Method and apparatus for distributing services and data

• US 9,973,962 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2016
• Issued: 05/15/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2013
• 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: Beattie, James G., Kandasamy, Veeramani
• Primary Examiner(s): DOAN, PHUOC HUU
• Application Number:
  US15/339,416
• Publication Number:
  US 20170048743A1
• Time in Patent Office: 561 Days
• Field of Search: 455411, 4554563, 4554141, 4554561, 4555521, 3405721, 380258, 370329
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0226 based on location or mobility handoff or reselection H04W36/00; mobile application services making use of the location of users or terminals H04W4/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0231 based on communication conditions dynamic wireless traffic scheduling definition based on channel quality criteria H04W72/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• 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 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/026 using orientation information, e.g. compass
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, determining a need to provide a service to a first communication device of a plurality of communication devices, detecting a movement of a second communication device of the plurality of communication devices in a direction that will place the second communication device in a communication range of the first communication device, and transmitting a message to the second communication device to provide the service to the first communication device when the second communication device comes into the communication range of the first communication device. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processing system including a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

receiving information from a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the information includes location information for the first and second communication devices;

comparing a location of the first communication device with a location of the second communication device to predict whether the first communication device and the second communication device will be in a peer-to-peer communication range of each other based on a trajectory of the second communications device; and

transmitting content to the second communication device for distribution to the first communication device responsive to the second communication device coming into the peer-to-peer communication range of the first communication device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the transmitting the content to the second communication device is responsive to determining that a traffic level of a network node communicatively coupled to the first communication device exceeds a threshold.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the first communication device autonomously sends a request to communicate with the second communication device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the transmitting the content to the second communication device is responsive to determining that a communication efficiency of a network node communicatively coupled to the first communication device is below a threshold.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the information further includes a communication identifier.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor comprises a plurality of processors operating in a distributed processing environment.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the comparing comprises determining a time of arrival based on the location information for the first and second communication devices and the trajectory of the second communications device to predict whether the first communication device and the second communication device will be in the peer-to-peer communication range of each other.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the transmitting is performed responsive to receiving a request receive content from the first communication device.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the trajectory of the second communication device is based on location information received from the second communication device.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the trajectory of the second communication device is based on triangulation information provided by infrastructure communicatively coupled to the second communication device.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the trajectory of the second communication device is based on location data comprising geographic data and orientation data.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the geographic data is supplied by a coordinate sensor of the second communication device, and wherein the orientation data is supplied by an orientation sensor of the second communication device.

13. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a processing system comprising a processor, a request to provide a service to a first communication device;

comparing, by the processing system, a first location of the first communication device, a trajectory of a second communication device, and a second location of the second communication device to predict if the first communication device will be within a communication range of the second communication device; and

directing, by the processing system, the second communication device to provide the service to the first communication device when the second communication device comes into the communication range of the first communication device, wherein transmission of data between the second communication device and the first communication device occurs when the second communication device comes into peer-to-peer communication range of the first communication device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the processor comprises a plurality of processors operating in a distributed processing environment.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the service comprises one of voice communication services, data communication services, or both.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the trajectory of the second communication device is based on triangulation information provided by infrastructure communicatively coupled to the second communication device, and wherein the service comprises delivery of media content.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the second communication device initiates a local area network to deliver the service to the second communication device.

18. A non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

predicting, by a first communication device, that a second communication device will be in a communication range of the first communication device based on first location information of the first communication device and second location information of the second communication device and based on a determining of a second trajectory of the second communication device compared to the second location information;

initiating, by the first communication device, a communication session with the second communication device when the second communication device is in the communication range of the first communication device; and

providing, by the first communication device, a service to the second communication device during the communication session.

19. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the predicting further comprises determining a first trajectory of the first communication device based on the first location information.

20. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the first trajectory is compared to the second trajectory to determine an expected time of arrival for the first communication device to be within the communication range of the second communication device.