may, for example, represent a previously known date and time of a particular obtained activity location to assist in determining, for example, the authenticity or validity of some activity being performed. 
       FIG. 6  depicts one embodiment of the present invention whereby the Activity of a Purported Wireless Device User at a Source Geographic Location  310  is an Online Transaction, such as an electronic commerce (e-commerce) transaction. In this example, the Wireless Device User  310  and the Wireless Device  214 , are within close proximity of each other and within the same Geographic Area  500 . The Wireless Device User  310  may access a Personal Computer  510  to make an online purchase of goods or services via an automated e-commerce application accessible via the Internet  520 . The Personal Computer  510  maintains a geographically-based physical internet protocol (IP) address in the format XX.XX.XX.XX that may be used by the e-commerce application. In this example, the Personal Computer  510  is within some Geographic Area  500  represented by the geographically-based physical IP address. The Activity Mediation System  300  may host the e-commerce application being accessed by the Wireless Device User  310 . The Wireless device User  310  may provide, for example, a Mobile Directory Number (MDN) to serve as a Wireless Device ID while accessing the e-commerce application, or may have previously provided the MDN that may be registered or otherwise stored within a personal profile by the e-commerce application. As the Wireless Device User  310  proceeds within the e-commerce application, a need for the Activity Mediation System  300  to authenticate, validate, or verify that Wireless Device User  310 , or the activity invoked by the Wireless Device User  310 , may occur, for example, to process an online financial transaction or payment. In this example, the Activity Mediation System  300  passes the Wireless Device User&#39;s  310  MDN and physical IP address of the Wireless Device User&#39;s  310  Personal Computer  510  to the exemplary Location Comparison Engine. The Location Comparison Engine may subsequently request the location of the Wireless Device  214  from the Wireless Network  200 . To facilitate the location request from the Wireless Network  200 , the MDN of the Wireless Device  214  previously obtained from the Activity Mediation System  300  may be used. In this embodiment of the present invention, the Location Comparison Engine receives the requested location of the Wireless Device  214  from the Wireless Network  200  and compares that location with the physical IP address received from the Activity Mediation System  300 . This comparison is initiated, invoked and performed, for example, as described for  FIGS. 1, 2, and 4  using databases as described for  FIGS. 3 and 5 . The exemplary Location Comparison Results Module  110  may then assign a result to the location comparison. As the Wireless Device User  310  is within the same Geographic Area  500  as the Wireless Device  214 , the Location Comparison Results Module  110 , assigns a result indicating that the Wireless Device User  310  is within the same Geographic Area  500  as the Wireless Device  214 . The Location Comparison Results Module  110  may then provide these results to the Results Processing System  320 , which, in this example, resides as part of the Activity Mediation System  300 . The exemplary Activity Mediation System  300  may use the obtained location comparison results to, for example, demonstrate some degree of positive authentication, verification or validation of the Wireless Device User  310 , or the Online Transaction activity being performed by the Wireless Device User  310 , as it may be reasonable to assume that the Wireless Device User  310  who owns the Wireless Device  214  has the device with him. 
