Building selection in elevator system supporting mobile device calls

• US 9,878,875 B1
• Filed: 09/30/2016
• Issued: 01/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Otis Elevator Company (Otis Worldwide Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Otis Elevator Company (Otis Worldwide Corp.)
• Inventors: Scoville, Bradley Armand, Dubois, Kelly Martin, Namane, Walid
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Mahendra
• Application Number:
  US15/282,301
• Time in Patent Office: 487 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561, 455 412, 455420, 4554563, 187382, 187141, 187391, 340521
• CPC Class Codes: B66B 1/468 Call registering systems
• CPC Class Codes: B66B 2201/4653 wherein the call is registered using portable devices
• 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 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections

Abstract

A method for connecting a mobile device to an elevator system, the mobile device executing a mobile application for issuing elevator calls to the elevator system, includes: determining a geographical location of the mobile device; obtaining a list of buildings within a geographical range of the geographical location of the mobile device; determining if a registered building is in the list of buildings, the registered building being a building at which a user has registered with the elevator system; and automatically establishing a connection between the mobile device and the elevator system at the registered building.

Claims

1. A method for connecting a mobile device to an elevator system, the mobile device executing a mobile application for issuing elevator calls to the elevator system, the method comprising:

determining a geographical location of the mobile device;

obtaining a list of buildings within a geographical range of the geographical location of the mobile device;

determining if a registered building is in the list of buildings, the registered building being a building at which a user has registered with the elevator system; and

automatically establishing a connection between the mobile device and the elevator system at the registered building nearest to the geographical location of the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the determining includes determining if the list of buildings includes a preferred building, the preferred building being a registered building that the user has designated as preferred; and

wherein the automatically establishing the connection between the mobile device and the elevator system comprises establishing the connection between the mobile device and the elevator system at the preferred building.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the automatically establishing the connection between the mobile device and the elevator system comprises establishing the connection between the mobile device and the elevator system at the preferred building nearest to the geographical location of the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein:

the establishing the connection between the mobile device and the elevator system at the preferred building nearest to the geographical location of the mobile device occurs when the preferred building nearest to the geographical location of the mobile device is within a first threshold distance.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein:

when the preferred building nearest to the geographical location of the mobile device is not within the first threshold distance, then establishing the connection between the mobile device and the elevator system at a registered building nearest to the geographical location of the mobile device when the registered building nearest to the geographical location of the mobile device is within a second threshold distance.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a selection to establish a connection with a second elevator system at a second building;

terminating the connection between the mobile device and the elevator system at the registered building; and

establishing a second connection between the mobile device and the second elevator system at the second building.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein:

establishing the second connection between the mobile device and the second elevator system at the second building includes determining if the user is registered with the second building;

when the user is registered with the second building, establishing the second connection between the mobile device and the second elevator system at the second building;

when the user is not registered with the second building, completing a registration process with the second elevator system at the second building prior to establishing the second connection between the mobile device and the second elevator system at the second building.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein:

completing the registration process with the second elevator system at the second building prior to establishing the second connection between the mobile device and the second elevator system at the second building includes designating the second building as a preferred building.

9. A mobile device comprising:

a memory storing a mobile application;

a processor for executing the mobile application; and

a communications module for communicating with an elevator system;

wherein the processor executes the mobile application to implement operations comprising;

determining a geographical location of the mobile device;

obtaining a list of buildings within a geographical range of the geographical location of the mobile device;

determining if a registered building is in the list of buildings, the registered building being a building at which a user has registered with the elevator system; and

automatically establishing a connection between the mobile device and the elevator system at the registered building nearest to the geographical location of the mobile device.

10. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein:

the determining includes determining if the list of buildings includes a preferred building, the preferred building being a registered building that the user has designated as preferred; and

wherein the automatically establishing the connection between the mobile device and the elevator system comprises establishing the connection between the mobile device and the elevator system at the preferred building.

11. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein:

the automatically establishing the connection between the mobile device and the elevator system comprises establishing the connection between the mobile device and the elevator system at the preferred building nearest to the geographical location of the mobile device.

12. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein:

the establishing the connection between the mobile device and the elevator system at the preferred building nearest to the geographical location of the mobile device occurs when the preferred building nearest to the geographical location of the mobile device is within a first threshold distance.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein:

when the preferred building nearest to the geographical location of the mobile device is not within the first threshold distance, then establishing the connection between the mobile device and the elevator system at a registered building nearest to the geographical location of the mobile device when the registered building nearest to the geographical location of the mobile device is within a second threshold distance.

14. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a selection to establish a connection with a second elevator system at a second building;

terminating the connection between the mobile device and the elevator system at the registered building; and

establishing a second connection between the mobile device and the second elevator system at the second building.

15. The mobile device of claim 14, wherein:

establishing the second connection between the mobile device and the second elevator system at the second building includes determining if the user is registered with the second building;

when the user is registered with the second building, establishing the second connection between the mobile device and the second elevator system at the second building;

when the user is not registered with the second building, completing a registration process with the second elevator system at the second building prior to establishing the second connection between the mobile device and the second elevator system at the second building.

16. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein:

completing the registration process with the second elevator system at the second building prior to establishing the second connection between the mobile device and the second elevator system at the second building includes designating the second building as a preferred building.

17. A computer program product for connecting a mobile device and an elevator system, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to implement operations comprising:

determining a geographical location of the mobile device;

obtaining a list of buildings within a geographical range of the geographical location of the mobile device;

determining if a registered building is in the list of buildings, the registered building being a building at which a user has registered with the elevator system; and

automatically establishing a connection between the mobile device and the elevator system at the registered building nearest to the geographical location of the mobile device.