Systems and methods for geo-staging of sensor data through distributed global (cloud) architecture

• US 9,432,450 B2
• Filed: 02/21/2012
• Issued: 08/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fedex Corporate Services Incorporated (FedEx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fedex Corporate Services Incorporated (FedEx Corporation)
• Inventors: Skaaksrud, Ole-Petter, Ainsworth, Miley
• Primary Examiner(s): Kincaid, Lester
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gu, Andy
• Application Number:
  US13/401,648
• Publication Number:
  US 20120214506A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,652 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/3065 for real time traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/101 based on network conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1021 based on client or server locations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1023 based on a hash applied to IP addresses or costs
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 for collecting sensor information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/12 based on transmission quality or channel quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/18 based on predicted events
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/20 based on geographic position or location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination

Abstract

There is disclosed a method of staging real-time data in proximity to a mobile device. The method includes determining a geographic location associated with the mobile device and identifying a storage device located in proximity to the determined geographic location. The method also includes enabling real-time data published by the mobile device or provided to the mobile device to be stored on the identified storage device.

Claims

1. A method of staging real-time data in proximity to a mobile device, the method comprising:

predicting a plurality of geographic locations to which the mobile device may be associated in a subsequent time period based on a set of known package delivery routes;

identifying a set of potential storage devices for each of the predicted plurality of geographic locations, and determining a network speed linking the mobile device to each of the potential storage devices;

selecting one or more storage devices from among the set of potential storage devices based on the determined network speed and a physical distance between the storage device and the geographical location;

determining a weight for each of the selected storage devices, the weight based on a probability that the mobile device will travel to a respective one of the predicted plurality of geographic locations; and

enabling the mobile device to access a set of data at a location corresponding to one of the predicted plurality of geographic locations by transmitting the set of data to a subset of the selected storage devices based on the weight.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the predicted plurality of geographic locations comprise GPS coordinates.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

one of the identified potential storage devices is a first storage device;

a second storage device is geographically located farther away from one of the predicted plurality of geographic locations associated with the first storage device than the first storage device; and

enabling the set of data to be stored on the first storage device instead of the second storage device to reduce latency of delivering the set of data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein predicting the plurality of geographic locations further comprises:

polling the mobile device;

in response to the poll, receiving information identifying the geographic location of the mobile device; and

predicting the plurality of geographic locations based on a speed and direction associated with the received information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein predicting the plurality of geographic locations further comprises:

identifying a plurality of geographic locations to which the mobile device may travel;

determining, for each of the identified plurality of geographic locations, a probability that the mobile device will travel to a respective one of the plurality of geographic locations; and

determining the predicted plurality of geographic locations based on the determined probabilities.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein predicting the plurality of geographic locations further comprises determining whether the probability that the mobile device will travel to the respective one of the plurality of geographic locations exceeds a predefined threshold.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the subset of the selected storage devices includes storage devices whose weight exceeds a predefined threshold.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of data includes a current environmental condition associated with the one of the predicted plurality of geographic locations.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein at least two of the predicted plurality of geographic locations are located along a first route in the set of possible delivery routes.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method of staging real-time data in proximity to a mobile device, the method comprising:

predicting a plurality of geographic locations to which the mobile device may be associated in a subsequent time period based on a set of known package delivery routes;

identifying a set of potential storage devices for each of the predicted plurality of geographic locations, and determining a network speed linking the mobile device to each of the potential storage devices;

selecting one or more storage devices from among the set of potential storage devices based on the determined network speed and a physical distance between the storage device and the geographical location;

determining a weight for each of the selected storage devices, the weight based on a probability that the mobile device will travel to a respective one of the predicted plurality of geographic locations; and

enabling the mobile device to access a set of data at a location corresponding to one of the predicted plurality of geographic locations by transmitting the set of data to a subset of the selected storage devices based on the weight.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the predicted plurality of geographic locations comprise GPS coordinates.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein:

one of the identified potential storage devices is a first storage device;

a second storage device is geographically located farther away from one of the predicted plurality of geographic locations associated with the first storage device than the first storage device; and

enabling the set of data to be stored on the first storage device instead of the second storage device to reduce latency of delivering the set of data.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the proximity for each storage device is further based on a network speed linking the mobile device to the storage device, and wherein selecting the storage device from among the set of storage devices is further based on the network speed.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein predicting the plurality of geographic locations further comprises:

polling the mobile device;

in response to the poll, receiving information identifying the geographic location of the mobile device; and

predicting the plurality of geographic locations based on a speed and direction associated with the received information.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein predicting the plurality of geographic locations further comprises:

identifying a plurality of geographic locations to which the mobile device may travel;

determining, for each of the identified plurality of geographic locations, a probability that the mobile device will travel to a respective one of the plurality of geographic locations; and

determining the predicted plurality of geographic locations based on the determined probabilities.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein predicting the plurality of geographic locations further comprises determining whether the probability that the mobile device will travel to the respective one of the plurality of geographic locations exceeds a predefined threshold.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the subset of the selected storage devices includes storage devices whose weight exceeds a predefined threshold.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the set of data includes a current environmental condition associated with the one of the predicted plurality of geographic locations.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein at least two of the predicted plurality of geographic locations are located along a first route in the set of possible delivery routes.

20. A system for staging real-time data in proximity to a mobile device, the system comprising a host device configured to:

predict a plurality of geographic locations to which the mobile device may be associated in a subsequent time period based on a set of known package delivery routes;

identify a set of potential a storage devices for each of the predicted plurality of geographic locations, and determine a network speed linking the mobile device to each of the potential storage devices;

select one or more storage devices from among the set of storage devices based on the determined network speed and a physical distance between the storage device and the geographical location;

determine a weight for each of the selected storage devices, the weight based on a probability that the mobile device will travel to a respective one of the predicted plurality of geographic locations; and

enable the mobile device to access a set of data at a location corresponding to one of the predicted plurality of geographic locations by transmitting the set of data to a subset of the plurality of selected storage devices based on the weight.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the predicted plurality of geographic locations comprise GPS coordinates.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein:

one of the identified potential storage devices is a first storage device;

the system further comprises a second storage device that is geographically located farther away from one of the predicted plurality of geographic locations associated with the first storage device than the first storage device; and

the host device is further configured to enable the set of data to be stored on the first storage device instead of the second storage device to reduce latency of delivering the set of data.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein the proximity for each storage device is further based on a network speed linking the mobile device to the storage device, and wherein selecting the storage device from among the set of storage devices is further based on the network speed.

24. The system of claim 20, wherein by predicting the plurality of geographic locations, the host device is further configured to:

poll the mobile device;

in response to the poll, receive information identifying the geographic location of the mobile device; and

predict the plurality of geographic locations based on a speed and direction associated with the received information.

25. The system of claim 20, wherein by predicting the plurality of geographic locations, the host is further configured to:

identify a plurality of geographic locations to which the mobile device may travel;

determine, for each of the identified plurality of geographic locations, a probability that the mobile device will travel to a respective one of the plurality of geographic locations; and

determine the predicted plurality of geographic locations based on the determined probabilities.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein predicting the plurality of geographic locations further comprises determining whether the probability that the mobile device will travel to the respective one of the plurality of geographic locations exceeds a predefined threshold.

27. The system of claim 20, wherein the subset of the selected storage devices includes storage devices whose weight exceeds a predefined threshold.

28. The system of claim 20, wherein the set of data includes a current environmental condition associated with the one of the predicted plurality of geographic locations.

29. The system of claim 20, wherein at least two of the predicted plurality of geographic locations are located along a first route in the set of possible delivery routes.