Systems and methods for determining mobile thing (MT) identification and/or MT motion activity using sensor data of wireless communication device

• US 9,141,974 B2
• Filed: 02/14/2014
• Issued: 09/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Big Will Enterprises Inc.
• Original Assignee: Martin Kelly Jones, Scott A. Horstemeyer
• Inventors: Khomenko, Maria, Jones, Martin Kelly, Horstemeyer, Scott A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gonzalez, Amancio
• Application Number:
  US14/180,558
• Publication Number:
  US 20140188638A1
• Time in Patent Office: 585 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.2, 455/414.1, 455/456.3
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 13/00 Indicating or recording presence, absence, or direction, of movement electric switches H01H; counting moving objects G06M7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 15/14 by making use of gyroscopes gyroscopes per se G01C19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/907 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/325 using wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0625 Directed, with specific intent or strategy
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/196 using television cameras
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/08 using communication transmission lines G08B13/19658, G08B21/0286, G08B25/016 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/16 Use of wireless transmission of display information
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/003 Details of a display terminal, the details relating to the control arrangement of the display terminal and to the interfaces thereto specific for a CRT G09G1/165; for a flat panel G09G3/2092
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724 User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72454 according to context-related or environment-related conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/04 with alarm systems, e.g. fire, police or burglar alarm systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion telephones including GPS signal receivers H04M2250/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/026 using orientation information, e.g. compass
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 : for social networking applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/60 : Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/22 : Processing or transfer of terminal data, e.g. status or physical capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 : Terminal devices

Abstract

Systems, apparatus, and methods are disclosed for accurately identifying a mobile thing (MT), a mobile thing motion activity (MTMA) associated with the MT, or both, using sensor data from one or more sensors, such as an accelerometer, gyroscope, etc., associated with a wireless communication device (WCD) transported by the MT, so as to enable or initiate a further one or more intelligent MT-identity-based and/or MTMA-based actions.

Claims

1. A method for use in connection with a wireless communication device (WCD) and a point of sale (POS) device involved in a financial transaction associated with a purchase of a good and/or service, the method comprising:

accessing current user identification data associated with a current user that is transporting the WCD and historical user identification data associated with a historical user that has transported the WCD, the current and historical user identification data derived from sensor data, the sensor data derived from one or more sensors associated with the WCD, the sensor data indicative of physical movement of the WCD in three dimensional (3D) space relative to a respective axis in a 3D coordinate system;

communicatively coupling the WCD with a POS device during the financial transaction associated with the purchase of the good and/or service;

communicating financial account information from the current user of the WCD to the POS device corresponding to the financial account sought to be used in connection with the financial transaction;

determining whether or not the current user of the WCD is authorized to use the financial account based at least in part upon the current user identification data and the historical user identification data;

causing the financial transaction to be permitted at the POS device when the current user is authorized; and

causing the financial transaction to be prevented at the POS device when the current user is not authorized.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining step comprises:

comparing the current user identification data with the historical user identification data;

determining a confidence value indicative of an extent of correspondence of the current user identification data and the historical user identification data; and

determining whether or not the current user of the WCD is authorized to use the financial account based at least in part upon the confidence value and a predefined threshold.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensors include an accelerometer and wherein the sensor data includes accelerometer data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein sensors include a gyroscope and wherein the sensor data includes gyroscope data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensors include a location determination circuit and wherein the sensor data includes location data from the circuit.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensors include a microphone and wherein the sensor data includes sound data from the microphone.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the financial account is a credit card account, debit card account, or bank account.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor data includes a plurality of different data sets, each of the data sets comprising three movement values and a time value, each of the three movement values indicative of physical movement of the WCD relative to a respective axis in the 3D coordinate system at the time value, and further comprising:

determining a mathematical relationship between the different data sets to enable analysis of the different data sets in the 3D coordinate system; and

determining the current user identification data and the historical user identification data based at least in part upon the analysis of the different data sets in the 3D coordinate system.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising analyzing one or more statistical characteristics of the sensor data in the time domain, frequency domain, or both, in order to establish the current user identification data and the historical user identification data.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the relationship is defined with a mathematical rotation matrix that translates the data sets into the 3D coordinate system.

