Multimodal proximity detection

• US 20100332668A1
• Filed: 06/30/2009
• Published: 12/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Lee, Jinwon, Nachman, Lama, Raffa, Giuseppe, Huang, Jonathan J., Shah, Rahul C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,745,250 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/229
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• 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 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds

Abstract

Systems and methods for proximity detection between electronic devices are disclosed. One or more electronic devices transmit signals to a proximity server, which determines whether the first electronic device may be proximate the second electronic device. The proximity server transmits a signal to the first electronic device and the second device, and in response to the signal, the first and second electronic devices activate an environmental sensor, collect at least one sample of environmental data, extract at least one feature set of the environmental data, generate a first obscured feature from the feature set, transmit the first and second obscured feature sets to the proximity server. The proximity server uses the first obscured feature set and the second obscured feature set to determine whether the first electronic device and the second electronic device are proximate.

Claims

1. A method to implement multimodal proximity detection in a first electronic device, comprising:

initiating an environmental sampling routine in the first electronic device by;

activating an environmental sensor;

collecting at least one sample of environmental data;

extracting at least one feature set of the environmental data;

generating a first obscured feature from the feature set extracted from the first electronic device;

transmitting the first obscured feature set from the first electronic device to a proximity server; and

receiving, in the first electronic device, a signal indicating whether the first electronic device is proximate to a second electronic device;

receiving, in the first electronic device, an identifier associated with the second electronic device if the device was proximate; and

,

establishing at least one context parameter based on the identifier when the device is proximate.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, in response to a signal from the proximity server, the first electronic device activates a microphone to collect samples of ambient noise from the surrounding environment.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the first electronic device applies an obscuring function to the samples of ambient noise collected from the surrounding environment.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, in response to a determination in the proximity server that the first electronic device and the second electronic device are proximate:

the proximity server determines whether the first electronic device and the second electronic device allow each other to know of their proximity, and in response to a determination that the first electronic device and the second electronic device allow each other to know of their proximity;

the proximity server defines a proximity group comprising the first electronic device and the second electronic device; and

the proximity server transmits an identifier associated with the first electronic device to the second electronic device and an identifier associated with the second electronic device to the first electronic device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, in response to a signal that the first electronic device is proximate the second electronic device, the first electronic device:

activates a trigger sensor to detect a change in the ambient environment;

in response to a change in the ambient environment, transmits a signal to the proximity server; and

in response to the signal, the proximity server transmits a signal to the first electronic device and the second electronic device to initiate an environmental sampling routine.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, the trigger sensor comprises at least one of an accelerometer or a location sensor.

7. An electronic device, comprising:

a processor; and

logic to;

receive a first signal indicating that the electronic device may be proximate a second electronic device;

in response to the signal, to initiate an environmental sampling routine in the first electronic device by;

activating an environmental sensor;

collecting at least one sample of environmental data;

extracting at least one feature set of the environmental data;

generating a first obscured feature from the feature set extracted from the first electronic device;

transmitting the first obscured feature set from the first electronic device to a proximity server; and

receive, in the first electronic device, a signal indicating whether the first electronic device is proximate to a second electronic device;

receive, in the first electronic device, an identifier associated with the second electronic device if the device was proximate; and

,

establish at least one context parameter based on the identifier when the device is proximate.

8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein, in response to a signal from the proximity server, the electronic device activates a microphone to collect samples of ambient noise from the surrounding environment.

9. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein:

the electronic device applies an obscuring function to the samples of ambient noise collected from the surrounding environment.

10. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein, in response to a determination in the proximity server that the electronic device and the second electronic device are proximate:

the proximity server determines whether the first electronic device and the second electronic device allow each other to know of their proximity, and in response to a determination that the firs electronic device and the second electronic device allow each other to know of their proximity;

the proximity server defines a proximity group comprising the first electronic device and the second electronic device; and

the proximity server transmits an identifier associated with the first electronic device to the second electronic device and an identifier associated with the second electronic device to the first electronic device.

11. The electronic device of claim 7 wherein, in response to a signal that the first electronic device is proximate the second electronic device, the first electronic device:

activates a trigger sensor to detect a change in the ambient environment;

in response to a change in the ambient environment, transmits a signal to the proximity server; and

in response to the signal, the proximity server transmits a signal to the first electronic device and the second electronic device to initiate an environmental sampling routine.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein, the trigger sensor comprises at least one of an accelerometer or a location sensor.

