System and method for proactive content delivery by situational location

• US 7,187,997 B2
• Filed: 04/12/2004
• Issued: 03/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Johnson, William J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Black; Thomas G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Marc; McDieunel
• Application Number:
  US10/823,386
• Publication Number:
  US 20040252051A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,058 Days
• Field of Search: 342/357.09, 342/357.01, 342/357.03, 342/357.06, 342/357.1, 701/200, 701/213, 701/214, 701/23, 701/24, 701/93, 701/110, 701/70, 340/988, 340/990, 370/352, 180/170, 180/171, 123/351
• US Class Current: 700/245
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/02 Indoor
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02 using radio waves using satellite radio beacon systems for determining position G01S19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/444 Spatial browsing, e.g. 2D maps, 3D or virtual spaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/972 Access to data in other repository systems, e.g. legacy data or dynamic Web page generation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0239 Online discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/14 with services dependent on location where the service is an information service H04M2242/15; services independent of location H04M3/42229
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/15 Information service where the information is dependent on the location of the subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42348 Location-based services which utilize the location information of a target
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4878 Advertisement messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 : Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• 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 4/027 : using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 : Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 : for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 : Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 : Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99952 : Coherency, e.g. same view to multiple users
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 : Recoverability

Abstract

Situational location dependent information is transmitted from a server data processing system to a receiving data processing system. The server data processing system communicates with the receiving data processing system in a manner by pushing content when appropriate. A candidate delivery event associated with a current positional attribute of the receiving data processing system is recognized and a situational location of the remote data processing system is determined. The candidate delivery event may be a location and/or direction change, device state change, or movement exceeding a movement tolerance. The situational location of the remote data processing system may be its location, direction, location and direction, proximity to a location, state change, or location and/or direction relative to a previous location and/or direction, or combinations thereof. A set of delivery content from a deliverable content database is transmitted from the server data processing system to the receiving data processing system according to the situational location of the receiving data processing system, and according to delivery constraints. The delivery content is configurable by authorized administrators on an instant activation basis for proactive delivery.

Claims

1. A method for automatically sending situational location dependent information to a mobile receiving system, said method comprising the steps of:

registering said receiving system with a service for eligibility to receive said information at said receiving system;

automatically communicating requests containing physical location coordinates of said receiving system to said service, by system event means for said receiving system over an internet connection to said service, said physical location coordinates automatically determined for said receiving system;

automatically determining by said service that said receiving system is eligible to receive said information;

automatically retrieving from a deliverable content database by said service said information according to a situational location including said physical location coordinates, said information for user interface presentation by, and for immediate delivery to, said receiving system, said situational location newly encountered by said receiving system; and

automatically sending said information from said service to said receiving system over an internet connection.

2. The method of claim 1 further including the step of presenting said information to a user interface of said receiving system.

3. The method of claim 2 further including the step of maintaining a history of information presented to said user interface.

4. The method of claim 3 further including the step of using said history to prevent presenting redundant information to said user interface.

5. The method of claim 2 further including the step of monitoring for a user action at said receiving system, said user action for enabling or disabling subsequent presenting of said information to said receiving system.

6. The method of claim 1 further including the step of automatically determining a candidate delivery event for said receiving system by said receiving system according to a movement tolerance and communicating a request containing physical location coordinates to said service.

7. The method of claim 1 further including the step of maintaining a history of information sent.

8. The method of claim 7 further including the step of using said history to prevent sending redundant information.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein said information is a content delivery indicator for user selection to retrieve associated content.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein said information is a content delivery indicator indicating existence of deliverable content.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein said information is a content delivery indicator indicating that deliverable content was too large in size to be delivered.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of automatically sending said information from said service to said receiving system over an internet connection comprises automatically sending said information over an internet connection from said service to said receiving system according to capabilities of said receiving system.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein said receiving system is used to configure said deliverable content database over an internet connection.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of monitoring for a user action at said receiving system, said user action for enabling or disabling subsequent delivery of said information to said receiving system.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein said service uses application specific fields together with said situational location to search for, and retrieve, said information.

