POWER PRESERVATION THROUGH MOTION-ACTIVATED LOCATION REPORTING

• US 20170064499A1
• Filed: 11/10/2016
• Published: 03/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TILE, INC. (Life360 Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: TILE, INC. (Life360 Incorporated)
• Inventors: Farley, Michael George, Evans, Nicholas George
• Granted Patent: US 9,763,038 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724 User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• 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 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/245 from a network towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A tracking device can securely communicate with a secondary device by generating a hash value based on the identity of the tracking device. If the secondary device cannot resolve the hash value, the hash value can be provided to a tracking server, such as a cloud server, for resolving the hash value. Upon resolving the hash value, the tracking server can store a location of the tracking device in association with the identity of the tracking device. To preserve power, the secondary device can activate location-detection functionality (such as a GPS receive) only in response to the detection of movement of the tracking device, can obtain location information, and can de-activate the location-detection functionality upon providing the location information to the tracking server. The tracking server can associate one or both of a previous location and the current location information based on movement of the tracking device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a mobile device from a tracking device, a signal indicating a detection of movement of the tracking device by a motion sensor of the tracking device;

determining, by the mobile device via a location-detection component of the mobile device, a location of the mobile device;

after determining the location of the mobile device, disabling, by the mobile device, the location-detection component of the mobile device until

     1) a subsequent signal indicating a detection of movement is received from the tracking device, or

     2) an application of the mobile device requests a location of the mobile device; and

providing, from the mobile device to a tracking server, an identity of the tracking device and the determined location of the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the received signal is broadcast as a Bluetooth-format advertisement or connection event.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the motion sensor comprises a gyroscope or an accelerometer.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the location-detection component comprises a Global Positioning System (“

GPS”

) receiver.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determined location comprises geographic coordinates.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the tracking server is configured to provide to the mobile device a confirmation that the determined location is stored in association with the identity of the tracking device.

7. A system comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer instructions for;

receiving, at a mobile device from a tracking device, a signal indicating a detection of movement of the tracking device by a motion sensor of the tracking device;

determining, by the mobile device via a location-detection component of the mobile device, a location of the mobile device;

after determining the location of the mobile device, disabling, by the mobile device, the location-detection component of the mobile device until

     1) a subsequent signal indicating a detection of movement is received from the tracking device, or

     2) an application of the mobile device requests a location of the mobile device; and

providing, from the mobile device to a tracking server, an identity of the tracking device and the determined location of the mobile device; and

a processor configured to execute the computer instructions.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the received signal is broadcast as a Bluetooth-format advertisement or connection event.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the motion sensor comprises a gyroscope or an accelerometer.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the location-detection component comprises a Global Positioning System (“

GPS”

) receiver.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the determined location comprises geographic coordinates.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the tracking server is configured to provide to the mobile device a confirmation that the determined location is stored in association with the identity of the tracking device.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer instructions for:

receiving, at a mobile device from a tracking device, a signal indicating a detection of movement of the tracking device by a motion sensor of the tracking device;

determining, by the mobile device via a location-detection component of the mobile device, a location of the mobile device;

after determining the location of the mobile device, disabling, by the mobile device, the location-detection component of the mobile device until

     1) a subsequent signal indicating a detection of movement is received from the tracking device, or

     2) an application of the mobile device requests a location of the mobile device; and

providing, from the mobile device to a tracking server, an identity of the tracking device and the determined location of the mobile device.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the received signal is broadcast as a Bluetooth-format advertisement or connection event.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the motion sensor comprises a gyroscope or an accelerometer.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the location-detection component comprises a Global Positioning System (“

GPS”

) receiver.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the determined location comprises geographic coordinates.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the tracking server is configured to provide to the mobile device a confirmation that the determined location is stored in association with the identity of the tracking device.