Telemetrics Based Location and Tracking

• US 20110040603A1
• Filed: 08/12/2009
• Published: 02/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gridley IP LLC (IP Edge LLC)
• Original Assignee: Empire Technology Development LLC (Allied Inventors Management, LLC)
• Inventors: Wolfe, Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 8,676,668 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.31
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0619 Neutral agent
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants

Abstract

A population activity mapping method may include detecting a plurality of wireless mobile devices within a geographic region. Individual wireless mobile devices may include a processor, a user interface, a transmitter and a receiver. The detecting operation may be performed by use of a wireless access point, a GPS satellite, and/or a base station, and may be performed at at least two different points in time. Input data may be provided based upon the detecting operation. A distance and speed at which the mobile devices travel within the geographic region may be discerned dependent upon the input data. The discerning operation is performed by at least one processor of a computer network. A time and/or location at which salable output is to be made available and/or an amount of salable output to be made available may be determined dependent upon the discerning operation.

Claims

1. A method for mapping population activity, the method comprising:

detecting wireless mobile devices within a geographic region at two or more different points in time;

providing input data based upon the detecting operation;

discerning a distance and a speed at which the wireless mobile devices travel within the geographic region based upon the input data;

determining, dependent upon the discerning operation, one or more of;

a time at which a salable output is to be made available;

a location at which the salable output is to be made available; and

/or

an amount of the salable output to be made available,

the determining being performed by one or more processors of a computer network; and

presenting a result of the determining operation on a user interface of the computer network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein individual wireless mobile devices include a processor, a transmitter, and a receiver;

and wherein the detecting operation is performed by use of one or more of a wireless access point, a GPS satellite, and/or a base station.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the discerning operation is performed by either at least one of the one or more processors of the computer network, or the processor of at least one of the individual wireless mobile devices.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising collecting demographic information associated with at least some of the wireless mobile devices, wherein the determining operation is at least partially dependent upon the demographic information.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising retrieving historical information from a memory device, wherein the determining operation is at least partially dependent upon the historical information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining operation is at least partially dependent upon a source that provides the input data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining operation is at least partially dependent upon one or more of a present time-of-day, a present day-of-the-week, and/or a present calendar date.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the input data relates to the detected wireless mobile devices and is either filtered or weighted according to at least one search criterion.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining operation is at least partially dependent upon a change over time in a number of the wireless mobile devices that are detected.

10. An apparatus for tracking potential purchasers, the apparatus comprising:

a mobile device locator configured to detect, at a plurality of points in time, locations of wireless mobile devices within a geographic region;

a source of demographic information related to the wireless mobile devices;

a source of historical information related to the wireless mobile devices; and

a computer arrangement including;

a memory device communicatively coupled to the source of demographic information and to the source of historical information, the memory device being configured to store the demographic information and the historical information; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the mobile device locator and to the memory device, the processor being configured to;

predict a level of demand for a salable output of a provider dependent upon one or more of input data from the mobile device locator, the demographic information, and/or the historical information; and

determine, dependent upon the predicted level of demand, one or both of a location at which the salable output is to be made available and/or an amount of the salable output to be made available.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to:

either filter the input data or weight the input data from the mobile device locator according to at least one search criterion; and

predict the level of demand for the salable output of the provider dependent upon either the filtered input data or the weighted input data.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the computer arrangement includes a user interface, wherein the processor is further configured to present the predicted level of demand on the user interface.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the mobile device locator is configured to detect the locations of the wireless mobile devices by aggregating data from a plurality of sources.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to predict the level of demand for the salable output dependent upon an identity of the mobile device locator.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to predict the level of demand for the salable output dependent upon one or more of a day-of-the-week and/or a time-of-day.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the mobile device locator is configured to use one or more of a wireless access point, a plurality of GPS satellites, and/or a plurality of cellular base stations.

17. A computer readable medium including program instructions which when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform the method comprising:

receiving location data, the received location data being related to a plurality of wireless mobile devices at a first point in time and at a second point in time;

using the received location data to compare respective locations of each of the plurality of wireless mobile devices at the first point in time to respective locations of each of the plurality of wireless mobile devices at the second point in time;

determining respective activity levels for each of the plurality of wireless mobile devices based at least partially upon respective displacements of each of the plurality of wireless mobile devices between the first and second points in time and upon a time difference between the first and second points in time;

ascertaining respective directions of motion for each of the plurality of mobile devices based at least partially upon respective displacements of each of the plurality of wireless mobile devices between the first and second points in time;

estimating a likelihood of sales transactions associated with each of the plurality of wireless mobile devices and a provider of salable outputs within a future time period, the estimating being dependent upon;

a number of the plurality of wireless mobile devices for which the location data was received;

the determined activity levels for each of the plurality of wireless mobile devices; and

the ascertained directions of motion for each of the plurality of wireless mobile devices; and

transmitting a forecast message to the provider of salable outputs suitable for display on a user interface associated with the provider, the forecast message being dependent upon the estimated likelihood of sales transactions.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the program instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform the method further comprising accessing stored demographic and historical information related to at least one of the plurality of wireless mobile devices, the estimating being dependent upon the demographic and historical information.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the program instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform the method further comprising accessing stored historical transaction rates in at least one past period of time analogous to the future period of time, the estimating being dependent upon the historical transaction rates.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the estimated likelihood of sales transactions is broken down by locations.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the estimated likelihood of sales transactions is dependent upon a source of the location data.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the estimated likelihood of sales transactions is dependent upon a day-of-the-week and a time-of-day of the future time period.

