Generating geofences

• US 9,351,114 B2
• Filed: 09/27/2013
• Issued: 05/24/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chatterjee, Shuvo, Henderson, William, Spindel, Nathan, Perry, Scott Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Shen, Qun
• Application Number:
  US14/040,328
• Publication Number:
  US 20150031388A1
• Time in Patent Office: 970 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/322 Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0639 Item locations
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for generating geofences. One of the methods includes receiving, at a mobile device, a signal emitted by a merchant device associated with a merchant. If the signal is emitted by a merchant device associated with a merchant and the distance between the mobile device and the merchant device satisfies a threshold, a notification is provided on the mobile device indicating proximity of the merchant associated with the merchant device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

obtaining location information for a plurality of merchant locations that are within a threshold distance of a location of a mobile device;

determining a first merchant location and a second merchant location that are nearest to the location of the mobile device among the plurality of merchant locations;

determining a triggering geofence that encloses a geographic region that includes the first merchant location and the second merchant location;

determining a size of the geographic region enclosed by the triggering geofence;

determining that the size of the geographic region enclosed by the triggering geofence is smaller than a threshold size;

based at least in part on the determining that the size of the geographic region enclosed by the triggering geofence is smaller than the threshold size, selecting the first merchant location and the second merchant location to have a common coalesced geofence, wherein the common coalesced geofence is a local geofence shared by the first merchant location and the second merchant location; and

associating the first merchant location and the second merchant location with the common coalesced geofence,

and wherein detection of the mobile device within the common coalesced geofence triggers a notification on the mobile device indicating a first proximity of the mobile device to the first merchant location and a second proximity of the mobile device to the second merchant location.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating an additional local geofence for a third merchant location of the plurality of merchant locations.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

generating a larger triggering geofence that encloses a larger geographic region that includes the third merchant location.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating the common coalesced geofence based at least in part on a first local geofence associated with the first merchant location and a second local geofence associated with the second merchant location.

5. A computer-implemented method comprising:

obtaining location information for a plurality of merchant locations;

determining a first merchant location and a second merchant location that are nearest to a location of a mobile device among the plurality of merchant locations;

determining a triggering geofence that encloses a geographic region that includes the first merchant location and the second merchant location;

determining that a size of the geographic region enclosed by the triggering geofence satisfies a threshold size; and

based at least in part on the determining that the size of the triggering geofence satisfies the threshold size, associating the first merchant location and the second merchant location with a common coalesced geofence,

and wherein detection of the mobile device within the common coalesced geofence triggers a notification on the mobile device that indicates a first proximity of the mobile device to the first merchant location and a second proximity of the mobile device to the second merchant location.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the determining that the size of the geographic region enclosed by the triggering geofence satisfies the threshold size comprises determining that at least one of a radius, an axis, or an area of the geographic region enclosed by the triggering geofence satisfies the threshold size.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising determining the size of the geographic region enclosed by the triggering geofence based at least in part on a distance between the location of the mobile device and a third merchant location of the plurality of merchant locations.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining a triggering geofence by repeatedly;

selecting a number of nearest merchant locations including the first merchant location and the second merchant location to have a common coalesced geofence;

updating the number of nearest merchant locations to include a merchant location that is not among the number of nearest merchant locations; and

updating the triggering geofence to enclose a geographic region that includes the updated number of nearest merchant locations until a size of the triggering geofence is larger than an additional threshold size.

9. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

selecting the first merchant location and the second merchant location as merchant locations that are nearest to the mobile device.

10. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

selecting the first merchant location and the second merchant locations as merchant locations that are nearest to one another among the number of nearest merchant locations.

11. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

selecting the first merchant location and the second merchant location as merchant locations that have local geofences that are most overlapping among local geofences associated with the number of nearest merchant locations.

12. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

generating a local geofence for a third merchant location of the plurality of merchant locations.

13. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

generating the common coalesced geofence that encloses the first merchant location and the second merchant location based at least in part on a first local geofence of the first merchant location and a second local geofence of the second merchant location.

14. A computer-implemented method comprising:

obtaining location information for a plurality of merchant locations that are within a threshold distance of a location of a mobile device;

determining a first merchant location and a second merchant location that are nearest to the location of the mobile device among the plurality of merchant locations;

generating a first local geofence for the first merchant location and a second local geofence for the second merchant location, wherein each of the first local geofence and the second local geofence encloses a circular geographic region having an associated first radius value;

determining a triggering geofence that encloses a geographic region that includes the first merchant location and the second merchant location, wherein the triggering geofence encloses a circular geographic region having an associated second radius value;

determining that the second radius value is larger than a threshold radius value; and

based at least in part on the determining that the second radius value is larger than the threshold radius value generating an updated first local geofence for the first merchant location based at least in part on the first local geofence and an updated second local geofence for the second merchant location based at least in part on the second local geofence, wherein each of the updated first local geofence and the updated second local geofence encloses a circular geographic region having a third radius value that is larger than the first radius value,

and wherein detection of the mobile device within updated first local geofence or the updated second local geofence triggers a notification.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the third radius value is one half of the second radius value.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the second radius value is associated with a distance between the location of the mobile device and a third merchant location.

17. A computer-implemented method comprising:

obtaining information for a plurality of merchant locations that are within a threshold distance of a location of a mobile device;

determining a first merchant location and a second merchant location that are nearest to the location of the mobile device among the plurality of merchant locations, wherein the first merchant location is associated with a first local geofence that encloses a first geographic region that is at least a first size and the second merchant location is associated with a second local geofence that encloses a second geographic region that is at least the first size;

determining a triggering geofence that encloses a geographic region that includes the first merchant location and the second merchant location;

determining that a size of the geographic region enclosed by the triggering geofence satisfies a threshold size;

based at least in part on the determining that the size of the geographic region enclosed by the triggering geofence satisfies the threshold size, determining a second size for local geofences, wherein the second size is larger than the first size; and

generating an updated first local geofence for the first merchant location and an updated second local geofence for the second merchant location, wherein each of the updated first merchant location and the updated second merchant location encloses a geographic region that is at least the second size,

and wherein detection of the mobile device within updated first local geofence or the updated second local geofence triggers a notification.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

determining a distance between the mobile device and a third merchant location of the plurality of merchant locations; and

determining the second size as a ratio of the distance between the mobile device and the third merchant location.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the ratio is at least one third of the distance between the mobile device and the third merchant location.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving, at the mobile device, an indication that the mobile device is within the updated first local geofence for the first merchant location; and

providing a notification on the mobile device indicating a proximity of a merchant corresponding to the first merchant location.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein determining that the size of the geographic region enclosed by the triggering geofence satisfies the threshold size comprises determining that a radius, an axis, or an area of the geographic region enclosed by the triggering geofence satisfies the threshold size.