Real-time federated auctions and purchasing

• US 7,761,340 B2
• Filed: 11/06/2006
• Issued: 07/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Yee, Dawson, Horvitz, Eric, Westerinen, William Jefferson, Panabaker, Ruston John David
• Primary Examiner(s): Kyle; Charles R
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wood; David L
• Application Number:
  US11/557,074
• Publication Number:
  US 20080109301A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,352 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/37
• US Class Current: 705/26.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0226 Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

A method and system is provided for conducting a purchasing activity among federated devices in an ad hoc network. In one example, the purchasing activity is an auction. Devices may be identified for federating into the ad hoc network. The devices may be identified, for example, based on distance from an auction item or distance from a device of a seller of the auction item. Alternatively, the purchasing activity may include a bulk purchase in which user devices may federate into an ad hoc network for sharing costs of bulk items.

Claims

1. A method for conducting an electronic auction, the method comprising:

identifying an item for sale in the electronic auction;

determining a distance between each of a plurality of devices and the item for sale, one of the plurality of devices being a host device that is conducting the electronic auction;

identifying federatable devices of the plurality of devices wherein each federatable device is within a predetermined distance from the item for sale based on the distance determined;

sending a radio request from the host device to the federatable devices causing the federatable devices to federate into an ad hoc wireless network through which the federated devices exchange messages; and

conducting the electronic auction by exchanging messages between the federated devices via the ad hoc wireless network.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a count of the federatable devices; and

responsive to the determining, canceling the electronic auction.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a device of the plurality of devices is also a federatable device based on a pattern of movement of the device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a device of the plurality of devices is also a federatable device based on a schedule of a user of the device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying a device of the plurality of devices as federatable responsive to the device moving to be within the predetermined range.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising, for each of the plurality of devices, determining a distance between the device and the host device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the item for sale is a bulk item for sale.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the radio request includes a notification of the bulk item for sale.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of conducting includes exchanging bulk purchase messages between the federated devices, the bulk purchase messages including an indication of the number of federated devices in the ad hoc wireless network.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the bulk purchase messages further include an indication to split a bulk purchase corresponding to the bulk sale.