23. An apparatus for tracking potential purchasers, the apparatus comprising:

means for detecting, at a plurality of points in time, locations of a plurality of wireless mobile devices within a geographic region;

means for ascertaining and storing demographic information and historical information related to the plurality of wireless mobile devices; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the means for detecting and to the means for ascertaining, the processor being configured to;

predict a level of demand for a salable output of a provider dependent upon mobile device location data from the means for detecting, the demographic information, and the historical information; and

determine, dependent upon the predicted level of demand, one or more of a time to make the salable output available, a location at which the salable output is to be made available, and/or an amount of the salable output to be made available.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the means for detecting is comprises a means for detecting the locations of the plurality of wireless mobile devices by aggregating data from a plurality of sources.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the means for detecting is associated with one or more of a wireless access point, a plurality of GPS satellites, and/or a plurality of cellular base stations.

26. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising means for estimating a number of undetected wireless mobile devices within each of a plurality of demographic categories, the processor being configured to predict a level of demand for the salable output of the provider dependent upon the estimated number of undetected wireless mobile devices within each of the demographic categories.

27. A population activity mapping method, the method comprising:

detecting wireless mobile devices within a first geographic region and a second geographic region, where individual wireless mobile devices include a processor, a transmitter, and a receiver, the detecting operation being performed by use of one or more of a wireless access point, a GPS satellite, and/or a base station, the detecting being performed at two different points in time;

providing input data based upon the detecting operation;

discerning, dependent upon the input data;

changes in population of each of the first geographic region and the second geographic region between the two different points in time; and

demographic information associated with each of a plurality of the wireless mobile devices that travel to or from the first geographic region or the second geographic region to the other of the first geographic region and the second geographic region between the two different points in time,

the discerning operation being performed by a processor of a computer network or by the processor of a corresponding one of the plurality of the wireless mobile devices that travel to or from the first geographic region or the second geographic region to the other of the first geographic region and the second geographic region between the two different points in time;

determining, dependent upon the discerning operation, one or more of;

a time at which a salable output is to be made available;

a location at which the salable output is to be made available; and

/or

an amount of the salable output to be made available,

the determining operation being performed by the processor of the computer network; and

presenting a result of the determining operation on a user interface of the computer network.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein the discerning operation includes discerning, dependent upon the input data, for each of the plurality of the wireless mobile devices that travel to or from the first geographic region or the second geographic region to the other of the first geographic region and the second geographic region between the two different points in time, a speed of travel.

29. The method of claim 27 wherein the discerning operation includes discerning, dependent upon the input data, for each of the plurality of the wireless mobile devices that travel to or from the first geographic region or the second geographic region to the other of the first geographic region and the second geographic region between the two different points in time, a direction of travel.

30. A population activity mapping method, the method comprising:

detecting wireless mobile devices within a first geographic region and a second geographic region, where individual wireless mobile devices include a processor, a transmitter and a receiver, the detecting operation being performed by use of one or more of a wireless access point, a GPS satellite, and/or a base station, the detecting being performed at two different points in time;

providing input data based upon the detecting operation;

discerning, dependent upon the input data;

changes in population of each of the first geographic region and the second geographic region between the two different points in time; and

an average speed of ones of a plurality of the wireless mobile devices that travel between the first geographic region and the second geographic region between the two different points in time,

the discerning operation being performed by a processor of a computer network or by the processor of the individual ones of the plurality of wireless mobile devices that travel between the first geographic region and the second geographic region between the two different points in time;

determining, dependent upon the discerning operation, one or more of;

a time at which a salable output is to be made available;

a location at which the salable output is to be made available; and

/or

an amount of the salable output to be made available,

the determining being performed by the processor of the computer network; and

presenting a result of the determining operation on a user interface of the computer network.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein the discerning operation includes discerning, dependent upon the input data, for each of the plurality of wireless mobile devices that travel to or from the first geographic region or the second geographic region to an other the first geographic region and the second geographic region between the two different points in time, a direction of travel.

32. The method of claim 30 wherein the detecting operation includes detecting a plurality of wireless mobile devices within a third geographic region, the discerning operation including discerning a second average speed of second ones of the plurality of wireless mobile devices within the third geographic region that travel between the second geographic region and the third geographic region.