CONTEXT-INDUCED WIRELESS NETWORK TRANSPORT FOR CONTENT AND PROFILE INFORMATION

• US 20100217660A1
• Filed: 02/24/2010
• Published: 08/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Board of Trustees of Michigan State University (Michigan State University)
• Original Assignee: The Board of Trustees of Michigan State University (Michigan State University)
• Inventors: Biswas, Subir
• Granted Patent: US 8,554,615 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.380
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0238 at point-of-sale [POS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/06 including a wireless LAN interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

In accordance with the present invention, context-induced wireless network information and content transport systems and methods are provided. In another aspect of the present application, a system includes first and second mobile devices that store respective interest profiles. A further aspect of the present application provides that wireless point-to-point connections are formed when the first and second mobile devices are in close physical proximity to each other. In another aspect, the mobile devices automatically exchange advertising content between each other based on the respective interest profiles over the wireless point-to-point connections. Yet another aspect employs a content distribution device wirelessly transmitting advertising content to one of the first and second mobile devices when the one of the first and second mobile devices is in close physical proximity to the content distribution device. A method of operating such a wireless network is also provided.

Claims

1. A wireless network system comprising:

first and second mobile devices storing respective interest profiles and automatically exchanging advertising content over a wireless point-to-point connection based on the respective interest profiles when the mobile devices are within range of each other; and

a content distribution device selectively transmitting advertising content wirelessly to one of the first and second mobile devices when the one of the first and second mobile devices is within range of the content distribution device.

2. The wireless network system of claim 1 further comprising a point-of-sale terminal establishing a wireless peer-to-peer connection with the first mobile device, wherein the first mobile device selectively transmits advertising content to the point-of-sale terminal, wherein the point-of-sale terminal selectively adjusts a transaction total based on the transmitted advertising content, and wherein the point-of-sale terminal selectively requests that the transmitted advertising content be deleted from the first mobile device.

3. The wireless network system of claim 2 wherein the first mobile device selectively adjusts the interest profile based on a transaction performed at the point-of-sale terminal.

4. The wireless network system of claim 1 further comprising a computer establishing a wired connection to the first mobile device and displaying advertising content from the first mobile device and displaying information based on the interest profile of the first mobile device, wherein a user of the first mobile device modifies the interest profile of the first mobile device via the computer.

5. The wireless network system of claim 1 wherein each of the first and second mobile devices:

selectively adjusts the respective interest profile based on physical proximity to the content distribution device; and

adjusts the respective interest profile based on physical proximity to other mobile devices.

6. The wireless network system of claim 1 wherein the advertising content includes at least one of sale announcements, coupons, advertisements, and event notifications.

7. The wireless network system of claim 1 wherein the wireless point-to-point connection is created according to Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard 802.15.4.

8. A wireless network system comprising:

a first mobile device operably storing an interest profile;

a second mobile device, the first mobile device establishing a wireless peer-to-peer connection with the second mobile device when the first and second mobile devices are in close physical proximity, and the first mobile device selectively adjusting the interest profile based on profile information from the second mobile device; and

a location device establishing a wireless peer-to-peer connection with the first mobile device when the first mobile device is in close physical proximity to the location device and transmitting location information to the first mobile device, wherein the first mobile device adjusts the interest profile based on the location information.

9. The wireless network system of claim 8 wherein the location information includes a location identifier and an event identifier, and wherein the location identifier is associated with at least one of an entertainment venue and a retail location.

10. The wireless network system of claim 8 wherein the first mobile device:

determines a first influence based on duration and frequency of close physical proximity to the second mobile device; and

adjusts the interest profile in proportion to the first influence.

11. A wireless network system comprising:

a mobile device wirelessly receiving advertising content at a first location, storing the advertising content, and wirelessly transmitting the advertising content at a second location to a second mobile device, wherein the first and second locations are different; and

an advertising content transmitter located at the first location wirelessly transmitting the advertising content to the mobile device.

12. The wireless network system of claim 11 wherein the content distribution device transmits the advertising content to the mobile device over a first wireless point-to-point link and the mobile device transmits the advertising content to the second mobile device over a second wireless point-to-point link.

13. A wireless network system comprising:

a content generation device generating advertising content;

a plurality of content distribution devices receiving the advertising content; and

a plurality of mobile devices receiving the advertising content from one of the plurality of content distribution devices over wireless peer-to-peer links, and selectively exchanging the advertising content over wireless peer-to-peer links based on physical proximity and interest profile information corresponding to each of the plurality of mobile devices.

14. The wireless network system of claim 13 further comprising a management device receiving the advertising content from the content generation device and disseminating the advertising content to the plurality of content distribution devices.

15. The wireless network system of claim 14 wherein the content distribution devices report statistics of distributed content to the management device.

