Opportunistic Crowd-Based Service Platform

• US 20170126793A1
• Filed: 01/11/2017
• Published: 05/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Zavesky, Eric, Basso, Andrea, Begeja, Lee, Gibbon, David C., Liu, Zhu, Renger, Bernard S., Shahraray, Behzad
• Granted Patent: US 9,882,978 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/185 from a mobile camera, e.g. for remote control
• 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 4/38 for collecting sensor information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]

Abstract

A method and apparatus for providing an opportunistic crowd based service platform is disclosed. A mobile sensor device is identified based on a current location and/or other qualities, such as intrinsic properties, previous sensor data, or demographic data of an associated user of the mobile sensor device. Data is collected from the mobile sensor device. The data collected from the mobile sensor device is aggregated with data collected from other sensor devices, and content generated based on the aggregated data is delivered to a user device.

Claims

1. A method, comprising

in response to a determination by a service platform that there is at least one mobile sensor device located at a target location that is capable of capturing the specific type of the first data, selecting one of the at least one mobile sensor device located at the target location that is capable of capturing the specific type of the first data as a first mobile sensor device for providing the first data;

in response to a determination by the service platform that there is not at least one mobile sensor device located at the target location that is capable of capturing the specific type of the first data;

selecting a mobile sensor device not currently located at the target location that is capable of capturing the specific type of the first data to be the first mobile sensor device for providing the first data, and

requesting that the first mobile sensor device not currently located at the target location be moved to the target location;

obtaining, by the service platform, the first data from the first mobile sensor device;

controlling, by the service platform, the first mobile sensor device to act as a dedicated access point that allows a second mobile sensor device to connect to a network, wherein the first mobile sensor device is selected by the service platform to act as the dedicated access point based on a current location of the first mobile sensor device and capabilities of the first mobile sensor device, and the first mobile sensor device and the second mobile sensor device are independent mobile sensor devices associated with different respective users;

aggregating, by the service platform, the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device with second data collected from the second mobile sensor device to generate aggregated data; and

delivering, by the service platform, content to a recipient device based on the aggregated data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining the first data from the first mobile sensor device comprises:

sending a request to the first mobile sensor device to capture the first data; and

receiving the first data from the first mobile sensor device in response to the request.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting the first mobile sensor device based on one of an intrinsic property of the first mobile sensor device, a previous reading received from the first mobile sensor device, or demographic information of a user of the first mobile sensor device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

removing data determined to be low quality from the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device and the second data collected from the second mobile sensor device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device comprises first image data, the second data collected from the second mobile sensor device comprises second image data, and wherein the aggregating the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device with the second data collected from the second mobile sensor device comprises:

generating a reconstructed image using the first and second image data collected from the first and second mobile sensor devices.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device comprises first video data, the second data collected from the second mobile sensor device comprises second video data, and wherein the aggregating the first data collected from the mobile sensor device with the second data collected from the second mobile sensor device comprises:

generating a video stream by combining the first and second video data collected from the first and second mobile sensor devices.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting gaps in the aggregated data;

determining a second target location to capture third data based on the gaps detected in the aggregated data; and

identifying a third mobile sensor device currently located at the second target location.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting gaps in the aggregated data;

determining a second target location to capture third data based on the gaps detected in the aggregated data;

identifying a third mobile sensor device not currently located at the second target location that is capable of capturing the third data; and

requesting that the third mobile sensor device not currently located at the second target location be moved to the second target location.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

dedicating network resources to network traffic entering the network through the dedicated access point to prioritize the first data collected from the mobile sensor device and the second data collected from the second mobile sensor device.

10. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory to store computer program instructions, the computer program instructions when executed on the processor cause the processor to perform operations comprising;

in response to a determination that there is at least one mobile sensor device located at a target location that is capable of capturing the specific type of the first data, selecting one of the at least one mobile sensor device located at the target location that is capable of capturing the specific type of the first data as a first mobile sensor device for providing the first data;

in response to a determination that there is not at least one mobile sensor device located at the target location that is capable of capturing the specific type of the first data;

selecting a mobile sensor device not currently located at the target location that is capable of capturing the specific type of the first data to be the first mobile sensor device for providing the first data, and

requesting that the first mobile sensor device not currently located at the target location be moved to the target location;

obtaining the first data from the first mobile sensor device;

controlling the first mobile sensor device to act as a dedicated access point that allows a second mobile sensor device to connect to a network, wherein the first mobile sensor device is selected by the service platform to act as the dedicated access point based on a current location of the first mobile sensor device and capabilities of the first mobile sensor device, and the first mobile sensor device and the second mobile sensor device are independent mobile sensor devices associated with different respective users;

aggregating the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device with second data collected from the second mobile sensor device to generate aggregated data; and

delivering content to a recipient device based on the aggregated data.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

selecting the first mobile sensor device based on one of an intrinsic property of the first mobile sensor device, a previous reading received from the first mobile sensor device, or demographic information of a user of the first mobile sensor device.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

removing data determined to be low quality from the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device and the second data collected from the second mobile sensor device.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

detecting gaps in the aggregated data;

determining a second target location to capture third data based on the gaps detected in the aggregated data; and

identifying a third mobile sensor device currently located at the second target location.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

detecting gaps in the aggregated data;

determining a second target location to capture third data based on the gaps detected in the aggregated data;

identifying a third mobile sensor device not currently located at the second target location that is capable of capturing the third data; and

requesting that the third mobile sensor device not currently located at the second target location be moved to the second target location.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

dedicating network resources to network traffic entering the network through the dedicated access point to prioritize the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device and the second data collected from the second mobile sensor device.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions, which when executed on a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

in response to a determination that there is at least one mobile sensor device located at a target location that is capable of capturing the specific type of the first data, selecting one of the at least one mobile sensor device located at the target location that is capable of capturing the specific type of the first data as a first mobile sensor device for providing the first data;

in response to a determination that there is not at least one mobile sensor device located at the target location that is capable of capturing the specific type of the first data;

selecting a mobile sensor device not currently located at the target location that is capable of capturing the specific type of the first data to be the first mobile sensor device for providing the first data, and

requesting that the first mobile sensor device not currently located at the target location be moved to the target location;

obtaining the first data from the first mobile sensor device;

controlling the first mobile sensor device to act as a dedicated access point that allows a second mobile sensor device to connect to a network, wherein the first mobile sensor device is selected by the service platform to act as the dedicated access point based on a current location of the first mobile sensor device and capabilities of the first mobile sensor device, and the first mobile sensor device and the second mobile sensor device are independent mobile sensor devices associated with different respective users;

aggregating the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device with second data collected from the second mobile sensor device to generate aggregated data; and

delivering content to a recipient device based on the aggregated data.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

removing data determined to be low quality from the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device and the second data collected from the second mobile sensor device.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

detecting gaps in the aggregated data;

determining a second target location to capture third data based on the gaps detected in the aggregated data; and

identifying a third mobile sensor device currently located at the second target location.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

detecting gaps in the aggregated data;

determining a second target location to capture third data based on the gaps detected in the aggregated data;

identifying a third mobile sensor device not currently located at the second target location that is capable of capturing the third data; and

requesting that the third mobile sensor device not currently located at the second target location be moved to the second target location.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

dedicating network resources to network traffic entering the network through the dedicated access point to prioritize the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device and the second data collected from the second mobile sensor device.