Method that enables devices near each other to automatically exchange owner profile information

• US 9,049,565 B2
• Filed: 08/19/2013
• Issued: 06/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Anand Bernard Alen
• Original Assignee: Anand Bernard Alen
• Inventors: Alen, Anand Bernard
• Primary Examiner(s): LIN, KENNY S
• Application Number:
  US13/970,538
• Publication Number:
  US 20140057550A1
• Time in Patent Office: 652 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• 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 4/06 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 4/21 for social networking applications

Abstract

A method for devices that are near each other to exchange owner profile information. Upon entering an area where inter-device communication with nearby devices is possible, a key is exchanged among all participating devices in the area and subsequently owner profile information is synchronized between devices. All devices also maintain a count of how often a specific owner profile and so its owner was encountered.

Claims

1. A method by which a device communicates a user profile of a user to an other device in an exchange area, the method comprising the steps of:

defining the user profile on the device with parameters comprising

a user name,

an occupation of the user,

an interest of the user,

a service provided by the user,

a description of people that the user would like to meet,

a brief introduction of the user,

a contact information of the user,

a reference to a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) of a profile of the user resident outside the device,

a photo of the user;

said device, upon entry into the exchange area broadcasting repeatedly, each broadcast separated from the next by a period of time, a profile-id that is a constructed data type containing information about the user and the user profile;

the other device in the exchange area receiving a profile-id broadcast from said device;

the other device in the exchange area, upon receipt of a profile-id broadcast, requesting the user profile from said device if not already requested;

said device communicating the user profile to the other devices in the exchange area that request the user profile from said device;

the other device in the exchange area receiving and storing the user profile of said device as a stored user profile;

the other device, upon receipt of the profile-id broadcast, incrementing a tracking counter of encounters of the profile-id; and

the other device ranking the user of the profile-id based on the tracking counter of encounters of the profile-id.

2. The method in claim 1 further comprising:

the other devices upon receipt of the profile-id broadcast storing the location of the exchange area along with the stored user profile; and

enabling automatic segregation of encountered users by location.

3. The method in claim 2 wherein the location of exchange area stored along with the received user profile is a place name.

4. The method in claim 2 wherein the location of exchange area stored along with the received user profile is a place address.

5. The method in claim 2 wherein the location of exchange area stored along with the stored user profile is the BSSID of a Wi-Fi network deployed in the exchange area.

6. The method in claim 2 wherein the location of exchange area stored along with the stored user profile is the SSID of a Wi-Fi network deployed in the exchange area.

7. The method in claim 1 further comprising the other devices upon receipt of the profile-id broadcast storing said tracking counter with the stored user profile.

8. The method in claim 1 wherein the profile-id broadcast is accomplished by the use of Internet Protocol broadcast over a Wi-Fi network deployed in the exchange area.

9. The method in claim 1 wherein the profile-id broadcast is accomplished by the use of Internet Protocol multicast to a specific multicast IP address and port number over a Wi-Fi network deployed in the exchange area.

10. The method in claim 1 wherein the profile-id broadcast is accomplished by said device publishing the profile-id along with the user profile and the location of the exchange area and associating the profile-id with the location of the exchange area, onto a relay agent on the Internet, followed by:

the other device in the exchange area periodically querying the relay agent by providing the location of the exchange area for all profile-ids associated with the location;

and as a result of the query, the other device upon finding the profile-ids associated with the location of the exchange area, retrieving each respective user profile for each returned profile-id from said relay agent provided they have not retrieved user profile for a given profile-id already.

11. The method in claim 10 wherein the location of the exchange area as supplied to the relay agent is a place name.

12. The method in claim 10 wherein the location of the exchange area as supplied to the relay agent is a place address.

13. The method in claim 10 wherein the location of the exchange area as supplied to the relay agent is defined by a latitude and longitude, said latitude and longitude being the geographic location of the device that communicates with the relay agent;

and

in responding to a query for profile-ids associated with a provided location the relay agent declares all profile-ids supplied with a location in the profile-id broadcast where such location is within a preset and fixed distance of the provided location as profile-ids associated with the provided location.

14. The method in claim 10 wherein the location of the exchange area as supplied to the relay agent by a device is the BSSID of a Wi-Fi network.

15. The method in claim 10 wherein the location of the exchange area as supplied to the relay agent is a collection of Wi-Fi network SSIDs;

and

in responding to a query for profile-ids associated with a provided location, the relay agent declares all devices that supplied in their profile-id broadcasts at least a preset number of the same SSIDs as profile-ids associated with the provided location.

16. The method in claim 15 wherein an SSID is included in the collection only if its corresponding Wi-Fi signal strength for said SSID is above a preset threshold.

17. The method in claim 10 wherein the Internet is replaced by a private network.