SERVERS FOR DEVICE IDENTIFICATION SERVICES

• US 20120131186A1
• Filed: 05/25/2010
• Published: 05/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: K.Mizra LLC
• Original Assignee: Nederlandse Organisatie Voor Toegepast-Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek Tno
• Inventors: Klos, Victor Bastiaan, Van Deventer, Mattijs Oskar, Laarakkers, Jeroen
• Granted Patent: US 9,167,043 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/30 Profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A system (40) for identifying proximate devices (1, 2) comprises at least one correlation server (5) for correlating data received from the devices so as to match two or more of the devices and at least one application server (6) for carrying out an application involving matched devices. The at least one correlation server (5) and the at least one application server (6) are distinct servers so as to provide a greater flexibility and scalability. The devices (1, 2) may be mobile consumer devices.

Claims

1. A system for identifying proximate devices arranged for detecting a sensory identifier and transmitting request messages comprising representations of the detected sensory identifier, the system comprising:

at least one correlation server for correlating representations received from the devices so as to match two or more of those devices, and

at least one application server for carrying out an application involving matching devices,

wherein the at least one correlation server and the at least one application server are distinct servers.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one application server is arranged for communicating with the devices through the correlation server.

3. The system according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of application servers for performing mutually different applications, the request messages each indicating at least one of said applications, the at least one correlation server being configured to determine whether the request messages with correlated representations received from the devices indicate a same one of the applications and to match the devices only if this is the case.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the correlation server is configured to transmit a match message to a selected one of the application servers in response to detection that the request messages received from the devices contain correlated representations and indicate a same one of the applications, a selected one of the application servers being selected according to whether it performs said same one of the applications.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one application server is arranged for communicating with the devices directly, at least after receiving a match message indicating the devices based on detection of said correlation from the correlation server.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the request messages further comprise environmental information, such as temperature, air pressure, scent and/or location, and wherein the correlation server is arranged for additionally correlating the environmental information.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the sensory identifier comprises a sound, preferably a sound produced by tapping the devices together, and/or an image, preferably a symbol.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the devices are mobile devices, preferably mobile telephone devices.

9. The system according to claim 1, comprising at least two correlation servers, further comprising at least one proxy server for routing request messages from the devices to a correlation server, the at least one proxy server preferably being arranged for routing in dependence of the sensory identifier.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the at least one proxy server is configured to associate each correlation server with a predetermined range of values of the sensory identifier, a base station through which the request message is transmitted, a type of the sensory identifier and/or a combination of part or all of these properties, and to route each respective request messages from the devices to a selected one or a selected plurality of correlation servers, associated with the range or ranges in which a value of the sensory identifier, the source cell through which the respective request message is transmitted, a type of the sensory identifier and/or a combination of part or all of these properties lies.

11. The system according to claim 9, wherein the at least one proxy server is arranged for routing an acknowledgement message from a correlation server to a device.

12. The system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the request messages each comprise at least one of:

a client identity indicating a client device,

an application handle indicating an application program to be executed,

a fingerprint vector indicating event data,

a handling policy indicating a correlation algorithm and/or handling instructions, and

a payload containing data to be exchanged.

13. A correlation server for use in the system according to claim 1, comprising a message processor coupled to a receiver, a transmitter, a memory and a match detector, the message processor being configured to store data derived from request messages received by the receiver in the memory and to cause the match detector to compare first representations of a sensory identifier in the stored data of the received request messages with a second representation of a sensory identifier from a subsequently received request message, and to cause the transmitter to transmit a match message in response to detection of a match between one of the first representations and the second representation, the match message identifying the devices that transmitted said one of the first representations and the second representation, or a session identifier associated with these devices.

14. A method of identifying proximate devices arranged for detecting a sensory identifier and transmitting request messages comprising representations of the detected sensory identifier, the method comprising the steps of:

at least one correlation server correlating representations received from the devices so as to match two or more of those devices, and

at least one application server carrying out an application involving matching devices,

wherein the at least one correlation server and the at least one application server are distinct servers.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the request messages further comprise environmental information from the devices, such as temperature, air pressure, scent and/or location, and wherein the method comprises the further step of the correlation server correlating the environmental information in addition to the representations.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein the step of correlating takes previous matches into account.

17. The method according to claim 14, wherein the sensory identifier comprises a sound, preferably a sound produced by tapping the devices together, and/or an image, preferably a symbol.

18. A computer program product for carrying out the method according to claim 14.