PROXIMITY-RELATED DEVICE DETERMINATIONS

• US 20130196601A1
• Filed: 12/19/2012
• Published: 08/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Empath Technologies Patent Holdings, LLC
• Original Assignee: Empath Technologies Patent Holdings, LLC
• Inventors: Bobrow, Frederick S., Gavula, Daniel R., Toomey, Michael
• Application Number:
  US13/720,460
• Publication Number:
  US 20130196601A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/41.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/24 for communication between two or more posts wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/033 of the user plane, e.g. user's traffic
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

In general, one aspect of the subject matter described herein can be embodied in methods that include the actions of: for each of a plurality of devices, perceiving, in relation to the device, one or more proximate devices, generating a record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices, receiving, from at least one of the one or more proximate devices, one or more records of respective prior perceptions of one or more devices in relation to the at least one of the one or more proximate devices, and providing, to another device that is not among the one or more proximate devices, (a) the record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices and (b) the one or more records of respective prior perceptions.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

for each of a plurality of devices,

perceiving, in relation to the device, one or more proximate devices,

generating a record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices,

receiving, from at least one of the one or more proximate devices, one or more records of respective prior perceptions of one or more devices in relation to the at least one of the one or more proximate devices, and

providing, to another device that is not among the one or more proximate devices, (a) the record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices and (b) the one or more records of respective prior perceptions.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising processing (a) the record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices and (b) the one or more records of respective prior perceptions in order to compute a matrix of proximities across the plurality of devices.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the records is encrypted.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein providing (a) the record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices and (b) the one or more records of respective prior perceptions comprises providing, based on a determination that at least one of the one or more proximate devices are no longer perceptible to the device, (a) the record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices and (b) the one or more records of respective prior perceptions.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein providing (a) the record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices and (b) the one or more records of respective prior perceptions comprises providing, at a defined interval, (a) the record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices and (b) the one or more records of respective prior perceptions.

6. A system comprising:

one or more processors configured to interact with a computer-readable medium in order to perform operations comprising;

for each of a plurality of devices,

perceiving, in relation to the device, one or more proximate devices,

generating a record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices,

receiving, from at least one of the one or more proximate devices, one or more records of respective prior perceptions of one or more devices in relation to the at least one of the one or more proximate devices, and

providing, to another device that is not among the one or more proximate devices, (a) the record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices and (b) the one or more records of respective prior perceptions.

7. The system of claim 6, further configured to perform operations comprising processing (a) the record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices and (b) the one or more records of respective prior perceptions in order to compute a matrix of proximities across the plurality of devices.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein each of the records is encrypted.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein providing (a) the record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices and (b) the one or more records of respective prior perceptions comprises providing, based on a determination that at least one of the one or more proximate devices are no longer perceptible to the device, (a) the record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices and (b) the one or more records of respective prior perceptions.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein providing (a) the record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices and (b) the one or more records of respective prior perceptions comprises providing, at a defined interval, (a) the record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices and (b) the one or more records of respective prior perceptions.

11. A computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by one or more data processing apparatus cause the one or more data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

for each of a plurality of devices,

perceiving, in relation to the device, one or more proximate devices,

generating a record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices,

receiving, from at least one of the one or more proximate devices, one or more records of respective prior perceptions of one or more devices in relation to the at least one of the one or more proximate devices, and

providing, to another device that is not among the one or more proximate devices, (a) the record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices and (b) the one or more records of respective prior perceptions.

12. The computer storage medium of claim 11, further comprising instructions that cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising processing (a) the record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices and (b) the one or more records of respective prior perceptions in order to compute a matrix of proximities across the plurality of devices.

13. The computer storage medium of claim 11, wherein each of the records is encrypted.

14. The computer storage medium of claim 11, wherein providing (a) the record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices and (b) the one or more records of respective prior perceptions comprises providing, based on a determination that at least one of the one or more proximate devices are no longer perceptible to the device, (a) the record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices and (b) the one or more records of respective prior perceptions.

15. The computer storage medium of claim 11, wherein providing (a) the record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices and (b) the one or more records of respective prior perceptions comprises providing, at a defined interval, (a) the record of the perception of the one or more proximate devices and (b) the one or more records of respective prior perceptions.