16. The method of claim 1 further including the step of sending said information to an other receiving system.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein said receiving system is one of a plurality of systems used to configure information in said deliverable content database.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein said deliverable content database contains deliverable information configured for delivery by a plurality of users through an administration interface over an internet connection.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of automatically retrieving from a deliverable content database by said service said information according to a situational location further includes retrieving from said deliverable content database according to user specified interest criteria.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein said deliverable content database contains a plurality of user customizable records, each record containing at least one customizable content item destined for at least one customizable situational location.

21. The method of claim 1 further including the step of automatically communicating to an other system from said receiving system upon user selection of an invocable speed reference, said speed reference part of said information.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein said physical location coordinates are Global positioning System coordinates.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein said physical location coordinates are determined with triangulation measurements.

24. A method for automatically sending situational location dependent delivery information from a server to a receiving system, said method comprising the steps of:

registering said receiving system over an internet connection with said server for eligibility to receive said delivery information at said receiving system;

automatically requesting said server, by said receiving system over an internet connection to said server, to search for said delivery information with a situational location of said receiving system, said situational location automatically determined at said receiving system;

automatically determining by said server that said receiving system is eligible to receive said delivery information;

automatically retrieving from a deliverable content database by said server said delivery information according to said situational location;

automatically sending said delivery information from said server to said receiving system over an internet connection;

maintaining a history of delivery information sent; and

using said history to prevent sending redundant delivery information.

25. A method for automatically sending situational location dependent delivery information from a server to a receiving system, said method comprising the steps of:

registering said receiving system over an internet connection with said server for eligibility to receive said delivery information at said receiving system;

automatically requesting said server, by said receiving system over an internet connection to said server, to search for said delivery information with a situational location of said receiving system, said situational location automatically determined at said receiving system;

automatically determining by said server that said receiving system is eligible to receive said delivery information;

automatically retrieving from a deliverable content database by said server said delivery information according to said situational location;

automatically sending said delivery information from said server to said receiving system over an internet connection; and

automatically communicating to an other system from said receiving system upon user selection of an invocable speed reference, said speed reference part of said information.

26. A method for automatically sending situational location dependent delivery information from a server to a receiving system, said method comprising the steps of:

registering said receiving system over an internet connection with said server for eligibility to receive said delivery information at said receiving system;

automatically requesting said server, by said receiving system over an internet connection to said server, to search for said delivery information with a situational location of said receiving system, said situational location automatically determined at said receiving system;

automatically determining by said server that said receiving system is eligible to receive said delivery information;

automatically retrieving from a deliverable content database by said server said delivery information according to said situational location wherein said server uses application specific fields together with said situational location to search for, and retrieve, said delivery information; and

automatically sending said delivery information from said server to said receiving system over an internet connection.

27. A method for automatically presenting situational location dependent information to a user interface of a receiving system, said method comprising the steps of:

determining a physical location of said receiving system with triangulation measurements between said receiving system and a plurality of base stations;

determining an information search criteria using said physical location;

retrieving said information from a deliverable content database with said information search criteria; and

presenting said information to a user interface of said receiving system.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein said step of determining a physical location of said receiving system comprises determining a physical location of said receiving system at said receiving system with triangulation measurements between said receiving system and a plurality of base stations.

29. The method of claim 27 wherein said step of determining a physical location of said receiving system comprises determining a physical location of said receiving system at a server with triangulation measurements between said receiving system and a plurality of base stations, said server in communications with at least one of said base stations.

30. The method of claim 27 further including the step of sending said information from a server to said receiving system.

31. The method of claim 30 further including the step of monitoring for a user action at said receiving system, said user action for enabling or disabling subsequent sending of said information to said receiving system.

32. The method of claim 30 further including the step of maintaining a history of information sent to said receiving system.

33. The method of claim 32 further including the step of using said history to prevent sending redundant information to said receiving system.

