Qualcomm · Networking · Filed Mar 20, 2025 · USPTO published Nov 12, 2026 · This week's release

Qualcomm Files Patent for Phones That Change How They Locate You by Area

Qualcomm's patent application describes a phone that changes how it works out your location depending on which area of the network you are in. AI models are one of the options.

By Patentlyze Team · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · 3 min read

A phone moving across neighborhoods covered by different cell towers to change how it tracks its location. Drawing from patent filing US 2026/0362370 A1. — A phone moving across neighborhoods covered by different cell towers to change how it tracks its location.All 20 drawings ↓

Publication number: US 2026/0362370 A1(US20260362370A1)
Applicant: QUALCOMM Incorporated
Filed · Published: Mar 20, 2025 · Nov 12, 2026
Inventors: Alexandros MANOLAKOS, Mukesh KUMAR, Srinivas YERRAMALLI
Status when we published: Examiner raised objections; the company can respond
Document: 20 claims
US classification: 455/456.1
Examiner: WYCHE, MYRON (Art Unit 2644)
Parent application: National Stage Entry of PCT/US2023/037241 (filed Nov 14, 2023)(PCTUS2023037241)

What Qualcomm's area-by-area location plan does

You walk out of a mall, cross a parking lot, and head down a busy street while your phone keeps track of where you are. The trouble is that no single way of finding you works well everywhere. Satellite signals are great in the open and weak indoors, and a method that works in one neighborhood can be off by a lot in the next.

Qualcomm's patent application describes a way for the network to tell your phone, ahead of time, which location method to use in which area. Each area gets a label, and each label is paired with a method, which can be an AI model or an older, traditional technique. As you cross from one area into the next, your phone switches on its own.

Your phone then reports back what it found. The goal is better accuracy where it counts and less battery wasted where a simpler method will do.

From the filing · CLAIM 1

obtain a request to perform a set of positioning methods for at least one area identifier (ID) in a set of area IDs associated with one or more areas …

Translation: Your phone receives instructions on which tracking methods to use depending on your general location.

How the network hands your phone a method per area

In cellular networks, the phone (the patent calls it a user equipment, or UE) can be located several ways, and a server called the location management function (LMF) usually does the math. This filing adds an area ID, a label tied to a list of cell towers or transmission points (the radio sites your phone talks to). Each label is paired with the location method that suits that area.

The network sends a request that carries this setup. When the phone is connected to a tower inside a labeled area, it runs the matching method and then reports to the network:

At the end of the positioning session, or
Each time the area label changes.

The methods can be AI-based or traditional. A direct AI model outputs a position estimate itself. An AI-assisted model outputs measurements, such as signal strength or whether there is a clear line of sight to the tower, for the network to use. Traditional options include signal timing methods, angle of departure (the direction a signal leaves a tower), satellite positioning and Bluetooth.

The phone can also tell the network how many AI models it can run at once (the description gives one, two or three as examples) and send a ranked list of methods it favors.

From the filing · THE ABSTRACT

… perform at least one positioning method of the set of positioning methods based on the UE being within one area of the one or more areas associated with the set of area IDs …

Translation: The device runs the specific tracking techniques once it confirms you have entered a designated zone.

Why your battery and your map dot might care

Phone location feeds maps, emergency services and finding lost devices, and every method trades accuracy against battery. Matching the method to the area could let your phone use a power-hungry approach only where it pays off. The description also points to more AI models showing up on both the phone and network side, and this is a way to organize which one runs where. You would notice it, if at all, as small gains in battery life or accuracy.

The examiner's first review rejected the claims as filed. That is routine at this stage and usually followed by amendments, so nothing here is approved.

Qualcomm's 591st filing in our Qualcomm coverage since May adds to a pattern that includes a smarter upload predictor and gaze-based car alerts.

Editorial take

Claim 1 is wide. It asks for a phone that receives a request tying location methods to area labels, runs a method while it sits in a matching area, and then reports back to the network. Nothing in that claim requires AI. The AI models appear only in the later claims, starting with claim 3.

So the core idea on paper is simple bookkeeping: label areas, attach a method to each label, report what happened. If granted as written, that wording would cover any phone and network that split location work up by area, whether the methods are AI models, satellites or Bluetooth. The first rejection is routine, and a claim this wide may well change before any approval.

As a product idea it is sensible and a little dull: your phone uses whatever works best where you are standing. The most interesting detail sits in the dependent claims, where the phone tells the network how many AI models it can run at once.

Source: US 2026/0362370 A1 at the USPTO (PDF). Full patent text and figures are in the official publication.

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The drawings · 20 sheets

20 drawing sheets from US 2026/0362370 A1 · click any drawing to enlarge

Connecting phones and cellular towers across a mobile network, drawing sheet 1 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 1 Connecting phones and cellular towers across a mobile network

Organizing cellular radio signals into upload and download slots, drawing sheet 2 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 2 Organizing cellular radio signals into upload and download slots

Internal antennas and processing chips inside a phone and tower, drawing sheet 3 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 3 Internal antennas and processing chips inside a phone and tower

Calculating phone position from radio signal angles and travel time, drawing sheet 4 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 4 Calculating phone position from radio signal angles and travel time

Using multiple towers at once to pinpoint a phone, drawing sheet 5 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 5 Using multiple towers at once to pinpoint a phone

Steps a phone and network take to measure location signals, drawing sheet 6 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 6 Steps a phone and network take to measure location signals

Tracking a phone as it moves across distinct coverage zones, drawing sheet 7 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 7 Tracking a phone as it moves across distinct coverage zones

Training and updating AI models using live network signal data, drawing sheet 8 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 8 Training and updating AI models using live network signal data

Show the other 12 sheets

A phone traveling across zones that use different location techniques, drawing sheet 9 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 9 A phone traveling across zones that use different location techniques

Four distinct zones mapped to specific location tools or AI, drawing sheet 10 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 10 Four distinct zones mapped to specific location tools or AI

Options for sending location reports once or after crossing zones, drawing sheet 11 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 11 Options for sending location reports once or after crossing zones

Matching location models across zones to what a phone supports, drawing sheet 12 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 12 Matching location models across zones to what a phone supports

Network messages that track phone movement, drawing sheet 13 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 13 Network messages that track phone movement

Steps a phone takes to report its position, drawing sheet 14 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 14 Steps a phone takes to report its position

Detailed phone steps for sharing preferences and updating new zones, drawing sheet 15 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 15 Detailed phone steps for sharing preferences and updating new zones

Network steps for assigning tracking methods and collecting reports, drawing sheet 16 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 16 Network steps for assigning tracking methods and collecting reports

How the cellular network asks a phone for regional updates, drawing sheet 17 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 17 How the cellular network asks a phone for regional updates

Internal phone components that measure signals and switch tracking modes, drawing sheet 18 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 18 Internal phone components that measure signals and switch tracking modes

Cell tower hardware split into radio and processing units, drawing sheet 19 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 19 Cell tower hardware split into radio and processing units

Network servers that coordinate location tracking across cell towers, drawing sheet 20 from US 2026/0362370 A1 — Sheet 20 Network servers that coordinate location tracking across cell towers

The drawings · 20 sheets

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