Systems and methods for data transfer from pop displays with wireless beacons and engaged mobile devices

• US 10,373,189 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2016
• Issued: 08/06/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ABL IP Holding LLC (Acuity Brands, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Shelfbucks, Inc.
• Inventors: Walden, Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Hamilton, Matthew L
• Application Number:
  US15/153,180
• Publication Number:
  US 20170018004A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,181 Days
• Field of Search: 705 14
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3212 Monitoring battery levels, e.g. power saving mode being initiated when battery voltage goes below a certain level
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0259 based on store location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0268 at point-of-sale [POS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• 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 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/244 using a network of reference devices, e.g. beaconing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 : with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/542 : using measured or perceived quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/40 : for selective distribution or broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 : WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 : Gateway arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Systems and methods for using wireless beacons in point of purchase (“POP”) displays to facilitate the delivery of consumer oriented content to mobile devices is disclosed herein. A processor coupled to a wireless beacon may record information obtained from sensors coupled to a POP display. The sensors may assess environmental activity and/or user activity around the POP display. A mobile device may record information about interactions between the mobile device and the wireless beacon and store the information in a memory cache on the mobile device. The information from the processor and the mobile device may be transmitted to a remote server via wireless communication from both the processor and the mobile device at selected times.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a mobile device, positioned at a retail location, from a wireless beacon, a wireless signal comprising a data packet of information assessing activity around a point of purchase (POP) display captured by at least one sensor coupled to the POP display, wherein the wireless beacon is located on a circuit board coupled to the POP display, the POP display comprising a consumer product display positioned at the retail location;

determining, by the mobile device, position and movement data of the mobile device by a sensor located on the mobile device;

determining, by the mobile device, application data from a software package operating on the mobile device;

storing, by the mobile device, information associated with interactions between the mobile device and the wireless beacon, interactions between the mobile device and a server, interactions involving the mobile device, the position and movement data determined from the sensor located on the mobile device, the application data determined from the software package operating on the mobile device, and the received data packet of information assessing activity around the POP display; and

transmitting, by the mobile device, the stored information to the server to improve accuracy of determining location information related to the wireless beacon and the POP display.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information assessing activity around the POP display captured by the at least one sensor comprises environmental activity around the POP display including at least one of:

heat, light, sound, and images.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the information assessing activity around the POP display captured by the at least one sensor comprises user activity around the POP display, the user activity comprising movement and actions of users around the POP display.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the position and movement data determined from the sensor located on the mobile device comprises geographic coordinates of the mobile device, accelerometer data, gyroscopic data, and/or compass data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting the stored information to the server comprises transmitting data packets to the server from the mobile device over a communication network.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the consumer product display is associated with a selected campaign, and wherein the POP display is distributed at random to the retail location after the circuit board is coupled to the POP display.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the retail location of the POP display is unknown to the server prior to the transmittal by the mobile device and a final destination of the wireless beacon and the circuit board of the POP display is not required to be known at a time of manufacture or distribution of the POP display.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the information associated with the interactions between the mobile device and the wireless beacon comprises push events, pull events, signal strength, a unique identifier associated with the wireless beacon, and timestamps relating to the interactions.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the position and movement data determined from the sensor located on the mobile device is determined at times of the interactions between the mobile device and the wireless beacon, the interactions between the mobile device and the server, and the interactions involving the mobile device.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the information in a memory cache on the mobile device prior to transmittal of the stored information.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device transmits the stored information in response to receiving a unique identifier associated with the wireless beacon in the wireless signal received from the wireless beacon.

6. A non-transient computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform a method, comprising, comprising:

receiving, by a mobile device, positioned at a retail location, from a wireless beacon, a wireless signal comprising a data packet of information assessing activity around a point of purchase (POP) display captured by at least one sensor coupled to the POP display, wherein the wireless beacon is located on a circuit board coupled to the POP display, the POP display comprising a consumer product display positioned at the retail location;

determining, by the mobile device, position and movement data of the mobile device by a sensor located on the mobile device;

determining, by the mobile device, application data from a software package operating on the mobile device;

storing, by the mobile device, information associated with interactions between the mobile device and the wireless beacon, interactions between the mobile device and a server, interactions involving the mobile device, the position and movement data determined from the sensor located on the mobile device, the application data determined from the software package operating on the mobile device, and the received data packet of information assessing activity around the POP display; and

transmitting, by the mobile device, the stored information to the server to improve accuracy of determining location information related to the wireless beacon and the POP display.

7. The non-transient computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the information assessing activity around the POP display captured by the at least one sensor comprises environmental activity around the POP display including at least one of:

heat, light, sound, and images.

8. The non-transient computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the information assessing activity around the POP display captured by the at least one sensor comprises user activity around the POP display, the user activity comprising movement and actions of users around the POP display.

9. The non-transient computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the position and movement data determined from the sensor located on the mobile device comprises geographic coordinates of the mobile device, accelerometer data, gyroscopic data, and/or compass data.

16. A mobile device, comprising:

a processor;

a display;

a wireless transceiver;

a memory cache;

a sensor; and

a software package installed on the mobile device, the software package comprising a mobile application and a software developer kit (SDK) configured to interpret wireless data packets received by the mobile device;

wherein the mobile device, when positioned at a retail location, is configured to;

receive, by the wireless transceiver, from a wireless beacon, a wireless signal comprising a data packet of information assessing activity around a point of purchase (POP) display captured by at least one sensor coupled to the POP display, wherein the wireless beacon is located on a circuit board coupled to the POP display, the POP display comprising a consumer product display positioned at the retail location;

determine position and movement data of the mobile device by the sensor;

determine application data from the software package;

store, in the memory cache, information associated with interactions between the mobile device and the wireless beacon, interactions between the mobile device and a server, interactions involving the mobile device, the position and movement data determined from the sensor located on the mobile device, the application data determined from the software package operating on the mobile device, and the received data packet of information assessing activity around the POP display; and

transmit, by the wireless transceiver, the stored information to the server to improve accuracy of determining location information related to the wireless beacon and the POP display.

17. The mobile device of claim 16, wherein the information assessing activity around the POP display captured by the at least one sensor comprises environmental activity and user activity around the POP display, the environmental activity including at least one of:

heat, light, sound, and images, and the user activity comprising movement and actions of users around the POP display.

18. The mobile device of claim 16, wherein the position and movement data determined from the sensor located on the mobile device comprises geographic coordinates of the mobile device, accelerometer data, gyroscopic data, and/or compass data.

19. The mobile device of claim 16, wherein the position and movement data determined from the sensor located on the mobile device is determined at times of the interactions between the mobile device and the wireless beacon, the interactions between the mobile device and the server, and the interactions involving the mobile device.

20. The mobile device of claim 16, wherein the mobile device transmits the stored information in response to receiving a unique identifier associated with the wireless beacon in the wireless signal received from the wireless beacon.