11. A method for use in connection with a wireless communication device (WCD) and a point of sale (POS) device involved in a financial transaction associated with a purchase of a good and/or service, the method comprising:

accessing current user identification data associated with a current user that is transporting the WCD and historical user identification data associated with a historical user that has transported the WCD, the current and historical user identification data derived from sensor data, the sensor data derived from one or more sensors associated with the WCD, the sensor data indicative of physical movement of the WCD in three dimensional (3D) space relative to a respective axis in a 3D coordinate system;

prior to authenticating that the current user of the WCD matches the historical user of the WCD, communicatively coupling the WCD with a POS device during the financial transaction associated with the purchase of the good and/or service;

after communicatively coupling the WCD with the POS device, determining whether or not the current user of the WCD is authorized to use the financial account based at least in part upon comparing the current user identification data and the historical user identification data to determine if there is match;

causing the financial transaction to be permitted at the POS device when there is a match; and

causing the financial transaction to be prevented at the POS device when there is not a match.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the determining step comprises:

comparing the current user identification data with the historical user identification data;

determining a confidence value indicative of an extent of correspondence of the current user identification data and the historical user identification data; and

determining whether or not the current user of the WCD is authorized to use the financial account based at least in part upon the confidence value and a predefined threshold.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the sensors include an accelerometer and wherein the sensor data includes accelerometer data.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein sensors include a gyroscope and wherein the sensor data includes gyroscope data.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the sensors include a location determination circuit and wherein the sensor data includes location data from the circuit.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the sensors include a microphone and wherein the sensor data includes sound data from the microphone.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the financial account is a credit card account, debit card account, or bank account.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the sensor data includes a plurality of different data sets, each of the data sets comprising three movement values and a time value, each of the three movement values indicative of physical movement of the WCD relative to a respective axis in the 3D coordinate system at the time value, and further comprising:

determining a mathematical relationship between the different data sets to enable analysis of the different data sets in the 3D coordinate system; and

determining the current user identification data and the historical user identification data based at least in part upon the analysis of the different data sets in the 3D coordinate system.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising analyzing one or more statistical characteristics of the sensor data in the time domain, frequency domain, or both, in order to establish the current user identification data and the historical user identification data.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the relationship is defined with a mathematical rotation matrix that translates the data sets into the 3D coordinate system.

21. A system for use in connection with a wireless communication device (WCD) and a point of sale (POS) device involved in a financial transaction associated with a purchase of a good and/or service, the system comprising:

one or more memories for storing computer program code; and

one or more processors for executing the computer program code, the computer program code comprising;

code that accesses current user identification data associated with a current user that is transporting the WCD and historical user identification data associated with a historical user that has transported the WCD, the current and historical user identification data derived from sensor data, the sensor data derived from one or more sensors associated with the WCD, the sensor data indicative of physical movement of the WCD in three dimensional (3D) space relative to a respective axis in a 3D coordinate system;

code that communicatively couples the WCD with a POS device during the financial transaction associated with the purchase of the good and/or service;

code that communicates financial account information from the current user of the WCD to the POS device corresponding to the financial account sought to be used in connection with the financial transaction;

code that determines whether or not the current user of the WCD is authorized to use the financial account based at least in part upon the current user identification data and the historical user identification data;

code that causes the financial transaction to be permitted at the POS device when the current user is authorized; and

code that causes the financial transaction to be prevented at the POS device when the current user is not authorized.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the determining code comprises:

code that compares the current user identification data with the historical user identification data;

code that determines a confidence value indicative of an extent of correspondence of the current user identification data and the historical user identification data; and

code that determines whether or not the current user of the WCD is authorized to use the financial account based at least in part upon the confidence value and a predefined threshold.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the sensors include an accelerometer and wherein the sensor data includes accelerometer data.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the sensors include a gyroscope and wherein the sensor data includes gyroscope data.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein the sensors include a location determination circuit and wherein the sensor data includes location data from the circuit.

