SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REAL-TIME USER ENGAGEMENT AND INTERACTIONS

• US 20190098445A1
• Filed: 09/21/2018
• Published: 03/28/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Peng Hu
• Original Assignee: Peng Hu
• Inventors: Hu, Peng
• Granted Patent: US 10,455,354 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/00 Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00; network architectures or network communication protocols for wireless network security H04W12/00; security arrangements for protecting computers or computer systems against unauthorised activity G06F21/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/50 Secure pairing of devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings

Abstract

Systems and methods for real-time user engagement, interactions, and management for various events. A beacon device, either a standalone beacon tag or a part of a user device, is able to interact with a gateway and/or a server. The systems and methods are used for enhancing and optimizing user experience in terms of, for example, obtaining location information of the beacon/user devices, providing location-based services, notifying users of event activities, simplifying distribution and viewing of promotional or services data, and facilitating the interactions and communication between users in different roles (such as visitors/attendees, patrons, sponsors, exhibitors, organizers, event service providers, property management users, and business users) in a venue for an event; facilitating the collection and processing of business or user information and follow-up communications after the event; and managing the data regarding locations, maps, events, users, leads, security, configurations, devices, user applications, and promotion data.

Claims

1. A beacon device, comprising:

at least one processor;

one or more wireless transceivers; and

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium communicatively coupled to said processor, wherein the non-transitory computer readable storage medium includes instructions that, when executed by said processor, cause said processor to perform the operations comprising;

transmitting or receiving wireless messages to/from other devices through said wireless transceiver(s);

transmitting wireless messages encapsulating its identifier and possible metadata through said wireless transceiver(s); and

taking user commands from I/O devices of said beacon device.

2. A gateway, comprising:

at least one processor;

one or more wireless transceivers; and

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium communicatively coupled to said processor, wherein the non-transitory computer readable storage medium includes instructions that, when executed by said processor, cause said processor to perform the operations comprising;

transmitting or receiving messages wirelessly through said wireless transceiver(s) to/from said beacon devices of claim 1;

determining location information of beacon devices and/or other said gateways;

interacting with a remote server for data transfers and/or device management;

collecting, generating, and processing information from messages sent by said beacon devices;

facilitating identification, authentication, and authorization of said beacon devices;

facilitating integrity and confidentiality of data transfers; and

optionally storing and processing location data, event data, security data, lead/user data, and/or promotion data.

wherein said gateway has at least one of said wireless transceivers that can communicate with the said beacon devices.

3. A server, comprising:

at least one processor;

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium communicatively coupled to said processor, wherein the non-transitory computer readable storage medium includes instructions that, when executed by said processor, cause said processor to perform the operations comprising;

interacting with said beacon devices of claim 1 and said gateways of claim 2 for managing said beacon devices and said gateways;

creating, reading, updating, and deleting location information of said beacon devices and said gateways;

creating, reading, updating, and deleting a digital map of a venue and additional information of said beacon devices and/or said gateways of;

managing user registration for an event, user activities of an event, said beacon devices and said gateways for an event or for a venue; and

managing the association, security credentials, security-sensitive data, and the identifiers of said beacon devices with the information regarding users of said beacon devices.

wherein said server may contain various network interfaces for networking.

4. A user device, comprising:

at least one processor;

one or more wireless transceivers;

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium communicatively coupled to said processor, wherein the non-transitory computer readable storage medium includes instructions that, when executed by said processor, cause said processor to perform the operations comprising;

taking user inputs through I/O devices; and

operating said wireless transceivers as said beacon devices of claim 1 through user applications or other software.

wherein said user device may have a built-in said beacon device as a module and may have a display I/O device to render location-based information for viewing.

5. The computer readable medium of said gateway of claim 2, further comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause said processor(s) to perform operations, comprising:

interacting with other said gateways or external devices for determining location information; and

facilitating initialization or configuration of said beacon devices of claim 1.

wherein said gateways may communicate with each other or with external devices through a network deployment in a line, a star, a tree, a mesh, or an ad hoc topology.

