Public and private geo-fences

• US 9,712,962 B2
• Filed: 12/13/2013
• Issued: 07/18/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Calvert, Thomas H., Johnson, Derick Arnold, Reese, Kenneth W., Birch, Thomas A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mushambo, Martin
• Application Number:
  US14/768,704
• Publication Number:
  US 20160007151A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,313 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/107 wherein the security policies are location-dependent, e.g. entities privileges depend on current location or allowing specific operations only from locally connected terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/088 using filters or firewalls
• 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 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]

Abstract

Embodiments for implementing public and private geo-fences are generally described herein. A system comprises a geo-fence server adapted to: receive geographical coordinates of a device; determine that the device is located in a geo-fence; determine a type of the geo-fence; and transmit a notification to the device based on the type of the geo-fence. A mobile device for using person-to-person geo-fences is adapted to: receive a geo-fence object; store the geo-fence object at the mobile device; subsequent to storing the geo-fence object, obtain a geographical position of the mobile device; determine whether the mobile device is located in a geo-fence based on the geographical position; determine whether the geo-fence object is associated with the geo-fence; and present the geo-fence object when the geo-fence object is associated with the geo-fence.

Claims

1. A system for using a geo-fence, the system comprising:

a geo-fence server to;

receive geographical coordinates of a device;

determine that the device is located in a geo-fence;

determine a type of the geo-fence, the type selected from a set of types including private geo-fences and public geo-fences, and the type designated in a user interface that provides an option to set the geo-fence as private or public; and

transmit a notification to the device based on the type of the geo-fence.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the type of the geo-fence area is a private geo-fence.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein to transmit the notification to the device, the geo-fence server is adapted to:

identify a user of the device;

determine whether the user is a valid recipient of the notification; and

transmit the notification when the user is a valid recipient.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein to transmit the notification to the device, the geo-fence server is adapted to:

identify a user of the device;

determine whether the user is a member of a group associated with the private geo-fence; and

transmit the notification when the user is a member of the group associated with the private geo-fence.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the group is defined based on a social network group associated with the user.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the private geo-fence is a personal geo-fence.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein to transmit the notification to the device, the geo-fence server is adapted to:

identify a user of the device;

determine whether the user is a creator of the geo-fence; and

transmit the notification when the user is the creator of the geo-fence.

8. A mobile device for using person-to-person geo-fences, the mobile device adapted to:

receive a geo-fence object;

store the geo-fence object at the mobile device;

subsequent to storing the geo-fence object, obtain a geographical position of the mobile device;

determine, at the mobile device, whether the mobile device is located in a geo-fence based on the geographical position;

determine, at the mobile device, whether the geo-fence object is associated with the geo-fence; and

present the geo-fence object when the geo-fence object is associated with the geo-fence.

9. The mobile device of claim 8, wherein to present the geo-fence object, the mobile device is adapted to:

determine whether the geo-fence object associated with the geo-fence is active; and

present the geo-fence object when the geo-fence object is active.

10. The mobile device of claim 8, wherein to receive the goo-fence object, the mobile device is adapted to evaluate a source of the goo-fence object to determine whether the source is a trusted source;

and

wherein to store the geo-fence object, the mobile device is adapted to keep the geo-fence object when the source is determined to be a trusted source.

11. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the mobile device is adapted to:

present an indication that the geo-fence object is from a trusted source when presenting the geo-fence object.

12. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein to valuate the source to determine whether the source is a trusted source, the mobile device is adapted to:

identify the source;

access a local database to determine whether the source is on a whitelist; and

determine that the source is a trusted source when the source is on the whitelist.

13. A method for using public and private geo-fences, the method comprising:

receiving at a geo-fence server, geographical coordinates of a device;

determining by the geo-fence server that the device is located in a geo-fence;

determining a type of the geo-fence, the type selected from a set of types including private geo-fences and public geo-fences, and the type designated in a user interface that provides an option to set the geo-fence as private or public; and

transmitting a notification to the device based on the type of the geo-fence.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the type of the geo-fence area is a public geo-fence from a trusted source.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the trusted source is authenticated using a certificate system.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein transmitting the notification comprises transmitting an indication that the public geo-fence is from a trusted source.

17. A method for using person-to-person geo-fences, the method comprising:

receiving a geo-fence object at a mobile device;

storing the geo-fence object at the mobile device;

subsequent to storing the geo-fence object, obtaining a geographical position of the mobile device;

determining, at the mobile device, whether the mobile device is located in a geo-fence based on the geographical position;

determining, at the mobile device, whether the geo-fence object is associated with the geo-fence; and

presenting the geo-fence object when the geo-fence object is associated with the geo-fence.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein storing the geo-fence object includes discarding the geo-fence object when the source is determined not to be a trusted source.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the geo-fence object is an extensible markup language (XML) object.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the geo-fence object was received over a messaging service.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the messaging service is one of SMS or MMS.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the geographical position is obtained by Global Positioning Systems (GPS), assisted GPS, cellular triangulation, or Wi-Fi triangulation.

23. A machine-readable medium including instructions for using public and private geo-fences, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving at a geo-fence server, geographical coordinates of a device;

determining by the geo-fence server that the device is located in a geo-fence;

determining a type of the geo-fence, the type selected from a set of types including private geo-fences and public geo-fences, and the type designated in a user interface that provides an option to set the geo-fence as private or public; and

transmitting a notification to the device based on the type of the geo-fence.

24. A machine-readable medium including instructions for using person-to-person geo-fences, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving a geo-fence object at a mobile device;

storing the geo-fence object at the mobile device;

subsequent to storing the geo-fence object, obtaining a geographical position of the mobile device;

determining, at the mobile device, whether the mobile device is located in a geo-fence based on the geographical position;

determining, at the mobile device, whether the geo-fence object is associated with the geo-fence; and

presenting the geo-fence object when the geo-fence object is associated with the geo-fence.