13. A method to implement multimodal proximity detection in a proximity server, comprising:

receiving signals from a first electronic device and a second electronic device;

determining whether a first electronic device may be proximate a second electronic device;

in response to the determination that the first electronic device may be proximate the second electronic device, transmitting a signal from the proximity server to the first electronic device and the second device;

receiving a first obscured feature set from the first electronic device and a second obscured feature set from the second electronic device;

using the first obscured feature set and the second obscured feature set to determine whether the first electronic device and the second electronic device are proximate.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein:

the first electronic device and the second electronic device transmit location information to the proximity server; and

the proximity server uses the location information to determine whether the first electronic device and the second electronic device may be proximate.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the proximity server:

determines location information from the signals transmitted by the first electronic device and the second electronic device; and

the proximity server uses the location information to determine whether the first electronic device and the second electronic device may be proximate.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein:

at least one of the first electronic device and the second electronic device transmit a list of devices detected by a sensor to the proximity server; and

the proximity server uses the list of devices to determine whether the first electronic device and the second electronic device may be proximate.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein, in response to a determination in the proximity server that the first electronic device and the second electronic device are proximate:

the proximity server determines whether the first electronic device and the second electronic device allow each other to know of their proximity, and in response to a determination that the firs electronic device and the second electronic device allow each other to know of their proximity;

the proximity server defines a proximity group comprising the first electronic device and the second electronic device; and

the proximity server transmits an identifier associated with the first electronic device to the second electronic device and an identifier associated with the second electronic device to the first electronic device.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, in response to a signal that the first electronic device is proximate the second electronic device, the first electronic device:

activates a trigger sensor to detect a change in the ambient environment;

in response to a change in the ambient environment, transmits a signal to the proximity server; and

in response to the signal, the proximity server transmits a signal to the first electronic device and the second electronic device to initiate an environmental sampling routine.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein, the trigger sensor comprises at least one of an accelerometer or a location sensor.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the proximity server establishes a time period between environmental sampling routines by electronic devices.

21. A proximity server, comprising:

a processor; and

logic to;

receive signals from a first electronic device and a second electronic device;

determine whether a first electronic device may be proximate a second electronic device;

in response to the a determination that the first electronic device may be proximate the second electronic device, transmit a signal from the proximity server to the first electronic device and the second device;

receive a first obscured feature set from the first electronic device and a second obscured feature set from the second electronic device; and

use the first obscured feature set and the second obscured feature set to determine whether the first electronic device and the second electronic device are proximate.

22. The proximity server of claim 21, wherein:

the first electronic device and the second electronic device transmit location information to the proximity server; and

the proximity server uses the location information to determine whether the first electronic device and the second electronic device may be proximate.

23. The proximity server of claim 21, wherein the proximity server further comprises logic to:

determine location information from the signals transmitted by the first electronic device and the second electronic device; and

use the location information to determine whether the first electronic device and the second electronic device may be proximate.

24. The proximity server of claim 21, wherein:

at least one of the first electronic device and the second electronic device transmit a list of devices detected by a sensor to the proximity server; and

the proximity server uses the list of devices to determine whether the first electronic device and the second electronic device may be proximate.

25. The proximity server of claim 21, wherein, in response to a determination in the proximity server that the first electronic device and the second electronic device are proximate:

the proximity server determines whether the first electronic device and the second electronic device allow each other to know of their proximity, and in response to a determination that the firs electronic device and the second electronic device allow each other to know of their proximity;

the proximity server defines a proximity group comprising the first electronic device and the second electronic device; and

the proximity server transmits an identifier associated with the first electronic device to the second electronic device and an identifier associated with the second electronic device to the first electronic device.

26. The proximity server of claim 21, wherein, in response to a signal that the first electronic device is proximate the second electronic device, the first electronic device:

activates a trigger sensor to detect a change in the ambient environment;

in response to a change in the ambient environment, transmits a signal to the proximity server; and

in response to the signal, the proximity server transmits a signal to the first electronic device and the second electronic device to initiate an environmental sampling routine.

27. The proximity server of claim 26, wherein, the trigger sensor comprises at least one of an accelerometer or a location sensor.

28. The proximity server of claim 26, wherein the proximity server establishes a time period between environmental sampling routines by electronic devices.