Systems and methods for enabling additional devices to check in to bluetooth low energy (BLE) beacons

• US 9,571,957 B2
• Filed: 08/05/2016
• Issued: 02/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Granbery, John Hastings
• Primary Examiner(s): GONZALES, APRIL GUZMAN
• Application Number:
  US15/230,239
• Publication Number:
  US 20160345126A1
• Time in Patent Office: 193 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41.2
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/35 communicating wirelessly
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/308 using the Internet of Things
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/321 using wearable devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3223 Realising banking transactions through M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3224 Transactions dependent on location of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/326 Payment applications installed on the mobile devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/327 Short range or proximity payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/26 at least one of which is mobile
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/068 using time-dependent keys, e.g. periodically changing keys cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for controlling usage of secret information H04L9/088
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0876 based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0631 : Substitution permutation network [SPN], i.e. cipher composed of a number of stages or rounds each involving linear and nonlinear transformations, e.g. AES algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 : Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/04 : Key management, e.g. using generic bootstrapping architecture [GBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/0431 : Key distribution or pre-distribution; Key agreement
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 : Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/50 : Secure pairing of devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/71 : Hardware identity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/75 : Temporary identity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/025 : using location based information parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 : Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 : for social networking applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 : Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/244 : using a network of reference devices, e.g. beaconing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/10 : using broadcasted information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/11 : Allocation or use of connection identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/34 : Selective release of ongoing connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 : Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for checking many users in to a location using a Bluetooth® low energy (BLE) beacon. The provided systems and methods may allow a BLE beacon to facilitate a check in with a remote server that processes check ins and then disconnect from the device used to check in. The device may be assigned a unique identifier that may be broadcast from the device during the check in so that the BLE beacon can quickly scan for the identifier and connect with the device based on the identifier to provide content and other information to the device.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a non-transitory memory; and

one or more hardware processors coupled to the non-transitory memory and configured to read instructions from the non-transitory memory to cause the system to perform operations comprising;

receiving, from a user device through one or more wireless transceivers that communicate via a local wireless protocol, a check-in request;

transmitting, to a server, the check-in request;

receiving, from the server in response to the transmitted check-in request, a device identifier;

transmitting, to the user device through the one or more wireless transceivers via the local wireless protocol, the device identifier;

receiving, from the server, content that is directed to the user device;

detecting, through the one or more wireless transceivers via the local wireless protocol, the device identifier being broadcast by the user device; and

transmitting, to the user device through the one or more wireless transceivers via the local wireless protocol and in response to receiving the content that is directed to the user device and detecting the device identifier being broadcast by the user device, the content.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the local wireless protocol is Bluetooth®

, Bluetooth®

Low Energy, Near Field Communications (NFC), or Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, from the user device through the one or more wireless transceivers via the local wireless protocol, a request to communicate; and

transmitting, to the user device through the one or more wireless transceivers via the local wireless protocol, metadata, a beacon token, and a digital signature in response to receiving the request to communicate, the metadata, beacon token, and digital signature being usable by the user device to generate the check-in request.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining whether the device identifier is no longer being broadcast by the user device at a location of the system;

transmitting, to the server, a notification that the user device is no longer present at the location in response to the determining; and

receiving, from the server, a notification that the user device is checked out.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the device identifier comprises a universally unique identifier (UUID).

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise stopping communication with the user device between transmitting the device identifier to the user device and transmitting the content to the user device.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise stopping communication with the user device after transmitting the content to the user device.

8. A method comprising:

receiving, by a beacon device from a user device through one or more wireless transceivers that communicate via a local wireless protocol, a check-in request;

transmitting, by the beacon device to a server, the check-in request;

receiving, by the beacon device from the server in response to the transmitted check-in request, a device identifier;

transmitting, by the beacon device to the user device through the one or more wireless transceivers via the local wireless protocol, the device identifier;

receiving, by the beacon device from the server, content that is directed to the user device;

detecting, by the beacon device through the one or more wireless transceivers via the local wireless protocol, the device identifier being broadcast by the user device; and

transmitting, by the beacon device to the user device through the one or more wireless transceivers via the local wireless protocol and in response to receiving the content that is directed to the user device and detecting the device identifier being broadcast by the user device, the content.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the local wireless protocol is Bluetooth®

, Bluetooth®

Low Energy, Near Field Communications (NFC), or Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving, by the beacon device from the user device through the one or more wireless transceivers via the local wireless protocol, a request to communicate; and

transmitting, by the beacon device to the user device through the one or more wireless transceivers via the local wireless protocol, metadata, a beacon token, and a digital signature in response to receiving the request to communicate, the metadata, beacon token, and digital signature being usable by the user device to generate the check-in request.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining, by the beacon device, whether the device identifier is no longer being broadcast by the user device at a location of the beacon device;

transmitting, by the beacon device to the server, a notification that the user device is no longer present at the location in response to the determining; and

receiving, by the beacon device from the server, a notification that the user device is checked out.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the device identifier comprises a universally unique identifier (UUID).

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising stopping, by the beacon device, communication with the user device between transmitting the device identifier to the user device and transmitting the content to the user device.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising stopping, by the beacon device, communication with the user device after transmitting the content to the user device.

15. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having store thereon machine-readable instructions executable to cause a machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving a check-in request from a client computing device through one or more wireless interfaces that communicate using a local wireless protocol;

forwarding the check-in request to a remote server;

receiving a device identifier for the client computing device from the remote server in response to the forwarded check-in request;

forwarding the device identifier to the client computing device using the one or more wireless interfaces and the local wireless protocol;

receiving content for delivery to the client computing device from the remote server;

detecting broadcasting of the device identifier by the client computing device using the one or more wireless interfaces and the local wireless protocol; and

forwarding the content to the client computing device using the one or more wireless interfaces and the local wireless protocol in response to receiving the content for delivery to the client computing device and detecting broadcasting of the device identifier by the client computing device.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the local wireless protocol is Bluetooth®

, Bluetooth®

Low Energy, Near Field Communications (NFC), or Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).

17. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a request to communicate from the client computing device using the one or more wireless interfaces and the local wireless protocol; and

transmitting metadata, a beacon token, and a digital signature to the client computing device using the one or more wireless interfaces and the local wireless protocol in response to receiving the request to communicate, the metadata, beacon token, and digital signature being usable by the client computing device to generate the check-in request.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

transmitting a first message to the remote server that the client computing device is no longer present at a location of the machine in response to no longer detecting broadcasting of the device identifier by the client computing device;

receiving a second message from the remote server that the client computing device is checked out; and

ceasing to scan for the broadcast device identifier in response to receiving the second message indicating that the client computing device is checked out.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise ceasing active communication with the client computing device between forwarding the device identifier to the client computing device and forwarding the content to the client computing device.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise ceasing active communication with the client computing device after forwarding the content to the client computing device.