Geofence compositions

• US 10,136,251 B2
• Filed: 11/28/2013
• Issued: 11/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Parab, Namita, Koukoumidis, Emmanouil, Bryar, Norm
• Primary Examiner(s): Figueroa, Marisol
• Application Number:
  US14/092,967
• Publication Number:
  US 20150148060A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,818 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences

Abstract

Architecture that enables geofence combinations and compositions where multiple correlated geofences are generated for an entity such as a point of interest. The geofences can have varying radii relative to a specific entity and represent distinct areas or aspects of the entity. The geofences can relate to correspondingly different categories to which the entity can belong. The geofences can be of differing shapes than circular, such as polygons (e.g., rectangles, squares, etc.). Moreover, these differently shaped geofences can be applied to a single entity. Each geofence of a geofence set associated with an entity can be assigned to represent different parts of an entity such as a part a shopping mall. Geofence composition is obtained by combining multiple primitive geofences to compose more complex geofence(s) for an entity and for embedding the relationship of the primitive geofences into such compositions.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, perform a method, comprising;

identifying multiple different characteristics of an entity;

automatically generate multiple geofences for the entity based on the multiple different characteristics, wherein one or more parameters of at least one of the multiple geofences is based, at least in part, on at least one characteristic of the multiple characteristics;

automatically apply the geofences to the entity relative to a specific geographical point of the entity;

triggering at least one geofence of the multiple geofences based on a detected location of a device; and

automatically generate and provide a message to the device when the at least one geofence of the multiple geofences has been triggered.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising instructions for generating the multiple geofences based, at least in part, on modes of transport used relative to the entity.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising instructions for scaling at least one geofence of the multiple geofences based, at least in part, on one or more scale factors.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising instructions for receiving representation data that indicates what each geofence represents relative to the entity.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising instructions for combining the multiple geofences into a single complex geofence.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising instructions for embedding relationship information of the multiple geofences as part of a composition of the multiple geofences.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising instructions for assigning one or more geofences to different categories to which the entity belongs.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the multiple characteristics are obtained from data sources associated with social check-in data, crowd-sourcing, and social events.

9. A method, comprising:

identifying multiple different characteristics of an entity;

automatically generating multiple geofences for the entity based, at least in part, on at least one of the multiple different characteristics, wherein one or more parameters of at least one of the multiple geofences is based, at least in part, on at least one characteristic of the multiple characteristics;

automatically associating each geofence of the multiple geofences to a specific geographical point of the entity based, at least in part, on the at least one of the multiple different characteristics;

generating a notification when an electronic device is within a threshold distance of a boundary of at least one geofence of the multiple geofences; and

automatically providing the notification to the electronic device when the electronic device is within the threshold distance of the boundary of the least one geofence.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising generating circular geofences of different radii based on corresponding different characteristics of the entity and applying the circular geofences concentrically on the geographical point.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising generating the multiple geofences according to correspondingly different modes of transport.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising generating the multiple geofences according to correspondingly different categories to which the entity belongs.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising specifying scale factors for the geofences of the entity.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising assigning one or more of the characteristics to each geofence.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising generating a composite geofence as a composition of multiple geofences associated with the entity.

16. A computer-readable hardware storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a microprocessor, perform a method, comprising:

automatically generate multiple geofences for an entity based on one or more identified characteristics associated with a type of the entity;

specifying parameters for the multiple geofences based, at least in part, on the one or more identified characteristics;

automatically applying the multiple geofences to the entity relative to a specific geographical point of the entity;

detecting a triggering of at least one geofence of the multiple geofences based, at least in part, on a geographical location of an electronic device relative to the entity;

automatically generating a notification associated with the triggered geofence; and

providing the notification to the electronic device.

17. The computer-readable hardware storage medium of claim 16, further comprising instructions for specifying parameters related to scale factors of the multiple geofences.

18. The computer-readable hardware storage medium of claim 16, further comprising instructions for generating a composition geofence that is a composition of the multiple geofences.

19. The computer-readable hardware storage medium of claim 16, further comprising instructions for managing the triggering of the at least one geofence based, at least in part, on a type of the at least one geofence relative to a type of a second geofence of the multiple geofences.

20. The computer-readable hardware storage medium of claim 16, wherein the notification is one of an alert, a coupon, a traffic condition notification, a road condition notification, and an environmental condition.