Devices, systems, and methods for presence determination

• US 9,094,786 B2
• Filed: 02/24/2011
• Issued: 07/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wohlert, Randolph Robert, Ahluwalia, Inderpreet Singh
• Primary Examiner(s): Alam, Mirza
• Application Number:
  US13/034,554
• Publication Number:
  US 20120220307A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,615 Days
• Field of Search: 340/539.13, 340/573.1, 340/573.4, 340/529, 340/8.1, 340/686.1, 340/541, 340/693.12, 340/517, 340/531, 342/42, 342/44, 342/45, 342/450, 455/456.1, 455/457, 455/414.2, 455/433, 455/435.1, 455/404.2, 709/224, 382/103
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/025 Extracting rules from data
• 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: H04M 3/42365 Presence services providing information on the willingness to communicate or the ability to communicate in terms of media capability or network connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold

Abstract

Devices, systems, and methods are disclosed which aggregate presence detections, and use the diversity of presence detections to resolve presence ambiguities and increase the correctness of information. Presence confidence levels and reliability values increase the effectiveness of services based on presence. A variety of methods enable presence detection and reporting. Each of these methods has advantages and disadvantages. The limitations of each of the individual methods are overcome with exemplary embodiments of the subject disclosure.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising;

receiving, from a plurality of presence detectors, a plurality of presence detections associated with a user,

assigning a confidence level to each of the plurality of presence detections, wherein the confidence level assigned to each of at least a portion of the plurality of presence detections is based on past detections associated with each of the at least a portion of the plurality of presence detections,

determining a conflict between the plurality of presence detections,

resolving, based at least in part on the confidence level assigned to each of the plurality of presence detections, the conflict to determine a presence status of the user,

associating a reliability value with the presence status, wherein the reliability value is an indicator of a probability of an accurate presence status, wherein the reliability value is based on a weighted combination of the confidence level assigned to each of the plurality of presence detections, and

transmitting the presence status to an application server.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the confidence level assigned to each of at least another portion of the plurality of presence detections is input by the user.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving the plurality of presence detections from a plurality of presence detectors comprises receiving the plurality of presence detections from the plurality of presence detectors via a service gateway.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of presence detectors comprises security sensors comprising a camera and a motion sensor, and wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving raw data from the camera and the motion sensor; and

converting the raw data from the camera and the motion sensor into one of the plurality of presence detections.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving the plurality of presence detections comprises receiving at least one of the plurality of presence detections from a home location registry in communication with a wireless communication device of the user.

6. A non-transitory memory device storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of a system, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a plurality of presence detectors, a plurality of presence detections associated with a user;

assigning a confidence level to each of the plurality of presence detections, wherein the confidence level assigned to each of at least a portion of the plurality of presence detections is based on past detections associated with each of the at least a portion of the plurality of presence detections;

determining a conflict between the plurality of presence detections;

resolving, based at least in part on the confidence level assigned to each of the plurality of presence detections, the conflict to determine a presence status of the user;

associating a reliability value with the presence status, wherein the reliability value is an indicator of a probability of an accurate presence status, wherein the reliability value is based on a weighted combination of the confidence level assigned to each of the plurality of presence detections; and

transmitting the presence status to an application server.

7. The non-transitory memory device of claim 6, wherein the confidence level assigned to each of at least another portion of the plurality of presence detections is input by the user.

8. A method comprising:

receiving, at a server comprising a processor from a plurality of presence detectors, a plurality of presence detections associated with a user;

assigning, by the server, a confidence level to each of the plurality of presence detections, wherein the confidence level assigned to each of at least a portion of the plurality of presence detections is based on past detections associated with each of the at least a portion of the plurality of presence detections;

determining, by the server, a conflict between the plurality of presence detections;

resolving, by the server, based at least on the confidence level assigned to each of the plurality of presence detections, the conflict to determine a presence status of the user;

associating a reliability value with the presence status, wherein the reliability value is an indicator of a probability of an accurate presence status, wherein the reliability value is based on a weighted combination of the confidence level assigned to each of the plurality of presence detections; and

transmitting, by the server, the presence status and the reliability value to an application server.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the confidence level assigned to each of at least another portion of the plurality of presence detections is input by the user.