SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR IDENTIFYING REMOTE COMPUTING SYSTEMS

• US 20150195008A1
• Filed: 01/08/2015
• Published: 07/09/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: JVL Ventures LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Johnson, Kai P., Watkins, Ryan L.
• Granted Patent: US 9,859,953 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/20 characterised by the transmission technique; characterised by the transmission medium
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/70 specially adapted for specific purposes
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/77 for interrogation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications
• 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 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer program products are provided for using proximity sensing systems, such as Bluetooth low energy (LE) beacons, to uniquely identify remote computing systems, such as point of sale terminals. A mobile device includes an antenna, a baseband modem, and a contactless frontend, and is able to perform near-field communication transactions. The mobile device antenna receives radio communications from one or more Bluetooth LE beacons, the transmissions including data packets with a unique identifier. The mobile device calculates the signal strength of the one or more Bluetooth LE beacons at a time proximate to when a near-field communication transaction is initiated. The mobile device stores in its memory the data packet associated with the Bluetooth LE beacon broadcasting the strongest signal.

Claims

1. A system for obtaining contactless reader data, the system comprising:

a memory operable to store one or more data packets,

an antenna, and

a processor, the processor being operable to;

receive a transmission from at least one proximity sensing system, the transmission including at least one data packet including a unique identifier corresponding to the at least one proximity sensing system;

initiate a contactless transaction, the contactless transaction being initiated when the antenna is placed within a predetermined proximity to a contactless reader;

calculate a signal strength from each of the at least one proximity sensing system; and

store in the memory the data packet associated with the proximity sensing system producing the highest signal strength.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operable to:

transmit the unique identifier to a server;

receive, from the server, one or more sets of data, each set of data corresponding to the unique identifier; and

store each set of data in the memory.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the transmission of the unique identifier to the server begins approximately at a time when the data packet is stored in the memory.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the transmission of the unique identifier to the server begins at a predetermined time after the data packet is stored in the memory.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the transmission of the unique identifier to the server begins after the data packet is stored in the memory and upon the occurrence of a predetermined event.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operable to:

receive, from a server, one or more sets of data, the one or more sets of data corresponding to a unique identifier, and the one or more sets of data being received at a time prior to initiating the contactless transaction;

store the one or more sets of data in the memory prior to the initiating the contactless transaction; and

identify each set of data stored in the memory corresponding to the unique identifier included in the data packet associated with the proximity sensing system producing the highest signal strength.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, from a server, one or more sets of data, the one or more sets of data corresponding to a unique identifier, and the one or more sets of data being received at a time prior to initiating the contactless transaction;

storing the one or more sets of data in the memory prior to the initiating the contactless transaction; and

identifying each set of data stored in the memory corresponding to the unique identifier included in the data packet associated with the proximity sensing system producing the highest signal strength.

7. A method for obtaining contactless reader data, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a transmission from at least one proximity sensing system, the transmission including at least one data packet including a unique identifier corresponding to the at least one proximity sensing system;

initiating a contactless transaction, the contactless transaction being initiated when an antenna is placed within a predetermined proximity to a contactless reader;

calculating a signal strength from each of the at least one proximity sensing system; and

storing in a memory the data packet associated with the proximity sensing system producing the highest signal strength.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the method further comprises:

transmitting the unique identifier to a server;

receiving, from the server, one or more sets of data, each set of data corresponding to the unique identifier; and

storing each set of data in the memory.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the transmission of the unique identifier to the server begins approximately at a time when the data packet is stored in the memory.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the transmission of the unique identifier to the server begins at a predetermined time after the data packet is stored in the memory.

11. The system according to claim 8, wherein the transmission of the unique identifier to the server begins after the data packet is stored in the memory and upon the occurrence of a predetermined event.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon sequences of instructions for causing one or more processors to:

receive a transmission from at least one proximity sensing system, the transmission including at least one data packet including a unique identifier corresponding to the at least one proximity sensing system;

initiate a contactless transaction, the contactless transaction being initiated when an antenna is placed within a predetermined proximity to a contactless reader;

calculate a signal strength from each of the at least one proximity sensing system; and

store in a memory the data packet associated with the proximity sensing system producing the highest signal strength.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 13, the non-transitory computer-readable medium further having stored thereon sequences of instructions for causing the processor to:

transmit the unique identifier to a server;

receive, from the server, one or more sets of data, each set of data corresponding to the unique identifier; and

store each set of data in the memory.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 14, wherein the transmission of the unique identifier to the server begins approximately at a time when the data packet is stored in the memory.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 14, wherein the transmission of the unique identifier to the server begins at a predetermined time after the data packet is stored in the memory.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 14, wherein the transmission of the unique identifier to the server begins after the data packet is stored in the memory and upon the occurrence of a predetermined event.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 13, the non-transitory computer-readable medium further having stored thereon sequences of instructions for causing the processor to:

receive, from a server, one or more sets of data, the one or more sets of data corresponding to a unique identifier, and the one or more sets of data being received at a time prior to initiating the contactless transaction;

store the one or more sets of data in the memory prior to the initiating the contactless transaction; and

identify each set of data stored in the memory corresponding to the unique identifier included in the data packet associated with the proximity sensing system producing the highest signal strength.