       FIG. 7  depicts another embodiment of the present invention whereby the Activity of a Purported Wireless Device User at a Source Geographic Location  310  is an Online Transaction, such as an electronic commerce (e-commerce) transaction. In this example, the Wireless Device User  310  and the Wireless Device  214 , are not within close proximity of each other and are not within the same Geographic Area  500 . In this example, the Wireless Device  214  is within some other Geographic Area  530 . The Wireless Device User  310  may access a Personal Computer  510  to make an online purchase of goods or services via an automated e-commerce application accessible via the Internet  520 . The Personal Computer  510  maintains a geographically-based physical internet protocol (IP) address in the format XX.XX.XX.XX that may be used by the e-commerce application. In this example, the Personal Computer  510  is within some Geographic Area  500  represented by the geographically-based physical IP address. The Activity Mediation System  300  may host the e-commerce application being accessed by the Wireless Device User  310 . The Wireless device User  310  may provide, for example, a Mobile Directory Number (MDN) to serve as a Wireless Device ID while accessing the e-commerce application, or may have previously provided the MDN that may be registered or otherwise stored within a personal profile by the e-commerce application. As the Wireless Device User  310  proceeds within the e-commerce application, a need for the Activity Mediation System  300  to authenticate, validate, or verify that Wireless Device User  310 , or the activity invoked by the Wireless Device User  310 , may occur, for example, to process an online financial transaction or payment. In this example, the Activity Mediation System  300  passes the Wireless Device User&#39;s  310  MDN and physical IP address of the Wireless Device User&#39;s  310  Personal Computer  510  to the exemplary Location Comparison Engine. The Location Comparison Engine may subsequently request the location of the Wireless Device  214  from the Wireless Network  200 . To facilitate the location request from the Wireless Network  200 , the MDN of the Wireless Device  214  previously obtained from the Activity Mediation System  300  may be used. In this embodiment of the present invention, the Location Comparison Engine receives the requested location of the Wireless Device  214  from the Wireless Network  200  and compares that location with the physical IP address received from the Activity Mediation System  300 . This comparison is initiated, invoked and performed, for example, as described for  FIGS. 1, 2, and 4  using databases as described for  FIGS. 3 and 5 . The exemplary Location Comparison Results Module  110  may then assign a result to the location comparison. As the Wireless Device User  310  is not within the same Geographic Area  500  as the Wireless Device  214 , the Location Comparison Results Module  110 , assigns a result indicating that the Wireless Device User  310  is not within the same Geographic Area  500  as the Wireless Device  214 . The Location Comparison Results Module  110  may then provide these results to the Results Processing System  320 , which, in this example, resides as part of the Activity Mediation System  300 . The exemplary Activity Mediation System  300  may use the obtained location comparison results to, for example, demonstrate some degree of negative authentication, verification or validation of the Wireless Device User  310 , or the Online Transaction activity being performed by the Wireless Device User  310 , as it may be reasonable to assume that the Wireless Device User  310  who owns the Wireless Device  214  should have the device with him. 
       FIG. 8  depicts another embodiment of the present invention whereby the Activity of a Purported Wireless Device User at a Source Geographic Location  310  is obtaining money from an Automated Teller Machine (ATM)  540 . In this example, the Wireless Device User  310  and the Wireless Device  214 , are within close proximity of each other and within the same Geographic Area  550 . The Wireless Device User  310  may access an ATM  540  to obtain money. The ATM  540  maintains a geographically-based physical data address that may be an IP address in the format XX.XX.XX.XX or some other proprietary data communications address used by ATM or financial institution associated with the ATM. In this example, the ATM  540  is within some Geographic Area  550  represented by the geographically-based physical data communications address. The Activity Mediation System  300  may support the ATM application being accessed by the Wireless Device User  310 . The Wireless device User  310  may provide, for example, a Mobile Directory Number (MDN) to serve as a Wireless Device ID while accessing the ATM application, or may have previously provided the MDN that may be registered or otherwise stored within a personal profile accessed by the ATM application. As the Wireless Device User  310  proceeds within the ATM application, a need for the Activity Mediation System  300  to authenticate, validate, or verify that Wireless Device User  310 , or the activity invoked by the Wireless Device User  310 , may occur, for example, to process a cash withdrawal. In this example, the Activity Mediation System  300  passes the Wireless Device User&#39;s  310  MDN and physical data communications address of the ATM  540  to the exemplary Location Comparison Engine. The Location Comparison Engine may subsequently request the location of the Wireless Device  214  from the Wireless Network  200 . To facilitate the location request from the Wireless Network  200 , the MDN of the Wireless Device  214  previously obtained from the Activity Mediation System  300  may be used. In this embodiment of the present invention, the Location Comparison Engine receives the requested location of the Wireless Device  214  from the Wireless Network  200  and compares that location with the physical data communications address received from the Activity Mediation System  300 . This comparison is initiated, invoked and performed, for example, as described for  FIGS. 1, 2, and 4  using databases as described for  FIGS. 3 and 5 . The exemplary Location Comparison Results Module  110  may then assign a result to the location comparison. As the Wireless Device User  310  accessing the ATM  540  is within the same Geographic Area  550  as the Wireless Device  214 , the Location Comparison Results Module  110 , assigns a result indicating that the Wireless Device User  310  is within the same Geographic Area  550  as the Wireless Device  214 . The Location Comparison Results Module  110  may then provide these results to the Results Processing System  320 , which, in this example, resides as part of the Activity Mediation System  300 . The exemplary Activity Mediation System  300  may use the obtained location comparison results to, for example, demonstrate some degree of positive authentication, verification or validation of the Wireless Device User  310 , or the ATM  540  transaction activity being performed by the Wireless Device User  310 , as it may be reasonable to assume that the Wireless Device User  310  who owns the Wireless Device  214  has the device with him. 
