Tracking device operation in risk-classified zone

• US 10,412,543 B2
• Filed: 12/12/2018
• Issued: 09/10/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TILE, INC. (Life360 Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: TILE, INC. (Life360 Incorporated)
• Inventors: Puppala, Arunkumar, Cheng, Liuyin, Patterson, Wayne
• Primary Examiner(s): Zewdu, Meless N
• Application Number:
  US16/217,640
• Publication Number:
  US 20190116454A1
• Time in Patent Office: 272 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/01 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/05 Anti-theft or abduction
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/01 Determining conditions which influence positioning, e.g. radio environment, state of motion or energy consumption
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02 using radio waves using satellite radio beacon systems for determining position G01S19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0205 Details
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0294 Trajectory determination or predictive filtering, e.g. target tracking or Kalman filtering
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0295 Proximity-based methods, e.g. position inferred from reception of particular signals
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/24 Reminder alarms, e.g. anti-loss alarms
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/00 Security arrangements; Authentication; Protecting privacy or anonymity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• 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: 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/185 by embedding added-value information into content, e.g. geo-tagging
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/23 for mobile advertising
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/30 Services specially adapted for particular environments, situations or purposes
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 for collecting sensor information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/42 : for mass transport vehicles, e.g. buses, trains or aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 : Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• 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 48/04 : based on user or terminal location or mobility data, e.g. moving direction, speed
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0206 : in access points, e.g. base stations access point devices per se H04W88/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0229 : where the received signal is a wanted signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0258 : controlling an operation mode according to history or models of usage information, e.g. activity schedule or time of day
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/00 : Network data management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/10 : between location register and external networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/12 : between location registers or mobility servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/14 : between corresponding nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/16 : selectively restricting mobility data tracking
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Tracking devices can be associated with safe zones, smart zones, and high risk zones. Safe zones correspond to regions where a likelihood that a tracking device is lost within the safe zone is lower than outside the safe zone. High risk zones correspond to regions where a likelihood that a tracking device is lost within the high risk zone is higher than outside the high risk zone. Smart zones correspond to an expected tracking device, mobile device, or user behavior. Home areas are geographic regions in which a user resides, and travel areas are geographic regions in which a user does not reside. A tracking device can be configured to operate in a mode selected based on a presence of the tracking device within a safe zone, a smart zone, a high risk zone, a home area, or a travel area.

Claims

1. A method for locating a tracking device, comprising:

receiving, by a central tracking system from a mobile device, a location of the tracking device, the mobile device configured to provide the location of the tracking device to the central tracking system in response to receiving a communication from the tracking device;

determining, by the central tracking system, that the tracking device is located within a low risk zone in response to the received location being located within a geographic boundary associated with the low risk zone, wherein a risk that the tracking device is lost when located within the low risk zone is less than when not located within the low risk zone; and

in response to determining that the tracking device is located within the low risk zone, providing, by the central tracking system, an instruction to the mobile device to configure the tracking device to operate in a low risk zone mode, the mobile device configured to configure the tracking device to operate in the low risk zone mode in response to receiving the instruction.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the low risk zone is defined by an owner of the tracking device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the low risk zone is defined based on historical location data or behavior data of the tracking device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the low risk zone is one of a set of low risk zones, each associated with a corresponding geographic boundary.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the low risk zone comprises a geographic area in which other tracking devices are lost less frequently than when outside the low risk zone.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the low risk zone comprises one of:

a home, a church, a school, and a place of employment.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the location of the tracking device comprises a location of the mobile device when the mobile device receives the communication from the tracking device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the frequency of communication transmissions from the tracking device decreases when the tracking device switches from operating in a normal operation mode to the low risk zone mode.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the tracking device, when operating in the low risk zone mode, uses less power relative to the tracking device operating in a normal operation mode.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the tracking device, when operating in the low risk zone mode, transmits communications at a lower power than when operating in a normal operation mode.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the central tracking system is configured to classify the tracking device, when configured to operate in the low risk zone mode, as lost after a first threshold amount of time has passed without receiving a location of the tracking device, and wherein the central tracking system is configured to classify the tracking device, when configured to operate in a normal operation mode, as lost after a second threshold amount of time shorter than the first threshold amount of time has passed without receiving a location of the tracking device.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the central tracking system, a second location of the tracking device;

determining, by the central tracking system, that the tracking device is located outside of the low risk zone in response to the received second location being located outside the geographic boundary associated with the low risk zone; and

in response to determining that the tracking device is located outside of the low risk zone, providing, by the central tracking system, a second instruction to the mobile device to configure the tracking device to operate in a normal operating mode, the mobile device configured to configure the tracking device to operate in the normal operating mode in response to receiving the second instruction.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform steps for locating a tracking device comprising:

receiving, by a central tracking system from a mobile device, a location of the tracking device, the mobile device configured to provide the location of the tracking device to the central tracking system in response to receiving a communication from the tracking device;

determining, by the central tracking system, that the tracking device is located within a low risk zone in response to the received location being located within a geographic boundary associated with the low risk zone, wherein a risk that the tracking device is lost when located within the low risk zone is less than when not located within the low risk zone; and

in response to determining that the tracking device is located within the low risk zone, providing, by the central tracking system, an instruction to the mobile device to configure the tracking device to operate in a low risk zone mode, the mobile device configured to configure the tracking device to operate in the low risk zone mode in response to receiving the instruction.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the tracking device is configured to operate in the low risk zone mode until an owner of the tracking device manually configures the tracking device to operate in a different mode.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the tracking device is configured to operate in the low risk zone mode until the tracking device moves outside of the geographic boundary associated with the low risk zone.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the tracking device is configured to operate in the low risk zone mode until the central tracking system provides a second instruction to the mobile device to configure the tracking device to operate in a different mode.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the low risk zone is defined by an owner of the tracking device.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the low risk zone is defined based on historical location data or behavior data of the tracking device.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the low risk zone comprises a geographic area in which other tracking devices are lost less frequently than when outside the low risk zone.

20. A method for locating a tracking device, comprising:

receiving, by a central tracking system from a mobile device, a location of the tracking device;

determining, by the central tracking system, that the tracking device is located within a low risk zone in response to the received location being located within a geographic boundary associated with the low risk zone, wherein the low risk zone comprises an area that is both not within a high risk zone and that is associated with a less than average probability that the tracking device will be lost while within the low risk zone; and

in response to determining that the tracking device is located within the low risk zone, configuring, by the central tracking system, the tracking device to operate in the low risk zone mode.