SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR MONITORING THE GEOSPATIAL CONTEXT ASSOCIATED WITH A MOBILE COMMUNICATION DEVICE

• US 20080305808A1
• Filed: 02/29/2008
• Published: 12/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aegis Mobility Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Aegis Mobility Incorporated
• Inventors: Wright, Andrew S., Geyer, John J., Chan, Mandy, Williams, Stephen J., Featherstone, Peter S.
• Granted Patent: US 8,532,667 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72454 according to context-related or environment-related conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72463 to restrict the functionality of the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42374 where the information is provided to a monitoring entity such as a potential calling party or a call processing server
• 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 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• 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 4/48 for in-vehicle 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 52/0251 using monitoring of local events, e.g. events related to user activity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Systems, methods and interfaces are disclosed for managing communications associated with a mobile communication device. Mobile communication devices process environmental inputs and transmit mobile communication device context information to a communication management system. The context information may, for example, reflect the motion and/or geographic location of the mobile device, and may reflect the risk associated with using the device to handle a call or other communications session. The communication management system uses the context information, optionally in combination with communication device profiles, to determine how to manage incoming and/or ongoing calls or other communication sessions. Mobile device users may also be inhibited from initiating communication sessions.

Claims

1. A power-efficient method of assessing whether a mobile communications device is in a geospatial zone, the method comprising:

storing a representation of the geospatial zone in a memory of the mobile communications device, said geospatial zone being a bounded geographic region having a non-circular outer boundary;

performing an assessment of whether the mobile communications device is in the geospatial zone, at least in part, by analyzing sensor-based location data in conjunction with the representation of the geospatial zone, wherein the assessment is performed by the mobile communications device; and

setting a data value that controls a length of time until the mobile communications device reassesses whether it is located in the geospatial zone, said data value being dependent upon at least an approximate distance between the mobile communications device and said outer boundary.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said data value is dependent upon whether the mobile communications device is located in a region bounded by an inner circle and an outer circle, said region encompassing the non-circular outer boundary of the geospatial zone.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said mobile device is associated with a bearing and a velocity and wherein said data value is dependent upon a determination of based on bearing and velocity whether a future position associated with the mobile device will intersect the non-circular outer boundary of the geospatial zone.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor-based location data corresponds to global positioning system data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor-based location data corresponds to location data previously associated with a known location.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the known location is a wireless node and wherein the method further comprises:

detecting a signal from a transmitter, wherein the signal includes a transmitter identifier;

recalling previously stored location information according to the transmitter identifier; and

utilizing the recalled previously stored location information as part of analyzing sensor-based location data in conjunction with the representation of the geospatial zone.

7. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a computer program that, when executed on a mobile communications device, performs the method of claim 1.

8. A power-efficient method of assessing whether a mobile communications device is in a geospatial zone, the method comprising:

storing a representation of the geospatial zone in a memory of the mobile communications device, said geospatial zone being a bounded geographic region having a non-circular outer boundary;

performing a coarse assessment of whether the mobile communications device is in a vicinity of said non-circular outer boundary by determining, based on sensor-based location data, whether the mobile communications device is in a region bounded by an inner circle and an outer circle, said outer circle encompassing the geospatial zone and said inner circle falling entirely within the geospatial zone, each circle being separated from the non-circular outer boundary by a selected distance, said coarse assessment performed by the mobile communications device; and

when the coarse assessment reveals that the mobile communications device is in said region, using said representation of the geospatial zone to determine whether the mobile communications device is in the geospatial zone.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising setting a data value that controls a length of time until the mobile communications device reassesses whether it is in the geospatial zone, said data value being dependent upon a result of said coarse assessment.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising, in response to detecting an event in which the mobile communications device crosses said non-circular outer boundary of the geospatial zone, transmitting a notification of said event from the mobile communications device to a call processing entity.

11. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a computer program that, when executed on a mobile communications device, performs the method of claim 8.

12. A method of determining whether a mobile communications device is located in a non-circular geospatial region, comprising:

maintaining a representation of the non-circular geospatial region in the mobile communications device, said representation specifying at least a centroid of the geospatial region and a radius, said centroid and radius collectively defining a circular region that encompasses the non-circular geospatial region; and

via a processor of the mobile communications device, computing a current distance of the mobile device from said centroid, and comparing said current distance to the radius to determine whether the mobile communications device is potentially located in the non-circular geospatial region.

13. A method implemented in a computer system for managing communications comprising:

receiving user input that specifies at least a boundary of a geo fence region, said boundary specified via a drawing interface in which a user draws the geo fence region on a geographic map;

causing the storage of a representation of the geo fence region on a mobile communications device; and

via execution of software on the mobile communications device, using the representation of the geo fence region to assess whether the mobile communications device is located in the geo fence region.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein using the representation of the geo fence region to assess whether the mobile communications device is located in the geo fence region includes determining whether a distance to a centroid of the geo fence intersects with a maximum radius of the geo fence region.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein using the representation of the geo fence region to assess whether the mobile communications device is located in the geo fence region includes determining whether a distance to a centroid of the geo fence intersects with a minimum radius of the geo fence region.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising reassessing whether the mobile communications device is located in the geo fence region using the representation of the geo fence region at a relatively slow interval rate if the distance from the mobile communication device to the centroid is outside the maximum radius or within the minimum radius of the geo fence region.

17. The method claim 16, further comprising reassessing whether the mobile communications device is located in the geo fence region using the representation of the geo fence region at a faster interval rate if the distance from the mobile communication device to the centroid is within the maximum radius and outside the minimum radius geo fence region.