       FIG. 9  depicts an exemplary relationship among exemplary information elements within an exemplary Location Comparison Module  100  in  FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 . The Location Comparison Module  100  compares the location information resolved by and obtained from both the Wireless Device Location Database  120  in  FIGS. 1 and 2  and the Activity Source Location Database  130  in  FIGS. 1 and 4 . The Location Comparison Module  100  may use a common Wireless Device ID  121  in  FIGS. 3 and 5 , originally obtained from the Wireless Network  200  and the Activity Mediation System  300 , to associate the locations to compare. The Location Comparison Module  100  may compare the values obtained from the Wireless Device Location Database  120  in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , for Location Position  122  in  FIG. 3  and Geographic Place  123  in  FIG. 3  or both, with the values obtained from the Activity Source Location Database  130  in  FIGS. 1 and 4 , for Activity Source Location  132  in  FIG. 5  and Geographic Place  133  in  FIG. 5  or both. To perform a proper location comparison, it may be necessary to determine a proper association between the obtained location information from both the Wireless Network  200  and the Activity Mediation System  300  with a common location format. This association may be performed, for example, within both the Wireless Device Location Database  120  and the Activity Source Location Database  130  prior to the location comparison. The comparison process produces one or more proximity-based results among the locations input to the Location Comparison Module  100 . The results of the comparison, as well as the associated Wireless Device ID  121  pertaining to the comparison are then passed to a Location Comparison Results Module  110  in  FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 . 
     An exemplary Location Comparison Results Module  110  is depicted in  FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 . The Location Comparison Results Module  110  analyzes the proximity information obtained from the Location Comparison Module  100  in  FIGS. 1, 2 and 4  and assigns one or more results to the Wireless Device ID  121  associated with the comparison results. These results may be assigned, for example, based on the degree of proximity determined by the location comparison. The degree of proximity and the algorithm used to determine the results may vary among applications or automated activities making use of the exemplary Location Comparison Engine. The results may be attributed to and made available in a multiplicity of exemplary formats such as arithmetic rankings, scores based on an acceptable predefined distance or a Boolean expression based on a predetermined distance threshold (e.g., a “true” result if the comparison is within a predefined distance or a “false” result if the comparison is outside a predefined distance). The results may also take the form of the appropriately formatted independent locations themselves for use in a particular application. This may be the case when an application requires the locations themselves to add utility or value to the application, such as in a social networking application that may display the locations to the application users. The Location Comparison Results Module  110  depicted in  FIGS. 1, 2 and 4  may then pass the appropriately formatted results of the location comparison for a particular application along with the associated Wireless Device ID  121  to an exemplary Results Processing System  320  as depicted in  FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 . The Results Processing System  320  may reside within, or be the same as, the Activity Mediation System  300  depicted in  FIGS. 1 and 4 , or may be some other system that requires the location comparison results. The Results Processing System  320  may apply the comparison results to any type of application regardless of the results or the type of application. The results may be provided in a multiplicity of formats and used to authenticate, verify or validate a transaction or activity performed through the application, or provide some utility to an application where the results of a comparison of those locations is required. 
       FIG. 10  is an exemplary detailed information and system flow diagram representing the location comparison operation of a Location Comparison Engine, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In this exemplary information and system flow, a Wireless Device User may initially invoke some transaction or application-based activity at a Source Geographic Location  310  in  FIGS. 1 and 4 . 
     Step  400 : The Wireless Device Location Module obtains the Wireless Device ID and associated Location Position of that Wireless Device ID from the Mobile Location Server. The obtained Location Position may have been previously queried from the Mobile Location Server or may have been passed autonomously from the Mobile Location Server. 
