GEO-BOUNDARY TRIGGERED MESSAGING AND SCHEDULE SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE

• US 20100113066A1
• Filed: 11/04/2008
• Published: 05/06/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Singer, Michael J., Ramanathan, Sri, Trevathan, Matthew B., Narayan, Pramodh D., Terry, Matthew A., DINGLER, John R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,170,580 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.300
• 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 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

A location based system is provided is configured to provide messages to a recipient based on time and location based information. The a method includes detecting when a mobile user has crossed within a predefined geo-boundary. The method further includes sending a message to the mobile user when the mobile user has crossed within the predefined geo-boundary during a predetermined time period set by an originator of the message.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting when a mobile user has crossed within a predefined geo-boundary; and

sending a message to the mobile user when the mobile user has crossed within the predefined geo-boundary during a predetermined time period set by an originator of the message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined geo-boundary is a location of the originator at a certain time.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined geo-boundary is user defined by at least one of a GPS coordinate, A-GPS coordinate, triangulation methodologies and a mapping program.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined geo-boundary includes a predefined radius.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is at least one of a text message, an audio message and a video message.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined time period is periodically checked to determine if the predetermined time period has expired or a message should be activated.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is sent to the mobile user by one of SMS, Microsoft Media Server (MMS), Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Web Service, Rich Site Summary (RSS) Feed or ATOM based feed

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps are provided on a computing infrastructure which is at least one of maintained, deployed, created and supported by a service provider.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps are provided on a software component, a hardware component or a combination of the software component and the hardware component.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a message ID to a location-based server, the message ID including at least one of a recipient'"'"'s ID, time-based information and location information.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising checking to determine if a new event needs to have geo-boundaries set, and old events that have exceeded a time limit and expired are removed.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

marking the message as sent and receiving confirmation from the mobile user that the message has been received.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising deactivating the message after the predetermined time period has elapsed or the mobile user has received the message.

14. A computer program product comprising a computer usable storage medium having readable program code tangibly embodied in the storage medium, the computer program product being operable to:

receive detection of when a mobile user has crossed within a predefined zone;

retrieve a message to send to the mobile user; and

send the message to the mobile user when the mobile user has been detected to cross within the predefined zone during a user defined time period.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer program product is further operable to mark the message as sent and receive confirmation that the message was received.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer program product is further operable to deactivate the message upon confirmation that it was received.

17. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer program product is further operable to register a time and location message in a scheduler and periodically check the scheduler for message activation.

18. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the message is sent via SMS, SIP, SMTP, Web Services, RSS feed or ATOM based feed.

19. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer program product is provided on a computing infrastructure which is at least one of maintained, deployed, created and supported by a service provider on a fee and/or subscription basis.

20. A method for sending a message to one or more recipients, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure being operable to;

check a scheduler for any messages that need activation during a user defined time period;

activate the message during the user defined time period; and

send the message to one or more recipients after the message has been activated and the one or more recipients are within a user defined location.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the computer infrastructure is at least one of supported, deployed, maintained, and created by a service provider.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the computer infrastructure is further operable to mark the message as sent and receive confirmation that the message was received.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein the computer infrastructure is further operable to register a time and location message in the scheduler and periodically check the scheduler for the message activation.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein the steps are provided on a software component, a hardware component or a combination of the software component and the hardware component.

25. A system comprising a computer infrastructure and computer instructions tangibly embodied on storage medium, the computer instructions comprising at least a first set of instructions that is configured to send a message to one or more user defined recipients at user defined time periods and locations, upon activation of the message after checking a scheduler for any messages that need activation during the user defined time periods.