Performing selective operations based on mobile device locations

• US 10,282,684 B2
• Filed: 04/10/2015
• Issued: 05/07/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Truong, Michael, Proctor, Iain
• Primary Examiner(s): Edwards, Jerrah
• Application Number:
  US14/683,828
• Publication Number:
  US 20160253617A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,488 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3822 specially adapted for use in vehicles H04B1/3827 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 10/50 Systems or methods supporting the power network operation or management, involving a certain degree of interaction with the load-side end user applications

Abstract

A system for performing selective operations based on location data provided by mobile computing devices is disclosed. The system can receive location information from individual mobile computing devices and can detect when a certain event occurs in connection with a mobile computing device, where the event is related to a particular geographic region. Based on whether the event occurs, the system can perform an operation for or in relation to the mobile computing device.

Claims

1. A method for operating a computer system to arrange transport services, the method comprising:

communicating, over a network by the computer system, with a plurality of mobile computing devices that are each associated with a corresponding driver of a plurality of drivers providing transport services, each of the plurality of mobile computing devices executing a service application to programmatically interface and communicate with the computer system;

wherein communicating over the network includes continuously tracking, by the computer system in real-time, (i) a most recent location of each of the plurality of mobile computing devices, and (ii) an operational state of the service application executing on each of the plurality of mobile computing devices, the operational state being one of multiple possible operational states, including a first operational state that indicates whether the corresponding driver is available to provide transport and a second operational state that indicates whether the corresponding driver is assigned to provide transport, wherein the respective locations of the plurality of mobile computing devices are tracked by monitoring data from one or more location detection sensors of the plurality of mobile computing devices;

for each driver of the plurality of drivers, making a determination, by the computer system, to subject the driver to one of multiple sets of rules, including a default set of rules and an alternative set of rules that are associated with a geofenced area, wherein for each driver, the computer system makes the determination based at least in part on the most recent location of the mobile computing device of the driver relative to the geofenced area, and the operational state of the service application executing on the mobile computing device of the driver;

for each of the plurality of drivers that is subject to the alternative set of rules, adding, by the computer system, an identifier of the driver to a queue in which multiple drivers are identified by respective identifiers in an order that reflects a relative time when the identifier of the driver was added to the queue;

over a given duration, arranging, by the computer system, a respective transport service for each of a plurality of requests;

wherein for a first request of the plurality of requests in which a respective pickup location is within the geofenced area, the computer system arranges the respective transport service by (i) selecting one of the plurality of drivers that is subject to the alternative set of rules, based on the order of the respective identifiers of the queue and not on a proximity of individual drivers of the plurality of drivers to the respective pickup location of the first request, (ii) communicating the respective pickup location of the first request to the mobile computing device of the selected driver, and (iii) monitoring the selected driver in providing the respective transport service for the first request;

wherein for a second request of the plurality of requests in which a respective pickup location is outside of the geofenced area, the computer system arranges the respective transport service by (i) selecting one of the plurality of drivers that is subject to the default set of rules, based at least in part on a proximity of the selected driver to the respective pickup location of the second request, (ii) communicating the respective pickup location of the second request to the mobile computing device of the selected driver, and (iii) monitoring the selected driver in providing the respective transport service for the second request.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a record to count a number of times each of the plurality of drivers enter the geofenced area.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a record to count a number of pickups and drop-offs performed by each of the plurality of drivers within the geofenced area in the given duration.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining the alternative set of rules by accessing a database that stores information about the geofenced area, the information including an identifier of an entity associated with the geofenced area.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein making the determination is based at least in part on a period of time in which the driver is located within the geofenced area.

6. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to:

communicate, over a network by the computer system, with a plurality of mobile computing devices that are each associated with a corresponding driver of a plurality of drivers providing transport services, each of the plurality of mobile computing devices executing a service application to programmatically interface and communicate with the computer system;

wherein communicating over the network includes continuously tracking, by the computer system in real-time, (i) a most recent location of each of the plurality of mobile computing devices, and (ii) an operational state of the service application executing on each of the plurality of mobile computing devices, the operational state being one of multiple possible operational states, including a first operational state that indicates whether the corresponding driver is available to provide transport and a second operational state that indicates whether the corresponding driver is assigned to provide transport, wherein the respective locations of the plurality of mobile computing devices are tracked by monitoring data from one or more location detection sensors;

for each driver of the plurality of drivers, make a determination, by the computer system, to subject the driver to one of multiple sets of rules, including a default set of rules and an alternative set of rules that are associated with a geofenced area, wherein for each driver, the computer system makes the determination based at least in part on the most recent location of the mobile computing device of the driver relative to the geofenced area, and the operational state of the service application executing on the mobile computing device of the driver;

