Patent ID: 8565763

Claim:
A method, comprising: storing, by a user device, information regarding geographic locations of a plurality of dead zones; determining, by the user device, whether the user device is located within a particular dead zone, of the plurality of dead zones, where determining whether the user device is located within the particular dead zone includes: determining whether a geographic location of the user device is within a geographic area associated with the particular dead zone, where determining whether the geographic location of the user device is within the geographic area associated with the particular dead zone includes: comparing the geographic location of the user device to the stored information regarding the geographic locations of the plurality of dead zones; periodically searching, by the user device and using a first process, for a cellular tower of a cellular network when the user device is not located within the particular dead zone; and periodically searching, by the user device and using a second process, for a cellular tower of the cellular network when the user device is located within the particular dead zone, where the second process consumes less power of the user device than the first process.