Personalized location information for mobile devices

• US 8,818,407 B2
• Filed: 09/13/2012
• Issued: 08/26/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Granito, Jennifer, Franco, Alexander
• Primary Examiner(s): Bhattacharya, Sam
• Application Number:
  US13/615,263
• Publication Number:
  US 20130073644A1
• Time in Patent Office: 712 Days
• Field of Search: 455/442, 455/445, 455/456.1, 455/456.5, 370/462
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0072 Transmission between mobile stations, e.g. anti-collision systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/043 using or handling presence information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• 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 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

Providing location information on a mobile device includes receiving signals from external devices. Each signal includes information that specifies a geographic location for the external device that has provided the signal. A geographic location for the mobile device is calculated by using the information contained in each of the received signals. A representation of the geographic location of the mobile device is generated. The representation of the geographic location is included within an electronic message that provides information describing a user of the mobile device to other users of an electronic communications system. The electronic message is transmitted to another device to provide an indication of the geographic location for the user to one of the other users of the electronic communications system.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

maintaining an information feed associated with a user of a system, the information feed including information periodically provided by the user for viewing by co-users of the system;

receiving, using at least one processor, a location of a mobile device associated with the user;

receiving a message from the mobile device for inclusion in the information feed; and

including the message and the location in the information feed, the information feed being accessible to one or more of the co-users.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein receiving the location of the mobile device associated with the user comprises receiving a geographic location of the mobile device.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, further comprising determining a representation associated with the geographic location.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein including the message and the location in the information feed comprises including the representation associated with the geographic location in the information feed.

5. The method as recited in claim 2, further comprising determining a plurality of representations associated with the geographic location of the mobile device.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, further comprising:

providing the plurality of representations associated with the geographic location to the user;

receiving a selection of a representation from the plurality of representations associated with the geographic location from the user; and

including the selected representation in the information feed.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the information feed comprises a profile of the user.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the information feed comprises one or more communications sent by the user.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the information feed comprises one or more communications received by the user.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the information feed comprises media files of interest to the user.

13. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

aggregating information relating to the user; and

including the aggregated information in the information feed.

14. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising providing only a subset of the co-users of the system access to the information feed.

15. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the mobile device comprises a mobile phone.

16. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein receiving the location of the mobile device associated with the user comprises receiving GPS coordinates of the mobile device.

17. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein receiving the location of the mobile device associated with the user and receiving the message from the mobile device for inclusion in the information feed comprises receiving the message and the location together.

18. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the message comprises the location.

7. The method as recited 5, wherein the plurality of representations associated with the geographic location comprises names of locations near the geographic location of the mobile device.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising determining names of locations within a predetermined distance of the geographic location of the mobile device to include in the plurality of representations.

19. A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

one or more non-transitory storage media comprising;

an information feed stored thereon; and

instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to;

aggregate information associated with a user of the system into the information feed;

provide access to the information feed to one or more co-uses of the system;

receive a location of a mobile device associated with the user;

receive a message from the mobile device for inclusion in the information feed; and

include the message and the location of the mobile device in the information feed, the information feed being accessible to one or more of the co-users.

20. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to:

receive electronic messages intended for the user; and

aggregate one or more of the electronic messages intended for the user into the information feed.

21. The system as recited in claim 20, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to include user profile information associated with the user in the information feed.

22. The system as recited in claim 20, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to send the location to one or more mobile devices associated with one or more co-users of the system.

23. The system as recited in claim 22, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to send a message from the user to the one or more mobile devices.

24. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to

receive a geographic location of the mobile device;

determine a representation associated with the geographic location of the mobile device; and

include the representation in the information feed.

25. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to determine a plurality of representations associated with the location of the mobile device.

26. The system as recited in claim 25, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to

send the plurality of representations associated with the location to the mobile device;

receive, from the mobile device, a selection of a representation from the plurality of representations; and

include the selected representation in the information feed.

