Patent ID: 10257641

Abstract:
The present application relates to a method whereby the communication traffic between a wireless communication apparatus such as a smartphone and another device such as a map information providing server and/or server managed by mobile virtual network operator MVNO. According to a first aspect, the communication traffic can be reduced by dividing items of geographical information that are sent to the smartphone are divided into static information and dynamic information and the two types of information are separately processed in that the map data is updated less often than information such as traffic congestion, weather information or the congestion level of a base station. According to a second aspect, congestion information is derived by averaging over time the number of vehicles which pass through a certain point. According to a third aspect, the updating interval, i.e. the frequency by which new information will be downloaded from the server, is adapted to degree of change of the dynamic information over time. According to a fourth aspect, the updating interval is adapted to the movement speed of the smartphone. According to a fifth aspect, download rates of a communication carrier are displayed on top of a map, thereby providing some sort of geobrowsing. According to a sixth aspect, an MVNO informs its subscribers about base station related information, such as signal intensity and the base station's congestion level. According to a seventh aspect, the smartphone selects, on the basis of the various items of information received, another network, either manually or automatically.