Tracking device location and management

• US 9,911,311 B1
• Filed: 08/31/2016
• Issued: 03/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TILE, INC. (Life360 Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: TILE, INC. (Life360 Incorporated)
• Inventors: Kumar, Mayank, Gupta, Abhishek
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, An T
• Application Number:
  US15/253,617
• Publication Number:
  US 20180061209A1
• Time in Patent Office: 552 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1427 with transmitter-receiver for distance detection
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0277 Communication between units on a local network, e.g. Bluetooth, piconet, zigbee, Wireless Personal Area Networks [WPAN]
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0283 via a telephone network, e.g. cellular GSM
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/24 Reminder alarms, e.g. anti-loss alarms
• 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 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A tracking system determines that a first device of an owner of a tracking device is not within a proximity of the tracking device, that a second device is within a proximity of the tracking device, and whether a tracking application is not running on the first device. Responsive to determining that the tracking application is not running on the first device, the tracking system generates a notification informing the owner that the tracking application is not running on the first device. Responsive to determining that a location of the second device within a proximity of the tracking device is more than a threshold distance from a last known location of the tracking device, the tracking system generates a another notification informing the owner that the tracking device may be lost. The tracking system provides one or both of the notifications to the first device for display to the owner.

Claims

1. A method for locating a tracking device, comprising:

determining, by a central tracking system, that a first device of an owner of a tracking device is not within a proximity of the tracking device;

determining, by the central tracking system, that a second device is within the proximity of the tracking device;

determining, by the central tracking system, that a tracking application associated with the tracking device is not running on the first device, the tracking application configured to receive communications from the tracking device, to determine a location of the first device based on the received communications, and to provide the location of the first device and an identity of the tracking device to the central tracking system;

in response to determining that the tracking application is not running on the first device;

generating, by the central tracking system, a first notification informing the owner that the tracking application is not running on the first device;

in response to determining that a location of the second device within the proximity of the tracking device is more than a threshold distance away from a last known location of the tracking device, generating, by the central tracking system, a second notification informing the owner that the tracking device may be lost; and

providing, by the central tracking system, one or both of the first notification and the second notification to the first device for display to the owner.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to determining that the tracking application is not running on the first device;

in response to determining that the location of the second device within the proximity of the tracking device is greater than a threshold distance away from the last known location of the tracking device, determining, by the central tracking system, whether the location of the second device is within a pre-determined safe zone;

wherein the second notification is generated based further on determining that the location of the second device is not within the pre-determined safe zone.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

in response to determining that the tracking application is not running on the first device;

in response to determining that the location of the second device is within the pre-determined safe zone, generating, by the central tracking system, a third notification informing the owner that the tracking device is located within the safe zone.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to determining that the tracking application is not running on the first device;

in response to determining that the location of the second device within the proximity of the tracking device is less than a threshold distance away from the last known location of the tracking device, generating, by the tracking system, a third notification informing the owner that the tracking device is located less than a threshold distance away from the last known location of the first device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the tracking application is not running on the first device comprises:

receiving, by the central tracking system, a notification from the first device indicating that the tracking application is not running on the first mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the tracking application is not running on the first device comprises:

in response to not receiving a notification from the first device indicating that the tracking application is running on the first mobile device for more than a predetermined period of time, determining, by the central tracking system, that the tracking application is not running on the first device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to determining that the tracking application is not running on the first device;

generating, by the central tracking system, a third notification including a recommendation to the owner to verify that communication services of the first device are enabled; and

providing, by the central tracking system, the third notification to the first device for display to the owner.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein one or both of the first notification and the second notification include one or more of:

the location of the second device within the proximity of the tracking device, the last known location of the tracking device, information identifying the tracking device, an identity of an object with which the tracking device is associated, a narrative or text description of benefits of running the tracking application on the first device, a narrative or text description of benefits of a community network, and a narrative or text description of benefits of being able to track a current location of the tracking device.

