Registrar mapping toolkit for geofences

• US 9,280,559 B1
• Filed: 06/16/2015
• Issued: 03/08/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GeoFrenzy, Inc
• Original Assignee: GeoFrenzy, Inc
• Inventors: Jones, Benjamin T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Hitesh
• Application Number:
  US14/740,557
• Time in Patent Office: 266 Days
• Field of Search: 709/224
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/604 Tools and structures for managing or administering access control systems
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/006 in accordance with predefined flight zones, e.g. to avoid prohibited zones
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0069 specially adapted for an unmanned aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2816 Controlling appliance services of a home automation network by calling their functionalities arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station; in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom H04Q9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/659 Internet protocol version 6 [IPv6] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/69 using geographic information, e.g. room number
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/457 containing identifiers of data entities on a computer, e.g. file names
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5007 Internet protocol [IP] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/563 Data redirection of data network streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/084 using delegated authorisation, e.g. open authorisation [OAuth] protocol
• 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 64/003 locating network equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 : Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]

Abstract

Systems and methods for creating a database of geofences and registering geofences, with each geofence in the database being associated with an IP address, preferably an IPV6 address. Each geofence is defined using at least one geographic designator, preferably real property boundaries. Entitlements can be associated with geofences relating to permissive and prohibitive activities within the geofences.

Claims

1. A method for registering a geofence in a database of geofences, comprising:

defining a geofence using a plurality of geographic designators;

assigning a plurality of unique internet protocol (IP) addresses to the plurality of geographic designators defining the geofence such that each geographic designator is assigned a unique IP address; and

storing the plurality of geographic designators and the assigned unique IP address of each of the plurality of geographic designators in the database of geofences,

wherein each of the plurality of geographic designators is a point on the surface of the Earth defined by a coordinate system with a distance between points of the coordinate system being between about 0.5 microns and 5 microns;

wherein at least one of the plurality of unique IP addresses assigned to the plurality of geographic designators is encoded as at least one anchor point of the geofence, wherein the at least one anchor point of the geofence is a unique identifier of the geofence;

wherein the plurality of unique IP addresses are IPv6 addresses;

wherein the at least one of the plurality of unique IP addresses that is encoded as the at least one anchor point of the geofence includes between 0 bits and 63 bits for location data and at least 64 bits for metadata, wherein the metadata includes classes, entitlements, and lookup table identifiers, wherein the at least 64 bits for the metadata are operable to be redefined via the lookup table identifiers;

wherein the entitlements provide permissions for a mobile device to pair with activated devices located within the geofence and permissions for the mobile device to control the activated devices within the geofence, wherein the activated devices include lighting devices, HVAC devices, and/or audio/video devices within the geofence, wherein the mobile device cannot affect controls or settings outside the geofence;

wherein the entitlements provide, upon the mobile device attempting to access restricted content within the geofence, for redirecting the mobile device to owner-defined content, wherein the owner-defined content is defined by an owner of the geofence;

wherein the classes determine a precedence of the geofence in relation to an overlapping geofence which is defined using at least one of the plurality of geographic designators defining the geofence.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the entitlements are activated and/or deactivated upon payment of a fee.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the entitlements include a rule enabling content for the mobile device located within the geofence.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the entitlements include a rule requiring a user of the mobile device to accept an agreement for an advertisement to be displayed on the mobile device, wherein the entitlements also include access to additional content for the user of the mobile device within the geofence upon the user of the mobile device accepting the agreement for the advertisement to be displayed on the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein a boundary of the geofence is defined using at least one real property boundary, and wherein the boundary of the geofence is defined within between about 1 micron and about 2 centimeters of the at least one real property boundary.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the database of geofences in real-time with a number and identities of Internet-connected devices currently using the Internet within the at least one geofence.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the entitlements include a rule redirecting the devices to preferred content, further comprising redirecting the mobile device to the preferred content.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising a licensee paying a fee for redirecting the mobile device to the preferred content.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising defining one of the plurality of geographic designators to be a drone landing and pick up point.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising blocking drones from flying across the geofence.

