Smart machine to machine behavior tracking

• US 9,961,486 B2
• Filed: 11/20/2014
• Issued: 05/01/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shaw, Venson, He, Jin
• Primary Examiner(s): Elhag, Magdi
• Assistant Examiner(s): BRASWELL, DONALD H.B.
• Application Number:
  US14/548,935
• Publication Number:
  US 20160150359A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,258 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• 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 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• 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

Abstract

Smart M2M devices may be utilized to discover, generate, develop, and use customer behavior information. Security, marketing, and sales may be made through the use of short-range communication mechanisms, and customer behavior information may be gathered while providing devices with product information and other content. In an example configuration, smart M2M devices may determine the location of a device in a venue and compare it to historical location information associated with the device to determine whether authentication should be requested.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to effectuate operations comprising;

responsive to receiving a trigger, automatically collecting, via a short-range communication mechanism, location information pertaining to a device within a first region of a first plurality of regions, wherein the first region is associated with a first product region and wherein the first region is defined by a first plurality of short-range communication devices associated with a first venue;

generating, based on the collected location information, a location profile associated with the device;

identifying, based on the location profile, a second region of a second plurality of regions, wherein the second region is also associated with the first product region and wherein the second region is defined by a second plurality of short-range communication devices associated with a second venue;

comparing the location profile with historical location information associated with the device pertaining to operation of the device within the second region;

determining, based on the comparing, whether to request authentication from the device;

requesting authentication from the device responsive to a determination that the location profile deviates from the historical location information; and

providing information pertaining to a product to the device responsive to a determination that the location profile does not deviate from the historical location information.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the trigger comprises receiving, by the processor, notice that the device is present in the first region.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the collected location information comprises an identification of the first region.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the information pertaining to the product is provided to the device using a short-range communication mechanism other than the short-range communication mechanism which collected the location information.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the historical location information comprises aggregated location profile data.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the location profile comprises a route.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the authentication comprises a challenge question.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

requesting authentication from a third party device responsive to a determination that the collected location information deviates from the historical location information.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the requesting authentication from a third party device comprises a parental control.

10. A method comprising:

responsive to receiving a trigger, automatically collecting, by a system comprising a processor, via a short-range communication mechanism, location information pertaining to a device within a first region of a first plurality of regions, wherein the first region is associated with a first product region and wherein the first region is defined by a first plurality of short-range communication devices associated with a first venue;

generating, based on the collected location information, a location profile associated with the device;

identifying, based on the location profile, a second region of a second plurality of regions, wherein the second region is also associated with the first product region and wherein the second region is defined by a second plurality of short-range communication devices associated with a second venue;

comparing the location profile with historical location information associated with the device pertaining to operation of the device within the second region;

determining, based on the comparing, whether to request authentication from the device;

requesting authentication from the device responsive to a determination that the location profile deviates from the historical location information; and

providing information pertaining to a product to the device responsive to a determination that the location profile does not deviate from the historical location information.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the trigger comprises receiving notice that the device is present in the first region.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the location information comprises an identification of the first region.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the providing information pertaining to a product is by a short-range communication mechanism other than the short-range communication mechanism which collected the location information.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising executable instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to effectuate operations comprising:

responsive to receiving a trigger, automatically collecting, via a short-range communication mechanism, location information pertaining to a device with a first region of a first plurality of regions, wherein the first region is associated with a first product region and wherein the first region is defined by a first plurality of short-range communication devices associated with a first venue;

generating, based on the collected location information, a location profile associated with the device;

identifying, based on the location profile, a second region of a second plurality of regions, wherein the second region is also associated with the first product region and wherein the second region is defined by a second plurality of short-range communication devices associated with a second venue;

comparing the location profile with historical location information associated with the device pertaining to operation of the device within the second region;

determining, based on the comparing, whether to request authentication from the device;

requesting authentication from the device responsive to a determination that the location profile deviates from the historical location information; and

providing information pertaining to a product to the device responsive to a determination that the location profile does not deviate from the historical location information.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the trigger comprises receiving notice that the device is present in the first region.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the collected location information comprises an identification of the first region.