Devices, Systems, and Methods for Presence Determination

• US 20120220307A1
• Filed: 02/24/2011
• Published: 08/30/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ahluwalia, Inderpreet Singh, Wohlert, Randolph Robert
• Granted Patent: US 9,094,786 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/025 Extracting rules from data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42365 Presence services providing information on the willingness to communicate or the ability to communicate in terms of media capability or network connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold

Abstract

Devices, systems, and methods are disclosed which aggregate presence detections, and use the diversity of presence detections to resolve presence ambiguities and increase the correctness of information. Presence confidence levels and reliability values increase the effectiveness of services based on presence. A variety of methods enable presence detection and reporting. Each of these methods has advantages and disadvantages. The limitations of each of the individual methods are overcome with exemplary embodiments of the subject disclosure.

Claims

1. A system for determining a presence of a user, the system comprising:

at least one server;

an analysis logic on one of the at least one server, the analysis logic for

receiving a plurality of presence detections from a plurality of presence detectors,

determining a presence by resolving conflicting presence detections, and

transmitting the presence determination to the presence logic; and

a presence logic on one of the at least one server, the presence logic for

receiving the presence determination from the analysis logic,

receiving a request for the presence determination from an application server, and

transmitting the presence determination to the application server;

wherein the presence determination indicates that a user has a position that is one of at a location and not at the location.

2. The system in claim 1, wherein the presence logic is further for associating a reliability value with the presence determination, the reliability value being proportional to a ratio of presence detections.

3. The system in claim 1, wherein the analysis logic is further for assigning each presence detection a confidence value.

4. The system in claim 3, wherein the confidence value is a user-input value.

5. The system in claim 3, wherein the presence logic is further for associating a reliability value with the presence determination, the reliability value being a calculation including a ratio of presence detections and the confidence values of each presence detection.

6. The system in claim 1, wherein each presence detector reports a presence detection to the analysis server.

7. The system in claim 1, further comprising a camera and a motion sensor in communication with the analysis logic, the analysis logic in communication with sensor logic to convert raw data from the camera and the motion sensor into a presence detection.

8. The system in claim 1, wherein the analysis logic receives a presence detection from a Home Location Registry (HLR), the HLR being in communication with the analysis logic and a wireless communication device.

9. A system for determining a presence of a user, the system comprising:

at least one server;

an analysis logic on one of the at least one server for

receiving a plurality of presence detections from a plurality of presence detectors, the plurality of presence detectors including a service gateway at a location,

determining a presence by resolving conflicting presence detections, and

transmitting the presence determination to the presence logic; and

a presence logic on one of the at least one server for

receiving the presence determination from the analysis logic,

receiving a request for the presence determination from an application server, and

sending the presence determination to the application server;

wherein the presence determination indicates that a user has a position that is one of at the location and not at the location.

10. The system in claim 9, wherein the presence logic is further for associating a reliability value with the presence determination, the reliability value being proportional to a ratio of presence detections.

11. The system in claim 9, wherein the analysis logic is further for assigning each presence detection a confidence value.

12. The system in claim 11, wherein the confidence value is a user-input value.

13. The system in claim 11, wherein the presence logic is further for associating a reliability value with the presence determination, the reliability value being a calculation including a ratio of presence detections and the confidence values of each presence detection.

14. A method for determining presence, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of presence detections; and

determining a presence by resolving conflicting presence detections;

wherein the determining includes assigning each presence detection a confidence value.

15. The method in claim 14, further comprising transmitting the presence determination to a presence logic on a server, wherein the presence logic is for

receiving a presence determination,

receiving a request for the presence determination from an application server, and

transmitting the presence determination to the application server.

16. The method in claim 14, further comprising associating a reliability value with the presence determination and transmitting the reliability value to an application server, the reliability value being proportional to a ratio of presence detections.

17. The method in claim 14, wherein the presence determination indicates that a user has a position that is one of at a location and not at the location.

18. The method in claim 17, wherein the confidence value is a calculation including a rate of false positives.

19. The method in claim 17, wherein the confidence value is a user-input value.

20. The method in claim 17, further comprising transmitting a reliability value to the application server, the reliability value being a calculation including a ratio of presence detections and the confidence values of each presence detection.