6. A geofence database system comprising:

a geofence database including a multiplicity of geofences, wherein each of the multiplicity of geofences is defined by a plurality of geographic designators;

a server including a processor;

wherein each of the plurality of geographic designators is a point on the surface of the Earth defined by a coordinate system with a distance between points of the coordinate system being between about 0.5 microns and 5 microns;

wherein at least one of the plurality of geographic designators is included in defining at least two of the multiplicity of geofences, such that the at least two of the multiplicity of geofences overlap;

wherein each of the plurality of geographic designators is defined by a unique Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) address, such that each of the multiplicity of geofences is defined by a plurality of unique IPv6 addresses; and

wherein for each of the multiplicity of geofences, one of the plurality of unique IPv6 addresses is encoded as an anchor point, wherein the anchor point is a unique identifier of each of the multiplicity of geofences;

wherein the one of the plurality of unique IPv6 addresses that is encoded as the anchor point includes between 0 bits and 63 bits for location data and at least 64 bits for metadata, wherein the metadata includes at least one class, at least one entitlement, and lookup table identifiers, wherein the at least 64 bits for the metadata are operable to be redefined via the lookup table identifiers;

wherein the at least one class determines a precedence of the at least two of the multiplicity of geofences in relation to each other;

wherein the at least one entitlement includes a rule restricting content accessed via a network connection for devices located within the multiplicity of geofences, wherein the rule restricting content restricts the content based on the content and the rule redirects the devices to owner-defined content, wherein the owner-defined content is defined by owners of the multiplicity of geofences; and

wherein the server is operable to register the multiplicity of geofences in the geofence database.

7. The geofence database system of claim 6, wherein the geofence database system further comprises a geofence entitlement manager, wherein the geofence entitlement manager is operable to activate the at least one entitlement for the devices located within the multiplicity of geofences.

8. The geofence database system of claim 7, wherein the at least one entitlement includes a rule enabling content for the devices located within the multiplicity of geofences.

9. The geofence database system of claim 7, wherein the at least one entitlement includes a rule requiring content for the devices located within the multiplicity of geofences.

10. A system for registering geofence data comprising:

at least one server including a processor, a memory, and a geofence database constructed and configured for network communication with at least one mobile device;

wherein each of a plurality of geographic designators is defined by a unique Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) address;

wherein each of the plurality of geographic designators is a point on the surface of the Earth defined by a coordinate system with a distance between points of the coordinate system being between about 0.5 microns and 5 microns;

wherein the server is operable to receive a registration request for at least one geofence defined by the plurality of geographic designators or the plurality of unique IPv6 addresses;

wherein at least one of the plurality of the unique IPv6 addresses is encoded as at least one anchor point of the at least one geofence, wherein the at least one anchor point of the at least one geofence is a unique identifier of the at least one geofence;

wherein the at least one of the plurality of unique IP addresses that is encoded as the at least one anchor point of the at least one geofence includes location data and metadata, wherein the metadata includes classes, entitlements, and lookup table identifiers, wherein the metadata are operable to be redefined via the lookup table identifiers;

wherein the classes determine a precedence of the at least one geofence in relation to an overlapping geofence which is defined using at least one of the plurality of geographic designators defining the at least one geofence;

wherein the at least one entitlement provides permissions for the at least one mobile device to pair with activated devices located within the at least one geofence and permissions for the at least one mobile device to control the activated devices within the at least one geofence, wherein the activated devices include lighting devices, HVAC devices, and/or audio/video devices within the at least one geofence, wherein the at least one mobile device cannot affect controls or settings outside the at least one geofence; and

wherein the server is operable to store the at least one geofence in the geofence database.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising a geofence entitlement manager, wherein the geofence entitlement manager is operable to activate the at least one entitlement for the at least one mobile device located within the at least one geofence.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one entitlement includes a rule restricting content accessed via a network connection for the at least one mobile device when located within the at least one geofence, wherein the rule restricting content restricts the content based on the content.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one entitlement includes a rule enabling content for the at least one mobile device when located within the at least one geofence.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one entitlement includes a rule requiring content for the at least one mobile device when located within the at least one geofence.