Management of locations of group members via mobile communications devices

• US 8,116,748 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2006
• Issued: 02/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2006
• 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: Aaron, Jeffrey
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Nimesh
• Application Number:
  US11/610,898
• Publication Number:
  US 20080146205A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,888 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.2, 455/419, 455/421, 709/209, 709/219, 709/222, 380/258, 380/270, 370/230.1, 370/310.2, 370/325, 370/326
• US Class Current: 455/414.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/18 Comparators
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2044 Group features, e.g. closed user group
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4228 in networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42357 where the information is provided to a monitoring entity such as a potential calling party or a call processing server
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5322 for recording text messages

Abstract

The location of group members having mobile communications devices such as cellular telephones, PDAs, and the like are managed by maintaining group member location awareness among the individual group members. The location of each group member is known on the basis of the determined location of the mobile communications device of each, either in absolute terms or in relative terms. The absolute and/or relative location may be reported by the mobile communications devices, such as to a mobile communications device of an administrator of the group or directly to individual group members. Rules may be established for providing notifications such as alerts and alarms to the group members when a group member strays from the group or from a fixed reference point and information may be provided to the straying member to assist the straying member in returning to the group.

Claims

1. A mobile communications device comprising:

a wireless communications transceiver;

a location determination device;

a memory storing a first identifier of the mobile communications device and one or more identifiers for other mobile communications devices in a group; and

a processor configured to report information specifying a determined location generated by the location determination device in association with the first identifier to at least one other mobile communications device for which an identifier is stored and to receive information specifying a current location and identifier of at least one other mobile communications device, the processor being further configured to;

determine a first distance between the location of the mobile communications device and a first reference point;

determine a second distance between the location of the other mobile communications device and a second reference point;

if the first distance exceeds a first maximum allowable distance threshold, generate a notification; and

if the second distance exceeds a second maximum allowable distance threshold, generate the notification.

2. The mobile communications device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communications transceiver is a short-range transceiver.

3. The mobile communications device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communications transceiver is a wireless network transceiver.

4. The mobile communications device of claim 3, further comprising a short-range wireless communications transceiver, and wherein the processor is configured to report information via the short-range wireless communications transceiver when in short-range of the at least one other mobile communications device to which the information is being sent and to report the information via the wireless network transceiver when not in short-range of the at least one other mobile communications device.

5. The mobile communications device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to keep track of a first amount of time that the first distance has exceeded the first maximum allowable distance threshold, keep track of a second amount of time that the second distance has exceeded the second maximum allowable distance threshold, generate the notification if the first amount of time exceeds a first time threshold, and generate the notification if the second amount of time exceeds a second time threshold.

6. The mobile communications device of claim 1, wherein the second distance between the at least one other mobile communications device and the second point of reference comprises at least one of:

distance from a closest mobile communications device of the group, distance from a calculated centroid of the group, distance from a mobile communications device at a center of the group, distance from a mobile communications device of an administrator of the group, and distance from a mobile communications device of a defined sub-group of the group.

7. The mobile communications device of claim 1, wherein the first reference point is fixed and the second reference point is dynamic.

8. A method of grouping users of mobile communications devices, comprising:

at a mobile communications device of one of the users, storing in memory a first identifier of the mobile communications device and one or more identifiers for other mobile communications devices in a group;

determining a current location of the mobile communications device at the mobile communications device;

reporting from the mobile communications device information specifying the determined location in association with the first identifier to at least one other mobile communications device for which an identifier is stored;

receiving at the mobile communications device information specifying a current location and an identifier of at least one other mobile communications device of the group;

determining whether the mobile communications device has exceeded a first maximum distance threshold from a first point of reference;

determining whether the at least one other mobile communications device has exceeded a second maximum distance from a second point of reference;

if the mobile communications device has exceeded the first maximum distance threshold, then generating a notification at the mobile communications device; and

if the at least one other mobile communication device has exceeded the second maximum distance threshold, then generating the notification at the mobile communications device.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining whether the mobile communications device has exceeded the first maximum distance threshold and determining whether the at least one other mobile communications device has exceeded the second maximum threshold occurs at the mobile communications device.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the second point of reference comprises at least one of a distance from a closest mobile communications device of the group, distance from a calculated centroid of the group, distance from a mobile communications device at a center of the group, distance from a mobile communications device of an administrator of the group, and distance from a mobile communications device of a defined sub-group of the group.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining a first amount of time that the mobile communications device has exceeded the first maximum distance threshold from the first point of reference point, determining a second amount of time the at least one other mobile communications device has exceeded the second maximum distance from the second point of reference, comparing the first amount of time to an amount of time that the first maximum distance may be exceeded, comparing the second amount of time to an amount of time that the second maximum distance may be exceeded, generating the notification if the first amount of time that the first maximum distance has been exceeded is greater than the amount of time that the first maximum distance may be exceeded, and generating the notification if the second amount of time that the second maximum distance has been exceeded is greater than the amount of time that the second maximum distance may be exceeded.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the notification comprises instructions for returning to the group.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the instructions include at least one of commands to re-join the group by moving in a certain direction, looking for a nearest other device of the group, moving toward a specified landmark, and following a sequence of specified movements.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing instructions that perform acts comprising:

at a mobile communications device of a user of a group, storing in memory a first identifier of the mobile communications device and one or more identifiers for other mobile communications devices in the group;

determining a current location of the mobile communications device at the mobile communications device;

reporting from the mobile communications device information specifying the determined location in association with the first identifier to at least one other mobile communications device for which an identifier is stored;

receiving at the mobile communications device information specifying a current location and an identifier of at least one other mobile communications device of the group;

determining whether the mobile communications device has exceeded a first maximum distance threshold from a first point of reference;

determining whether the at least one other mobile communications device has exceeded a second maximum distance threshold from a second point of reference;

if the mobile device has exceeded the first maximum distance threshold, then generating a notification at the mobile communications device; and

if the at least one other mobile communications device has exceeded the second maximum distance threshold, then generating the notification at the mobile communication device.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the second point of reference is a distance from a closest group member.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the second point of reference is a distance from a centroid of the group.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the first point of reference point is a fixed reference point within a perimeter surrounding a current position of at least one of the group members, and the second point of reference is a dynamic reference point within a perimeter surrounding a current position of at least one of the group members.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the acts further comprise:

if the mobile communications device exceeds the first maximum distance threshold, completing a call between the mobile communications device and the at least one other mobile communications device; and

if the at least one other mobile communications device exceeds the second maximum distance threshold, competing the call between the mobile communications device and the at least one other mobile communications device.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the acts further comprise:

keeping track of a first amount of time that the first distance has exceeded the first maximum allowable distance threshold,

keeping track of a second amount of time that the second distance has exceeded the second maximum allowable distance threshold,

generating the notification if the first amount of time exceeds a first time threshold, and

generating the notification if the second amount of time exceeds a second time threshold.