     Step  404 : The Wireless Device Location Module passes the Wireless Device ID along with the associated Location Position to the Wireless Device Location Database. The Location Position may be associated with a Geographic Place within the Wireless Device Location Database. 
     Step  408 : The Wireless Device Location Database passes the Wireless Device ID along with the Location Position, the Geographic Place, or both to the Location Comparison Module. 
     Step  412 : The Activity Source Location Module obtains the Wireless Device ID and associated Activity Source Location of that Wireless Device ID from the Activity Mediation System. The obtained Activity Source Location may have been previously queried from the Activity Mediation System or may have been passed autonomously from the Activity Mediation System. Note that Step  412  may occur after Step  400  or before Step  400 . 
     Step  416 : The Activity Source Location Module passes the Wireless Device ID along with the associated Activity Source Location to the Activity Source Location Database. The Activity Source Location may be associated with a Geographic Place within the Activity Source Location Database. 
     Step  420 : The Activity Source Location Database passes the Wireless Device ID along with the Activity Source Location, the Geographic Place, or both to the Location Comparison Module. 
     Step  424 : The Location Comparison Module analyzes the location information obtained from both the Wireless Device Location Database and the Activity Source Location Database and sends proximity results of the analysis to the Location Comparison Results Module. 
     Step  428 : The Location Comparison Results Module obtains the location comparison results and assigns one or more values or otherwise formats the results appropriately for use in a particular application. The results, along with the associated Wireless Device ID, are then passed to the Results Processing System to effect some utility in the concerned transaction or application activity performed by the Wireless Device User. For example, if the location comparison results demonstrate close proximity of the user to the application being accessed or the activity being performed, a reasonable assertion may be made that the user is authentic, or the activity being performed is valid. In contrast, if the location comparison results demonstrate far proximity of the user to the application being accessed or the activity being performed, a reasonable assertion may be made that the user is not authentic, or the activity being performed is invalid. The present invention enables the comparison of the location of a Wireless Device with the location of the User of a Wireless Device engaging in some automated transaction or activity where the proximity of the locations compared has some utility. Examples of this utility may be to authenticate, verify or validate the User&#39;s transaction or activity such that it may be determined that the User is in fact who he claims to be, or to provide proximity information about the compared locations that may add value to some application, such as in social networking or online gaming. 
       FIG. 11  is an exemplary detailed process flow diagram representing the location comparison operation of a Location Comparison Engine, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In this exemplary process flow, a Wireless Device User may initially invoke some transaction or application-based activity at a Source Geographic Location  310  in  FIGS. 1, 4, 6, 7 and 8 . In this exemplary process flow, the User ID and Position are provided to the Activity Source Location Module  150  by the Activity Mediation System  300 . An exemplary value for the User ID may be “702-555-1234” which serves as the Wireless Device ID and, more specifically, the MDN of the Wireless Device User. An exemplary value for Position may be “200.192.12.10” and serves as a physical and geographically-based IP address of some application accessed by the Wireless Device User. Similarly, in this exemplary process flow, the Wireless Device ID and Position are provided to the Wireless Device Location Module  140  by the Wireless Network  200 . An exemplary value for the Wireless Device ID may be “702-555-1234” which serves as the MDN of the Wireless Device User. An exemplary value for Position may be “Cell Site ID” which serves as a physical and geographically-based area that may be currently serving the Wireless Device represented by the MDN. 
