Methods and apparatus for determining and using enclosure state information

Abstract

An enclosure state, e.g., enclosed or not enclosed, of a communications device is determined based upon one or more of: i) a selected set of environmental sensor measurements, performed by the communications device, ii) a corresponding set of expected outdoor environmental conditions, e.g., sourced from a weather server, iii) weighting factors corresponding to each of the environmental conditions, and/or iv) a threshold value. The communications device performs one or more actions based on the determined enclosure state, enclosed, e.g. indoors, or not enclosed, e.g. outdoors. Exemplary actions include controlling a transmitter or receiver setting, communicating the enclosure state determination to an emergency responder or controlling an application resident on the communications device based on the determined enclosure state. Various exemplary actions contribute to efficient use of communications device resources, e.g., battery power and air link resources and/or contribute to increasing efficiency and/or safety with regard to emergency responses.