Constraint-based scheduling for delivery of location information

• US 8,682,342 B2
• Filed: 05/13/2009
• Issued: 03/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Lin, Jyh-Han, Murphy, Chester Overstead, Zhao, Gang, Weber, Karon A., Woodcock, Katrika
• Primary Examiner(s): Cai, Wayne
• Assistant Examiner(s): PEREZ, JULIO R
• Application Number:
  US12/464,892
• Publication Number:
  US 20100291950A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,777 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/456.2, 455/456.3
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/62 Establishing a time schedule for servicing the requests
• 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

Abstract

Defining subscriptions to location information for a computing device (e.g., a mobile computing device). Application programs, services, and/or peer devices define the subscriptions based on constraints associated with requests for the location information. A location request scheduler coordinates the subscriptions temporally and spatially to reduce the quantity of the requests from the computing device. In some embodiments, the subscriptions are automatically defined based on an observed mobility pattern of the computing device.

Claims

1. A system for execution on a mobile computing device, said system executing to reduce a quantity of requests from the mobile computing device for location reports from a network, said system comprising:

a memory area for storing a plurality of subscriptions each having a time value and application program associated therewith, said time value representing a time at or during which the application program desires to receive a location report, said location report identifying a location of a mobile computing device executing the application program; and

a processor programmed to;

identify a mobility pattern for the mobile computing device based on a location history of the mobile computing device, the location history comprising a plurality of timestamped locations, the location history being correlated with profile data to generate a location tag for one or more of the plurality of timestamped locations, wherein the profile data is associated with a user of the mobile computing device;

define the subscriptions to the location report based at least on the identified mobility pattern;

store the defined subscriptions in the memory area;

determine a report time based on the time value of at least one of the plurality of subscriptions;

generate the location report at the determined report time;

select a plurality of the subscriptions stored in the memory area based on said time value of at least one of the plurality of subscriptions; and

provide the generated location report to the application programs associated with the selected subscriptions.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to define the subscriptions by determining a request pattern for the mobile computing device, said request pattern representing one or more previous requests for the location report from the mobile computing device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to select the plurality of the subscriptions by identifying a plurality of the subscriptions having approximately equal time values associated therewith.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobility pattern represents one or more previous requests by the mobile computing device for the location report.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to identify the mobility pattern by identifying a duration spent at each of the locations.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for coordinating requests for the location report to reduce a quantity of the requests.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for identifying the mobility pattern and means for defining the subscriptions.

8. A method comprising:

accessing subscriptions each having a time value and application program associated therewith, said time value representing a time at or during which the application program desires to receive location information describing a location of a computing device executing the application program;

accessing a location history of the computing device, the location history comprising a plurality of timestamped locations, the accessed location history being correlated with profile data to generate a location tag for one or more of the plurality of timestamped locations, wherein the profile data is associated with a user of the computing device;

defining a report time based on the time value of at least one of the accessed subscriptions;

generating the location information at the defined report time;

selecting a plurality of the subscriptions based on said time value of at least one of the accessed subscriptions; and

providing the generated location information to the application programs associated with the selected subscriptions.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising defining one or more of the subscriptions based on one or more of the following:

a task list, a calendar entry, a location history, and a mobility pattern.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising defining one or more of the subscriptions by:

determining commuting time periods; and

defining the subscriptions to include time values corresponding to at least a portion of the determined commuting time periods.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein a task list application executing on the computing device manages one or more tasks, wherein each of the tasks has a location associated therewith, and further comprising identifying at least one of the tasks based on a comparison of the location to the generated location information.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the computing device provides a plurality of channels of radio content, and further comprising selecting one of the channels based on the generated location information.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising defining one or more of the subscriptions based on calendar events.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein each of the calendar events has a time and location associated therewith, and wherein defining the one or more of the subscriptions comprises defining the one or more of the subscriptions based on differences between the times and distances between the locations of the calendar events.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising determining a reminder time based on estimated travel time between locations of the calendar events.

16. One or more computer-readable devices storing computer-executable components, said components comprising:

a memory component that when executed by at least one processor causes the at least one processor to access subscriptions each having a time value and application program associated therewith, said time value representing a time at which the application program desires to receive location information identifying a location of a computing device executing the application program, the memory component storing a location history of the computing device, the location history comprising a plurality of timestamped locations, the location history being correlated with profile data and/or point-of-interest information to generate a location tag for one or more of the plurality of timestamped locations;

a timing component that when executed by at least one processor causes the at least one processor to organize the subscriptions into one or more groups based at least on the time values, wherein each of the groups has a group time value;

a processor component that when executed by at least one processor causes the at least one processor to execute, at one of the group time values, the application programs associated with the subscriptions in the group associated with said one of the group time values; and

a location component that when executed by at least one processor causes the at least one processor to generate, responsive to a request from at least one of the executing application programs, the location information and providing the generated location information to the executing application programs.

17. The computer-readable devices of claim 16, wherein the time value comprises a time interval and the group time value represents coordinated location requests, the location requests being coordinated based on geofenced regions.

18. The computer-readable devices of claim 16, wherein the location information comprises one or more of the following:

a position of the computing device, information describing an area surrounding the position, and business information associated with the area surrounding the position.

19. The computer-readable devices of claim 16, wherein one or more locations are associated with each of the subscriptions, and wherein the timing component organizes the subscriptions based on geographic proximity of the locations.