for each of the plurality of drivers that is subject to the alternative set of rules, add, by the computer system, an identifier of the driver to a queue in which multiple drivers are identified by respective identifiers in an order that reflects a relative time when the identifier of the driver was added to the queue;

over a given duration, arrange, by the computer system, a respective transport service for each of a plurality of requests;

wherein for a first request of the plurality of requests in which a respective pickup location is within the geofenced area, the computer system arranges the respective transport service by (i) selecting one of the plurality of drivers that is subject to the alternative set of rules, based on the order of the respective identifiers of the queue and not on a proximity of individual drivers of the plurality of drivers to the respective pickup location of the first request, (ii) communicating the respective pickup location of the first request to the mobile computing device of the selected driver, and (iii) monitoring the selected driver in providing the respective transport service for the first request;

wherein for a second request of the plurality of requests in which a respective pickup location is outside of the geofenced area, the computer system arranges the respective transport service by (i) selecting one of the plurality of drivers that is subject to the default set of rules based at least in part on a proximity of the selected driver to the respective pickup location of the second request, (ii) communicating the respective pickup location to the mobile computing device of the selected driver, and (iii) monitoring the selected driver in providing the respective transport service for the second request.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6, further comprising instructions, which when executed by the computer system, cause the computer system to:

generate a record to count a number of times each of the plurality of drivers enter the geofenced area.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6, further comprising instructions, which when executed by the computer system, cause the computer system to:

generate a record to count a number of pickups and drop-offs performed by each of the plurality of drivers within the geofenced area for providing transport services in the given duration.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6, further comprising instructions, which when executed by the computer system, cause the computer system to:

determine the alternative set of rules by accessing a database that stores information about the geofenced area, the information including an identifier of an entity associated with the geofenced area.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein making the determination is based at least in part on a period of time during which the driver is located within the geofenced area.

11. A service arrangement system comprising:

a memory to store a set of instructions;

one or more processors that use the set of instructions to;

communicate, over a network, with a plurality of mobile computing devices that are each associated with a corresponding driver of a plurality of drivers providing transport services, each of the plurality of mobile computing devices executing a service application to programmatically interface and communicate with the service arrangement system;

wherein the one or more processors communicate over the network by continuously tracking, in real-time, (i) a most recent location of each of the plurality of mobile computing devices, and (ii) an operational state of the service application executing on each of the plurality of mobile computing devices, the operational state being one of multiple possible operational states, including a first operational state that indicates whether the corresponding driver is available to provide transport and a second operational state that indicates whether the corresponding driver is assigned to provide transport, wherein the respective locations of the plurality of mobile computing devices are tracked by monitoring data from one or more location detection sensors;

for each driver of the plurality of drivers, make a determination to subject the driver to one of multiple sets of rules, including a default set of rules and an alternative set of rules that are associated with a geofenced area, wherein for each driver, the one or more processors make the determination based at least in part on the most recent location of the mobile computing device of the driver relative to the geofenced area, and the operational state of the service application executing on the mobile computing device of the driver;

for each of the plurality of drivers that is subject to the alternative set of rules, add an identifier of the driver to a queue in which multiple drivers are identified by respective identifiers in an order that reflects a relative time when the identifier of the respective driver was added to the queue;

over a given duration, arrange, by the one or more processors, a respective transport service for each of a plurality of requests;

wherein for a first request of the plurality of requests in which a respective pickup location is within the geofenced area, the one or more processors arrange the respective transport service by (i) selecting one of the plurality of drivers that is subject to the alternative set of rules based on the order of the respective identifiers of the queue and not on a proximity of individual drivers of the plurality of drivers to the respective pickup location of the first request, and (ii) communicating the respective pickup location of the first request to the mobile computing device of the selected driver, and (iii) monitoring the selected driver in providing the respective transport service for the first request;

wherein for a second request of the plurality of requests in which a respective pickup location is outside of the geofenced area, the one or more processors arrange the respective transport service by (i) selecting one of the plurality of drivers that is subject to the default set of rules based at least in part on a proximity of the selected driver to the respective pickup location of the second request, (ii) communicating the respective pickup location to the mobile computing device of the selected driver, and (iii) monitoring the selected driver in providing the respective transport service for the second request.

12. The service arrangement system of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors further use the set of instructions to:

generate a record to count a number of times each of the plurality of drivers enter the geofenced area to provide transport services.

13. The service arrangement system of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors further use the set of instructions to:

generate a record to count a number of pickups and drop-offs performed by each of the plurality of drivers within the geofenced area.

14. The service arrangement system of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors further use the set of instructions to:

determine the alternative set of rules by accessing a database that stores information about the geofenced area, the information including an identifier of an entity associated with the geofenced area.

15. The service arrangement system of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors make the determination based at least in part on a period of time in which the driver is located within the geofenced area.