Surveying Wireless Device Users by Location

• US 20110312341A1
• Filed: 08/01/2011
• Published: 12/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Moton, Robert T. Jr., Enzmann, Mark J., Zellner, Samuel N.
• Granted Patent: US 8,538,456 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0203 Market surveys; Market polls
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/00 Network planning, e.g. coverage or traffic planning tools; Network deployment, e.g. resource partitioning or cells structures
• 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

The present invention is a system and method for conducting survey using wireless devices. The system architecture of the present invention comprises a location server and a location system. The location server can receive a survey request from a subscriber, delineate a survey area for the survey, broadcast a query containing the survey to a plurality of wireless devices, process responses received from the wireless devices, and deliver a result of the survey to the subscriber. The location system can generate location information for each of the wireless devices that received the query. The location system may be a network-based unit or a portable unit provisioned at each of the wireless devices. In one of the embodiments, the location system is a GPS receiver that generates the longitude and the latitude of the wireless devices at which it is provisioned.

Claims

1. A tangible computer-readable storage medium, for conducting a survey regarding a survey area, comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform acts comprising:

initiating broadcasting of a survey communication to the survey area;

receiving responses from wireless devices located in the survey area;

obtaining location information corresponding to locations of the wireless devices receiving the survey communication; and

determining a number of wireless devices positioned in the survey area based on the location information.

2. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the processor to determine a number of people positioned in the survey area based on the number of wireless devices determined to be positioned in the survey area.

3. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 2, wherein the instructions are configured to, in causing the processor to determine the number of people positioned in the survey area, multiply the number of wireless devices determined to be positioned in the survey area by a predetermined ratio.

4. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 2, wherein the instructions are configured to, in causing the processor to determine the number of people positioned in the survey area, consider the number of people positioned in the area to be equivalent to the number of wireless devices determined to be positioned in the survey area.

10. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions are configured to, in causing the processor to obtain location information corresponding to locations of the wireless devices, cause the processor to obtain the location information from the responses received from the wireless devices.

11. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein:

the survey communication is a first survey communication; and

the instructions are configured to cause the processor to initiate broadcasting of a second survey communication to the survey area for determining movement information corresponding to wireless devices in the survey area over time.

5. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim I, wherein;

the instructions are configured to cause the processor to receive a message, from a user, indicating the survey area; and

the instructions are configured to, in causing the processor to initiate broadcasting of the survey communication to the survey area, cause the processor to initiate the broadcasting in response to receiving the message.

6. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein:

the instructions are configured to cause the processor to delineate the survey area based on content of the message; and

the instructions are configured to, in causing the processor to initiate the broadcasting, cause the processor to select an appropriate transmitter.

7. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the message indicates the service area by data selected from a group of data consisting of:

data identifying streets corresponding to the survey area;

data identifying a location of the user; and

data identifying a place corresponding to the survey area.

8. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the processor to, in response to having received the message, initiate sending, to the user, a report indicating at least one indicia selected from a group of indicia consisting of:

a number of wireless devices determined to be positioned in the survey area; and

a number of people determined to be positioned in the survey area.

9. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein:

the survey communication includes an inquiry for the mobile devices; and

the report includes data relating to responses to the inquiry.

12. A tangible computer-readable storage medium, for providing a service in a dispatch area, comprising instructions that, when executed by a computer processor, cause the processor to perform acts comprising:

broadcasting a query over the dispatch area;

receiving a response to the query from a wireless device, wherein the response includes (i) location information corresponding to the wireless device and (ii) identity information corresponding to the wireless device; and

initiating provision of the service in reply to receiving the response.

13. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions cause the processor to, in initiating provision of the service, send an instruction, to the wireless device, for instructing a user of the device to provide the service to a customer.

14. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions cause the processor to, in initiating provision of the service, initiate provision of the service if the location information satisfies a predetermined criterion.

15. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions cause the processor to, in initiating provision of the service, initiate provision of the service if the identity information satisfies a predetermined criterion.

16. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions cause the processor to, in broadcasting the query, broadcast the query over the dispatch area wherein the query is configured to be intelligible only by wireless devices affiliated with a program corresponding to the query.

17. A tangible computer-readable storage medium, for conducting a survey regarding a survey area, comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform acts including:

initiating broadcast of a survey communication to the survey area;

receiving responses, from wireless devices in the survey area, to the survey communication; and

determining a number of wireless devices positioned in the survey area based on the responses received.

18. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to determine a number of people positioned in the survey area, based on the number of wireless devices determined to be positioned in the survey area, by multiplying the number of wireless devices determined to be positioned in the survey area by a predetermined ratio.

19. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein:

the instructions are further configured to cause the processor to receive a message, from a user, indicating the survey area; and

the instructions, in being configured to cause the processor to broadcast the survey communication, are configured to cause the processor to broadcast the survey communication in response to receiving the message.

20. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein:

the survey communication is a first survey communication; and

the instructions are configured to cause the processor to initiate broadcasting of a second survey communication to the survey area for determining movement information corresponding to wireless devices in the survey area over time.