PEER-TO-PEER DEVICE MOVEMENT COMMUNICATIONS

• US 20140274142A1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Derks, Patrick Joseph, Dishneau, Darin James
• Granted Patent: US 9,198,002 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.3
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/222 using geographical location information, e.g. messages transmitted or received in proximity of a certain spot or area
• 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 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information

Abstract

Embodiments of the disclosure provide peer-to-peer communication of device movements. A first computing device receives a message from a second computing device via a peer-to-peer connection. If the message does not include movement information, the first computing device requests from the second computing device the movement information describing travel of the second computing device. Upon receipt of the movement information over the peer-to-peer connection, the first computing device presents the received message and the received movement information to a user of the first computing device. The movement information may include route, velocity, heading and an estimated time of arrival, and may be periodically updated via additional messages sent to the first computing device. In some embodiments, the first computing device and the second computing device are configured to automatically send and receive movement information without user input.

Claims

1. A system for peer-to-peer communication of movement information, said system comprising:

one or more sensors providing movement information describing travel of a first computing device; and

a processor programmed to;

receive a message from a first user of the first computing device, the message being intended for a second user at a second computing device;

in response to receipt of the message, derive the movement information from the one or more sensors;

send the received message and the derived movement information to the second computing device via a peer-to-peer connection;

subsequently derive updated movement information for the first computing device from the one or more sensors;

compare the derived, updated movement information with the sent movement information; and

send the derived, updated movement information to the second computing device based on the comparison.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, or a wireless network transceiver.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the movement information comprises at least one of a route or a velocity.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to send the derived, updated movement information to the second computing device on determining that the derived, updated movement information indicates travel differing from travel indicated by the sent movement information.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to subsequently derive the updated movement information based on an update frequency stored in a memory area.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the movement information comprises a first estimated time of arrival, wherein the updated movement information comprises a second estimate time of arrival, and wherein the processor is programmed to send the derived, updated movement information to the second computing device on determining that the second estimated time of arrival differs from the first estimated time of arrival by a pre-defined threshold amount.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to send the received message and the derived movement information to the second computing device in a same message or in a different message.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a memory area storing a set of user identifiers and permissions associated therewith, wherein the processor is programmed to derive the movement information and send the received message and the derived movement information to the second computing device based on the permissions corresponding to the second user.

9. A method comprising:

receiving, by a first computing device, a message from a second computing device via a peer-to-peer connection;

in response to receipt of the message, requesting movement information from the second computing device, the movement information describing travel of the second computing device;

receiving, by the first computing device, the requested movement information from the second computing device; and

presenting the received message and the received movement information to a user of the first computing device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein presenting the received message and the received movement information to the user comprises displaying the received message and the received movement information in a single application executing on the first computing device.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein presenting the received message and the received movement information to the user comprises displaying the received message and the received movement information in a single user interface element displayed on the first computing device.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein requesting movement information from the second computing device occurs without input from the first user.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the received message is from an originating user, further comprising comparing the originating user to a set of users associated with the first user, and wherein requesting the movement information occurs based on the comparison.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein requesting the movement information is blocked on determining that the originating user is a blocked user based on the comparison.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein requesting the movement information is allowed on determining that the originating user is an allowed user based on the comparison.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising automatically populating the set of users based on at least one of contacts, calendar entries, or previous messages, associated with the first user.

17. One or more computer storage media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to share movement information via a peer-to-peer connection by:

receiving a first message from a first user of a first computing device and a second message from a second user of a second computing device, the first message being intended for the second user, the second message being intended for the first user, the first computing device communicating with the second computing device via a peer-to-peer connection;

in response to receipt of the first message, deriving first movement information from one or more sensors of the first computing device, the first movement information describing travel of the first computing device;

in response to receipt of the second message, obtaining second movement information from the second computing device, the second movement information describing travel of the second computing device;

sending the received first message and the derived first movement information to the second computing device via the peer-to-peer connection; and

presenting the received second message and the obtained second movement information to the first user.

18. The computer storage media of claim 17, wherein the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to derive the first movement information and send the received first message and the derived first movement information to the second computing device based on at least one of a location of the first computing device, time of day, battery life of the first computing device, or a category of the received first message.

19. The computer storage media of claim 17, wherein the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to derive the first movement information and send the received first message and the derived first movement information to the second computing device without input from the first user.

20. The computer storage media of claim 17, wherein the first movement information comprises a current location of the first computing device.