     The Activity Source Location Module  150  passes the User ID and Position to the Activity Source Location Database  130 . In this example, the Activity Source Location Database  130  associates the physical and geographically-based IP address with a geographically-based ZIP code, “98004,” and sets the current date and time. The date and time represents the date and time that the location of some activity accessed by the Wireless Device User occurred. Similarly, the Wireless Device Location Module  140  passes the User ID and Position to the Wireless Device Location Database  120 . In this example, the Wireless Device Location Database  120  associates the physical and geographically-based Cell Site ID with a geographically-based ZIP code, “98004,” and sets the current date and time. The date and time represents the date and time that the location of the Wireless Device was detected. The recorded date and time information may be used, for example, as the last known date and time of a Wireless Device User&#39;s location when current location information is unavailable or unobtainable. Both the Wireless device Location Database  130  and the Activity Source Location Database  130  pass the respective User IDs, in this case “702-555-1234,” and resolved locations, in this case “98004,” to the exemplary Location Comparison Module  100 . The Location Comparison Module  100  associates the respectively received locations with each other based on the common User ID “702-555-1234” and compares the two associated locations associated with that User ID. In this example, both locations have the value “98004” for the specified User ID. The Location Comparison Module  100  then calculates a Proximity Result for the comparison. In this example, the comparison reveals that the Wireless Device User and the Wireless Device are at the “same” location, that is, in ZIP code 98004. The Location Comparison Module  100  then passes the User ID “702-555-1234” and the Proximity Result “Same” to the exemplary Location Comparison Results Module  110 . The Location Comparison Results Module  110  assigns a Proximity Result Value for the received proximity result. In this example, the value “100” is assigned to a proximity result for a location comparison that reveals that the Wireless Device is in the “Same” location as the Wireless Device User. The Location Comparison Results Module  110  then passes the User ID “702-555-1234” and the Proximity Result Value “100” to some Results Processing System  320 . The Results Processing System  320  may then apply the Proximity Result Value to, for example, an authentication, verification or validation algorithm that it uses to authenticate, validate or verify the Wireless Device User&#39;s identity or automated activity being performed by the Wireless Device User. 
     In accordance with the principles of the present invention, a Location Comparison Engine is provided. The Location Comparison Engine comprises modules that obtain wireless device location from a Wireless Network as well as the location of the wireless device user from some other Activity Mediation System. The Activity Mediation System represents any data communications network or system that has the ability to derive location information about an automated activity being performed at some place. This activity may be a commercial point of sale (POS) transaction at a retail establishment, an online banking transaction from a personal computer, an e-commerce transaction from a personal computer, a computer-automated voting application, an automated alarm system, or the invocation of any automated application where geographic location information of the transaction or activity taking place may be derived. The obtained wireless device location and the wireless device user&#39;s location are compared within a Location Comparison Module. The Location Comparison Module determines the proximity of the locations being compared and passes the results of the comparison to a Location Comparison Results Module. These results are then properly formatted and sent to a Results Processing System where they may be applied to a particular application. 
     The present invention provides multiple benefits. The use of a Location Comparison Engine may significantly reduce fraudulent financial transactions protecting Wireless Device Users as well as financial institutions. It provides confirmation for any type of secure transaction by Wireless Device Users and may reduce the incidence of false positive indications of fraud using only traditional fraud detection mechanisms in use today. Additionally, results of a location comparison as described in the present invention may add utility to social networking applications or online gaming applications as it may benefit Wireless Device Users to know how close in proximity friends are who are engaging in those applications. 
     Referring to  FIG. 12 , and in an alternative embodiment, a system for and/or method of authenticating a purchaser/transactor using an integrated circuit card (ICC or “chip card”)  1210  for payment, such as an EMV credit card, using a wireless device  214  is provided. The following description and approach may likewise apply to the use of magnetic-strip cards or any other cards employing a storage medium. Such system/method functions in a manner similar to that illustrated in, and discussed herein with reference to,  FIGS. 6 and 8 . In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 12 , Geographic Area  1220  is substituted for its counterpart Geographic Areas  500  and  550  of  FIGS. 6 and 8 , respectively. 
     The MDN of the wireless device  214  of the user  310  is, prior to using the card in a transaction, provided to the payment card issuer and stored in an application data file on the integrated circuit (“chip”) either when the card  1210  is originally manufactured or via a secure chip update process which includes verification of the customer&#39;s identity. The wireless device  214  is used to authenticate the user  310 , and the wireless device communicates with a wireless network  200  via a wireless interface. 
     More specifically, the MDN of the wireless device  214  is stored directly on the chip of an integrated circuit payment card  1210 , thereby making the MDN available for use in authenticating the true identity of users attempting to make a transaction using the payment card. 
