OPERATING METHOD OF USER-SPECIFIC DEVICE PROVIDING CUSTOMIZED SERVICE TO MULTIPLE ADJACENT MOBILE TERMINALS, USER-SPECIFIC DEVICE, AND MOBILE TERMINAL

• US 20150289098A1
• Filed: 09/10/2014
• Published: 10/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Inventors: CHOI, Chang Mok, KIM, Sang Joon, NA, Su-Hyun, LEE, Jong Kee, JANG, Soon Kyu, CHO, Young Ei, NA, Yu Jin
• Granted Patent: US 9,386,418 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8033 location-dependent, e.g. business or home
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8072 Group, conference or multi-party call
• 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 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing
• 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 64/003 locating network equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/25 Maintenance of established connections

Abstract

A method and apparatus are configured to recognize mobile terminals positioned within a coverage area for short range communication with a user-specific device, wherein each mobile terminal comprises identification information for the user-specific device. The method and the apparatus provide a customized service corresponding to at least one of the mobile terminals.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

recognizing mobile terminals positioned within a coverage area for short range communication with a user-specific device, wherein each mobile terminal comprises identification information for the user-specific device; and

providing a customized service corresponding to at least one of the mobile terminals.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the recognizing comprises:

recognizing the mobile terminals positioned within the coverage area using the identification information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing comprises:

providing the customized service corresponding to the at least one mobile terminal based on a distance between the user-specific device and each mobile terminal.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the providing further comprises:

providing the customized service to a mobile terminal positioned closest to the user-specific device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, in response to a single mobile terminal being recognized within the coverage area, the providing further comprises:

providing the customized service corresponding to the single mobile terminal.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing further comprises:

providing the customized service corresponding to the at least one mobile terminal based on a priority preassigned to each of the mobile terminals.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the priority is editable information.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing further comprises:

determining predefined terminal condition information of customized service available for the mobile terminals; and

providing the customized service based on the terminal condition information.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing further comprises:

determining terminal condition information of customized service available for the mobile terminals is absent; and

transmitting an unavailable service message to the multiple mobile terminals.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing further comprises:

receiving a billing rate for the customized service from the at least one mobile terminal; and

calculating a fee to be paid based on the received billing rate.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

adjusting a billing rate of remaining mobile terminals among the mobile terminals based on the received billing rate.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a program comprising instructions to cause a computer to perform the method of claim 1.

13. A mobile terminal, comprising:

a communication unit configured to perform short range communication with a user-specific device; and

a processor configured to receive customized service from the user-specific device in response to being within a coverage area for the short range communication with the user-specific device.

14. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the mobile terminal comprises identification information for the user-specific device.

15. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the user-specific device is configured to recognize that the mobile terminal is positioned within the coverage area for the short range communication with the user-specific device based on the identification information.

16. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the mobile terminal is configured to receive the customized service corresponding to the mobile terminal from the user-specific device based on a distance from the user-specific device.

17. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the mobile terminal is configured to receive the customized service corresponding to the mobile terminal from the user-specific device based on a priority preassigned to the mobile terminal.

18. The mobile terminal of claim 17, wherein the priority is editable information.

19. The mobile terminal of claim 13, further comprising:

a touch display configured to display a preset billing rate,

wherein the processor is configured to receive a billing rate for the customized service based on a gesture of a user of the mobile terminal in response to the preset billing rate, and transmit the received billing rate to the user-specific device through the communication unit.

20. The mobile terminal of claim 19, wherein the billing rate for the customized service is configured to increase, decrease, or be maintained based on the gesture of the user, and wherein the billing rate is displayed on the touch display.

21. A user-specific device, comprising:

a recognizer configured to recognize a mobile terminal positioned within a coverage area for short range communication with a user-specific device, wherein the mobile terminal comprises identification information for the user-specific device; and

a provider configured to provide a customized service corresponding to the mobile terminal.

22. The user-specific device of claim 21, wherein the user-specific device is configured to recognize that the mobile terminal is positioned within the coverage area for the short range communication with the user-specific device based on the identification information.

23. The user-specific device of claim 21, wherein the recognizer reads and processes identification information associated with the mobile terminal to recognize the customized services desired by the mobile terminal.

24. The user-specific device of claim 21, wherein the identification information is pre-stored in the mobile terminal or in the user-specific device.

25. The user-specific device of claim 21, wherein the user-specific device provides the customized service corresponding to the mobile terminal based on a distance between the user-specific device and the mobile terminal, based on a priority of the mobile terminal with respect to priorities of other mobile terminals within the coverage area, or based on a location of the mobile terminal.