SELECTION OF LOCATION INFORMATION BASED ON DETECTED MOVEMENT

• US 20170064509A1
• 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: Evans, Nicholas George, Farley, Michael George
• Granted Patent: US 9,973,893 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/24 Reminder alarms, e.g. anti-loss alarms
• 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: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• 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 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• 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:

determining, by a mobile device, a first location associated with a tracking device in response to receiving a first signal from the tracking device;

in response to a movement of the mobile device relative to the tracking device, determining, by the mobile device, a second location associated with the tracking device;

in response to the mobile device and tracking device moving closer together, providing, by the mobile device, the second location to a tracking server, the tracking server configured to store the second location in conjunction with an identity of the tracking device; and

in response to the mobile device and the tracking device moving farther apart, providing, by the mobile device, the first location to the tracking server, the tracking server configured to store the first location in conjunction with the identity of the tracking device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the movement is detected by detecting a direction of movement of the mobile device relative to the tracking device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining if the mobile device and the tracking device are moving closer together or farther apart is based on the detected direction of movement of the mobile device relative to the tracking device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the movement of the mobile device comprises an above-threshold magnitude of movement.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is configured to provide both the first location and the second location to the tracking server, and wherein the tracking server is configured to store the first location and the second location in conjunction with the identity of the tracking device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the tracking device is configured to enter a standby mode after the mobile device provides one of the first location and the second location to the tracking server, and wherein the tracking device is configured to remain in the standby mode until the tracking device subsequently moves.

7. A system comprising:

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

determining, by a mobile device, a first location associated with a tracking device in response to receiving a first signal from the tracking device;

in response to a movement of the mobile device relative to the tracking device, determining, by the mobile device, a second location associated with the tracking device;

in response to the mobile device and tracking device moving closer together, providing, by the mobile device, the second location to a tracking server, the tracking server configured to store the second location in conjunction with an identity of the tracking device; and

in response to the mobile device and the tracking device moving farther apart, providing, by the mobile device, the first location to the tracking server, the tracking server configured to store the first location in conjunction with the identity of the tracking device; and

a processor configured to execute the computer instructions.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the movement is detected by detecting a direction of movement of the mobile device relative to the tracking device.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein determining if the mobile device and the tracking device are moving closer together or farther apart is based on the detected direction of movement of the mobile device relative to the tracking device.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the movement of the mobile device comprises an above-threshold magnitude of movement.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the mobile device is configured to provide both the first location and the second location to the tracking server, and wherein the tracking server is configured to store the first location and the second location in conjunction with the identity of the tracking device.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the tracking device is configured to enter a standby mode after the mobile device provides one of the first location and the second location to the tracking server, and wherein the tracking device is configured to remain in the standby mode until the tracking device subsequently moves.

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

determining, by a mobile device, a first location associated with a tracking device in response to receiving a first signal from the tracking device;

in response to a movement of the mobile device relative to the tracking device, determining, by the mobile device, a second location associated with the tracking device;

in response to the mobile device and tracking device moving closer together, providing, by the mobile device, the second location to a tracking server, the tracking server configured to store the second location in conjunction with an identity of the tracking device; and

in response to the mobile device and the tracking device moving farther apart, providing, by the mobile device, the first location to the tracking server, the tracking server configured to store the first location in conjunction with the identity of the tracking device.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the movement is detected by detecting a direction of movement of the mobile device relative to the tracking device.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein determining if the mobile device and the tracking device are moving closer together or farther apart is based on the detected direction of movement of the mobile device relative to the tracking device.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the movement of the mobile device comprises an above-threshold magnitude of movement.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the mobile device is configured to provide both the first location and the second location to the tracking server, and wherein the tracking server is configured to store the first location and the second location in conjunction with the identity of the tracking device.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the tracking device is configured to enter a standby mode after the mobile device provides one of the first location and the second location to the tracking server, and wherein the tracking device is configured to remain in the standby mode until the tracking device subsequently moves.