Method and apparatus for notifying a party of another party's location and estimated time of arrival at a predetermined destination

• US 20020128850A1
• Filed: 03/07/2001
• Published: 09/12/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chen, Sylvia Y., Kotzin, Michael D.
• Granted Patent: US 6,993,490 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/047 Optimisation of routes or paths, e.g. travelling salesman problem
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/103 Workflow collaboration or project management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting

Abstract

The present invention is a method of coordinating an activity at a destination includes receiving a first signal indicative of a first location of a first party (110). The first signal is received at a destination of the first party. A second signal indicative of a second location of a second party is received at a destination (112), which is also the destination of the second party. A schedule is created (150) to coordinate the activity automatically at the destination. The schedule is based on the first and second signals indicative of the first and second locations and may include additional functions such as the estimated times of arrival of the first and second parties (120, 122). Also, the present invention is a method of notification upon arrival at a predetermined location (200) that includes receiving a first signal indicative of the location of a first party (210). A second signal is transmitted to a second party (230) when the location of the first party is equal to a first predetermined location (220). The activity is coordinated at a second location based on the second signal.

Claims

1. A method of coordinating an activity at a destination of a first party and a second party comprising the steps of:

receiving a first signal indicative of a location of the first party, wherein the first signal is received at a central scheduling computer;

receiving a second signal indicative of a location of the second party, wherein the second signal is received at the central scheduling computer; and

creating a schedule to coordinate an activity automatically at the destination based at least in part on the first and second signals.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

receiving at the central scheduling computer an update of the location of the first party; and

updating the schedule automatically based on the update of the location of the first party.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of estimating a time of arrival for at least one of the first party and the second party at the destination to provide estimates.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising the step of updating at least one of the estimated time of arrival of the first party and the estimated time of arrival of the second party.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second signals are one of a preprogrammed audio message, a preprogrammed video message and a preprogrammed text message.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first signal and the second signal is transmitted in response to a manual action by at least one of the first party and the second party respectively.

7. A method of notification upon arrival at a predetermined location comprising the steps of:

receiving a first signal indicative of a first location of a first party;

transmitting a second signal to a second party when the first location is equal to a first predetermined location; and

coordinating an activity at a second predetermined location based on the second signal.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of locating the first party to provide the first location.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of transmitting the second signal is triggered automatically.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of transmitting the second signal is triggered manually by the first party.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the second signal is one of a preprogrammed audio message, a preprogrammed video message and a preprogrammed text message.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the second signal is programmed by the first party.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the first predetermined location is one of an address, an intersection, a threshold distance and a defined area.

14. The method of claim 7, wherein the second signal is specific only to the first party.

16. The communications system of claim 15 further comprising means for manually transmitting the signal.

17. The communications system of claim 15 further comprising means for automatically transmitting the signal.

18. The communications system of claim 15, where in the mobile station is one of a portable computer, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant, a pager and a vehicle positioning system.

19. The communications system of claim 15, wherein the signal is one of a preprogrammed audio message, a preprogrammed video message and a preprogrammed text message.

20. The communications system of claim 15, wherein the means for determining is one of a global positioning system, a signal triangulation system, a pilot measurement system, a aradio frequency signature pattern system and a center-of-mass prediction system.

15. A communications system comprising:

means for determining a location of a mobile station;

means for estimating the time of arrival of the mobile station at a predetermined location; and

means for receiving a signal indicative of at least one of the location of the mobile station and the estimated time of arrival of the mobile station,

wherein the means for receiving is specific to a first party.

21. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for coordinating an activity at a predetermined destination comprising:

a first routine that locates the position of one or more parties at least once;

a second routine that periodically estimates a time of arrival for the one or more parties at a predetermined destination; and

a third routine that schedules an activity based at least in part on the periodically estimated time of arrival of the one or more parties.

22. The computer program of claim 21 further comprising a fourth routine that processes a payment of a fee from the one or more parties, the fee being associated with the activity.

24. The method of claim 23 further comprising the steps of:

receiving a second order from a second customer;

receiving a second signal indicative of a second location of the second customer;

estimating a time of arrival of the second customer at the destination; and

preparing the second order to coincide with the estimated time of arrival of the second customer at the destination.

25. The method of claim 23 further comprising the step of receiving payment for the first order electronically.

23. A method of doing business comprising the steps of:

receiving a first order from a first customer;

receiving a first signal indicative of a first location of the first customer;

estimating a time of arrival of the first customer at a destination; and

preparing the first order to coincide with the estimated time of arrival of the first customer at the destination.