Monitoring a mobile device en route to destination

• US 9,173,061 B2
• Filed: 12/17/2012
• Issued: 10/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Varoglu, Devrim, Dave, Swapnil R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hua, Quan M
• Application Number:
  US13/717,566
• Publication Number:
  US 20140171013A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,044 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

A system, method and apparatus are disclosed for monitoring a mobile device en route to a destination. A user of a monitored device specifies geo-fence regions along a route to the destination. Entry and exit of regions triggers the sending of event notifications to a monitoring device. Event notifications may be sent if an estimated time of arrival changes due to delay. Event notifications may be sent if the monitored device deviates from a planned route by a threshold distance. Event notifications may be sent through a direct communication link between the monitored device and monitoring device or through a location-based service.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a first device, input specifying a route with a departure location, a departure date, a destination location and one or more intermediate locations;

receiving, at the first device, input specifying regions around the departure location, the destination location and the one or more intermediate locations;

receiving a request to allow monitoring of the first device by a second device;

sending an acceptance of the request to the second device;

determining that the departure date has arrived;

in response to determining that the departure date has arrived, automatically monitoring for an exit event of the first device out of one of the specified regions around the departure location region;

and sending a notification to the second device in response to detecting the exit event, where one or more hardware processors perform the method.

2. The method of claim 1, where receiving input specifying regions includes specifying geo-fences defining the regions.

3. The method of claim 1, where the monitoring includes determining that the first device has deviated from the route based on sensor data collected at the first device.

4. The method of claim 1, where the monitoring includes determining that the first device contacted an emergency service.

5. The method of claim 1, where the monitoring includes determining that the first device has dwelled in a region for an amount of time that exceeds a predetermined dwell time.

6. The method of claim 1, where sending the notification includes sending a map or map data for indicating the current location of the first device on a map displayed on the second device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a timestamp associated with the exit event; and

sending data including the timestamp to the second device.

8. The method of claim 7, where sending the data includes sending the data by way of a location-based service.

9. A method comprising:

sending, from a first device, a request to monitor a second device on a departure date while the second device is en route to a destination;

receiving, by the first device, acceptance of the request;

determining that the departure date has arrived;

receiving, by the first device on the departure date, a first event notification from the second device that the second device has exited the departure region;

in response to receiving the first notification on the departure date, automatically initiating monitoring of the second device in response to the first event notification; and

receiving,

during monitoring, a second event notification indicating that the second device has entered or exited a region specified by the first device, wherein the method is performed by one or more hardware processors.

10. The method of claim 9, where receiving the first or second notification includes receiving a map or map data for indicating the current location of the second device on a map displayed on the first device.

11. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

memory coupled to the one or more processors and configured for storing instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

receiving, at a first device, input specifying a route with a departure location, a departure date, a destination location and one or more intermediate locations;

receiving, at the first device, input specifying regions around the departure location, the destination location and the one or more intermediate locations;

receiving a request to allow monitoring of the first device by a second device;

sending an acceptance of the request to the second device;

determining that the departure date has arrived;

in response to determining that the departure date has arrived, automatically monitoring for an exit event of the first device out of one of the specified regions around the departure location region; and

sending a notification to the second device in response to detecting the exit event.

12. The system of claim 11, where receiving input specifying regions includes specifying geo-fences defining the regions.

13. The system of claim 11, where the monitoring includes determining that the first device has deviated from the route based on sensor data collected at the first device.

14. The system of claim 11, where the monitoring includes determining that the first device contacted an emergency service.

15. The system of claim 11, where the monitoring includes determining that the first device has dwelled in a region for an amount of time that exceeds a predetermined dwell time.

16. The system of claim 11, where sending the notification includes sending a map or map data for indicating the current location of the first device on a map displayed on the second device.

17. The system of claim 11, where the operations further comprise:

determining a timestamp associated with the exit; and

sending data including the timestamp to the second device.

18. The system of claim 17, where sending the data includes sending the data by way of a location-based service.

19. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

memory coupled to the one or more processors and configured for storing instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

sending, from a first device, a request to monitor a second device on a departure date while the second device is en route to a destination;

receiving, by the first device, acceptance of the request;

determining that the departure date has arrived;

receiving, by the first device on the departure date, a first event notification from the second device that the second device has exited the departure region;

in response to receiving the first notification on the departure date, automatically initiating monitoring of the second device in response to the first event notification; and

receiving, during monitoring, a second event notification indicating that the second device has entered or exited a region specified by the first device.

20. The system of claim 19, where receiving the first or second notification includes receiving a map or map data for indicating the current location of the second device on a map displayed on the first device.