Energy-efficient location determination
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method to determine locations of user computing devices, comprising, by one or more computing devices:
- determining that a user computing device is located inside a geofence boundary encompassing a particular point of interest; and
,in response to determining that the user computing device is located inside the geofence boundary encompassing the particular point of interest;
communicating instructions to the user computing device instructing the user computing device to invoke a wireless signal detection module associated with the user computing device that scans for wireless signal data in accordance with the instructions;
receiving particular wireless signal data for a particular wireless signal from the user computing device after receipt of the particular wireless signal data by the wireless signal detection module associated with the user computing device, the particular wireless signal data comprising a wireless device identifier associated with the particular wireless signal;
determining, based on the particular wireless signal data, that the particular wireless signal available to the user computing device and comprising the particular wireless device identifier is associated with the particular point of interest; and
determining in response to determining that the particular wireless signal is associated with the particular point of interest, that the user computing device is at the particular point of interest.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A location management system identifies points of interest that may be of interest to one or more users. The location management system defines a geofence boundary encompassing a particular point of interest. When the location management system determines that the user device is inside the geofence boundary—but not, for example, when the location management system determines that the user determines that the user device is outside the geofence boundary—the location management system instructs the user device to determine wireless signals available to the user device. The location management system then receives wireless signal data from the user device for available wireless signals. By matching the received wireless signal data to known wireless signals available at the identified points of interest, the location management system determines that the user device (and hence the user) is at the point of interest.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer implemented method to determine locations of user computing devices, comprising, by one or more computing devices:
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determining that a user computing device is located inside a geofence boundary encompassing a particular point of interest; and
,in response to determining that the user computing device is located inside the geofence boundary encompassing the particular point of interest; communicating instructions to the user computing device instructing the user computing device to invoke a wireless signal detection module associated with the user computing device that scans for wireless signal data in accordance with the instructions; receiving particular wireless signal data for a particular wireless signal from the user computing device after receipt of the particular wireless signal data by the wireless signal detection module associated with the user computing device, the particular wireless signal data comprising a wireless device identifier associated with the particular wireless signal; determining, based on the particular wireless signal data, that the particular wireless signal available to the user computing device and comprising the particular wireless device identifier is associated with the particular point of interest; and determining in response to determining that the particular wireless signal is associated with the particular point of interest, that the user computing device is at the particular point of interest. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A system to determine locations of user computing devices, comprising:
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a storage device; a processor communicatively coupled to the storage device, wherein the processor executes application code instructions that are stored in the storage device to cause the system to; determine, that a user computing device is located inside a geofence boundary encompassing a particular point of interest; communicate, in response to determining that the user computing device is located inside the geofence boundary encompassing the particular point of interest, instructions to the user computing device to invoke a wireless signal detection module associated with the user computing device; and receive, in response to invoking the wireless signal detection module associated with user computing device, wireless signal data for a particular wireless signal from the user computing device after receipt of the particular wireless signal data by the wireless signal detection module associated with the user computing device, wherein the availability of the wireless signal to the user computing device at the point of interest provides an indication that the user computing device is at the point of interest. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A computer program product to determine locations of user computing devices, comprising:
a non-transitory computer-readable storage device having computer-executable program instructions embodied thereon that when executed by a computer cause the computer to; determine, that a user computing device is located at or inside the geofence boundary encompassing a point of interest; invoke, in response to determining that the user computing device is located at or inside the geofence boundary, a wireless signal detection module associated with the user computing device to determine particular wireless signal data available to the user computing device; communicate the wireless signal data to a location management system, wherein the wireless signal data comprises data identifying the point of interest; and receive, in response to communicating the wireless signal data to a location management system, a communication from the location management system to cease determining the wireless signal data available to the user computing device. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
Specification