Opportunistic crowd-based service platform

• US 10,659,527 B2
• Filed: 10/12/2018
• Issued: 05/19/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Zavesky, Eric, Basso, Andrea, Begeja, Lee, Gibbon, David C., Liu, Zhu, Renger, Bernard S., Shahraray, Behzad
• Primary Examiner(s): Donabed, Ninos
• Application Number:
  US16/158,972
• Publication Number:
  US 20190052704A1
• Time in Patent Office: 585 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/185 from a mobile camera, e.g. for remote control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 for collecting sensor information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]

Abstract

A method and apparatus for providing an opportunistic crowd based service platform is disclosed. A mobile sensor device is identified based on a current location and/or other qualities, such as intrinsic properties, previous sensor data, or demographic data of an associated user of the mobile sensor device. Data is collected from the mobile sensor device. The data collected from the mobile sensor device is aggregated with data collected from other sensor devices, and content generated based on the aggregated data is delivered to a user device.

Claims

1. A method, comprising

identifying, by a service platform including a processor, at least one mobile sensor device located at a target location that is capable of capturing a specific type of first data;

selecting, by the service platform, one of the at least one mobile sensor device located at the target location that is capable of capturing the specific type of the first data as a first mobile sensor device for providing the first data;

selecting, by the service platform, a second mobile sensor device to act as a dedicated wireless access point based on a current location of the second mobile sensor device and capabilities of the second mobile sensor device;

controlling, by the service platform, the second mobile sensor device to act as the dedicated wireless access point that allows the first mobile sensor device to connect to a network, wherein the first mobile sensor device and the second mobile sensor device are independent mobile sensor devices associated with different respective users;

obtaining, by the service platform, the first data from the first mobile sensor device via the network;

aggregating, by the service platform, the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device with second data collected from one or more other mobile sensor devices to generate aggregated data; and

delivering, by the service platform, content to a recipient device based on the aggregated data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining the first data from the first mobile sensor device comprises:

sending a request to the first mobile sensor device to capture the first data; and

receiving the first data from the first mobile sensor device via the network in response to the request.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting the first mobile sensor device for providing the first data further comprises:

selecting the first mobile sensor device based on one of an intrinsic property of the first mobile sensor device, a previous reading received from the first mobile sensor device, or demographic information of a user of the first mobile sensor device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

removing data determined to be low quality from the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device and the second data collected from the one or more other mobile sensor devices.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device comprises first video data, the second data collected from the one or more other mobile sensor devices comprises second video data, and wherein the aggregating the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device with the second data collected from the one or more other mobile sensor devices comprises:

generating a video stream by combining the first and second video data collected from the first mobile sensor device and one or more other mobile sensor devices.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting gaps in the aggregated data;

determining a second target location to capture third data based on the gaps detected in the aggregated data; and

identifying a third mobile sensor device currently located at the second target location.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting gaps in the aggregated data;

determining a second target location to capture third data based on the gaps detected in the aggregated data;

identifying a third mobile sensor device not currently located at the second target location that is capable of capturing the third data; and

requesting that the third mobile sensor device not currently located at the second target location be moved to the second target location.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

controlling, by the service platform, the second mobile sensor device to act as the dedicated wireless access point that allows the one or more other mobile sensor devices to connect to the network.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

dedicating network resources to network traffic entering the network through the dedicated wireless access point to prioritize the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device and the second data collected from the one or more other mobile sensor devices.

10. An opportunistic crowd based service platform apparatus, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory to store computer program instructions, the computer program instructions when executed on the processor cause the processor to perform operations comprising;

identifying at least one mobile sensor device located at a target location that is capable of capturing a specific type of first data;

selecting one of the at least one mobile sensor device located at the target location that is capable of capturing the specific type of the first data as a first mobile sensor device for providing the first data;

selecting a second mobile sensor device to act as a dedicated wireless access point based on a current location of the second mobile sensor device and capabilities of the second mobile sensor device;

controlling, by the service platform, the second mobile sensor device to act as the dedicated wireless access point that allows the first mobile sensor device to connect to a network, wherein the first mobile sensor device and the second mobile sensor device are independent mobile sensor devices associated with different respective users;

obtaining, by the service platform, the first data from the first mobile sensor device via the network;

aggregating, by the service platform, the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device with second data collected from one or more other mobile sensor devices to generate aggregated data; and

delivering, by the service platform, content to a recipient device based on the aggregated data.

11. The opportunistic crowd based service platform apparatus of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

removing data determined to be low quality from the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device and the second data collected from the one or more other mobile sensor devices.

12. The opportunistic crowd based service platform apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device comprises first video data, the second data collected from the one or more other mobile sensor devices comprises second video data, and wherein the aggregating the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device with the second data collected from the one or more other mobile sensor devices comprises:

generating a video stream by combining the first and second video data collected from the first mobile sensor device and one or more other mobile sensor devices.

13. The opportunistic crowd based service platform apparatus of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

detecting gaps in the aggregated data;

determining a second target location to capture third data based on the gaps detected in the aggregated data; and

identifying a third mobile sensor device for capturing the third data based on a current location of the third mobile sensor device relative to the second target location.

14. The opportunistic crowd based service platform apparatus of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

controlling the second mobile sensor device to act as the dedicated wireless access point that allows the one or more other mobile sensor devices to connect to the network.

15. The opportunistic crowd based service platform apparatus of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:

dedicating network resources to network traffic entering the network through the dedicated wireless access point to prioritize the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device and the second data collected from the one or more other mobile sensor devices.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions for controlling a service platform to deliver opportunistic crowd based service, the computer executable instructions when executed on a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

identifying, by the service platform, at least one mobile sensor device located at a target location that is capable of capturing a specific type of first data;

selecting, by the service platform, one of the at least one mobile sensor device located at the target location that is capable of capturing the specific type of the first data as a first mobile sensor device for providing the first data;

selecting, by the service platform, a second mobile sensor device to act as a dedicated wireless access point based on a current location of the second mobile sensor device and capabilities of the second mobile sensor device;

controlling, by the service platform, the second mobile sensor device to act as the dedicated wireless access point that allows the first mobile sensor device to connect to a network, wherein the first mobile sensor device and the second mobile sensor device are independent mobile sensor devices associated with different respective users;

obtaining, by the service platform, the first data from the first mobile sensor device via the network;

aggregating, by the service platform, the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device with second data collected from one or more other mobile sensor devices to generate aggregated data; and

delivering, by the service platform, content to a recipient device based on the aggregated data.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

removing data determined to be low quality from the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device and the second data collected from the one or more other mobile sensor devices.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

detecting gaps in the aggregated data;

determining a second target location to capture third data based on the gaps detected in the aggregated data; and

identifying a third mobile sensor device for capturing the third data based on a current location of the third mobile sensor device relative to the second target location.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

controlling, by the service platform, the second mobile sensor device to act as the dedicated wireless access point that allows the one or more other mobile sensor devices to connect to the network.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:

dedicating network resources to network traffic entering the network through the dedicated wireless access point to prioritize the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device and the second data collected from the one or more other mobile sensor devices.