     When the user  310  uses a chip card at  1210  a merchant&#39;s chip-card payment terminal  1230 , an electronic exchange of information is initiated whereby the terminal supplies the card with any data elements requested by the card and the chip card provides the payment terminal with the application data files requested by the terminal. Examples of information stored on the integrated circuit chip of card  1210  and passed to the payment terminal  1230  are:
         Primary Account Number (PAN), also known as the credit card number   First predetermined variable number of characters of the cardholder&#39;s last name   First predetermined variable number of characters of the cardholder&#39;s first name   Card expiration date   PIN verification data   Integrated Circuit (IC) Chip Card Verification Value (also referred to as Chip CVC, iCVV, CAV3 or iCSC)   Proprietary data used by the card issuer       

     In addition, the MDN stored on the integrated circuit chip of card  1210  can be passed to the payment terminal  1230 . 
     The terminal  1230  maintains a geographically-based physical data address that may be an IP address in the format XX.XX.XX.XX or some other proprietary data communications address used by terminal or financial institution associated with the terminal. In this example, the terminal  1230  is within some Geographic Area  1220  represented by the geographically-based physical data communications address. The Activity Mediation System  300  may support the terminal application being accessed by the Wireless Device User  310 . 
     The Wireless device User  310  may provide, for example, a Mobile Directory Number (MDN) to serve as a Wireless Device ID while accessing the terminal application, or may have previously provided the MDN that may be registered or otherwise stored within a personal profile accessed by the terminal application. 
     As the Wireless Device User  310  proceeds within the terminal application, a need for the Activity Mediation System  300  to authenticate, validate, or verify that Wireless Device User  310 , or the activity invoked by the Wireless Device User  310 , may occur, for example, to process a purchase transaction. 
     In this example, the Activity Mediation System  300  passes the Wireless Device User&#39;s  310  MDN and physical data communications address of the terminal  1230  to the exemplary Location Comparison Engine. The Location Comparison Engine may subsequently request the location of the Wireless Device  214  from the Wireless Network  200 . To facilitate the location request from the Wireless Network  200 , the MDN of the Wireless Device  214  previously obtained from the Activity Mediation System  300  may be used. In this embodiment of the present invention, the Location Comparison Engine receives the requested location of the Wireless Device  214  from the Wireless Network  200  and compares that location with the physical data communications address received from the Activity Mediation System  300 . This comparison is initiated, invoked and performed, for example, as described for  FIGS. 1, 2, and 4  using databases as described for  FIGS. 3 and 5 . 
     The exemplary Location Comparison Results Module  110  may then assign a result to the location comparison. As the Wireless Device User  310  accessing the terminal  1230  is within the same Geographic Area  1220  as the Wireless Device  214 , the Location Comparison Results Module  110 , assigns a result indicating that the Wireless Device User  310  is within the same Geographic Area  1220  as the Wireless Device  214 . The Location Comparison Results Module  110  may then provide these results to the Results Processing System  320 , which, in this example, resides as part of the Activity Mediation System  300 . 
     The exemplary Activity Mediation System  300  may use the obtained location comparison results to, for example, demonstrate some degree of positive authentication, verification or validation of the Wireless Device User  310 , or the terminal  1230  transaction activity being performed by the Wireless Device User  310 , as it may be reasonable to assume that the Wireless Device User  310  who owns the Wireless Device  214  has the device with him. 
     In an embodiment, information passed to the payment terminal  1230  from the chip card  1210 , including the MDN, as well as transaction information from the point of sale terminal such as merchant ID, merchant city, merchant postal code, transaction amount, transaction currency code and/or transaction date and time, may be transmitted via a payment processing network to the merchant&#39;s bank computer application or systems, which in turn may transmit it to the card association (e.g., credit card companies such as Visa®, MasterCard®, etc.) computer application or systems, which may in turn transmit it to the card issuer for transaction authorization. 
     The transaction authorization computer application or system performs an authentication function to ensure that the user of the chip card is in fact the legitimate cardholder. An example of this authentication function is a comparison of the location of the cardholder&#39;s wireless device with the location of the merchant. The location of the cardholder&#39;s wireless device can be acquired through a variety of means, including querying the wireless network serving the user&#39;s wireless device and/or acquiring location directly from smart phones via a mobile app. The wireless network query or smart phone mobile app location mapping is based upon the user&#39;s MDN stored on the chip. The location of the user&#39;s wireless device can then be compared with the location of the merchant, the geolocation of which is derived from the merchant city or postal code. 
