System and method of providing advertisements to vehicles

• US 7,646,740 B2
• Filed: 10/13/2006
• Issued: 01/12/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2006
• 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: CROLLEY, WAYNE, Johnson, Jeffrey Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Kincaid, Lester
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gu, Yu (Andy)
• Application Number:
  US11/549,324
• Publication Number:
  US 20080089262A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,187 Days
• Field of Search: 370/312
• US Class Current: 370/312
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0266 based on the position of the vehicle
• 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 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A system and method of providing advertisements to vehicles is disclosed. An apparatus that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a system having at least one wireless communication access point deployed along a freeway, a database for storing one or more media files associated with one or more advertisements, the database storing information concerning the types of media files supported by a number of media systems of a corresponding number of user vehicles, and a server coupled to the database having access to the at least one wireless communication access point. The server can direct the wireless communication access point to transmit one or more advertisements to the portable communication devices according to one or more types of media files determined to be supported by the media systems, and the corresponding user vehicles being proximately located to a freeway exit. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method of advertising, the method comprising:

monitoring the location of one or more portable communication devices in communication with a data network as the one or more portable communication devices travel within a user vehicle along a freeway;

determining whether the one or more portable communication devices are within a predetermined range of a freeway exit;

determining from the one or more portable communication devices one or more types of media files supported by a media system of the user vehicle, wherein the media system comprises at least one among an audio system and a display, wherein the determination of the types of media files supported by the display is based on vehicle identification that is polled from the one or more portable communication devices;

transmitting one or more advertisements to the one or more portable communication devices for presentation on the media system of the user vehicle associated with each of said devices when the one or more portable communication devices are determined to be within the predetermined range, wherein the advertisement is delivered in a format based on the determined one or more types of media files supported by the media system, wherein the one or more portable communication devices transmits the one or more advertisements to the media system, wherein the one or more portable communication devices transmit the one or more advertisements to the display by way of at least one among a wireless interface and a wireline interface, and wherein the media system presents the one or more advertisements;

determining whether the one or more portable communication devices are outside the predetermined range of the freeway exit; and

terminating transmission of the one or more advertisements when the one or more portable communication devices are determined to be outside the predetermined range.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless interface conforms to any one among IEEE'"'"'s 802 standards, a Bluetooth standard, and a WiFi standard.

3. The method of claim 1, comprising querying a database according to the vehicle identification in order to determine the one or more types of media files supported by the display.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the vehicle identification comprises a make, year, and model identification associated with the user vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more advertisements are associated with a business accessible via the freeway exit.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more advertisements are transmitted based on a service level agreement of a business that includes one or more service tiers, and wherein the method comprises charging the business to advertise based on one of the one or more service tiers.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the one or more service tiers comprises at least one among a first service tier providing text message advertisements, a second service tier providing still graphical advertisements, a third service tier providing streaming video and audio advertisements, and a fourth service tier providing real-time voice and video advertisements.

8. The method of claim 7, comprising retrieving an advertisement from a database based on a service tier associated with the business and the one or more types of media files supported by the display.

9. The method of claim 8, comprising charging the business for transmitting the advertisement based on the one or more type of media files supported by the display and the service tier.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the display is an integral part of a telemetry system of the user vehicle, and wherein each of the one or more portable communication devices is an integral part of the telemetry system.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the data network comprises a wireless communication network conforming to one among a group of wireless standards comprising one among IEEE'"'"'s 802 standards, and one among cellular telephony standards, and wherein the method comprises transmitting the one or more advertisements when the one or more portable communication devices are determined to be within the predetermined range during a time and a date of operation of one or more businesses associated with the one or more advertisements.

12. The method of claim 10, comprising:

receiving location information from the telemetry system; and

processing the location information to determine when to transmit the one or more advertisements.

13. The method of claim 1, comprising:

receiving location information from each of the one or more portable communication devices; and

processing the location information to determine when to transmit the one or more advertisements.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein each of the portable communication devices includes a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver for determining the location information.

15. The method of claim 1, comprising terminating transmission of an advertisement of the one or more advertisements while the media system is presenting a portion of the advertisement when the one or more portable communication devices are determined to be outside the predetermined range.

16. A system, comprising:

at least one wireless communication access point deployed along a freeway;

a database for storing one or more media files associated with one or more advertisements, the database storing information concerning the types of media files supported by a plurality of media systems of a corresponding plurality of user vehicles, wherein the plurality of media systems comprise at least one among an audio system and a display; and

a server coupled to the database having access to the at least one wireless communication access point, wherein the server directs the at least one wireless communication access point to transmit one or more advertisements to one or more portable communication devices operably coupled to the plurality of media systems according to one or more types of media files determined to be supported by the plurality of media systems, wherein the determination of the types of media files supported by the plurality of media systems is based on vehicle identification that is polled from the one or more portable communication devices, and the corresponding user vehicles being determined to be proximately located to a freeway exit, wherein the server directs the at least one wireless communication access point to terminate transmission of the one or more advertisements to the one or more portable communication devices when the corresponding user vehicles are determined to not be proximately located to the freeway exit.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the server directs the at least one wireless communication access point to terminate transmission of an advertisement of the one or more advertisements to the one or more portable communication devices during presentation of a portion of the advertisement when the corresponding user vehicles are determined to not be proximately located to the freeway exit.

18. A portable communication device, comprising a transceiver element that receives media information comprising at least one among traffic alerts and one or more advertisements from a wireless communication access point located along a freeway, wherein one or more types of media files supported by a media system of a user vehicle in which said portable communication device is located is determined from the portable communication device, wherein the media system comprises at least one among an audio system and a display, wherein the determination of the types of media files supported by the media system is based on vehicle identification that is polled from the portable communication device, and wherein the transceiver element transmits said media information to the media system of the user vehicle, wherein the transceiver element receives the media information when the portable communication device is determined to be proximately located to a point of interest, and wherein the wireless communication access point terminates transmission of the media information when the portable communication device is determined to be no longer proximately located to the point of interest.

19. The portable communication device of claim 18, comprising a location element that determines location information associated with the portable communication device and transmits said location information to a system that directs the wireless communication access point to transmit the one or more advertisements to the portable communication device.

20. The portable communication device of claim 18, wherein the wireless communication access point terminates transmission of a remaining portion the media information during presentation of an already transmitted portion of the media information at the media system when the portable communication device is determined to be no longer proximately located to the point of interest.