Systems and methods for using mobile device location information to determine proximity and line of sight to structures

• US 10,366,409 B2
• Filed: 06/09/2017
• Issued: 07/30/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cellco Partnership, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.), Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Moseman, Kelvin L., Kotapalli, Anup, Ravula, Sasidhar V.
• Primary Examiner(s): Refai, Sam
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shorter, Rashida R
• Application Number:
  US15/619,381
• Publication Number:
  US 20170345051A1
• Time in Patent Office: 781 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0246 Traffic

Abstract

A system may determine a field of view of a structure; identify a set of road segments that fall within the view area of the advertising unit; and identify mobile devices that have been physically located at locations associated with the road segments within the field of view (e.g., located within vehicles that have traversed the road segments). The system may further receive a request for a report that indicates a quantity or other information (e.g., demographics information) regarding the identified mobile devices over a period of time.

Claims

1. A device, comprising:

a memory device storing processor-executable instructions; and

one or more processors configured to execute the processor-executable instructions, wherein executing the processor-executable instructions causes the one or more processors to;

determine a field of view associated with a structure, the field of view including an arc having the structure as a center point;

identify a plurality of road segments within the field of view;

identify an intersection of a first road and a second road within the field of view associated with the structure;

identify a first road segment, of the plurality of road segments, that is a segment of the first road and is associated with a first direction of traffic that enters the intersection via the first road and travels towards the structure;

identify a second road segment, of the plurality of road segments, that is another segment of the first road and is associated with a second direction of traffic that exits the intersection via the first road and travels away from the structure;

identify a third road segment, of the plurality of road segments, that is a segment of the second road and is associated with a third direction of traffic that enters the intersection via the second road;

identify a fourth road segment, of the plurality of road segments, that is another segment of the second road and is associated with a fourth direction of traffic that exits the intersection via the second road;

determine location information associated with a plurality of mobile devices;

identify, based on the identification of the plurality of road segments and the location information of the plurality of mobile devices, a first set of mobile devices, of the plurality of mobile devices, that have been physically located at one or more locations that correspond to at least one of;

one or more locations that correspond to the first road segment, of the plurality of road segments within the field of view of the structure,

one or more locations that correspond to the third road segment, of the plurality of road segments within the field of view of the structure, or

one or more locations that correspond to the fourth road segment, of the plurality of road segments within the field of view of the structure,

wherein the first set of mobile devices is further identified respectively based on;

the first and third road segments being associated with directions of traffic that enter the intersection, or

the fourth road segment being associated with the fourth direction of traffic that exits the intersection;

filter a second set of mobile devices from the plurality of mobile devices by identifying, based on the identification of the plurality of road segments and the location information of the plurality of mobile device, a second set of mobile devices, of the plurality of mobile devices, that have been physically located at one or more locations that correspond to the second road segment and not the first road segment,

wherein the filtered second set of mobile devices is further identified based on the second road segment being associated with the third direction of traffic that exits the intersection; and

determine, based on the information that identifies the first set of mobile devices, and excludes the second set of mobile devices, that have been physically located at the one or more locations that correspond to the first road segment within the field of view of the structure, that the structure has been visible to the first set of mobile devices, and has not been visible to the filtered second set of mobile devices.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein executing the processor-executable instructions further causes the one or more processors to:

determine a height associated with the structure,

wherein a distance of the arc, from the center point, is determined based on the height associated with the structure.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein executing the processor-executable instructions further causes the one or more processors to:

determine a width associated with the structure,

wherein an angle of the arc is determined based on the width associated with the structure.

13. The device of claim 1, wherein the field of view includes at least a first triangle fan and a second triangle fan that each share the center point as a vertex, wherein the first triangle fan extends to a first distance from the center point that is farther than a second distance to which the second triangle fan extends from the center point.

14. The device of claim 1, wherein executing the processor-executable instructions further causes the one or more processors to:

determine that at least a threshold distance of the first road segment is within the field of view of the structure,

wherein the identification of the first road segment includes determining that at least the threshold distance of the first road segment is within the field of view of the structure.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein executing the processor-executable instructions further causes the one or more processors to:

identify a third road segment that is within the field of view of the structure; and

determine that at least the threshold distance of the third road segment is not within the field of view of the structure,

wherein executing the processor-executable instructions, to store or output the information that identifies the first set of mobile devices, further causes the one or more processors to exclude, from the stored or outputted information, information that identifies a third set of mobile devices that have been physically located on the third road segment and have not been physically located on the first road segment.

19. The device of claim 1, wherein executing the processor-executable instructions further causes the one or more processors to:

determine demographics information associated with the first set of mobile devices; and

determine content to present via the structure based on the demographics information associated with the first set of mobile devices.

4. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, storing a set of processor-executable instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

determine a field of view associated with a structure, the field of view including an arc having the structure as a center point;

identify a plurality of road segments within the field of view;

identify an intersection of a first road and a second road within the field of view associated with the structure;

identify a first road segment, of the plurality of road segments, that is a segment of the first road and is associated with a first direction of traffic that enters the intersection via the first road and travels towards the structure;

identify a second road segment, of the plurality of road segments, that is another segment of the first road and is associated with a second direction of traffic that exits the intersection via the first road and travels away from the structure;

identify a third road segment, of the plurality of road segments, that is a segment of the second road and is associated with a third direction of traffic that enters the intersection via the second road;

identify a fourth road segment, of the plurality of road segments, that is another segment of the second road and is associated with a fourth direction of traffic that exits the intersection via the second road;

determine location information associated with a plurality of mobile devices;

identify, based on the identification of the plurality of road segments and the location information of the plurality of mobile devices, a first set of mobile devices, of the plurality of mobile devices, that have been physically located at one or more locations that correspond to at least one of;

