Geo-boundary triggered messaging and schedule system and method of use

• US 8,170,580 B2
• Filed: 11/04/2008
• Issued: 05/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dingler, John R., Narayan, Pramodh D., Ramanathan, Sri, Singer, Michael J., Terry, Matthew A., Trevathan, Matthew B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Corsaro, Nick
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bush, Michael S
• Application Number:
  US12/264,672
• Publication Number:
  US 20100113066A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,274 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/456.2, 455/456.3
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• 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 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

A location based system is provided is configured to provide messages to a recipient based on time and location based information. The a method includes detecting when a mobile user has crossed within a predefined geo-boundary. The method further includes sending a message to the mobile user when the mobile user has crossed within the predefined geo-boundary during a predetermined time period set by an originator of the message.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

activating, by a processor, a predefined geo-boundary;

detecting when a mobile user has crossed within the predefined geo-boundary;

sending a message to the mobile user when the mobile user has crossed within the predefined geo-boundary during a predetermined time period set by an originator of the message;

deactivating the predefined geo-boundary after predetermined time period has elapsed or the mobile user has received the message;

marking the message as sent;

receiving confirmation from the mobile user that the message has been received; and

deactivating the predefined geo-boundary upon the receiving of the confirmation,

wherein;

the predetermined time period comprises a date and time range; and

the predefined geo-boundary is activated during the predetermined time period.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined geo-boundary is a predetermined radius from a location of the originator at a certain time.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined geo-boundary is user defined by at least one of a GPS coordinate, A-GPS coordinate, triangulation methodologies and a mapping program.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined geo-boundary includes a predefined radius.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is at least one of a text message, an audio message and a video message.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined time period is periodically checked to determine if the predetermined time period has expired or the predefined geo-boundary should be activated.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is sent to the mobile user by one of SMS, Microsoft Media Server (MMS), Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Web Service, Rich Site Summary (RSS) Feed or ATOM based feed.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps are provided on a computing infrastructure which is at least one of maintained, deployed, created and supported by a service provider.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps are provided on a software component, a hardware component or a combination of the software component and the hardware component.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a message ID to a location-based server, the message ID including at least one of a recipient'"'"'s ID, time-based information and location information.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising checking to determine if a new event needs to have geo-boundaries set, and old events that have exceeded a time limit and expired are removed.

12. A computer program product comprising a computer usable storage medium having readable program code tangibly embodied in the storage medium, the computer program product being operable to:

activate a predefined zone;

receive detection of when a mobile user has crossed within the predefined zone;

retrieve a message to send to the mobile user;

send the message to the mobile user when the mobile user has been detected to cross within the predefined zone during a user defined time period; and

deactivate the predefined zone after the user defined time period has elapsed or upon confirmation that the message was received;

mark the message as sent;

receive confirmation that the message was received; and

deactivate the predefined zone upon the receiving of the confirmation, wherein the user defined time period comprises a date and time range.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the computer program product is further operable to register the user defined time period and the message in a scheduler and periodically check the scheduler for activation of the predefined zone.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the message is sent via SMS, SIP, SMTP, Web Services, RSS feed or ATOM based feed.

15. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the computer program product is provided on a computing infrastructure which is at least one of maintained, deployed, created and supported by a service provider on a fee and/or subscription basis.

16. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein:

the predefined zone is activated during the user defined time period.

17. A method for sending a message to one or more recipients, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure being operable to;

check a scheduler for any messages that need a user defined geo boundary activated during a user defined time period;

activate the user defined geo boundary during the user defined time period;

send the message to one or more recipients after the user defined geo boundary has been activated and the one or more recipients are within the user defined geo boundary;

deactivate the user defined geo boundary after the user defined time period has elapsed or the one or more recipients have received the message;

mark the message as sent; and

receive confirmation that the message was received.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the computer infrastructure is at least one of supported, deployed, maintained, and created by a service provider.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the computer infrastructure is further operable to register the user defined time period and the message in the scheduler and periodically check the scheduler for the activation of the user defined geo boundary.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the steps are provided on a software component, a hardware component or a combination of the software component and the hardware component.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein:

the user defined time period comprises a date and time range; and

the computer infrastructure is further operable to deactivate the user defined geo-boundary upon the receiving of the confirmation.

22. A system comprising:

a computer infrastructure and computer instructions tangibly embodied on a storage medium, the computer instructions comprising;

at least a first set of instructions that is configured to send a message to one or more user defined recipients at user defined time periods and within user defined geo-boundaries, upon activation of the user defined geo-boundaries after checking a scheduler for any messages that need the user defined geo-boundaries activated during the user defined time periods;

at least a second set of instructions that is configured to deactivate the user defined geo-boundaries after the user defined time periods have elapsed or the one or more user defined recipients have received the message; and

a third set of instructions that is configured to;

mark the message as sent;

receive confirmation from the one or more user defined recipients that the message has been received; and

deactivate the user defined geo-boundaries upon the receiving of the confirmation,

wherein the user defined time periods comprise date and time ranges.