26. The system of claim 21, wherein the sensors include a microphone and wherein the sensor data includes sound data from the microphone.

27. The system of claim 21, wherein the financial account is a credit card account, debit card account, or bank account.

28. The method of claim 21, wherein the sensor data includes a plurality of different data sets, each of the data sets comprising three movement values and a time value, each of the three movement values indicative of physical movement of the WCD relative to a respective axis in the 3D coordinate system at the time value, and further comprising:

determining a mathematical relationship between the different data sets to enable analysis of the different data sets in the 3D coordinate system; and

determining the current user identification data and the historical user identification data based at least in part upon the analysis of the different data sets in the 3D coordinate system.

29. The method of claim 21, further comprising analyzing one or more statistical characteristics of the sensor data in the time domain, frequency domain, or both, in order to establish the current user identification data and the historical user identification data.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the relationship is defined with a mathematical rotation matrix that translates the data sets into the 3D coordinate system.

31. A system for use in connection with a wireless communication device (WCD) and a point of sale (POS) device involved in a financial transaction associated with a purchase of a good and/or service, the system comprising:

one or more memories for storing computer program code; and

one or more processors for executing the computer program code, the computer program code comprising;

code that accesses current user identification data associated with a current user that is transporting the WCD and historical user identification data associated with a historical user that has transported the WCD, the current and historical user identification data derived from sensor data, the sensor data derived from one or more sensors associated with the WCD, the sensor data indicative of physical movement of the WCD in three dimensional (3D) space relative to a respective axis in a 3D coordinate system;

code that, prior to authenticating that the current user of the WCD matches the historical user of the WCD, communicatively couples the WCD with a POS device during the financial transaction associated with the purchase of the good and/or service;

code that, after communicatively coupling the WCD with the POS device, determines whether or not the current user of the WCD is authorized to use the financial account based at least in part upon comparing the current user identification data and the historical user identification data to determine if there is match;

code that causes the financial transaction to be permitted at the POS device when there is a match; and

code that causes the financial transaction to be prevented at the POS device when there is not a match.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the determining code comprises:

code that compares the current user identification data with the historical user identification data;

code that determines a confidence value indicative of an extent of correspondence of the current user identification data and the historical user identification data; and

code that determines whether or not the current user of the WCD is authorized to use the financial account based at least in part upon the confidence value and a predefined threshold.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein the sensors include an accelerometer and wherein the sensor data includes accelerometer data.

34. The system of claim 31, wherein the sensors include a gyroscope and wherein the sensor data includes gyroscope data.

35. The system of claim 31, wherein the sensors include a location determination circuit and wherein the sensor data includes location data from the circuit.

36. The system of claim 31, wherein the sensors include a microphone and wherein the sensor data includes sound data from the microphone.

37. The system of claim 31, wherein the financial account is a credit card account, debit card account, or bank account.

38. The method of claim 31, wherein the sensor data includes a plurality of different data sets, each of the data sets comprising three movement values and a time value, each of the three movement values indicative of physical movement of the WCD relative to a respective axis in the 3D coordinate system at the time value, and further comprising:

determining a mathematical relationship between the different data sets to enable analysis of the different data sets in the 3D coordinate system; and

determining the current user identification data and the historical user identification data based at least in part upon the analysis of the different data sets in the 3D coordinate system.

39. The method of claim 31, further comprising analyzing one or more statistical characteristics of the sensor data in the time domain, frequency domain, or both, in order to establish the current user identification data and the historical user identification data.

40. The method of claim 38, wherein the relationship is defined with a mathematical rotation matrix that translates the data sets into the 3D coordinate system.