Presence system with proximity presence status

• US 7,907,955 B2
• Filed: 02/07/2006
• Issued: 03/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RingCentral Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Siemens Enterprise Communications, Inc. (Atos SE)
• Inventors: Virk, Jagjiwan, Singh, Satish
• Primary Examiner(s): Eng, George
• Assistant Examiner(s): Miller, Brandon J
• Application Number:
  US11/348,648
• Publication Number:
  US 20070182546A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,862 Days
• Field of Search: 455/412.1, 455/412.2, 455/456.1, 455/456.2, 455/456.3, 455/456.6, 455/456.5, 455/422.1, 455/517, 455/414.1, 455/426.1, 455/518, 455/519, 455/41.2
• US Class Current: 455/456.5
• 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: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings

Abstract

A presence information system reports proximity presence status to presence subscribers. The proximity presence status conveys how far an individual is from a phone, computer, or any other endpoint through which the individual communicates, how far the individual is from a presence information server which tracks presence changes, or how far the individual is from any other location, such as an office or a conference room. The proximity presence status supplements static presence states such as ‘Online’ and ‘Offline’. As a result, the proximity presence status helps to provide a more accurate picture of the true presence status of an individual. The presence information system may also track and report proximity presence status of mobile users. The mobile user proximity presence status may be derived from cellular position data obtained from a cellular service provider.

Claims

1. A presence information system comprising:

a communication interface;

a memory comprising;

a first presence state for a system subscriber;

a proximity presence detection message, including a subscriber identifier of the system subscriber, received by the communication interface from a transceiver which detects a wireless communication device carried by the system subscriber, wherein said transceiver is one of a plurality of transceivers;

a proximity mapping from wireless receiver identifiers to wireless receiver locations; and

a presence processing program comprising instructions stored on a machine readable medium for execution by a processor coupled to the communication interface and the memory, which;

create a proximity presence state for the system subscriber based on the proximity presence detection message, wherein the proximity presence state comprises a proximity range determined based on the proximity mapping;

prepare a proximity presence update message comprising the proximity presence state; and

initiate communication of the proximity presence update message to a presence subscriber.

2. The presence information system of claim 1, where the proximity presence state further comprises a proximity location identifier of a proximity location from which the proximity range is measured.

3. The presence information system of claim 1, where the proximity presence detection message comprises a wireless receiver identifier.

4. The presence information system of claim 1, where the proximity range comprises a subjective proximity range.

5. The presence information system of claim 1, where the memory further comprises a proximity configuration parameter which specifies a proximity location for the system subscriber from which the proximity range is measured.

6. The presence information system of claim 5, where the proximity presence update message comprises a proximity location identifier of the proximity location from which the proximity range is measured.

7. The presence information system of claim 1, where the memory further comprises cellular location data, and where the presence processing program further comprises instructions which determine the proximity range based at least in part on the cellular location data.

8. A method for tracking presence, the method comprising:

establishing, in a memory, a first presence state for a system subscriber;

receiving a proximity presence detection message, including a subscriber identifier of the system subscriber, from a transceiver which detects a wireless communication device carried by the system subscriber, wherein said transceiver is one of a plurality of transceivers;

establishing a proximity mapping from wireless receiver identifiers to wireless receiver locations;

processing the proximity presence detection message to determine a proximity range based on the proximity mapping; and

creating a proximity presence state for the system subscriber comprising the proximity range.

9. The method of claim 8, where creating comprises:

creating a proximity presence state including the proximity range and a proximity location identifier of a proximity location from which the proximity range is measured.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

preparing a proximity presence update message comprising the proximity presence state; and

initiating communication of the proximity presence update message to a presence subscriber.

11. The method of claim 10, where preparing comprises:

preparing a proximity presence update message comprising the proximity presence state and a proximity location identifier of a proximity location from which the proximity range is measured.

12. The method of claim 8, where receiving comprises:

receiving a proximity presence detection message comprising a wireless receiver identifier.

13. The method of claim 8, where receiving comprises:

receiving a proximity presence detection message comprising cellular location data.

14. The method of claim 13, where receiving comprises:

receiving a proximity presence detection message including cellular location data comprising a position calculation for a subscriber communication device.

15. A product comprising:

a non-transitory machine readable medium; and

instructions stored on the medium for execution by a processor in a presence information system, the instructions causing the processor to;

establish a first presence state for a system subscriber in a memory;

establish a proximity mapping from wireless receiver identifiers to wireless receiver locations;

process a proximity presence detection message, including a subscriber identifier of the system subscriber, to determine a proximity range based on the proximity mapping, wherein said proximity presence detection message is received from a transceiver which detects a wireless communication device carried by the system subscriber, wherein said transceiver is one of a plurality of transceivers; and

create a proximity presence state for the system subscriber comprising the proximity range.

16. The product of claim 15, where the instructions further cause the processor to:

add to the proximity presence state a proximity location identifier of a proximity location from which the proximity range is measured.

17. The product of claim 15, where the proximity presence detection message further comprises a wireless receiver identifier.

18. The product of claim 16, where the proximity location is a subscriber endpoint location.

19. The product of claim 15, where the proximity presence detection message comprises cellular location data.

20. The product of claim 19, where the instructions further cause the processor to:

add a proximity location identifier of a proximity location from which the proximity range is measured to the proximity presence state.

21. The product of claim 19, where the instructions further cause the processor to:

prepare a proximity presence update message comprising the proximity presence state; and

initiate communication of the proximity presence update message to a presence subscriber.