6. The computer readable medium of said beacon devices of claim 1, further comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause said processor(s) to perform operations, comprising:

using stored security credentials for identification, authentication and authorization with said gateway of claim 2 and/or said server of claim 3;

processing wireless messages received from said gateway or said beacon device;

broadcasting wireless messages of said beacon device attached to a physical object;

receiving and processing wireless messages sent from said beacon device attached to an object on said beacon device connected to or built in a user device of claim 4 for rendering data included in or indexed from the messages in various output formats; and

storing and processing location data, event data, security data, and/or promotion data pre-configured and/or dynamically retrieved from said server or said gateway.

7. The computer readable medium of said gateways of claim 2 and/or said servers of claim 3, further comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause said processor(s) to perform operations, comprising:

Managing location data of said beacon devices of claim 1 and/or said gateways;

Managing map data for events with hotspot areas and/or additional venue information;

Managing security data for said beacon devices of claim 1, said gateways, and said servers;

Managing lead/user information, including managing collecting, creating, and processing said lead/user information;

Managing devices of said beacon devices and said gateways;

Managing user data of said events, said gateways, said servers, said beacon devices, and/or said user devices;

Managing data of said event and/or said venue;

Managing user applications and/or user application data on said servers, said gateways, said beacon devices, and said user devices of claim 4; and

Managing promotion and services data.

8. The computer readable medium of said user devices of claim 4, further comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause said processor(s) to perform the operations comprising:

operating one or more said beacon devices connected to said user device;

transmitting to and receiving messages from said server of claim 3 and/or said gateway of claim 2;

determining location, identifier, and metadata from messages received from said gateway;

displaying notifications, hotspot areas, directions, history, waypoints visited, and other location information;

displaying contextual options for viewing data of one or more objects and promotional contents;

determining identifier and/or business information from messages received from said gateway;

processing and displaying data received from said gateway, said server, or additional said beacon devices of claim 1 in various formats for viewing on a display connected to said user device;

reading device and/or user information from wireless messages sent by said beacon device and/or from the information retrieved from said server or said gateway;

optionally scanning said beacon devices for initializing and/or configuring said beacon devices;

optionally scanning and surveying said gateways for automatically generating said hotspot areas for an event; and

optionally facilitating the association of device identifiers with the user information of said user device.

wherein the user application running on said user device connected to said beacon device may be configured to transmit wireless messages and to interact with one or more said gateways.

9. An apparatus comprising one or more said beacon devices of claim 1 and/or claim 6;

one or more said gateways of claim 2 and/or claim 5 and/or claim 7;

one or more said servers of claim 3 and/or claim 7; and

/or one or more said user devices of claim 4 and/or claim 8.

11. The computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause said processor(s) to perform a method for using a computer system to authenticate users and send data objects to said user devices of claim 4 by said server of claim 3 and said gateway of claim 2, comprising the steps of:

determining location or proximity of one or more users to said gateway;

sending said users'"'"' information to said server for identification, authentication, and authorization purposes;

transmitting said data objects from said server to said user devices with the security assurance of data confidentiality, data integrity, authorization, and/or availability; and

storing and displaying said data objects on said user devices.

12. The computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause said processor(s) to perform a method for using a computer system to generate and maintain a location database for an event or a venue, comprising the steps of:

determining location or proximity of one or more users to said gateway of claim 2;

sending user status information and location to said database stored in said server of claim 3;

discovering the connected devices providing the proximity or location information of one or more said beacon devices of claim 1 and/or user devices of claim 4;

checking the location information in said database;

creating, reading, updating, and deleting said database or entries of said database regarding the proximity or location information of said beacon devices and/or user devices; and

propagating the proximity or location information of one or more said beacon devices and/or said user devices to other said gateways or external devices.

13. The computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause said processor(s) to perform a method for using a computer system to transfer, manipulate, and view object data on said user device of claim 4 or a display connected to said user device, comprising:

determining location or proximity of one or more users to said gateway of claim 2;

authenticating users of said user devices and establishing a connection between said user device and said server of claim 3 or said gateway;

sending said object data of one or more objects from said server or said gateway to said user device;

processing and displaying said object data received on said user device; and

taking user inputs for manipulating and rendering of said object data in various output formats.