9. A tracking system comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executing instructions that, when executed, cause the tracking system to perform steps comprising;

determining that a first device of an owner of a tracking device is not within a proximity of the tracking device;

determining that a second device is within the proximity of the tracking device;

determining that a tracking application associated with the tracking device is not running on the first device, the tracking application configured to receive communications from the tracking device, to determine a location of the first device based on the received communications, and to provide the location of the first device and an identity of the tracking device to the tracking system;

in response to determining that the tracking application is not running on the first device;

generating a first notification informing the owner that the tracking application is not running on the first device;

in response to determining that a location of the second device within the proximity of the tracking device is more than a threshold distance away from a last known location of the tracking device, generating a second notification informing the owner that the tracking device may be lost; and

providing one or both of the first notification and the second notification to the first device for display to the owner; and

a processor configured to execute the instructions.

10. The tracking system of claim 9, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the tracking system to perform further steps comprising:

in response to determining that the tracking application is not running on the first device;

in response to determining that the location of the second device within the proximity of the tracking device is greater than a threshold distance away from the last known location of the tracking device, determining whether the location of the second device is within a pre-determined safe zone;

wherein the second notification is generated based further on determining that the location of the second device is not within the pre-determined safe zone.

11. The tracking system of claim 10, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the tracking system to perform further steps comprising:

in response to determining that the tracking application is not running on the first device;

in response to determining that the location of the second device is within the pre-determined safe zone, generating a third notification informing the owner that the tracking device is located within the safe zone.

12. The tracking system of claim 9, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the tracking system to perform further steps comprising:

in response to determining that the tracking application is not running on the first device;

in response to determining that the location of the second device within the proximity of the tracking device is less than a threshold distance away from the last known location of the tracking device, generating a third notification informing the owner that the tracking device is located less than a threshold distance away from the last known location of the first device.

13. The tracking system of claim 9, wherein determining that the tracking application is not running on the first device comprises:

receiving a notification from the first device indicating that the tracking application is not running on the first mobile device.

14. The tracking system of claim 9, wherein determining that the tracking application is running on the first device comprises:

in response to not receiving a notification from the first device indicating that the tracking application is not running on the first mobile device for more than a predetermined period of time, determining that the tracking application is not running on the first device.

15. The tracking system of claim 9, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the tracking system to perform further steps comprising:

in response to determining that the tracking application is not running on the first device;

generating a third notification including a recommendation to the owner to verify that communication services of the first device are enabled; and

providing the third notification to the first device for display to the owner.

16. The tracking system of claim 9, wherein one or both of the first notification and the second notification include one or more of:

the location of the second device within the proximity of the tracking device, the last known location of the tracking device, information identifying the tracking device, an identity of an object which the tracking device is associated with, a narrative or text description of benefits of running the tracking application on the first device, a narrative or text description of benefits of a community network, and a narrative or text description of benefits of being able to track a current location of the tracking device.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer instructions that, when executed by a hardware processor, cause the processor to perform steps comprising:

determining that a first device of an owner of a tracking device is not within a proximity of the tracking device;

determining that a second device is within the proximity of the tracking device;

determining that a tracking application associated with the tracking device is not running on the first device, the tracking application configured to receive communications from the tracking device, to determine a location of the first device based on the received communications, and to provide the location of the first device and an identity of the tracking device to a tracking system;

in response to determining that the tracking application is not running on the first device;

generating a first notification informing the owner that the tracking application is not running on the first device;

in response to determining that a location of the second device within the proximity of the tracking device is more than a threshold distance away from a last known location of the tracking device, generating a second notification informing the owner that the tracking device may be lost; and

providing one or both of the first notification and the second notification to the first device for display to the owner.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to perform further steps comprising:

in response to determining that the tracking application is not running on the first device;

in response to determining that the location of the second device within the proximity of the tracking device is greater than a threshold distance away from the last known location of the tracking device, determining whether the location of the second device is within a pre-determined safe zone;

wherein the second notification is generated based further on determining that the location of the second device is not within the pre-determined safe zone.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to perform further steps comprising:

in response to determining that the tracking application is not running on the first device;

in response to determining that the location of the second device is within the pre-determined safe zone, generating a third notification informing the owner that the tracking device is located within the safe zone.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to perform further steps comprising:

in response to determining that the tracking application is not running on the first device;

in response to determining that the location of the second device within the proximity of the tracking device is less than a threshold distance away from the last known location of the tracking device, generating a third notification informing the owner that the tracking device is located less than a threshold distance away from the last known location of the first device.