     In a manner at least similar to approaches described above herein, the computer application or system receives the location comparison and determines whether, based on these results, the payment card transaction should be authorized or declined. The determination of authentication is made based on multiple factors such as distance between the user&#39;s wireless device location and/or the merchant&#39;s location or distance between the user&#39;s wireless device location and/or the merchant&#39;s location within a practical period of time since the previous authentication event. 
     Alternatively, because the liability shifts from card issuers to merchants and/or cardholders in regions where card associations mandate use of integrated circuit cards and because the cardholder&#39;s MDN is stored on the chip and passed to the card association as part of the payment processing data flow, card associations may also authenticate users via a wireless device on behalf of or in addition to the card issuer. 
     To further authenticate that the chip card verification process has not been compromised, the computer application or systems can compare the MDN passed from the chip card as part of the payment authorization request with the MDN previously stored for a user in a cardholder profile database by at least one of the card association or card issuer based on previous authorized transactions. 
     The authentication result can be returned as a declarative result (e.g., authorized/not authorized) and/or a fraud risk score indicating the relative risk that the transaction is fraudulent. 
     An embodiment includes a system and/or method for authenticating a person using a smartphone mobile wallet equipped with a short-range wireless communication capability for payment of goods and/or services purchased on an online website using a wireless device is provided. The user&#39;s wireless device Mobile Directory Number (MDN) is previously provided to the payment card issuer and stored on a Secure Element on the smartphone via a secure data update process managed by a trusted party, such as a Trusted Service Manager (TSM), which includes verification of the customer&#39;s identity. The computing device used for online purchases is also equipped with a short-range wireless communication capability and a Secure Element on which the same Mobile Directory Number is written via a secure data update process. A wireless device is used to authenticate a user and the wireless device communicates with a wireless network via a wireless interface. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 6 , and according to an embodiment, a personal desktop computer, laptop computer or tablet computer, such as Personal Computer  510 , may be equipped with a short-range wireless communication capability, such as a near field communication (NFC) chip, a payment processing application and/or an embedded Secure Element, a chip that can host applications that manage sensitive data. The computing device  510  used to make the online purchase can be referred to as the “purchasing device”. 
     The Mobile Directory Number (MDN) of the user  310  is stored on both the Secure Element on the purchasing device, as well as a Secure Element on the smartphone (e.g., wireless device  214 ). 
     An online transaction, according to an embodiment, can be secured as follows: 
     The cardholder enters their payment information on a merchant web site payment page. Examples of payment information typically requested by an online merchant are:
         Primary Account Number (PAN), also known as the credit card number   Cardholder Name as it appears on the physical card or as stored in the mobile wallet   Card expiration date   Cardholder billing address       

     Alternatively, the cardholder may choose to store their payment information as a payment profile on the merchant e-Commerce computer system to avoid entry of payment information for each online purchase. In this case, the cardholder selects a pre-existing payment profile on the merchant website payment page rather than manually entering their payment information. 
     The merchant website also prompts the user for a one-time password. When prompted for a one-time password, the cardholder waves or taps the smartphone over the short-range wireless communication receiver on the purchasing device, initiating an electronic exchange of information whereby the purchasing device payment application supplies the smartphone mobile wallet application with any data elements requested by the smartphone mobile wallet application, and the smartphone mobile wallet application provides the purchasing device payment application with any data elements requested by the purchasing device payment application via short-range radio waves. One data element passed from the smartphone mobile wallet application to the purchasing device payment application is the cardholder&#39;s Mobile Directory Number (MDN). 
     The payment processing application on the purchasing device compares the MDN passed from the smartphone Secure Element to that stored in the purchasing device Secure Element to verify that the smartphone mobile wallet is approved for use on the purchasing device and that the smartphone mobile wallet was proximate to the purchasing device at the point of purchase. 
