Proximity and tap detection using a wireless system

• US 9,769,598 B2
• Filed: 07/01/2016
• Issued: 09/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Linde, Joakim, Tucker, Brian J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Chi H
• Assistant Examiner(s): LOPATA, ROBERT J
• Application Number:
  US15/200,392
• Publication Number:
  US 20160316318A1
• Time in Patent Office: 445 Days
• Field of Search: 370252
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• 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 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• 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 88/02 Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

A method for detecting the proximity of a signal source using wireless systems is contemplated in which a wireless mobile device wirelessly receives packets from a signal source and determines a received signal strength for each packet. The wireless mobile device may store information based upon the received signal strength for each packet, and calculate from the information stored for all the packets, a current path loss value corresponding to a current distance from the wireless mobile device to the signal source. The wireless mobile device may then determine whether the current distance is sufficient to be an enabling condition such as tap, for example, for a data transfer or a transaction between the wireless mobile device and the signal source.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

wirelessly receiving, by a wireless mobile device, packets from a signal source and determining a received signal strength corresponding to each of a plurality of the received packets;

calculating, based at least in part on the determined received signal strength corresponding to each of the plurality of the received packets, a current distance of the wireless mobile device from the signal source, wherein calculating the current distance comprises determining a weighted average signal strength based on the plurality of the received packets, wherein a more recently received packet of the plurality of the received packets is assigned a higher weight than a less recently received packet; and

determining, by the wireless mobile device, whether the current distance is within a threshold distance sufficient for enabling an exchange of data between the wireless mobile device and the signal source, wherein the threshold distance corresponds to physically introducing the wireless mobile device into proximity of the signal source; and

enabling an operation based at least in part on the current distance being within a predetermined range.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the packets from the signal source correspond to advertising packets and the signal source comprises a point of sale terminal.

3. A wireless device comprising:

an antenna communicatively coupled to radio frequency circuitry for transmitting and/or receiving signals; and

proximity circuitry configured to perform operations comprising;

receiving, via the antenna, packets from a signal source;

generating, for the received packets, an associated signal strength;

determining a distance value representing a distance of the wireless device from the signal source, based at least in part on the associated signal strength for each of a plurality of the received packets;

determining to exclude a packet of the received packets from use in determining the distance value when the associated signal strength for the packet represents an outlier value; and

enabling an operation based at least in part on the distance value being within a predetermined range.

4. The wireless device of claim 3, wherein the packets comprise advertising packets that include a transmit power value.

5. The wireless device of claim 3, wherein the proximity circuitry is further configured to perform operations comprising initiating the operation without user input.

6. The wireless device of claim 3, wherein determining a distance value further comprises:

averaging the associated signal strength for each of the plurality of the received packets.

7. The wireless device of claim 6, wherein averaging the associated signal strength further comprises:

assigning a higher weight to the associated signal strength for a more recently received packet than the weight assigned to the associated signal strength for a less recently received packet of the plurality of the received packets.

8. The wireless device of claim 3, wherein generating the associated signal strength further comprises:

selecting, when the distance value is lower, fewer packets for the plurality of the received packets than when the distance value is higher.

9. The wireless device of claim 3, wherein enabling the operation further comprises:

providing a tap notification to an application.

10. The wireless device of claim 3, wherein the proximity circuitry is further configured to perform operations comprising:

generating advertising packets for transmission via the antenna.

11. The wireless device of claim 3, wherein the proximity circuitry is further configured to perform operations comprising:

initiating monitoring for the packets in response to receiving an instruction from an application executing on the wireless device.

12. The wireless device of claim 3, wherein the operation comprises a transaction or an exchange of data with another device.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that are executable by a processor of a wireless mobile device to:

generate, for received packets, an associated signal strength, wherein the packets are received, from a signal source, via an antenna of the wireless mobile device;

determine a distance value representing a distance of the wireless device from the signal source, based at least in part on the associated signal strength for each of a plurality of the received packets, wherein generating the associated signal strength is based at least in part on selecting, when the distance value is lower, fewer packets for the plurality of the received packets than when the distance value is higher; and

enable an operation based at least in part on the distance value being within a predetermined range.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, determine to exclude a packet of the received packets from use in determining the distance value when the associated signal strength for the packet represents an outlier value.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, determine the distance based at least in part on averaging the associated signal strength for each of the plurality of the received packets.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein averaging the associated signal strength further comprises assigning a higher weight to the associated signal strength for a more recently received packet than the weight assigned to the associated signal strength for a less recently received packet of the plurality of the received packets.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions to enable an operation comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, provide a tap notification to an application.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the packets comprise advertising packets that include a transmit power value, wherein the computer readable medium comprises instructions that, when executed by the processor, determine a distance to the signal source based on a received signal strength indication of the advertising packets.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 13, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, initiate monitoring for the packets in response to receiving an instruction from an application executing on the wireless mobile device.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the operation comprises a transaction or an exchange of data with another device.