AUTOMATIC CLIENT DEVICE LOCATION DETECTION WITHIN HOSPITALITY ESTABLISHMENT

• US 20130297723A1
• Filed: 05/02/2012
• Published: 11/07/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Guest-tek Interactive Entertainment Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Guest-tek Interactive Entertainment Ltd.
• Inventors: IWANISZYN, Adam
• Granted Patent: US 9,009,259 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/065 related to network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM] H04L51/04; selective video distribution H04N21/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2143 located in a single building, e.g. hotel, hospital or museum arrangements specially adapted for plural spots in a confined site in broadcast systems H04H20/63; adaptations for transmission by electric cable for domestic distribution in television systems H04N7/106
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25841 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; arrangements for identifying locations of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/51; location of the user terminal in data switching networks H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00

Abstract

An apparatus for automatic client device location detection includes a controller module configured to receive first network traffic transmitted on a computer network of a hospitality establishment from a known location within the hospitality establishment. The controller module is further configured to query one or more network components of the computer network to determine a source access-node from which the first network traffic originated, and store a mapping of the source access-node to the known location in the storage device. The controller module is further configured to receive second network traffic transmitted on the computer network by a client device at the hospitality establishment, query the one or more network components of the computer network to determine that the second network traffic originated from the source access-node, and automatically determine the client device to be at the known location according to the mapping in the storage device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving first network traffic transmitted on a computer network of a hospitality establishment from a known location within the hospitality establishment;

querying one or more network components of the computer network to determine a source access-node from which the first network traffic originated;

storing a mapping of the source access-node to the known location in a storage device;

receiving second network traffic transmitted on the computer network by a client device at the hospitality establishment;

querying the one or more network components of the computer network to determine that the second network traffic originated from the source access-node; and

automatically determining the client device to be at the known location according to the mapping in the storage device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more network components are switches of the computer network at the hospitality establishment and the source access-node is a specific port of a specific switch.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein querying the one or more network components of the computer network to determine the source access-node from which the first network traffic originated comprises the following steps:

(a) querying a first switch via the computer network to find a port of the first switch that has received network traffic from a source address associated with the first network traffic;

(b) repeating step (a) when the port of the first switch found at step (a) is connected to a subsequent switch, wherein upon repeating step (a) the first switch is redefined to be the subsequent switch; and

(c) determining the source access-node from which the first network traffic originated to be the port of the first switch found at step (a) when the port of the first switch found at step (a) is not connected to a subsequent switch.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

querying a core switch via the computer network to determine which ports of the core switch are connected to other switches;

recursively querying each of the other switches via the computer network to determine which ports of the other switches are connected to further switches;

storing a corresponding switch-mapping in the storage device, the switch-mapping indicating how the ports of the switches are interconnected; and

utilizing the switch-mapping to determine whether the port of the switch found at step (a) is connected to a subsequent switch.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network traffic includes an indication of the known location.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising querying a device via the computer network for the known location in response to receiving the first network traffic.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

requesting confirmation from a configuration device via the computer network to overwrite in the storage device an existing mapping of the source access-node to a location different than the known location; and

overwriting the existing mapping when storing the mapping of the source access-node to the known location in the storage device in response to receiving confirmation from the configuration device.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

requesting confirmation from a configuration device via the computer network to delete in the storage device an existing mapping of a different access-node to the known location; and

deleting the existing mapping in response to receiving confirmation from the configuration device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the hospitality establishment is a lodging establishment and the known location is a specific guest room within the lodging establishment.

10. A tangible computer-readable medium comprising computer executable instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform the method of claim 1.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a network interface coupled to a computer network of a hospitality establishment;

a storage device; and

a controller module having access to the network interface and the storage device;

wherein the controller module is configured to;

receive via the network interface first network traffic transmitted on the computer network from a known location within the hospitality establishment;

query via the network interface one or more network components of the computer network to determine a source access-node from which the first network traffic originated;

store a mapping of the source access-node to the known location in the storage device;

receive via the network interface second network traffic transmitted on the computer network by a client device at the hospitality establishment;

query via the network interface the one or more network components of the computer network to determine that the second network traffic originated from the source access-node; and

automatically determine the client device to be at the known location according to the mapping in the storage device.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the one or more network components are switches of the computer network at the hospitality establishment and the source access-node is a specific port of a specific switch.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the controller module is configured to query the one or more network components of the computer network to determine the source access-node from which the first network traffic originated by performing the following steps:

(a) querying a first switch via the computer network to find a port of the first switch that has received network traffic from a source address associated with the first network traffic;

(b) repeating step (a) when the port of the first switch found at step (a) is connected to a subsequent switch, wherein upon repeating step (a) the first switch is redefined to be the subsequent switch; and

(c) determining the source access-node from which the first network traffic originated to be the port of the first switch found at step (a) when the port of the first switch found at step (a) is not connected to a subsequent switch.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the controller module is further configured to:

query a core switch via the computer network to determine which ports of the core switch are connected to other switches;

recursively query each of the other switches via the computer network to determine which ports of the other switches are connected to further switches;

store a corresponding switch-mapping in the storage device, the switch-mapping indicating how the ports of the switches are interconnected; and

utilize the switch-mapping to determine whether the port of the switch found at step (a) is connected to a subsequent switch.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first network traffic includes an indication of the known location.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the controller module is further configured to query a device via the computer network for the known location in response to receiving the first network traffic.

17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the controller module is further configured to:

request confirmation from a configuration device via the computer network to overwrite in the storage device an existing mapping of the source access-node to a location different than the known location; and

overwrite the existing mapping when storing the mapping of the source access-node to the known location in the storage device in response to receiving confirmation from the configuration device.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the controller module is further configured to:

request confirmation from a configuration device via the computer network to delete in the storage device an existing mapping of a different access-node to the known location; and

delete the existing mapping in response to receiving confirmation from the configuration device.

19. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the hospitality establishment is a lodging establishment and the known location is a specific guest room within the lodging establishment.

20. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving first network traffic transmitted on a computer network of a hospitality establishment from a known location within the hospitality establishment;

means for querying one or more network components of the computer network to determine a source access-node from which the first network traffic originated;

means for storing a mapping of the source access-node to the known location;

means for receiving second network traffic transmitted on the computer network by a client device at the hospitality establishment;

means for querying the one or more network components of the computer network to determine that the second network traffic originated from the source access-node; and

means for automatically determining the client device to be at the known location according to the mapping.