MOBILE DEVICE ALERT GENERATION SYSTEM AND METHOD

• US 20120100866A1
• Filed: 04/14/2011
• Published: 04/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Smith Micro Software Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Wavemarket Incorporated (Gen Digital Inc.)
• Inventors: Grossman, Joel, Bernstein, Jacqueline Allison, Ozer, Mitchell Scott, Hodges, Daniel
• Granted Patent: US 8,725,174 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/18 Status alarms G08B21/02 takes precedence
• 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 68/00 User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for providing an alert regarding mobile device location is provided. The method includes obtaining location data corresponding to locations of a mobile device over a period of time. A location pattern is determined based on the location data. The current location of the mobile device is detected at a time based on the determined pattern, and an alert is provided regarding the current location of the mobile device. A system for providing alerts regarding mobile device location is also provided.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing an alert regarding mobile device location, the method comprising:

obtaining location data corresponding to locations of a mobile device over a period of time;

determining a location pattern based on the location data;

detecting a current location of the mobile device at a time based on the determined pattern; and

providing an alert regarding the current location of the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device and the location pattern correspond to a first user, and wherein providing the alert comprises rendering the current location accessible to a second user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the location pattern comprises determining the mobile device is at a particular location during a particular time period of a day for a predetermined number of days.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising providing the alert based on the particular time period of the day.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the location pattern comprises determining the mobile device leaves a particular location during a particular time period of a day for a predetermined number of days.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising providing the alert based on the particular time period of the day.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a suggestion that an alert be generated;

obtaining an acceptance of the suggestion; and

detecting the current location and alerting the user to the current location in response to obtaining the acceptance of the suggestion.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the alert to at least one of a local and a remote application.

9. A computer-implemented method for providing an alert regarding mobile device location, the method comprising:

obtaining location data corresponding to locations of a plurality of mobile device users over a period of time;

determining a location pattern of the plurality of mobile device users based on the location data;

detecting a current location of a particular mobile device user; and

providing an alert based on the current location of the particular mobile device user and the determined location pattern.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

obtaining identifying information corresponding to the plurality of mobile device users and the particular mobile device user;

comparing the identifying information of the plurality of mobile device users with the identifying information of the particular mobile device user; and

determining the location pattern of the plurality of mobile device users in response to the identifying information of the plurality of mobile device users corresponding to the identifying information of the particular user.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising obtaining via a network the identifying information from a system executing a social networking application configured to retrieve the identifying information.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

obtaining identifying information corresponding to the plurality of mobile device users and the particular mobile device user;

comparing the identifying information of the plurality of mobile device users with the identifying information of the particular mobile device user; and

determining the location pattern of the plurality of mobile device users in response to the identifying information of the plurality of mobile device users not corresponding to the identifying information of the particular user.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the location pattern comprises determining the plurality of users are at a particular location during a particular time period of a day for a predetermined number of days.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising providing the alert in response to the current location of the particular mobile device being at the particular location during the particular time period of the day.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising providing the alert in response to the current location of the particular mobile device being a predetermined distance from the particular location during the particular time period of the day for a predetermined number of days.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

suggesting the particular mobile device user receive the alert;

obtaining an acceptance of the suggestion from the particular mobile device user; and

detecting the current location and providing the alert in response to obtaining the acceptance of the suggestion.

17. The method of claim 9, further comprising providing the alert to another user.

18. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

providing a suggestion to another user to provide the alert to another user;

obtaining an acceptance of the suggestion from the other user; and

detecting the current location and providing the alert to the other user in response to obtaining the acceptance of the suggestion.

19. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

obtaining location data corresponding to locations of the particular mobile device user over a period of time;

obtaining an event schedule specifying types of events corresponding to at least one venue;

determining event preferences of the plurality of mobile device users and the particular mobile device user by determining types of events attended by the plurality of mobile device users and the types of events attended by the particular mobile device user at the at least one venue based on the location data and the event schedule;

comparing an event preference of the plurality of mobile device users with an event preference of the particular mobile device user; and

providing the alert based on the comparison.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising providing the alert as a recommendation that the particular mobile device user be present at a particular location corresponding to or a predetermined distance from the current location in response to the event preference of the particular mobile device user substantially matching the event preference of the plurality of mobile device users.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising providing the alert as a recommendation that the particular mobile device user not be present at a particular location corresponding to or a predetermined distance from the current location in response to the event preference of the particular mobile device user substantially not matching the event preference of the plurality of mobile device users.

22. A computer-implemented method for providing an alert regarding mobile device location, the method comprising:

detecting requests for location data corresponding to the location of at least one mobile device over a period of time;

determining a request pattern based on the requests for location data;

detecting a current location of the at least one mobile device at a time based on the determined request pattern; and

providing an alert rendering accessible the current location at the time based on the determined request pattern.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein determining the request pattern comprises detecting a request during a particular time period of a day for a predetermined number of days.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising providing the alert during the particular time period of the day.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least one mobile device corresponds to a first user and the detected requests originate from a second user, wherein providing the alert comprises rendering the current location accessible to the second user.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein determining the request pattern comprises detecting a request originating from the second user at a particular location a predetermined number of times, and providing the alert to the second user in response to detecting the second user at the particular location.

27. The method of claim 22, further comprising providing the alert to at least one of a local and a remote application.

28. A computer-implemented method for providing an alert regarding mobile device location, the method comprising:

detecting requests from a plurality of users for location data corresponding to the location of a plurality of mobile devices;

determining a request pattern of the plurality of users based on the requests for location data;

detecting a current location of a particular mobile device at a time based on the determined request pattern; and

providing an alert rendering accessible the current location of the particular mobile device.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising

obtaining identifying information corresponding to the plurality users and a particular user;

comparing the identifying information of the plurality of users with the identifying information of the particular user;

determining the request pattern of the plurality of users in response to the identifying information of the plurality of users corresponding to the identifying information of the particular user; and

providing to the particular user the alert rendering accessible the current location of the particular mobile device.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the particular mobile device corresponds to a first user and the particular user corresponds to a second user.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising detecting requests from each of the plurality of users for location data corresponding to the location of at least one of the plurality of mobile devices, wherein the plurality of mobile devices correspond to other users.

32. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

suggesting the particular user receive the alert;

obtaining an acceptance of the suggestion from the particular user; and

detecting the current location and providing the alert in response to obtaining the acceptance of the suggestion.

33. The method of claim 28, further comprising providing the alert to at least one of a local and a remote application.

34. A computer-implemented method for providing an alert regarding mobile device location, the method comprising:

receiving identifying information of a user corresponding to at least one environmental condition;

detecting the user at a particular location;

receiving mapping data defining positioning of the at least one environmental condition; and

providing an alert regarding the at least one environmental condition to the user in response to the at least one environmental condition corresponding to the detected particular location.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the mapping data comprises geographic information system (GIS) mapping data.

36. The method of claim 34, further comprising:

detecting the user at the particular location a predetermined number of times to establish a pattern; and

providing the alert to the user in response to detecting the user at the particular location a predetermined number of times.

37. The method of claim 34, further comprising receiving the user identifying information in the form of an indication of allergies of the user, wherein the mapping data includes an indication of allergens present in a particular geographic area.

38. A system for providing an alert regarding mobile device location comprising at least one computing device including at least one memory comprising instructions operable to enable the at least one computing device to perform a procedure comprising:

obtaining location data corresponding to locations of a mobile device over a period of time;

determining a location pattern based on the location data;

detecting a current location of the mobile device at a time based on the determined pattern; and

providing an alert regarding the current location of the mobile device.