     If the smartphone mobile wallet is verified by the purchasing device, the smartphone mobile wallet application generates a one-time password (OTP) which uses a mathematical algorithm to embed the geographical coordinates (latitude, longitude) of the current location of the smartphone within the OTP. The OTP is displayed on the smartphone by the mobile wallet application for viewing by the cardholder. 
     Alternatively, if the purchasing device has geo-positioning capabilities such that it has direct knowledge of its approximate geographical coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude on the Earth&#39;s surface) and which is not derived from 3rd party sources such as IP geolocation (geolocation of IP address of the user&#39;s browser), a secure wallet application on the Secure Element of the purchasing device can generate a one-time password (OTP) that uses a mathematical algorithm to embed the geographical coordinates (latitude, longitude) of the current location of the purchasing device within the OTP. The OTP is displayed on the purchasing device by the secure wallet application for viewing by the cardholder. 
     The cardholder enters the OTP on the merchant website payment page and submits the payment information to the online merchant. 
     Information entered by the cardholder and passed to the merchant via the website, including the OTP, as well as transaction information from the merchant payment processing system such as merchant ID, merchant city, merchant postal code, transaction amount, transaction currency code and transaction date and time, is transmitted via a payment processing network to the merchant&#39;s bank computer application or systems, which in turn transmits it to the card association/scheme (e.g. Visa, MasterCard) computer application or systems, which in turn transmits it to the card issuer for transaction authorization. 
     The transaction authorization computer application or system performs an authentication function to ensure that the user of the smartphone mobile wallet is in fact the legitimate cardholder and to ensure that the electronic commerce message passed from the purchasing device to the merchant website has not been compromised by means such as a man-in-the-middle attack. An example of this authentication function is a comparison of the location of the cardholder&#39;s wireless device with the geographical coordinates embedded in the OTP. The location of the cardholder&#39;s wireless device can be acquired through a variety of means, including querying the wireless network serving the user&#39;s wireless device and acquiring location directly from smart phones via a mobile app. The wireless network query or smart phone mobile app location mapping is based upon the user&#39;s MDN stored on the Secure Element on the smartphone and the Secure Element on the purchasing device, which must match. The location of the user&#39;s wireless device can then be compared with the location embedded within the OTP. 
     The computer application or system receives the location comparison and determines whether, based on these results, the online smartphone mobile wallet transaction should be authorized or declined. The determination of authentication is made based on multiple factors such as distance between the user&#39;s wireless device location and the geographical coordinates embedded within the OTP within a practical period of time since the previous authentication event. 
     An embodiment of the present invention includes protocols designed to secure online card transactions offered to merchants and issuers by card associations, such as the 3-D Secure protocol, that are enhanced to accept the OTP with embedded geographical coordinates in lieu of the user&#39;s 3-D Secure password to secure online transactions. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the cardholder payment information may be stored on the Secure Element on the purchasing device in addition to the smartphone mobile wallet. After the smartphone mobile wallet is authenticated by the purchasing device, the merchant website payment page could read the payment information from the purchasing device Secure Element and pass the encrypted data elements, including the cardholder Mobile Directory Number, via a payment processing network to the card issuer for decryption and subsequent use in authenticating users via a wireless device. 
     Alternatively, because the cardholder&#39;s MDN is stored on the purchasing device Secure Element and passed to the card association/scheme as part of the payment processing data flow, card associations/schemes may also authenticate users via a wireless device on behalf of or in addition to the card issuer. 
     To further authenticate that the online smartphone mobile wallet verification process has not been compromised, the computer application or systems can compare the MDN passed from the purchasing device as part of the payment authorization request with the MDN previously stored for a user in a cardholder profile database by either the card association/scheme or card issuer based on previous authorized transactions. 
     The authentication result can be returned as either a declarative result (e.g. authorized, not authorized) or a fraud risk score indicating the relative risk that the transaction is fraudulent. 
     In an embodiment, the user&#39;s wireless device is considered to be representative of the user&#39;s true identity. By storing the user&#39;s wireless device Mobile Directory Number directly on the Secure Element of the purchasing device and smartphone mobile wallet, it is ensured to be available for use in authenticating the true identity of users attempting to make a payment card transaction online. 
     While the invention has been described with reference to the exemplary embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will be able to make various modifications to the described embodiments of the invention without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.