Ad hoc formation of a swarm for information collection and distribution

• US 9,253,652 B1
• Filed: 01/15/2013
• Issued: 02/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile Innovations LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Adib, Fared A., Cole, Joshua R.
• Primary Examiner(s): MIZRAHI, DIANE D
• Application Number:
  US13/742,051
• Time in Patent Office: 1,113 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/04 Arrangements for maintaining operational condition

Abstract

Embodiments relate generally to systems and methods for ad hoc formation of a swarm for information collection and distribution. The swarm may be operable to aggregate information from a plurality of mobile devices in a specific area, wherein the information may be related by subject or category. The swarm may be formed in response to a triggering event, wherein the triggering event may be location based. Once the swarm is formed, it may provide access for users to information which may include photos, videos, audio, location information and environmental information.

Claims

1. A method for triggering ad hoc formation of a swarm of mobile devices for information collection and distribution comprising:

monitoring, by a swarm management application executing on at least one mobile device, communication traffic from a plurality of mobile devices, wherein the swarm management application is stored in a non-transitory memory and executed by a processor of each of the plurality of the mobile devices and is stored in a non-transitory memory and executed by a processor of a network server in communication with at least one of the plurality of mobile devices;

recognizing an increase in the monitored traffic, wherein the increase in the monitored traffic comprises an increase of at least one of;

a number of mobile devices in a location,

a number of calls being made to an emergency number,

an amount of media being captured or uploaded by the plurality of mobile devices, wherein the media comprises photo, video, or audio content,

an amount of multimedia messaging service (MMS) messages being sent or received by the plurality of mobile devices, or

usage of a specific application on the plurality of mobile devices;

determining a location associated with the increase in monitored traffic and the plurality of mobile devices;

triggering the swarm management application and forming a swarm based on the determined location and the recognition of the increase in the monitored traffic, wherein the swarm comprises a computer based system in communication with the network server and the plurality of mobile devices in the area of the determined location for collecting, storing, and distributing information and messages within the area of the determined location;

identifying, by the swarm, messages or information initiated by one of the plurality of mobile devices in the area of the determined location and intended for delivery to another mobile device in the area of the determined location via the internet or the MMS;

in response to the identifying, intercepting, by the swarm, the messages or information intended for delivery to the another mobile device before the messages or information initiated by the one of the plurality of mobile devices are transmitted via the internet or the MMS; and

in response to the intercepting, sending, by the swarm management application to the another mobile device, a link to access, via the swarm, the messages or the information initiated by the one of the plurality of mobile devices, wherein the swarm provides communication with at least two mobile devices in the area of the increase of monitored traffic.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of mobile devices in the area of the determined location is determined based on location information provided by the mobile devices.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of mobile devices in the area of the determined location is determined by the connection of the mobile devices to at least one cell tower.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting the occurrence of a triggering event in a particular area, wherein the triggering event comprises at least one of;

a weather event, an emergency event, a news event, a performance event, a sporting event, a political event, or a celebrity event;

communicating with the swarm management application based on identifying the triggering event; and

notifying the swarm management application to form another swarm in the area of the identified triggering event, wherein the other swarm provides communication with two or more mobile devices.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the occurrence of the triggering event corresponds with one or more of a weather service, a news service, an emergency communication service, first responders, or one or more users of the plurality of mobile devices.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising supplementing the cellular network in the area of the identified triggering event with temporary mobile network coverage.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

allowing mobile devices access to storage for information received by the swarm;

notifying the mobile devices of the ad hoc formation of the swarm;

aggregating information from one or more of the mobile devices;

storing the aggregated information in a non-transitory memory that is accessible to the swarm;

processing the aggregated information; and

providing the mobile devices access to the stored aggregated information.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein notifying the mobile devices of the formation of the swarm comprises sending a message to the mobile devices within the area of the swarm formation, wherein the mobile devices may opt-into or opt-out of participation in the swarm.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein processing the aggregated information comprises categorizing the information, and wherein the categorizing is done based on a trigger or automatically.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein categorizing the information comprises sorting, filtering, or tagging.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein processing the aggregated information further comprises analyzing the information.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein recognizing the increase in the monitored traffic is based on the amount of media being captured or uploaded by the plurality of mobile devices, wherein the media comprises at least one of photo data, video data, audio data, or any combination thereof.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein aggregating information from the one or more mobile devices comprises accessing information from the one or more mobile devices, and wherein the information comprises at least one of:

a photo, a video, an audio, location information, time information, or environmental data.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein aggregating information from the one or more mobile devices comprises accepting information pushed to the swarm by the one or more mobile devices.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein aggregating information from the one or more mobile devices comprises pulling information from the one or more mobile devices.