Visualization of network members based on location and direction

• US 9,031,543 B2
• Filed: 06/06/2012
• Issued: 05/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Lee, Arthur C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Eng, George
• Assistant Examiner(s): HUYNH, NAM TRUNG
• Application Number:
  US13/489,526
• Publication Number:
  US 20130331130A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,070 Days
• Field of Search: 4554141-4143, 4554561-459
• US Class Current: 455/416
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 2300/00 Mixtures or combinations of active ingredients, wherein at least one active ingredient is fully defined in groups A61K31/00 - A61K41/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 31/167 having the nitrogen of a carboxamide group directly attached to the aromatic ring, e.g. lidocaine, paracetamol
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 31/196 the amino group being directly attached to a ring, e.g. anthranilic acid, mefenamic acid, diclofenac, chlorambucil
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 31/245 Amino benzoic acid types, e.g. procaine, novocaine salicylic acid esters A61K31/60
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 31/4535 containing a heterocyclic ring having sulfur as a ring hetero atom, e.g. pizotifen
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 31/55 having seven-membered rings, e.g. azelastine, pentylenetetrazole
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 9/0048 Eye, e.g. artificial tears
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/18 for broadcast or conference , e.g. multicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1804 for stock exchange and similar applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/38 Displays
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2044 Group features, e.g. closed user group
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/359 Augmented reality
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/18 wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/66 user interface aspects for indicating selection options for a communication line
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42348 Location-based services which utilize the location information of a target
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/563 : User guidance or feature selection
• 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 4/06 : Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 : User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 : with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination

Abstract

Methods, devices and systems enable efficient organizations of group communications on a mobile device. The mobile device may be configured to receive location information from other mobile devices in a communication system, determine the current location and orientation of the mobile device, determine directions and distances from the mobile device to each of the other mobile devices, and generate a first-person perspective and/or top-down perspective display showing relative locations of the other mobile devices. Other multiple mobile devices may be represented in the display as images (e.g., icons, avatars, directional indicators, etc.). The display may provide a user interface to enable a user to quickly organize other mobile devices into groups and initiate group communications with some of the other mobile devices. The mobile device may be configured to group the displayed images into one or more communication units and establish communication links with mobile devices in the communication units.

Claims

1. A method for performing group communications comprising:

receiving on a mobile device location information associated with a plurality of other mobile devices that are members of a communication system;

determining a location of the mobile device;

determining an orientation of the mobile device;

associating a direction vector with the determined orientation of the mobile device;

identifying at least one of the plurality of other mobile devices located along the direction vector;

determining a relative distance between the mobile device and each of the plurality of other mobile devices based on the determined location of the mobile device and the location information received from the plurality of other mobile devices;

determining a relative direction of each of the plurality of other mobile devices with respect to the determined orientation of the mobile device;

generating on an electronic display of the mobile device images representative of the plurality of other mobile devices based on the determined relative distance and the determined relative direction by generating a first-person perspective display in which only mobile devices in the plurality of other mobile devices that are located along the direction vector are represented by the images;

receiving a user input via the electronic display;

grouping two or more of the generated images into a communication unit in response to the received user input; and

establishing group communications with the communication unit.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating on the electronic display of the mobile device images representative of each of the plurality of other mobile devices based on the determined relative distance and the determined relative direction comprises generating the images in sizes indicative of the determined relative distance and the determined relative direction.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the mobile device has changed orientation;

associating a new direction vector with the changed orientation of the mobile device; and

generating an updated first-person perspective display in which only mobile devices in the plurality of other mobile devices located along the new direction vector are represented by an image.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a member of a communication group and images of devices that are members of the communication group are displayed differently from images of devices that are not members of the communication group.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a member of a communication group and only the images of devices in the communication group are displayed in the first-person perspective display.

6. A computing device, comprising:

means for receiving location information associated with a plurality of mobile devices that are members of a communication system;

means for determining a location of the computing device;

means for determining an orientation of the computing device;

means for associating a direction vector with the determined orientation of the computing device;

means for identifying at least one of the plurality of other mobile devices located along the direction vector;

means for determining a relative distance between the computing device and each of the plurality of mobile devices based on the determined location of the computing device and the location information received from the plurality of mobile devices;

means for determining a relative direction of each of the plurality of mobile devices with respect to the determined orientation of the computing device;

means for generating images representative of the plurality of mobile devices based on the determined relative distance and the determined relative direction comprising means for generating a first-person perspective display in which only mobile devices in the plurality of other mobile devices that are located along the direction vector are represented by the images;

means for receiving a user input via an electronic display;

means for grouping two or more of the generated images into a communication unit in response to the received user input; and

means for establishing group communications with the communication unit.