14. The computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause said processor(s) to perform a method for using a computer system to facilitate interactions between said beacon device of claim 1 or said user device of claim 4 and said gateway of claim 2 initiated by said gateway of claim 2, comprising the steps of:

Checking and updating configuration parameters for setting an advertisement mode to whether advertise wireless messages to said beacon device(s) or said user device(s) directionally/omni-directionally or not;

Responding to said beacon device or said user device by transmitting wireless messages once a wireless message sent by said beacon device or said user device is received, and then parsing and saving information from message(s) received from said beacon device(s) or said user device(s), if said gateway is not in the advertisement mode;

Advertise wireless messages and wait until the wireless messages are responded by said beacon device or said user device, and then parsing and saving information from messages received from said beacon device(s) or said user device(s), if said gateway is in the advertisement mode;

Processing the information locally on said gateway; and

Synchronizing the processed information to said server of claim 3.

15. The computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause said processor(s) to perform a method for using a computer system to facilitate interactions between said beacon device of claim 1 or said user device of claim 4 and said gateway of claim 2 initiated by said beacon device or said user device, comprising the steps of:

Checking and updating configuration parameters for setting an advertisement mode to whether advertise wireless messages to said gateways directionally/omni-directionally or not;

Responding to said gateway by transmitting wireless messages once a wireless message sent by said gateway is received, and then parsing and saving information from message(s) received from said beacon(s) or said user device(s), if said beacon device or said user device is not in the advertisement mode;

Advertise wireless messages and wait until the wireless messages are responded by said gateway, and then parsing and saving information from messages received from said gateway, if said beacon device or said user device is in the advertisement mode;

Processing the information locally on said beacon device or said user device; and

Synchronizing the processed information to said server of claim 3.

16. The computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause said processor(s) to perform a method for using a computer system to update or store configuration information of said beacon device of claim 1 on said server of claim 3, comprising the steps of:

Downloading configuration information from said server for configuration purposes;

Scanning one or more said beacon devices for obtaining the identifiers of said beacon devices;

Taking user inputs for creating, reading, updating, or deleting said configuration information associated with the identifier of said beacon device(s);

Securely sending said configuration information to said server; and

Storing said configuration information on said server.

17. The computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause said processor(s) to perform a method for using a computer system to configure said beacon device of claim 1 from said server of claim 3, comprising the steps of:

Preparing one or more said beacon devices for a remote configuration process;

Scanning one or more said beacon devices for obtaining the identifiers of said beacon devices;

Establishing a secure connection between the configuration application endpoint to said server;

Retrieving the configuration information of said beacon(s) from said server; and

Sending the configuration parameters to said beacon(s).

18. The computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause said processor(s) to perform a method for using a computer system to initialize or configure said gateway of claim 2 from said server of claim 3, comprising the steps of:

Sending a request for initializing or configuring said gateway to said server;

Establishing a secure connection between said gateway and said server;

Processing and sending data to said gateway by said server; and

Storing the data into said gateway and initialize said gateway with the data.

19. The computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause said processor(s) to perform a method for using a computer system to create a map for an event or a venue with hotspot areas and additional metadata on said server of claim 3, comprising the steps of:

Uploading said map of a venue for an event;

Choosing a coordinate system used for said map;

Planning said hotspot areas of said map;

Associating one or more identifiers of said gateway(s) to each said hotspot area, and optionally associate metadata with said hotspot areas; and

Storing the relationship between each of said hotspot areas, said gateways of claim 2, and positions of said gateways in said map to a database.

10. The computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause said processor(s) to perform a method for using a computer system to onboard users into an interactive application, comprising the steps of:

determining a user'"'"'s location or proximity to said gateway;

establishing a connection between said user and said server for preparing said user for participating said interactive application to allow users to participate in the application and/or interact with other said user device or with other said beacon device;

authenticating said user and sending said user'"'"'s info to said server;

generating a unique identifier for said user to participate in said interactive application set up by said server and

displaying the interface of said interactive application for said user to operate said interactive application.