Location assistance with a dynamically updated beacon payload from an electronic device

• US 10,338,188 B2
• Filed: 06/22/2017
• Issued: 07/02/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Wen, Heming, Gorgenyi, Frank, Michaud, Alain L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Brandt, Christopher M
• Application Number:
  US15/630,894
• Publication Number:
  US 20180372833A1
• Time in Patent Office: 740 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/01 Satellite radio beacon positioning systems transmitting time-stamped messages, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System], GLONASS [Global Orbiting Navigation Satellite System] or GALILEO
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/06 employing an initial estimate of the location of the receiver as aiding data or in generating aiding data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/17 Emergency applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0231 Emergency, distress or locator beacons
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information

Abstract

Electronic devices described herein are configured to use a beaconing capability to enable responders to locate a user of the electronic device. The beacon payload includes an incident identifier, among other data, that enables responders to identify the specific electronic device that was used to place the emergency call. The beacon payload is dynamically updated with refreshed data to enable responders to locate the user of the electronic device that may potentially be in transit from one location to another, and to adapt to changing circumstances associated with the emergency situation.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising:

at least one radio transmitter;

at least one processor; and

at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to;

detect a request to contact an emergency service;

obtain an incident identifier for association with the detected request;

obtain location information of the electronic device;

generate a beacon payload including the incident identifier and the location information;

enable beaconing to broadcast the generated beacon payload from the at least one radio transmitter; and

dynamically update the beacon payload for enabled beaconing with refreshed data, the refreshed data including an updated incident identifier that is updated based on an identified emergency situation that is different than an emergency situation corresponding to the request to contact the emergency service.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor causes the electronic device to:

maintain a list of neighboring beacons; and

provide the maintained list of neighboring beacons in response to an interrogation from the responder.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor causes the electronic device to join a mesh network thereby enabling a device within the mesh network to receive the beacon payload from the electronic device and to broadcast the beacon payload from the device to another device in the mesh network.

4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one radio transmitter comprises a short-range radio transmitter including one or more of the following:

a BLUETOOTH®

radio transmitter, a Wi-Fi radio transmitter, and an ultrasound radio transmitter, and the generated beacon payload is broadcast from the at least one radio transmitter directly to one or more responder devices of the responder.

5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor causes the electronic device to detect the request to contact the emergency service from a call dialing manager executing on the electronic device.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the updated incident identifier comprises data corresponding to the incident identifier and data corresponding to at least an additional emergency situation identified by responding emergency personnel and to be responded to by a different type of emergency personnel than the emergency personnel responding to the incident identifier, the at least one processor causes the electronic device to receive the updated incident identifier from one or more of the following:

a distress event manager executing on the electronic device, the emergency service via a cellular modem of the electronic device, a component of a cellular network infrastructure via the cellular modem of the electronic device, and a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) server via the cellular modem of the electronic device.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor causes the electronic device to collect the location information from one or more of the following:

a global positioning system (GPS) of the electronic device, and a neighboring beaconing device.

8. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the generated beacon payload includes one or more of the following:

a phone number associated with the electronic device, an emergency type identifier, location information of the electronic device, latitude information of the electronic device, longitude information of the electronic device, altitude information of the electronic device and location information of a neighboring beaconing device received at the electronic device.

9. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor further causes the electronic device to encrypt the location information and include the encrypted location information in the generated beacon payload.

10. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor causes the electronic device to increase transmission power to the at least one radio transmitter.

11. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor further causes the electronic device to:

disable broadcasting of other beaconing payloads associated with the at least one radio transmitter; and

broadcast the generated beacon payload on available frequency channels associated with the at least one radio transmitter.

12. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the refreshed data comprises refreshed location information.

13. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor causes the electronic device to provide a user interface that provides one or more of the following:

an option to cancel the beaconing to broadcast the generated beacon payload, and an option to exclude the location information from the generated beacon payload.

14. A computerized method comprising:

detecting a request to contact an emergency service;

obtaining an incident identifier for association with the detected request;

obtaining location information of a mobile device;

generating a beacon payload including the incident identifier and the location information;

enabling beaconing, at the mobile device, to transmit the generated beacon payload; and

dynamically updating the beacon payload for enabled beaconing with refreshed data, the refreshed data including an updated incident identifier that is updated based on an identified emergency situation that is different than an emergency situation corresponding to the request to contact the emergency service.

15. The computerized method of claim 14, wherein the generated beacon payload includes one or more of the following:

a phone number associated with the mobile device, an emergency type identifier, location information of the mobile device, latitude information of the mobile device, longitude information of the mobile device, altitude information of the mobile device, and location information of a neighboring beaconing device received at the mobile device, and further comprising automatically turning on a beaconing capability with a distress signal after an emergency call is initiated from the mobile device, the beaconing capability comprising a short-wave radio signal representing an advertisement with the distress signal.

16. The computerized method of claim 14, wherein the refreshed data comprises one or more of the following:

updated location information received from a Global Positioning System (GPS) of the mobile device, and updated location information received from a neighboring beacon.

17. The computerized method of claim 14, wherein enabling beaconing at the mobile device comprises enabling beaconing from at least one radio transmitter of the mobile device, the computerized method further comprises increasing transmission power supplied to the at least one radio transmitter.

18. One or more computer storage media having computer-executable instructions that, upon execution by a processor, cause the processor to:

detect a request to contact emergency services;

obtain an incident identifier;

obtain location information of a mobile device;

generate a beacon payload including the incident identifier and other data;

enable beaconing, at the mobile device, to transmit the generated beacon payload; and

dynamically update the beacon payload for enabled beaconing with refreshed data, the refreshed data including an updated incident identifier that is updated based on an identified emergency situation that is different than an emergency situation corresponding to the request to contact the emergency services.

19. The one or more computer storage media of claim 18, wherein the generated beacon payload includes one or more of the following:

a phone number associated with the mobile device, an emergency type identifier, location information of the mobile device, latitude information of the mobile device, longitude information of the mobile device, altitude information of the mobile device and location information of a neighboring beaconing device received at the mobile device.

20. The one or more computer storage media of claim 18, wherein the refreshed data comprises refreshed location information.