16. The wireless network system of claim 14 further comprising a content redemption device receiving the advertising content from one of the plurality of mobile devices using a wireless point-to-point connection and selectively adjusting a transaction total based on the received advertising content.

17. The wireless network system of claim 16 wherein the content redemption device verifies the advertising content with the management device and reports information concerning the transaction to the management device.

18. The wireless network system of claim 17 wherein the management device bills a subscriber based on the information.

19. A wireless apparatus comprising:

a first mobile device including;

a first network interface;

a first control module maintaining a first profile; and

a first storage module storing advertising content;

a second mobile device including;

a second network interface establishing a direct peer-to-peer wireless connection with the first network interface;

a second control module maintaining a second profile;

a second storage module storing advertising content;

wherein the first control module wirelessly transmits a beacon signal to the second control module, the second control module selects advertising content from the second storage module based on the beacon signal, and the second control module selectively wirelessly transmits the selected advertising content to the first control module.

20. The wireless apparatus of claim 19 wherein the beacon signal includes a profile vector based on the first profile, and the second control module adjusts the second profile based on the profile vector.

21. The wireless apparatus of claim 19 wherein the second control module wireless transmits an offer signal to the first control module that includes unique identifiers of the selected advertising content.

22. The wireless apparatus of claim 21 wherein the first control module:

reviews the unique identifiers and selects and selectively adds desired ones of the unique identifiers to a request list; and

transmits a request signal to the second control module that specifies the desired ones of the unique identifiers.

23. The wireless apparatus of claim 22 wherein the second control module transmits advertising content from the second storage module based only on the desired ones of the unique identifiers to the first control module.

24. A mobile device comprising:

a network interface establishing peer-to-peer wireless connections with fixed devices and other mobile devices; and

a control module maintaining an interest profile, adjusting the interest profile based on physical proximity to the fixed devices, adjusting the interest profile based on physical proximity to the other mobile devices, and exchanging advertising content with the other mobile devices and the fixed devices based on the interest profile.

25. A method comprising:

transmitting advertising content wirelessly from a fixed device to a first device of a plurality of mobile devices when the first device is in close physical proximity to the fixed device;

maintaining an interest profile for each of the plurality of mobile devices; and

when two of the plurality of mobile devices are in close physical proximity to each other, automatically exchanging advertising content over a wireless point-to-point connection between the two of the plurality of mobile devices based on the interest profiles of the two of the plurality of mobile devices.

26. The method of claim 25 further comprising adjusting the consumer profile of the first device based on places visited, events attended, and products purchased.

27. The method of claim 25 further comprising adjusting the consumer profile of the first device based on profile information of others of the plurality of mobile devices in close physical proximity to the first device.

28. A computer program stored in a tangible computer-readable medium for execution on a processor, the computer program comprising:

first instructions for storing profile data;

second instructions for storing advertising content;

third instructions for establishing a direct wireless point-to-point link;

fourth instructions for receiving profile data over the direct wireless point-to-point link;

fifth instructions for adjusting the stored profile data based on the received profile data; and

sixth instructions for retrieving the advertising content and transmitting the advertising content over the direct wireless point-to-point link.

29. The computer program of claim 28 further comprising additional instructions for:

adjusting the stored profile data based on detected occurrence of consumer activities;

selecting advertising content based on the received profile data; and

retrieving and transmitting the selected advertising content.

30. The computer program of claim 28 further comprising additional instructions for:

exchanging profile data through a social networking website;

identifying related users of the social networking website; and

exchanging content with the related users of the social networking website.

31. A method of operating a wireless device, the method comprising:

wirelessly receiving a beacon packet including an interest vector from a first node, where no packets prior to the beacon packet have been received from the first node;

wirelessly transmitting an offer packet including unique identifiers of a plurality of content items based on the interest vector;

wirelessly receiving a request packet identifying at least one of the plurality of content items; and

wirelessly transmitting data packets including the at least one of the plurality of content items.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein the unique identifiers are selected by identifying stored content items that match the interest vector.

33. The method of claim 31 further comprising maintaining a personal interest vector and storing neighbor interest vectors including the interest vector from the first node.

34. The method of claim 33 further comprising broadcasting a second beacon packet including a broadcast interest vector based on the personal interest vector and the stored neighbor interest vectors.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein the broadcast interest vector is also based on a random interest vector.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the broadcast interest vector is based on a binary representation of a sum of the random interest vector, the personal interest vector, and an aggregate neighbor interest vector.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein the aggregate neighbor interest vector is based on an average of the neighbor interest vectors.

38. The method of claim 37 further comprising maintaining a record, for each neighbor, of time elapsed since a signal was last received from the neighbor, wherein the aggregate neighbor interest vector is based on a weighted average of the neighbor interest vectors, and wherein the weights are determined based on the corresponding elapsed time.

39. The method of claim 38 further comprising deleting neighbor interest vectors whose corresponding elapsed time is greater than a predetermined threshold.