7. The computing device of claim 6, wherein means for generating images representative of each of the plurality of mobile devices based on the determined relative distance and the determined relative direction comprises means for generating the images in sizes indicative of the determined relative distance and the determined relative direction.

8. The computing device of claim 6, further comprising:

means for determining whether the computing device has changed orientation;

means for associating a new direction vector with the changed orientation of the computing device; and

means for generating an updated first-person perspective display in which only devices located along the new direction vector are represented by an image.

9. The computing device of claim 6, further comprising means for associating the computing device with a communication group, wherein means for generating images representative of each of the plurality of mobile devices based on the determined relative distance and the determined relative direction comprises means for displaying images of devices that are members of the communication group differently from images of devices that are not members of the communication group.

10. The computing device of claim 6, further comprising means for associating the computing device with a communication group, wherein means for generating the first-person perspective display in which only devices located along the direction vector are represented by images comprises means for generating the first-person perspective display such that only the images of devices in the communication group are represented by images.

11. A computing device, comprising:

a transceiver;

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising;

receiving location information associated with a plurality of mobile devices that are members of a communication system;

determining a location of the computing device;

determining an orientation of the computing device;

associating a direction vector with the determined orientation of the computing device;

identifying at least one of the plurality of other mobile devices located along the direction vector;

determining a relative distance between the computing device and each of the plurality of mobile devices based on the determined location of the computing device and the location information received from the plurality of mobile devices;

determining a relative direction of each of the plurality of mobile devices with respect to the determined orientation of the computing device;

generating images representative of the plurality of mobile devices based on the determined relative distance and the determined relative direction by generating a first-person perspective display in which only mobile devices in the plurality of other mobile devices that are located along the direction vector are represented by the images;

receiving a user input via an electronic display;

grouping two or more of the generated images into a communication unit in response to the received user input; and

establishing group communications with the communication unit.

12. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions such that generating images representative of each of the plurality of mobile devices based on the determined relative distance and the determined relative direction comprises generating the images in sizes indicative of the determined relative distance and the determined relative direction.

13. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

determining whether the computing device has changed orientation;

associating a new direction vector with the changed orientation of the computing device; and

generating an updated first-person perspective display in which only mobile devices of the plurality of mobile devices that are located along the new direction vector are represented by an image.

14. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising associating the computing device with a communication group, and wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions such that generating images representative of each of the plurality of mobile devices based on the determined relative distance and the determined relative direction comprises displaying images of devices that are members of the communication group differently from images of devices that are not members of the communication group.

15. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising associating the computing device with a communication group, and wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions such that generating the first-person perspective display in which only mobile devices of the plurality of mobile devices that are located along the direction vector are represented by images comprises generating the first-person perspective display such that only the images of devices in the communication group are displayed in the first-person perspective display.

16. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor of a computing device to perform operations comprising:

receiving location information associated with a plurality of mobile devices that are members of a communication system;

determining a location of the computing device;

determining an orientation of the computing device;

associating a direction vector with the determined orientation of the computing device;

identifying at least one of the plurality of other mobile devices located along the direction vector;

determining a relative distance between the computing device and each of the plurality of mobile devices based on the determined location of the computing device and the location information received from the plurality of mobile devices;

determining a relative direction of each of the plurality of mobile devices with respect to the determined orientation of the computing device;

generating images representative of the plurality of mobile devices based on the determined relative distance and the determined relative direction by generating a first-person perspective display in which only mobile devices in the plurality of other mobile devices that are located along the direction vector are represented by the images;

receiving a user input via an electronic display;

grouping two or more of the generated images into a communication unit in response to the received user input; and

establishing group communications with the communication unit.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor of a computing device to perform operations such that generating images representative of each of the plurality of mobile devices based on the determined relative distance and the determined relative direction comprises generating the images in sizes indicative of the determined relative distance and the determined relative direction.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor of a computing device to perform operations comprising:

determining whether the computing device has changed orientation;

associating a new direction vector with the changed orientation of the computing device; and

generating an updated first-person perspective display in which only mobile devices in the plurality of mobile devices located along the new direction vector are represented by an image.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor of a computing device to perform operations further comprising associating the computing device with a communication group, and wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor of a computing device to perform operations such that generating images representative of each of the plurality of mobile devices based on the determined relative distance and the determined relative direction comprises displaying images of devices that are members of the communication group differently from images of devices that are not members of the communication group.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor of a computing device to perform operations further comprising associating the computing device with a communication group, and wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor of a computing device to perform operations such that generating the first-person perspective display in which only mobile devices in the plurality of mobile devices that are located along the direction vector are represented by images comprises generating the first-person perspective display such that only the images of mobile devices of the plurality of mobile devices that are in the communication group are displayed in the first-person perspective display.