27. The system as recited in claim 26, wherein the plurality of representations comprises names of locations near the location of the mobile device.

28. The system as recited in claim 26, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to access one or more of a directory or a common name repository to determine the plurality of representations.

29. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein the mobile device comprises a mobile phone.

30. A method comprising:

maintaining an information feed associated with a user of a communications system;

receiving a geographic location of a mobile device associated with the user;

determining, using at least one processor, a representation associated with the geographic location, the representation being descriptive of the geographic location;

receiving a message from the mobile device for inclusion in the information feed; and

including the message and the representation associated with the geographic location in the information feed, the information feed being accessible to one or more co-users of the communication system.

31. The method as recited in claim 30, wherein determining a representation associated with the geographic location comprises automatically identifying the representation.

32. The method as recited in claim 31, further comprising prompting the user for a confirmation that the representation of the geographic location is accurate.

33. The method as recited in claim 30, wherein determining a representation associated with the geographic location comprises:

identifying a plurality of potential representations of the geographic location;

enabling presentation of the plurality of potential representations to the user; and

receiving a selection of the representation of the geographic location from the user.

34. The method as recited in claim 33, further comprising:

generating a map showing the geographic location of the mobile device; and

enabling presentation of the map in connection with the plurality of representations.

35. The method as recited in claim 30, further comprising accessing a directory server to determine the representation associated with the geographic location.

36. The method as recited in claim 30, further comprising accessing a common name repository storing one or more representations associated with the geographic location, the one or more representations being provided by one or more users of the communications system.

37. The method as recited in claim 30, further comprising sending at least a portion of the information feed that includes the representation to one or more co-users of the communications system.

38. The method as recited in claim 30, further comprising sending a message provided by the user to the one or more co-users of the communications system.

39. The method as recited in claim 30, further comprising including a profile of the user in the information feed.

40. The method as recited in claim 30, further comprising including one or more electronic messages sent by the user in the information feed.

41. The method as recited in claim 30, further comprising including one or more electronic messages sent by one or more co-users in the information feed.

42. The method as recited in claim 30, further comprising:

aggregating information relating to the user; and

including the aggregated information in the information feed.

43. The method as recited in claim 30, wherein the mobile device comprises a mobile phone.

44. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including a set of instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to perform steps comprising:

maintaining an information feed associated with a user of a communications system;

receiving a geographic location of a mobile device associated with the user;

determining a representation associated with the geographic location, the representation being descriptive of the geographic location;

receiving a message from the mobile device for inclusion in the information feed; and

including the message and the representation associated with the geographic location in the information feed, the information feed being accessible to one or more co-users of the communications system.

45. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 44, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to automatically identify the representation of the geographic location.

46. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 45, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to prompt the user for a confirmation that the representation of the geographic location is accurate.

47. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 44, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to:

identify a plurality of potential representations of the geographic location;

generate a user interface including the plurality of potential representations for display on the mobile device; and

receive a selection of the representation of the geographic location from the user via the user interface.

48. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 47, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to:

generate a map showing the geographic location of the mobile device; and

include the map in the user interface.

49. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 48, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to access a directory server to identify the plurality of potential representations of the geographic location.

50. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 48, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to access a common name repository storing one or more representations associated with the geographic location, the one or more representations being provided by one or more users of the communications system.

51. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 48, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to send at least a portion of the information feed that includes the representation to one or more co-users of the communications system.

52. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 51, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to send a message provided by the user to the one or more co-users of the communications system.

53. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 48, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to include a profile of the user in the information feed.

54. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 53, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to include one or more electronic messages sent by the user in the information feed.

55. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 54, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to include one or more electronic messages sent by one or more co-users in the information feed.

56. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 55, wherein the one or more electronic messages comprise electronic messages intended for the user.

57. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 48, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to:

aggregating information relating to the user; and

including the aggregated information in the information feed.

58. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 48, wherein the mobile device comprises a mobile phone.