Method and apparatus for distributing services and data

• US 9,516,463 B2
• Filed: 02/13/2015
• Issued: 12/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Beattie, James G., Kandasamy, Veeramani
• Primary Examiner(s): DOAN, PHUOC HUU
• Application Number:
  US14/621,449
• Publication Number:
  US 20150163628A1
• Time in Patent Office: 662 Days
• Field of Search: 455/411, 455/456.3, 455/414.1, 455/456.1, 455/552.1, 340/572.1, 380/258, 370/329
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0226 based on location or mobility handoff or reselection H04W36/00; mobile application services making use of the location of users or terminals H04W4/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0231 based on communication conditions dynamic wireless traffic scheduling definition based on channel quality criteria H04W72/54
• 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 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/026 using orientation information, e.g. compass
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, determining a need to provide a service to a first communication device of a plurality of communication devices, detecting a movement of a second communication device of the plurality of communication devices in a direction that will place the second communication device in a communication range of the first communication device, and transmitting a message to the second communication device to provide the service to the first communication device when the second communication device comes into the communication range of the first communication device. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a memory to store executable instructions; and

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein responsive to executing the instructions, the processor performs operations comprising;

determining a need to distribute content to a first communication device;

detecting from a trajectory of a second communication device that the first communication device and the second communication device will be in a peer-to-peer communication range of each other; and

transmitting the content to the second communication device for distribution to the first communication device when the second communication device comes into the peer-to-peer communication range of the first communication device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein transmitting the content to the second communication device is responsive to determining that a traffic level of a network node communicatively coupled to the first communication device exceeds a threshold.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the network node comprises a cellular base station.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein transmitting the content to the second communication device is responsive to determining that a communication efficiency of a network node communicatively coupled to the first communication device is below a threshold.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the content comprises audio content or video content.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor comprises a plurality of processors operating in a distributed processing environment.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the content comprises a combination of video content and audio content.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the content comprises a software update.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the trajectory of the second communication device is based on location information received from the second communication device.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the trajectory of the second communication device is based on triangulation information provided by infrastructure communicatively coupled to the second communication device.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the trajectory of the second communication device is based on location data comprising geographic data and orientation data.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the geographic data is supplied by a coordinate sensor of the second communication device, and wherein the orientation data is supplied by an orientation sensor of the second communication device.

13. A method, comprising:

determining, by a system comprising a processor, a need to provide a service to a second communication device;

detecting, by the system, that a first communication device and the second communication device will be in a communication range of each other based on a trajectory of the first communication device; and

directing, by the system, the first communication device to provide the service to the second communication device when the first communication device comes into the communication range of the second communication device, wherein transmission of data between the first communication device and the second communication device occurs when the first communication device comes into peer-to-peer communication range of the second communication device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the processor comprises a plurality of processors operating in a distributed processing environment.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the service comprises voice communication services, data communication services or both.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the service comprises delivery of media content.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the first communication device initiates a local area network to deliver the service to the second communication device.

18. A non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions, which when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

determining, by a first communication device, that a second communication device will be in a communication range of the first communication device based on a trajectory of the first communication device, the second communication device, or both;

initiating, by the first communication device, a communication session with the second communication device when the second communication device is in the communication range of the first communication device; and

providing, by the first communication device, a service to the second communication device during the communication session.

19. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the processor comprises a plurality of processors operating in a distributed processing environment.

20. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the communication session comprises a local area network facilitated by the first communication device.