SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMICALLY MONITORING STATUS IN LOCATION SERVICES

• US 20120208550A1
• Filed: 02/15/2011
• Published: 08/16/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Workday Incorporated
• Original Assignee: TechnoCom Corporation
• Inventors: Proietti, Mario, Moring, John Thomas, Schafer, Brenda C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,755,823 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0027 of actual mobile position, i.e. position determined on mobile
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• 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 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data

Abstract

A method and system for reporting a location of an asset. The method includes: receiving a location tracking request for the asset; dynamically determining a status of the asset; and allowing acquisition of the location of the asset based on the determined status. The method further includes: obtaining the location of the asset responsive to the received request and said allowing; and reporting the obtained location of the asset. The system includes: a reporting module for receiving a location tracking request for the asset; a status module for dynamically determining a status of the asset; and a tracking module for obtaining the location of the asset responsive to the determined status. The reporting module reports the location of the asset responsive to the received location tracking request.

Claims

1. A method for reporting a location of a person, the method comprising:

receiving a location tracking request for the person;

dynamically determining a status of the person;

allowing acquisition of the location of the person based on the determined status;

obtaining the location of the person responsive to the received request and said allowing; and

reporting the obtained location of the person.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein reporting the location of the person is also based on the determined status.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing said allowing acquisition of the location for a next tracking request of said person.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising verifying a configuration for the person and obtaining the location of the person based on the verified configuration.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the person is an employee, the location of the employee is reported to an employer based on the determined status, and the status of the employee is indicative of whether the employee is at work.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the status of the employee is determined by one or more of an electronic message, a phone call by the employee, a manual check-in by the employee, and a web-based check-in by the employee.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the configuration includes one or more of an person name, a mobile device identification, and boundary areas for reporting.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the status of the person includes varying degrees of location accuracy to be reported based on the location of the person.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the status of the person includes varying degrees of location accuracy to be reported based on the time of the location tracking request.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the varying degrees of location accuracy are determined based on privacy or cost factors.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the status is assigned to one or more of the group consisting of a person or vehicle entering a sensitive area, a person or vehicle leaving a known area, an emergency vehicle with its lights/siren engaged, a vehicle traveling at an excessive speed, and a container loaded onto a ship.

12. A system for reporting a location of a person comprising:

a reporting module for receiving a location tracking request for the person;

a status module for dynamically determining a status of the person; and

a tracking module for obtaining the location of the person responsive to the determined status, wherein the

reporting module reports the location of the person responsive to the received location tracking request.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the tracking module obtains the location of the person after the determined status indicates that the tracking module is allowed to obtain said location.

14. The system of claim 12, further comprising a configuration module for verifying a configuration for the person, wherein the tracking module obtains the location of the person based on the verified configuration.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the person is an employee, the location of the employee is reported to an employer based on the determined status and the status of the employee is indicative of whether the employee is at work.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the status module determines the status of the employee via one or more of an electronic message, a phone call by the employee, a manual check-in by the employee, and a web-based check-in by the employee.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the status of the person includes varying degrees of location accuracy to be reported by the reporting module, based on at least the time of the location tracking request, privacy or cost factors.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the status is assigned to one or more of the group consisting of a person or vehicle entering a sensitive area, a person or vehicle leaving a known area, an emergency vehicle with its lights/siren engaged, a vehicle traveling at an excessive speed, and a container loaded onto a ship.

19. A method for reporting a location of a person, the method comprising:

receiving a first indication of a current state of the person, the current state being one of a plurality of predefined states, wherein the first indication is triggered by a first action of the person;

storing information about the current state; and

determining a first permission for reporting the location of the person, based on the information about the current state, the first permission indicating a first level of allowed location reporting.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising

receiving a second indication of an updated current state of the person, the updated current state being one of the plurality of predefined states, wherein the second indication is triggered by a second action of the person;

storing information about the updated current state; and

determining a second permission for reporting the location of the person, based on the information about the updated current state, the second permission indicating a second level of allowed location reporting.