Energy-efficient location determination
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method to determine locations of user computing devices, comprising:
- identifying, by the one or more computing devices, a plurality of points of interest, wherein the plurality of points of interest comprises a particular point of interest;
determining, by the one or more computing devices at a first time, a location of a user computing device within a proximity to the particular point of interest;
in response to determining the location of the user computing device within the proximity to the particular point of interest, determining, by the one or more computing devices, geofence boundary data for a geofence boundary encompassing the particular point of interest;
communicating, by the one or more computing devices, the geofence boundary data to the user computing device;
determining, by one or more computing devices and at a second time that is subsequent to the first time, that the user computing device is located outside the geofence boundary encompassing the particular point of interest, wherein the user computing device is separate and distinct from the one or more computing devices;
determining, by the one or more computing devices and at a third time that is subsequent to the first time and subsequent to the second time, that the user computing device is located inside the geofence boundary encompassing the particular point of interest; and
,in response to determining at the third time that the user computing device is located inside the geofence boundary encompassing the particular point of interest;
communicating, by the one or more computing devices, instructions to the user computing device to invoke a wireless signal detection module associated with the user computing device that scans for wireless signal data in accordance with the instructions;
receiving, by the one or more computing devices, particular wireless signal data for a particular wireless signal from the user computing device after invocation of the wireless signal detection module associated with the user computing device and receipt of the particular wireless signal data by the wireless signal detection module associated with the user computing device, the particular wireless signal data comprising a wireless device identifier associated with the particular wireless signal;
determining, by the one or more computing devices and based on the particular wireless signal data, that the particular wireless signal available to the user computing device and comprising the particular wireless device identifier is associated with the particular point of interest; and
determining, by the one or more computing devices and in response to determining that the particular wireless signal is associated with the particular point of interest, that the user computing device is at the particular point of interest.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A location management system identifies points of interest that may be of interest to one or more users. The location management system defines a geofence boundary encompassing a particular point of interest. When the location management system determines that the user device is inside the geofence boundary—but not, for example, when the location management system determines that the user determines that the user device is outside the geofence boundary—the location management system instructs the user device to determine wireless signals available to the user device. The location management system then receives wireless signal data from the user device for available wireless signals. By matching the received wireless signal data to known wireless signals available at the identified points of interest, the location management system determines that the user device (and hence the user) is at the point of interest.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A computer implemented method to determine locations of user computing devices, comprising:
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identifying, by the one or more computing devices, a plurality of points of interest, wherein the plurality of points of interest comprises a particular point of interest; determining, by the one or more computing devices at a first time, a location of a user computing device within a proximity to the particular point of interest; in response to determining the location of the user computing device within the proximity to the particular point of interest, determining, by the one or more computing devices, geofence boundary data for a geofence boundary encompassing the particular point of interest; communicating, by the one or more computing devices, the geofence boundary data to the user computing device; determining, by one or more computing devices and at a second time that is subsequent to the first time, that the user computing device is located outside the geofence boundary encompassing the particular point of interest, wherein the user computing device is separate and distinct from the one or more computing devices; determining, by the one or more computing devices and at a third time that is subsequent to the first time and subsequent to the second time, that the user computing device is located inside the geofence boundary encompassing the particular point of interest; and
,in response to determining at the third time that the user computing device is located inside the geofence boundary encompassing the particular point of interest; communicating, by the one or more computing devices, instructions to the user computing device to invoke a wireless signal detection module associated with the user computing device that scans for wireless signal data in accordance with the instructions; receiving, by the one or more computing devices, particular wireless signal data for a particular wireless signal from the user computing device after invocation of the wireless signal detection module associated with the user computing device and receipt of the particular wireless signal data by the wireless signal detection module associated with the user computing device, the particular wireless signal data comprising a wireless device identifier associated with the particular wireless signal; determining, by the one or more computing devices and based on the particular wireless signal data, that the particular wireless signal available to the user computing device and comprising the particular wireless device identifier is associated with the particular point of interest; and determining, by the one or more computing devices and in response to determining that the particular wireless signal is associated with the particular point of interest, that the user computing device is at the particular point of interest. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 18)
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7. A system to determine locations of user computing devices, comprising:
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a storage device; a processor communicatively coupled to the storage device, wherein the processor executes application code instructions that are stored in the storage device to cause the system to; identify a plurality of points of interest, wherein the plurality of points of interest comprises a particular point of interest; determine, at a first time, a location of a user computing device within a proximity to the particular point of interest; in response to determining the location of the user computing device within the proximity to the particular point of interest, determine geofence boundary data for a geofence boundary encompassing the particular point of interest; communicate the geofence boundary data to the user computing device; determine, at a second time subsequent to the first time, that the user computing device is located outside the geofence boundary encompassing the particular point of interest; determine, at a third time that is subsequent to the first time and subsequent to the second time, that the user computing device is located inside the geofence boundary encompassing the particular point of interest; communicate, in response to determining at the third time that the user computing device is located inside the geofence boundary encompassing the particular point of interest, instructions to the user computing device to invoke a wireless signal detection module associated with the user computing device; and receive, in response to invoking the wireless signal detection module associated with user computing device, wireless signal data for a particular wireless signal from the user computing device after receipt of the particular wireless signal data by the wireless signal detection module associated with the user computing device, wherein the availability of the wireless signal to the user computing device at the point of interest provides an indication that the user computing device is at the point of interest. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 19)
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14. A computer program product, comprising:
a non-transitory computer-readable storage device having computer-executable program instructions embodied thereon that when executed by a computer cause the computer to determine locations of user computing devices, the computer-executable program instructions comprising; computer-executable program instructions to identify a plurality of points of interest, wherein the plurality of points of interest comprises a particular point of interest; computer-executable program instructions to determine, at a first time, a location of a user computing device within a proximity to the particular point of interest; computer-executable program instructions to determine, in response to determining the location of the user computing device within the proximity to the particular point of interest, geofence boundary data for a geofence boundary encompassing the particular point of interest; computer-executable program instructions to communicate the geofence boundary data to the user computing device; computer-executable program instructions to determine, at a second time subsequent to the first time, a first set of location data for a user computing device, wherein the first set of location data comprises an indication of a first location of the user computing device, the first location being outside a geofence boundary encompassing a point of interest; computer-executable program instructions to determine, at a third time that is subsequent to the first time and subsequent to the second time, a second set of location data for the user computing device, wherein the second set of location data comprises an indication of a second location of the user computing device, the second location being at or inside the geofence boundary encompassing the point of interest; computer-executable program instructions to determine, in response to determining at the third time that the user computing device is at the second location at or inside the geofence boundary, wireless signal data available to the user computing device; computer-executable program instructions to communicate the wireless signal data to a location management system, wherein the wireless signal data comprises data identifying the point of interest; and computer-executable program instructions to receive, in response to communicating the wireless signal data to a location management system, a communication from the location management system to cease determining the wireless signal data available to the user computing device. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
Specification