34. The method of claim 27 further including the step of maintaining said deliverable content database at said receiving system.

35. The method of claim 27 further including the step of automatically determining a candidate delivery event for said receiving system according to a movement tolerance.

36. The method of claim 27 further including the step of maintaining a history of information presented to said user interface.

37. The method of claim 36 further including the step of using said history to prevent presenting redundant information to said user interface.

38. The method of claim 27 wherein said information is a content delivery indicator for user selection to retrieve associated content.

39. The method of claim 27 wherein said information is a content delivery indicator indicating existence of deliverable content.

40. The method of claim 27 wherein said information is a content delivery indicator indicating that deliverable content was too large in size to be delivered.

41. The method of claim 27 further including the step of automatically communicating to an other system from said receiving system upon user selection of an invocable speed reference, said speed reference part of said information.

42. The method of claim 27 further including the step of sending said information from a service to said receiving system according to capabilities of said receiving system.

43. The method of claim 27 wherein said step of determining an information search criteria using said physical location includes determining an information search criteria using application specific fields together with said physical location.

44. The method of claim 27 wherein said receiving system is one of a plurality of systems used to configure information in said deliverable content database.

45. The method of claim 27 further including the step of monitoring for a user action at said receiving system, said user action for enabling or disabling subsequent presentation of said information to said user interface of said receiving system.

46. The method of claim 27 further including the step of sending said information to an other receiving system.

47. The method of claim 27 wherein said deliverable content database contains deliverable information configured for delivery by a plurality of users through an administration interface over an internet connection.

48. The method of claim 27 wherein said information search criteria includes user specified interest criteria.

49. The method of claim 27 wherein said deliverable content database contains a plurality of user customizable records, each record containing at least one customizable content item destined for at least one customizable situational location.

50. A method for automatically sending situational location dependent information from a server to a receiving system, said method comprising the steps of:

recognizing a candidate delivery event of said receiving system;

determining a physical location of said receiving system with triangulation measurements between said receiving system and a plurality of base stations;

determining a situational location of said receiving system using said physical location;

retrieving said information from a deliverable content database according to said situational location; and

sending said information from said server to said receiving system.

51. The method of claim 50 further including the step of presenting said information to a user interface of said receiving system.

52. The method of claim 51 wherein said information is a content delivery indicator for user selection to retrieve associated content.

53. The method of claim 51 wherein said information is a content delivery indicator indicating existence of deliverable content.

54. The method of claim 51 wherein said information is a content delivery indicator indicating that deliverable content was too large in size to be delivered.

55. The method of claim 51 further including the step of automatically communicating to an other system from said receiving system upon user selection of an invocable speed reference, said speed reference part of said information.

56. The method of claim 51 further including the step of monitoring for a user action at said receiving system, said user action for enabling or disabling subsequent presenting of said information to said receiving system.

57. The method of claim 51 further including the step of maintaining a history of information presented to said user interface of said receiving system.

58. The method of claim 57 further including the step of using said history to prevent presenting redundant information to said user interface of said receiving system.

59. The method of claim 50 further including the step of automatically determining a candidate delivery event for said receiving system according to a movement tolerance.

60. The method of claim 50 further including the step of maintaining a history of information sent to said receiving system.

61. The method of claim 60 further including the step of using said history to prevent sending redundant information to said receiving system.

62. The method of claim 50 wherein said step of sending said information from said server to said receiving system further includes sending according to capabilities of said receiving system.

63. The method of claim 50 wherein said step of retrieving said information from a deliverable content database according to said situational location includes retrieving said information from a deliverable content database using application specific fields together with said situational location.

64. The method of claim 50 wherein said receiving system is one of a plurality of systems used to configure information in said deliverable content database.

65. The method of claim 50 further including the step of monitoring for a user action at said receiving system, said user action for enabling or disabling subsequent sending of said information to said receiving system.

66. The method of claim 50 further including the step of sending said information to an other receiving system.

67. The method of claim 50 wherein said deliverable content database contains deliverable information configured for delivery by a plurality of users through an administration interface over an internet connection.

