System and method of wireless proximity awareness

• US 8,229,456 B2
• Filed: 07/18/2007
• Issued: 07/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Schnurr, Jeffrey R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bost, Dwayne
• Assistant Examiner(s): Schwartz, Joshua
• Application Number:
  US11/779,427
• Publication Number:
  US 20070275768A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,833 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.2, 4554561-4568
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• 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 64/003 locating network equipment

Abstract

The present application provides a system for proximity awareness for mobile data communication on an electronic communication device comprising a client application on an electronic communication device communicating across a wireless network, and an awareness server that includes a plurality of server objects that monitor multiple devices on a wireless communication network. In addition, the client application on the electronic communication device comprises a plurality of software objects. The client application periodically broadcasts the current wireless tower that the device is communicating on to the awareness server. The awareness server tracks the location of other Tower IDs of other users in the individual'"'"'s contact list. If there is a match in Tower IDs, an alert is sent to both users that they are in proximity to each other.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

monitoring a location of each of a plurality of mobile communication devices;

performing a comparison of the location of each of the plurality of mobile communication devices to the location of each other mobile communication device in the plurality of mobile communication devices, to determine which of the mobile communication devices are near each other, the location of each mobile communication device being based on a cellular network tower each respective communication device is communicating through;

determining, through the comparison, that a first mobile communication device is near a second mobile communication device based on both mobile communication devices communicating through a same cellular network tower; and

triggered by the determination that the first and second mobile communication devices are near each other, transmitting a first notification to the first mobile communication device indicating the second mobile communication device is nearby.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the transmitting includes transmitting a second notification to the second mobile communication device indicating the first mobile communication device is nearby.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first notification indicates a distance between the first and second mobile communication devices in terms of an amount of time.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the comparison is between mobile communication devices of a common Buddy list.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the monitoring, performing, determining and transmitting steps are performed by an awareness server.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the monitoring includes receiving communications, from the each of the plurality of mobile communication devices, indicating which cellular network tower each of the plurality of mobile communication devices is respectively communicating through.

7. An awareness server configured to communicate with a plurality of wireless devices, comprising:

a listener object configured to monitor a location of each of a plurality of mobile communication devices;

a matching object coupled to the listener object, the matching object configured to perform a comparison of the location of each of the plurality of mobile communication devices to the location of each other mobile communication device in the plurality of mobile communication devices, to determine which of the mobile communication devices are near each other, the location of each mobile communication device being based on a cellular network tower each respective communication device is communicating through, and the matching object being further configured to determine, through the comparison, that a first mobile communication device is near a second mobile communication device based on both mobile communication devices communicating through a same cellular network tower; and

an alerter object coupled to the matching object, the alerter object configured to, triggered by the determination that the first and second mobile communication devices are near each other, transmit a first notification to the first mobile communication device indicating the second mobile communication device is nearby.

8. The awareness server of claim 7 wherein the alerter object is further configured to transmit a second notification to the second mobile communication device indicating the first mobile communication device is nearby.

9. The awareness server of claim 7 wherein the first notification indicates a distance between the first and second mobile communication devices in terms of an amount of time.

10. The awareness server of claim 7 wherein the comparison performed by the matching object is between mobile communication devices of a common Buddy list.

11. The awareness server of claim 7 wherein the monitoring by the listening object includes receiving communications, from the each of the plurality of mobile communication devices, indicating which cellular network tower each of the plurality of mobile communication devices is respectively communicating through.