Generating an alarm based on location and time

• US 6,943,671 B2
• Filed: 04/17/2003
• Issued: 09/13/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HTC Corporation
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Walker, James Randall, McGee, Michael Sean, McIntyre, Michael S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pope, Daryl C
• Application Number:
  US10/417,984
• Publication Number:
  US 20040207522A1
• Time in Patent Office: 880 Days
• Field of Search: 340/384.71, 340/309.16, 340/309.3, 340/309.7, 340/539.1, 340/539.11, 340/539.13, 342/357.1, 342/357.06, 342/342.13
• US Class Current: 340/384.71
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/24 Reminder alarms, e.g. anti-loss alarms

Abstract

A portable device includes a location detector, a time detector, and an alarm module to generate alarms based on both time-based and location-based criteria. A current time provided by the time detector is compared to a time-based criterion, and a current geographical location provided by the location detector (e.g., global positioning system or GPS receiver) is compared to a location-based criterion to determine whether or not to generate an alarm.

Claims

1. A method of generating an alarm using a portable device, comprising:

receiving indication of a location of the portable device;

storing information relating to tasks to be performed;

generating an alarm by the portable device in response to the received location indication, the alarm providing a reminder of at least one of the tasks;

checking if each of the tasks has been performed within a current predefined time period; and

generating a reminder for each task not performed within the current predefined time period in response to the checking.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, for each task performed, generating and storing further information relating to the performed task to enable another alarm in a predefined time period subsequent to the current predefined time period.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the location of the portable device comprises determining the location using global positioning system (GPS) data.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving further indication of another location of the portable device in response to movement of the portable device to the another location; and

generating another alarm by the portable device in response to the received further location indication.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein storing the information relating to the tasks comprises storing:

information relating to a location at which each task is to be performed, and

information indicating the current predefined time period in which the tasks are to be performed.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the alarm comprises generating at least one of the following alarms:

audio alarm, visual alarm, and vibration-based alarm.

7. A notification method, comprising:

determining a current location;

determining whether a preset time event has occurred; and

in response to determining that the preset time event has occurred, generating an alarm unless the current location does not satisfy a location criterion.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the current location comprises receiving an indication of the current location.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving the indication of the current location comprises receiving global positioning system (GPS) data.

10. An apparatus comprising:

a storage to store information relating to a time event and a location event;

a location detector to determine a current location of the apparatus;

a time detector to provide a current time;

a controller to compare the current location to the information relating to the location event and to compare the current time to the information relating to the time event, the controller to generate an alarm in response to occurrence of the time event and location event, whichever occurs first,

wherein the controller is adapted to detect for first occurrence of the time event and the location event.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the location detector comprises a global positioning data receiver.

12. An article comprising at least one storage medium containing instructions that when executed cause a portable device to:

receive indication of a location of the portable device;

store information relating to tasks to be performed;

generate an alarm by the portable device in response to the received location indication, the alarm providing a reminder of at least one of the tasks;

check if each of the tasks has been performed within a current predefined time period; and

generate a reminder for each task not performed within the current predefined time period in response to the checking.

13. The article of claim 12, wherein the instructions when executed cause the portable device to store the information relating to the tasks by storing:

information relating to a location at which each task is to be performed, and

information indicating the current predefined time period in which tasks are to be performed.

14. The article of claim 12, wherein the instructions when executed cause the portable device to generate the alarm by generating at least one of the following alarms:

audio alarm, visual alarm, and vibration-based alarm.

15. The article of claim 12, wherein the instructions when executed cause the portable device to, for each task performed, generate and store further information relating to the performed task to enable another alarm in a predefined time period subsequent to the current predefined time period.

16. The article of claim 12, wherein the instructions when executed cause the portable device to:

receive further indication of another location of the portable device in response to movement of the portable device to the another location; and

generate another alarm by the portable device in response to the received further location indication.