PROVIDING ALERTS, VOUCHERS, OR COUPONS ONCE A PLURALITY OF GEO-FENCES HAVE BEEN BREACHED A NUMBER OF TIMES

• US 20140167961A1
• Filed: 12/14/2012
• Published: 06/19/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Finlow-Bates, Keir
• Granted Patent: US 9,589,435 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/541
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/22 Electrical actuation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences

Abstract

The disclosure is directed to providing a notification based on breaching a plurality of geo-fence perimeters. An embodiment detects a breach related to the plurality of geo-fence perimeters, the breach corresponding to a breach of one of the plurality of geo-fence perimeters, records the breach as one of a plurality of breaches, determines whether the plurality of breaches meet one or more conditions, and if the plurality of breaches meet the condition, issues a notification.

Claims

1. A method for providing a notification based on breaching a plurality of geo-fence perimeters, comprising:

detecting a breach related to the plurality of geo-fence perimeters, the breach corresponding to a breach of one of the plurality of geo-fence perimeters;

recording the breach as one of a plurality of breaches;

determining whether the plurality of breaches meet one or more conditions; and

if the plurality of breaches meet the condition, issuing a notification.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed by a location-aware user device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed by a server.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the detecting comprises receiving data representing the breach from a user device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification is one of a short message service (SMS) message, a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message, or an email.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification is one of a voucher, a coupon, an information pointer, or a warning alert.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining comprises determining whether or not a given one of the plurality of geo-fences was entered less than a threshold period of time after another one of the plurality of geo-fences was exited.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining comprises determining whether or not a number of the plurality of geo-fences is greater than a threshold.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality of geo-fences are related to each other.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining comprises determining whether or not the plurality of geo-fences were breached without breaching a second geo-fence.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining comprises determining whether or not an amount of time a user remains in given one of the plurality of geo-fences is greater than a threshold.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the determining comprises determining whether or not the user re-enters the given one of the plurality of geo-fences after an amount of time less than a threshold.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining comprises determining whether or not the plurality of geo-fences were breached without breaching any of a second plurality of geo-fences.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining comprises determining whether or not the plurality of breaches comprise a plurality of breaches of a given set of geo-fences.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the issuing the notification comprises, if the plurality of breaches comprise the plurality of breaches of the given set of geo-fences, issuing a voucher related to an entity surrounded by a second geo-fence.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining comprises determining whether or not the plurality of geo-fences were breached in a given order.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the recording comprises incrementing or decrementing a counter.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the counter records a number of the plurality of breaches.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the recording comprises changing a state of a state machine associated with a user device making the breach.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more conditions are defined by rules.

21. An apparatus for providing a notification based on breaching a plurality of geo-fence perimeters, comprising:

logic configured to detect a breach related to the plurality of geo-fence perimeters, the breach corresponding to a breach of one of the plurality of geo-fence perimeters;

logic configured to record the breach as one of a plurality of breaches;

logic configured to determine whether the plurality of breaches meet one or more conditions; and

logic configured to issue, if the plurality of breaches meet the condition, a notification.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the apparatus is a location-aware user device.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the apparatus is a server.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the logic configured to detect comprises logic configured to receive data representing the breach from a user device.

25. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the notification is one of a short message service (SMS) message, a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message, or an email.

26. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the notification is one of a voucher, a coupon, an information pointer, or a warning alert.

27. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the logic configured to determine comprises logic configured to determine whether or not a given one of the plurality of geo-fences was entered less than a threshold period of time after another one of the plurality of geo-fences was exited.

28. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the logic configured to determine comprises logic configured to determine whether or not a number of the plurality of geo-fences is greater than a threshold.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the plurality of geo-fences are related to each other.

30. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the logic configured to determine comprises logic configured to determine whether or not the plurality of geo-fences were breached without breaching a second geo-fence.

31. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the logic configured to determine comprises logic configured to determine whether or not an amount of time a user remains in given one of the plurality of geo-fences is greater than a threshold.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the logic configured to determine comprises logic configured to determine whether or not the user re-enters the given one of the plurality of geo-fences after an amount of time less than a threshold.

33. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the logic configured to determine comprises logic configured to determine whether or not the plurality of geo-fences were breached without breaching any of a second plurality of geo-fences.

34. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the logic configured to determine comprises logic configured to determine whether or not the plurality of breaches comprises a plurality of breaches of a given set of geo-fences.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the logic configured to issue the notification comprises logic configured to issue, if the plurality of breaches comprise the plurality of breaches of the given set of geo-fences, a voucher related to an entity surrounded by a second geo-fence.

36. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the logic configured to determine comprises logic configured to determine whether or not the plurality of geo-fences were breached in a given order.

37. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the logic configured to record comprises logic configured to increment or decrementing a counter.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the counter records a number of the plurality of breaches.

39. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the logic configured to record comprises logic configured to change a state of a state machine associated with a user device making the breach.

40. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the one or more conditions are defined by rules.

41. An apparatus for providing a notification based on breaching a plurality of geo-fence perimeters, comprising:

means for detecting a breach related to the plurality of geo-fence perimeters, the breach corresponding to a breach of one of the plurality of geo-fence perimeters;

means for recording the breach as one of a plurality of breaches;

means for determining whether the plurality of breaches meet one or more conditions; and

means for issuing a notification if the plurality of breaches meet the condition.

42. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for providing a notification based on breaching a plurality of geo-fence perimeters, comprising:

at least one instruction to detect a breach related to the plurality of geo-fence perimeters, the breach corresponding to a breach of one of the plurality of geo-fence perimeters;

at least one instruction to record the breach as one of a plurality of breaches;

at least one instruction to determine whether the plurality of breaches meet one or more conditions; and

at least one instruction to issue, if the plurality of breaches meet the condition, a notification.