System and method for providing dynamic supply positioning for on-demand services

• US 10,313,832 B2
• Filed: 10/23/2017
• Issued: 06/04/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Lin, Hungyu Henry, Kalanick, Travis Cordell, Wang, Emily
• Primary Examiner(s): Elhag, Magdi
• Application Number:
  US15/790,227
• Publication Number:
  US 20180109922A1
• Time in Patent Office: 589 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0205 Location or geographical consideration
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/10 Services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/025 using location based information parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A method for providing on-demand service information is provided. One or more processors determine, for a given geographic region, position information for each of a plurality of requesters for an on-demand service and position information for each of a plurality of service providers that can provide the on-demand service. A plurality of sub-regions is identified for the given geographic region. Based, at least in part, on the position information of the requesters and the service providers, one or more sub-regions are determined as being under-supplied by the plurality of service providers as compared to one or more other sub-regions. Information identifying the under-supplied sub-regions are provided to one or more service provider devices.

Claims

1. A system for providing service information for an on-demand service, the system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memory resources storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to;

receive user information from a plurality of user devices in a geographic region, the user information generated from a service application running on each of the plurality of user devices and including (i) a location of the user device, (ii) a first indication that a respective user operating the user device launched the service application within a given window of time, and (iii) a second indication of whether the respective user has made a request for service;

during the given window of time, for each of multiple sub-regions of the geographic region, determine, based on the location, the first indication, and the second indication included with the user information received from the plurality of user devices, a number of potential requesting user devices located within that sub-region on which the service application is running without a corresponding request for service having been made from that user device;

for the given window of time, determine one or more undersupplied sub-regions of the multiple sub-regions based at least in part on the number of potential requesting devices for the one or more undersupplied sub-regions; and

communicate, to one or more provider devices of providers within the geographic region, data to display a visual indicator identifying the one or more undersupplied sub-regions for the given window of time.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more memory resources store further instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to:

receive provider information from the one or more provider devices in the geographic region, the provider information generated from a provider service application running on each of the one or more provider devices and including (i) a location of the provider device, and (ii) an indication of whether a respective provider operating the provider device is available to provide service; and

wherein the one or more processors determine the one or more undersupplied sub-regions based at least in part on the provider information.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more processors determine a number of provider devices in each of the multiple sub-regions of the geographic region during the given window of time based on the location of each provider device.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the one or more processors determine the one or more undersupplied sub-regions based at least in part on a comparison of the number of potential requesting devices for each sub-region and the number of provider devices.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more processors determine a number of available provider devices in each of the multiple sub-regions of the geographic region during the given window of time based on the location of each provider device.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the one or more processors determine the one or more undersupplied sub-regions based at least in part on a comparison of the number of potential requesting devices for each sub-region and the number of available provider devices.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the given window of time is upcoming, and wherein the one or more processors predict the one or more undersupplied sub-regions.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more processors determine the one or more undersupplied sub-regions for the upcoming window of time based on the number of potential requesting devices for each sub-region at a current time and at least one of (i) historical data from the on-demand service for each sub-region, and (ii) forecasted weather conditions for each sub-region.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more memory resources store further instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to:

identify the multiple sub-regions using predetermined information for the geographic region.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a provider device running a provider service application, the provider device using the provider service application to display a map of the geographic region on which the visual indicator is rendered.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the visual indicator identifying the one or more undersupplied sub-regions is provided as an overlay or merged with the map of the geographic region on a display of the provider device.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the visual indicator includes a color scheme, and the provider service application displays the one or more undersupplied sub-regions in a first color and sub-regions identified as oversupplied in a second color.

13. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

a user interface for the provider service application, the user interface providing a zoom feature for the map of the geographic region that enables the display of additional details or more detailed and/or smaller sub-regions.

14. A method for providing information for an on-demand service, the method being performed by one or more processors and comprising:

receiving user information from a plurality of user devices in a geographic region, the user information generated from a service application running on each of the plurality of user devices and including (i) a location of the user device, (ii) a first indication that a respective user operating the user device launched the service application within a given window of time, and (iii) a second indication of whether the respective user has made a request for service;

during the given window of time, for each of multiple sub-regions of the geographic region, determining, based on the location, the first indication, and the second indication included with the user information received from the plurality of user devices, a number of potential requesting user devices located within that sub-region on which the service application is running without a corresponding request for service having been made from that user device;

for the given window of time, determining one or more undersupplied sub-regions of the multiple sub-regions based at least in part on the number of potential requesting devices for the one or more undersupplied sub-regions; and

communicating, to one or more provider devices of providers within the geographic region, data to display a visual indicator identifying the one or more undersupplied sub-regions for the given window of time.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving provider information from the one or more provider devices in the geographic region, the provider information generated from a provider service application running on each of the one or more provider devices and including (i) a location of the provider device, and (ii) an indication of whether a respective provider operating the provider device is available to provide service; and

wherein determining the one or more undersupplied sub-regions is based at least in part on the provider information.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising determining a number of provider devices in each of the multiple sub-regions of the geographic region during the given window of time based on the location of each provider device.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising determining the one or more undersupplied sub-regions based at least in part on a comparison of the number of potential requesting devices for each sub-region and the number of provider devices.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising determining a number of available provider devices in each of the multiple sub-regions of the geographic region during the given window of time based on the location of each provider device.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising determining the one or more undersupplied sub-regions based at least in part on a comparison of the number of potential requesting devices for each sub-region and the number of available provider devices.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores instructions, executable by one or more processors, to cause the one or more processors to perform operations that comprise:

receiving user information from a plurality of user devices in a geographic region, the user information generated from a service application running on each of the plurality of user devices and including (i) a location of the user device, (ii) a first indication that a respective user operating the user device launched the service application within a given window of time, and (iii) a second indication of whether the respective user has made a request for service;

during the given window of time, for each of multiple sub-regions of the geographic region, determining, based on the location, the first indication, and the second indication included with the user information received from the plurality of user devices, a number of potential requesting user devices located within that sub-region on which the service application is running without a corresponding request for service having been made from that user device;

for the given window of time, determining one or more undersupplied sub-regions of the multiple sub-regions based at least in part on the number of potential requesting devices for the one or more undersupplied sub-regions; and

communicating, to one or more provider devices of providers within the geographic region, data to display a visual indicator identifying the one or more undersupplied sub-regions for the given window of time.