one or more locations that correspond to the first road segment, of the plurality of road segments within the field of view of the structure,

one or more locations that correspond to the third road segment, of the plurality of road segments within the field of view of the structure, or

one or more locations that correspond to the fourth road segment, of the plurality of road segments within the field of view of the structure,

wherein the first set of mobile devices is further identified respectively based on;

the first and third road segments being associated with directions of traffic that enter the intersection, or

the fourth road segment being associated with the fourth direction of traffic that exits the intersection;

filter a second set of mobile devices from the plurality of mobile devices by identifying, based on the identification of the plurality of road segments and the location information of the plurality of mobile device, a second set of mobile devices, of the plurality of mobile devices, that have been physically located at one or more locations that correspond to the second road segment and not the first road segment,

wherein the filtered second set of mobile devices is further identified based on the second road segment being associated with the third direction of traffic that exits the intersection; and

determine based on the information that identifies the first set of mobile devices, and excludes the second set of mobile devices, that have been physically located at the one or more locations that correspond to the first road segment within the field of view of the structure, that the structure has been visible to the first set of mobile devices, and has not been visible to the filtered second set of mobile devices.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 4, wherein the processor-executable instructions further include processor-executable instructions to:

determine a height associated with the structure,

wherein a distance of the arc, from the center point, is determined based on the height associated with the structure.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 4, wherein the processor-executable instructions further include processor-executable instructions to:

determine a width associated with the structure,

wherein an angle of the arc is determined based on the width associated with the structure.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 4, wherein executing the processor-executable instructions further causes the one or more processors to:

determine that at least a threshold distance of the first road segment is within the field of view of the structure,

wherein the identification of the first road segment includes determining that at least the threshold distance of the first road segment is within the field of view of the structure.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the processor-executable instructions further include processor-executable instructions to:

identify a third road segment that is within the field of view of the structure; and

determine that at least the threshold distance of the third road segment is not within the field of view of the structure,

wherein the processor-executable instructions, to store or output the information that identifies the first set of mobile devices, further include processor-executable instructions to exclude, from the stored or outputted information, information that identifies a third set of mobile devices that have been physically located on the third road segment and have not been physically located on the first road segment.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 4, wherein the processor-executable instructions further include processor-executable instructions to:

determine demographics information associated with the first set of mobile devices; and

determine content to present via the structure based on the demographics information associated with the first set of mobile devices.

7. A method, comprising:

determining, by a device, a field of view associated with a structure, the field of view including an arc having the structure as a center point;

identifying, by the device, a plurality of road segments within the field of view;

identifying, by the device, an intersection of a first road and a second road within the field of view associated with the structure;

identifying, by the device, a first road segment, of the plurality of road segments, that is a segment of the first road and is associated with a first direction of traffic that enters the intersection via the first road and travels towards the structure;

identifying, by the device, a second road segment, of the plurality of road segments, that is another segment of the first road and is associated with a second direction of traffic that exits the intersection via the first road and travels away from the structure;

identifying, by the device, a third road segment, of the plurality of road segments, that is a segment of the second road and is associated with a third direction of traffic that enters the intersection via the second road;

identifying, by the device, a fourth road segment, of the plurality of road segments, that is another segment of the second road and is associated with a fourth direction of traffic that exits the intersection via the second road;

determining, by the device, location information associated with a plurality of mobile devices;

identifying, by the device and based on the identification of the plurality of road segments and the location information of the plurality of mobile devices, a first set of mobile devices, of the plurality of mobile devices, that have been physically located at one or more locations that correspond to at least one of;

one or more locations that correspond to the first road segment, of the plurality of road segments within the field of view of the structure,

one or more locations that correspond to the third road segment, of the plurality of road segments within the field of view of the structure, or

one or more locations that correspond to the fourth road segment, of the plurality of road segments within the field of view of the structure,

wherein the first set of mobile devices is further identified respectively based on;

the first and third road segments being associated with directions of traffic that enter the intersection, or

the fourth road segment being associated with the fourth direction of traffic that exits the intersection;

filtering, by the device and based on the identification of the plurality of road segments and the location information of the plurality of mobile device, a second set of mobile devices from the plurality of mobile devices by identifying a second set of mobile devices, of the plurality of mobile devices, that have been physically located at one or more locations that correspond to the second road segment and not the first road segment; and

determining, by the device, information that identifies the first set of mobile devices, and excludes the second set of mobile devices, that have been physically located at the one or more locations that correspond to the first road segment within the field of view of the structure, that the structure has been visible to the first set of mobile devices, and has not been visible to the filtered second set of mobile devices.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining a height associated with the structure,

wherein a distance of the arc, from the center point, is determined based on the height associated with the structure.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining a width associated with the structure,

wherein an angle of the arc is determined based on the width associated with the structure.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the field of view includes at least a first triangle fan and a second triangle fan that each share the center point as a vertex, wherein the first triangle fan extends to a first distance from the center point that is farther than a second distance to which the second triangle fan extends from the center point.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining that at least a threshold distance of the first road segment is within the field of view of the structure,

wherein the identification of the first road segment includes determining that at least the threshold distance of the first road segment is within the field of view of the structure.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

identifying a third road segment that is within the field of view of the structure; and

determining that at least the threshold distance of the third road segment is not within the field of view of the structure,

wherein storing or outputting the information that identifies the first set of mobile devices further includes excluding, from the stored or outputted information, information that identifies a third set of mobile devices that have been physically located on the third road segment and have not been physically located on the first road segment.

20. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining demographics information associated with the first set of mobile devices; and

determining content to present via the structure based on the demographics information associated with the first set of mobile devices.