Social networking system which provides notification of user location based on distance

• US 8,391,909 B2
• Filed: 02/16/2011
• Issued: 03/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Chemtron Research LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Behemoth Development Company LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Stewart, Brett B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ferguson, Keith
• Application Number:
  US13/029,050
• Publication Number:
  US 20110137814A1
• Time in Patent Office: 748 Days
• Field of Search: 455/518, 455/517, 455/500, 4554141-4144, 4554561-457, 455/560, 455/561, 455/550.1, 455/412.1, 455/412.2, 455/426.1, 455/426.2, 709/203, 709/204, 709/218, 709/219, 709/224, 370/310, 370/328, 370/329, 370/343
• US Class Current: 455/518
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/222 using geographical location information, e.g. messages transmitted or received in proximity of a certain spot or area
• 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 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/003 locating network equipment

Abstract

Systems, methods, apparatus and software have been discovered for use by individual users to monitor the geographic location of other people or assets with some relationship to the user. Once some manner of location information is determined, users have the ability to describe that location in various ways and control how that information is shared with other users.

Claims

1. A computer accessible non-transitory memory medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a processing device, cause the processing device to perform operations comprising:

determining a first location associated with a first user;

identifying a user-supplied label associated with the first location;

deter wining a second location associated with a second user;

determining if the second user is within a predetermined distance of the first user; and

providing the user-supplied label to the second user based, at least in part, on determining that the second user is within the predetermined distance of the first user.

2. The computer accessible non-transitory memory medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise providing the second location associated with the second user to the first user based, at least in part, on determining that the second user is within the predetermined distance of the first user.

3. The computer accessible non-transitory memory medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise providing the second location associated with the information of the second user to the first user based, at least in part, on determining that the second user is not within the predetermined distance of the first user.

4. The computer accessible non-transitory memory medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise determining if the second user is associated with a group of users belonging to a social network, and wherein the user-supplied label is provided to the second label based, at least in part, on determining that the second user belongs to the social network.

5. The computer accessible non-transitory memory medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

selecting the user-supplied label from a plurality of labels associated with the first location based, at least in part, on determining that the second user is associated with a group of users, including the first user, that belong to a social network.

6. The computer accessible non-transitory memory medium of claim 5, wherein the user-supplied label is selectively provided to members of the social network, and wherein a default label is selectively provided to non-members of the social network.

7. The computer accessible non-transitory memory medium of claim 1, wherein said determining if the second user is within the predetermined distance of the first user is performed periodically.

8. The computer accessible non-transitory memory medium of claim 1, wherein the processing device comprises a communication device associated with a social networking service operated over a wide area network.

9. The computer accessible non-transitory memory medium of claim 8, wherein the communication device is associated with the first user, and wherein the second user is associated with the social networking service.

10. The computer accessible non-transitory memory medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

comparing the first location against a listing of known locations; and

in response to determining that the first location is an unknown location, displaying a request to enter the user-supplied label.

11. The computer accessible non-transitory memory medium of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

adding the user-supplied label to a plurality of labels associated with the second location; and

associating the user-supplied label with a group of users belonging to a social network.

12. A method, comprising:

determining a first location associated with a first user;

identifying a user-supplied label associated with the first location;

determining a second location associated with a second user,

determining if the second user is within a predetermined distance of the first user; and

providing a user-supplied label to the second user based, at least in part, on determining that the second user is within the predetermined distance of the first user.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining if the second user is associated with a group of users belonging to a social network; and

displaying the second location associated with the second user on a communication device associated with the first user based, at least in part, on determining that the second user is associated with the group of users belonging to the social network.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising selecting the user-supplied label from a plurality of labels associated with the second location based, at least in part, on determining that the second user is associated with the group of users belonging to the social network, wherein a default label associated with the second location is selectively provided to non-members of the social network.

15. The method claim 14, wherein the user-supplied label comprises an alias of the second location, and wherein the default label comprises a street address associated with the second location.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

storing notification information corresponding to the first user, wherein the notification information comprises a notification of the second location based on an association of the second user with a group of users associated with a social network; and

displaying the second location based, at least in part, on the notification information.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the notification information further comprises proximity information for selectively displaying the second location based, at least in part, on determining that the second user is within the predetermined distance of the first user.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the notification information comprises a time period, and wherein said determining if the second user is within the predetermined distance is performed periodically according to the time period.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein the method is performed by a communication device associated with a social networking service operated over a wide area network.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the communication device is associated with the first user, and wherein the second user is associated with the social networking service.

21. The method of claim 12, further comprising determining if the second user is associated with members of a social network, wherein the user-supplied label is provided to the members of the social network, and wherein a default label is provided to non-members of the social network that are within the predetermined distance of the first user.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the default label comprises a geographic point of interest associated with the first location, wherein the user-supplied label comprises a specific location within the geographic point of interest.

23. A system, comprising:

a processing device; and

a computer accessible non-transitory memory medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the processing device, cause the processing device to perform operations comprising;

determining a first location associated with a first user;

determining a second location associated with a second user;

identifying a user-supplied label associated with the second location;

determining if the second user is within a predetermined distance of the first user; and

selectively displaying the user-supplied label based, at least in part, on

determining that the second user is within the predetermined distance of the first user.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining if the second user is associated with a group of users belonging to a social network; and

displaying the user-supplied label based at least in part, on determining that the second user belongs to the social network.

25. The system of claim 24, further comprising selecting the user-supplied label from a plurality of labels associated with the second location based, at least in part, on determining that the second user is associated with the social network, wherein a default label is selectively displayed on a communication device associated with the first user for non-members of the social network that are within the predetermined distance of the first user.

26. The system of claim 24, wherein the user-supplied label comprises an alias of the second location, and wherein a default label associated with the second location is selectively displayed on a communication device associated with the first user for non-members of the social network that are within the predetermined distance of the first user.

27. The system of claim 24, wherein the operations further comprise:

comparing the second location against a listing of known locations; and

in response to determining that the second location is an unknown location, displaying a request to enter the user-supplied label.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the operations further comprise:

adding the user-supplied label to a plurality of labels associated with the second location; and

associating the user-supplied label with a group of users belonging to a social network.

29. The system of claim 24, wherein a default label is displayed for non-members of the social network that are within the predetermined distance of the first user.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the user-supplied label comprises an alias of the second location, and wherein the default label comprises a street address associated with the second location.

31. The system of claim 29 wherein the default label is associated with a geographic point of interest, and wherein the user-supplied label is associated with a specific location within the geographic point of interest.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the geographic point of interest comprises a building, and wherein the specific location comprises a room within the building.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein the geographic point of interest comprises a shopping mall, and wherein the specific location comprise a store within the shopping mall.

34. The system of claim 23, wherein the processing device is associated with a social networking service.