MASHUP APPLICATION AND SERVICE FOR WIRELESS DEVICES

• US 20090312033A1
• Filed: 06/16/2008
• Published: 12/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Zhang, Yongguang, Lu, Songwu, Shen, Guobin
• Granted Patent: US 8,072,954 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.100
• 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 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/20 Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

Described is a technology, such as implemented as social networking groupware application designed for mobile device users, that provides a data mashup service for various data types, including location dependent and mobility-aware data such as GPS location and surrounding maps. A mobile user may track the location and maps of roaming friends at runtime. To this end, a client device joins a squad of client devices that are each capable of communicating with one another over a wireless local area network (WLAN) connection. When in a squad, the client can obtain data for use as mashup information from other client devices in the squad over the WLAN connection (inter-squad). This may include intra-squad data that was obtained from a service based on information that the service received from another squad, e.g., over a WWAN connection.

Claims

1. In a computing environment, a method comprising:

joining a squad of client devices that are each capable of communicating with one another over a WLAN connection;

obtaining data for use as mashup information from at least one other client device in the squad that was obtained from a service based on information that the service received from another squad.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining the data comprises communicating with a client device in the squad via the WLAN connection, in which the data was previously obtained from the service by the client device over a WWAN connection.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining the data comprises receiving location data and map data, and further comprising, combining the location data and map data into the mashup information.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising, maintaining range constrained bit vector data to relate the location data and the map data.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining the data comprises receiving file content.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising, communicating heartbeat information to the squad, and communicating heartbeat information to the service.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising, selecting a member of the squad to communicate with the service.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising, temporarily turning off the WLAN connection to enter a sleep mode between intra-squad communications.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising, using location data received from the squad to synchronize the sleep mode with at least one other device of the squad.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising, reporting information corresponding to a detected change in mobility to the service.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising, mathematically combining location data of at least some of the clients of the squad, and reporting combined location data for the squad to the service.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising receiving an update frequency from the service, and using the update frequency to provide the combined location data for the squad to the service.

13. In a computing environment having clients coupled to a service, a system comprising, a client device that is a member of a local squad of client devices, the client device including a mashup engine that combines data from different sources to provide output, including a set of data received via a WLAN communication with another member of the local squad, in which that member received at least part of that set of data from another squad via a WWAN connection to a service.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the WLAN connection comprises a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth®

connection.

15. The system of claim 13 wherein the client device further includes a communications manager, the communications manager handling local communications via the WLAN and remote communications via the WWAN, including managing incoming and outgoing data queues.

16. The system of claim 13 wherein the client device further includes a location manager coupled to the mashup engine to process location data, including data of the device and at least one other client device in the squad.

17. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions, which when executed perform steps, comprising:

maintaining information representative of squads of clients, including a first squad and a second squad;

receiving data by which a member of the first squad can track movement of at least one member of the second squad; and

providing the data in response to the member of the first squad.

18. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 17 having further computer-executable instructions comprising:

a) receiving information indicative of a mobility change in the first squad, and in response, determining an update frequency and providing the update frequency to a member of the first squad;

b) receiving an update message from the first squad comprising a status vector that aggregates a current positioning of each squad member, and maintaining the update;

c) receiving data corresponding to a mobility pattern of the squad, and using the data to predict a current location of the squad;

or

d) any combination of a), b) and c).

19. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 17 having further computer-executable instructions comprising, detecting whether a heartbeat corresponding to a member of the first squad is present, and if not, changing data to remove the member from the first squad.

20. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 17 having further computer-executable instructions comprising, receiving information indicative of a client position relative to a squad, computing a distance relative to the squad based on the client position, and removing the client as a member from the squad when the distance exceeds a threshold distance.