Method, Apparatus, and Computer Program Product for Location Sharing

• US 20090326811A1
• Filed: 06/27/2008
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Duee, Marcel, Luoma, Kristian, Alakontiola, Jukka, Blomqvist, Mikko
• Granted Patent: US 10,237,679 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/208
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• 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 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

An apparatus for location sharing may include a processor. The processor may be configured to access a point of interest and a geographic cell associated with the point of interest. In this regard, the geographic cell may include geographic cell boundaries. The processor may also be configured to receive location information. The location information may describe a location of a device. The processor may be further configured to determine whether the location described by the location information is within the geographic cell boundaries and associate the device with the point of interest in response to the location described by the location information being within the geographic cell boundaries. The processor may also be configured to share the association between the device and the point of interest via an online service. Associated methods and computer program products may also be provided.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

accessing a first point of interest, a name associated with the first point of interest, and a first geographic cell associated with the first point of interest, the first geographic cell including first geographic cell boundaries;

receiving location information, the location information describing a location of a device;

determining whether the location described by the location information is within the first geographic cell boundaries;

associating the device with the first point of interest in response to the location described by the location information being within the first geographic cell boundaries; and

sharing the name of the first point of interest in response to the location described by the location information being within the first geographic cell boundaries.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein sharing the name includes updating the association between the device and the first point of interest at a predetermined time interval.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing the first point of interest includes accessing the first point of interest, the first point of interest being defined as public or private, and wherein sharing the association between the device and the first point of interest includes sharing the association between the device and the first point of interest in response to the first point of interest being public.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing the first point of interest includes accessing a first point of interest being defined with respect to an access group associated with the first point of interest, and wherein sharing the association between the device and the first point of interest includes sharing the association between the device and the first point of interest with a requester in response to the requestor being a member of the access group.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing the first point of interest includes accessing the first point of interest, the first point of interest having been defined by selecting a first point of interest location and determining the first geographic cell boundaries based on the first point of interest location.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

accessing a second point of interest and a second geographic cell associated with the second point of interest, the second geographic cell including second geographic cell boundaries, the second geographic cell boundaries intersecting with the first geographic cell boundaries; and

accessing a first point of interest location associated with the first point of interest and a second point of interest location associated with the second point of interest;

wherein determining whether the location described by the location information is within the first geographic cell boundaries includes determining whether the location described by the location information is within the second geographic cell boundaries; and

wherein associating the device with the first point of interest includes associating the device with the first point of interest in response to the location described by the location information being within the second geographic cell boundaries and in response to the location described by the location information being closer to the first point of interest location than the second point of interest location.

7. An apparatus comprising a processor, the processor configured to:

access a first point of interest, a name associated with the first point of interest, and a first geographic cell associated with the first point of interest, the first geographic cell including first geographic cell boundaries;

receive location information, the location information describing a location of a device;

determine whether the location described by the location information is within the first geographic cell boundaries;

associate the device with the first point of interest in response to the location described by the location information being within the first geographic cell boundaries; and

share the name of the first point of interest in response to the location described by the location information being within the first geographic cell boundaries.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor configured to share the name includes being configured to update the association between the device and the first point of interest at a predetermined time interval.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor configured to access the first point of interest includes being configured to access the first point of interest, the first point of interest being defined as public or private, and wherein the processor configured to share the association between the device and the first point of interest includes being configured to share the association between the device and the first point of interest in response to the first point of interest being public.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein processor configured to access the first point of interest includes being configured to access a first point of interest, the first point of interest being defined with respect to an access group associated with the first point of interest, and wherein the processor configured to share the association between the device and the first point of interest includes being configured to share the association between the device and the first point of interest with a requester in response to the requester being a member of the access group.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor configured to access the first point of interest includes being configured access the first point of interest, the first point of interest having been defined by selecting a first point of interest location and determining the first geographic cell boundaries based on the first point of interest location.

12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to:

access a second point of interest and a second geographic cell associated with the second point of interest, the second geographic cell including second geographic cell boundaries, the second geographic cell boundaries intersecting with the first geographic cell boundaries; and

access a first point of interest location associated with the first point of interest and a second point of interest location associated with the second point of interest; and

wherein the processor configured to determine whether the location described by the location information is within the first geographic cell boundaries includes being configured to determine whether the location described by the location information is within the second geographic cell boundaries; and

wherein the processor configured to associate the device with the first point of interest includes being configured to associate the device with the first point of interest in response to the location described by the location information being within the second geographic cell boundaries and in response to the location described by the location information being closer to the first point of interest location than the second point of interest location.

13. A computer program product comprising at least one computer-readable storage medium having executable computer-readable program code instructions stored therein, the computer-readable program code instructions comprising:

first program code instructions configured to access a first point of interest, a name associated with a first point of interest, and a first geographic cell associated with the first point of interest, the first geographic cell including first geographic cell boundaries;

second program code instructions configured to receive location information, the location information describing a location of a device;

third program code instructions configured to determine whether the location described by the location information is within the first geographic cell boundaries;

fourth program code instructions configured to associate the device with the first point of interest in response to the location described by the location information being within the first geographic cell boundaries; and

fifth program code instructions configured to share the name of the first point of interest in response to the location described by the location information being within the first geographic cell boundaries.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the fifth program code instructions configured to share the name includes being configured to update the association between the device and the first point of interest at a predetermined time interval.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the first program code instructions configured to access the first point of interest includes being configured to access the first point of interest, the first point of interest being defined as public or private, and wherein the fifth program code instructions configured to share the association between the device and the first point of interest includes being configured to share the association between the device and the first point of interest in response to the first point of interest being public.

16. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the first program code instructions configured to access the first point of interest includes being configured to access the first point of interest, the first point of interest being defined with respect to an access group associated with the first point of interest, and wherein the fifth program code instructions configured to share the association between the device and the first point of interest includes being configured to share the association between the device and the first point of interest with a requester in response to the requester being a member of the access group.

17. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the first program code instructions configured to access the first point of interest, the first point of interest having been defined by selecting a first point of interest location and determining the first geographic cell boundaries based on the first point of interest location.

18. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the computer-readable program code instructions further comprise:

sixth program code instructions configured to access a second point of interest and a second geographic cell associated with the second point of interest, the second geographic cell including second geographic cell boundaries, the second geographic cell boundaries intersecting with the first geographic cell boundaries; and

seventh program code instructions configured to access a first point of interest location associated with the first point of interest and a second point of interest location associated with the second point of interest; and

wherein the third program code instructions configured to determine whether the location described by the location information is within the first geographic cell boundaries includes being configured to determine whether the location described by the location information is within the second geographic cell boundaries; and

wherein the fourth program code instructions configured to associate the device with the first point of interest includes being configured to associate the device with the first point of interest in response to the location described by the location information being within the second geographic cell boundaries and in response to the location described by the location information being closer to the first point of interest location than the second point of interest location.

19. An apparatus comprising:

means for accessing a first point of interest, a name of the first point of interest, and a first geographic cell associated with the first point of interest, the first geographic cell including first geographic cell boundaries;

means for receiving location information, the location information describing a location of a device;

means for determining whether the location described by the location information is within the first geographic cell boundaries;

means for associating the device with the first point of interest in response to the location described by the location information being within the first geographic cell boundaries; and

means for sharing the of the first point of interest in response to the location described by the location information being within the first geographic cell boundaries.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein means for accessing the first point of interest includes means for accessing a first point of interest being defined with respect to an access group associated with the first point of interest, and wherein means for sharing the association between the device and the first point of interest includes means for sharing the association between the device and the first point of interest with a requestor in response to the requestor being a member of the access group.