MAP BASED BEACON MANAGEMENT

• US 20160323708A1
• Filed: 05/02/2016
• Published: 11/03/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/01/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Blazer And Flip Flops, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Blazer And Flip Flops, Inc.
• Inventors: Sahadi, Scott Sebastian, Ziskind, Benjamin Harry, Bass, Joshua David, Mathews, Benjamin Keeling
• Granted Patent: US 9,906,909 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/02 using radio waves G01S19/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/14 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location
• 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 64/003 locating network equipment

Abstract

Once a proximity beacon is installed within a venue, mobile devices receive signals transmitted by the proximity beacon. These mobile devices then report their own locations to an application server. These mobile devices also report a signal strength to the application server, the signal strength associated with the signal from the proximity beacon. The application server determines the location of the proximity beacon by triangulating based on the locations of the mobile devices and on the signal strengths from the mobile devices. The location of the proximity beacon is then transmitted to a front-end device that then displays the location of the proximity beacon on a map along with other locations of other proximity beacons. The map may also display range areas and battery levels of the proximity beacon, and any other data that can be gathered by the application server from the mobile devices or the proximity beacon.

Claims

1. A method for proximity beacon management, comprising:

receiving mobile device location information from a mobile device within range of a proximity beacon, the mobile device location information identifying a location of the mobile device;

receiving proximity information from the mobile device, the proximity information identifying a signal strength of a signal that the mobile device received from the proximity beacon;

identifying a location of the proximity beacon within a venue based on the received location information and the received proximity information; and

transmitting the location of the proximity beacon to a front-end device, thereby displaying the location of the proximity beacon overlaid over a map displayed via a display of the front-end device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device location information is based on at least one of Global Positioning System (GPS) data, cellular signal triangulation, or Wi-Fi hotspot location data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein mobile device executes a software application that transmits the mobile device location information and the proximity information.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving secondary proximity information from the proximity beacon, the secondary proximity information identifying a secondary signal strength of a secondary signal that the proximity beacon received from the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein identifying a location of the proximity beacon is further based on the secondary proximity information.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving range information identifying the range of the proximity beacon.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein transmitting the location of the proximity beacon to a front-end device includes transmitting the range information to the front-end device, thereby displaying the range of the proximity beacon overlaid over the map.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving beacon battery information, the beacon battery information identifying a battery level of the proximity beacon.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein transmitting the location of the proximity beacon to a front-end device includes transmitting the battery information to the front-end device, thereby displaying the battery level of the proximity beacon overlaid over the map.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the map is distorted and includes a first area that is distinct from a second area, wherein the first area is drawn at a first scale and the second area is drawn at a second scale, wherein the first scale is distinct from the second scale.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the map is to scale.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying that the location of the proximity beacon has changed; and

transmitting an alert dataset to the front-end device identifying that the location of the proximity beacon has changed, thereby outputting an alert at the front-end device.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising iteratively improving the accuracy of the location based on additional location information and additional proximity information received from one or more additional mobile devices.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the proximity beacon is coupled to a moving object.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the proximity beacon is identified via a universally unique identifier (UUID), a major version identifier, a minor version identifier, or some combination thereof.

16. A system for beacon management, the system comprising:

a communication transceiver communicatively coupled to a mobile device, the communication transceiver receiving mobile device location information and proximity information from the mobile device, the mobile device location information identifying a location of the mobile device, the proximity information identifying a signal strength of a signal that the mobile device received from the proximity beacon;

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory and to the communication transceiver, wherein execution of instructions stored in the memory by the processor;

identifies a location of the proximity beacon within a venue based on the received location information and the received proximity information, and transmits the location of the proximity beacon to a front-end device,

thereby displaying the location of the proximity beacon overlaid over a map displayed via a display of the front-end device.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the proximity beacon includes a wireless transmitter that transmits at least one of Bluetooth signals, IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi signals, radio signals, microwave signals, light signals, audio signals, or other electromagnetic signals.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the mobile device location information is based on at least one of Global Positioning System (GPS) data, cellular signal triangulation, or Wi-Fi hotspot location data.

19. The system of claim 16, further comprising a moving object, wherein the proximity beacon is coupled to the moving object.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor to perform a method for beacon management, the method comprising:

receiving mobile device location information from a mobile device within range of a proximity beacon, the mobile device location information identifying a location of the mobile device;

receiving proximity information from the mobile device, the proximity information identifying a signal strength of a signal that the mobile device received from the proximity beacon;

identifying a location of the proximity beacon within a venue based on the received location information and the received proximity information; and

transmitting the location of the proximity beacon to a front-end device, thereby displaying the location of the proximity beacon overlaid over a map displayed via a display of the front-end device.