68. The method of claim 50 wherein said step of retrieving said information from a deliverable content database according to said situational location includes retrieving from a deliverable content database according to user specified interest criteria.

69. The method of claim 50 wherein said deliverable content database contains a plurality of user customizable records, each record containing at least one customizable content item destined for at least one customizable situational location.

70. A method for automatically sending situational location dependent information to a mobile receiving system, said method comprising the steps of:

registering said receiving system with a service for eligibility to receive said information at said receiving system;

automatically communicating requests containing Global Positioning System coordinates of said receiving system to said service, by system event means for said receiving system over an internet connection to said service, said Global Positioning System coordinates automatically determined for said receiving system;

automatically determining by said service that said receiving system is eligible to receive said information;

automatically retrieving from a deliverable content database by said service said information according to a situational location including said Global Positioning System coordinates, said information for user interface presentation by said receiving system;

automatically sending said information from said service to said receiving system over an internet connection; and

automatically communicating to an other system from said receiving system upon user selection of an invocable speed reference, said speed reference part of said information.

71. A method for automatically sending situational location dependent information to a mobile receiving system, said method comprising the steps of:

determining a candidate delivery event of said receiving system, said candidate delivery event upon arrival by said receiving system to a newly traveled location;

using a situational location of said receiving system, in immediate response to said candidate delivery event, to search for information from a deliverable content database, said situational location including said newly traveled location;

sending said information to said receiving system in immediate response to results from said search, said results having an associated situational location of said receiving system; and

presenting said information to a user interface of said receiving system in immediate response to sending said information.

72. The method of claim 71 wherein said step of determining a candidate delivery event of said receiving system includes determining a candidate delivery event of said receiving system according to a movement tolerance.

73. The method of claim 71 further including the step of maintaining a history of information presented to said user interface.

74. The method of claim 73 further including the step of using said history to prevent presenting redundant information to said user interface.

75. The method of claim 71 wherein said information is a content delivery indicator for user selection to retrieve associated content.

76. The method of claim 71 wherein said information is a content delivery indicator indicating existence of deliverable content.

77. The method of claim 71 wherein said information is a content delivery indicator indicating that deliverable content was too large in size to be delivered.

78. The method of claim 71 further including the step of sending said information to said receiving system according to capabilities of said receiving system.

79. The method of claim 71 wherein said situational location includes application specific fields.

80. The method of claim 71 wherein said receiving system is one of a plurality of systems used to configure information in said deliverable content database.

81. The method of claim 71 further including the step of monitoring for a user action at said receiving system, said user action for enabling or disabling subsequent presentation of said information to said user interface of said receiving system.

82. The method of claim 71 further including the step of sending said information to an other receiving system.

83. The method of claim 71 wherein said deliverable content database contains deliverable information configured for delivery by a plurality of users through an administration interface over an internet connection.

84. The method of claim 71 wherein said situational location includes user specified interest criteria.

85. The method of claim 71 further including the step of maintaining a history of information sent to said receiving system.

86. The method of claim 85 further including the step of using said history to prevent sending redundant information to said receiving system.

87. The method of claim 71 wherein said deliverable content database contains a plurality of user customizable records, each record containing at least one customizable content item destined for at least one customizable situational location.

88. The method of claim 71 further including the step of automatically communicating to another system from said receiving system upon user selection of an invocable speed reference, said speed reference part of said information.

89. A method for automatically sending situational location dependent information to a mobile receiving system, said method comprising the steps of:

determining a candidate delivery event of said receiving system, said candidate delivery event upon arrival by said receiving system to a newly traveled location;

using a situational location of said receiving system, in immediate response to said candidate delivery event, to search for information from a deliverable content database, said situational location including said newly traveled location;

sending said information to said receiving system in immediate response to results from said search;

presenting said information to a user interface of said receiving system in immediate response to sending said information; and

automatically communicating to an other system from said receiving system upon user selection of an invocable speed reference, said speed reference part of said information.