Dynamically managing a listen list of beacon aware devices

• US 9,998,853 B2
• Filed: 04/01/2016
• Issued: 06/12/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Brennan, David J., Gray, David Michael, Van Hoof, Hubert, Wrem, Nicholas
• Primary Examiner(s): Doan, Kiet M
• Application Number:
  US15/089,327
• Publication Number:
  US 20170289749A1
• Time in Patent Office: 802 Days
• Field of Search: 455411, 4554561, 4554563, 455416, 455574, 455 412, 4554141, 4554562, 455434, 4554321, 370329, 370337, 705 1458, 705 268
• 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 4/30 Services specially adapted for particular environments, situations or purposes
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/244 using a network of reference devices, e.g. beaconing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

The described technology provides a system and method for dynamically managing a listen list for beacon aware devices. A mobile device may be configured to listen for one or more beacon UUIDs based on a listen list. A contextual change detected by the mobile device may trigger a collection of additional contextual information and update to the listen list based on the additional contextual information. Using the described technology, the mobile device may use a limited set of beacon UUIDs to improve micro-location granularity and enhance the mobile device'"'"'s resources.

Claims

1. A location method comprising:

storing in memory of a mobile device a listen list of one or more beacon universally unique identifiers (UUIDs) associated with an application executable on the mobile device, the one or more beacon UUIDs corresponding to a first locale of the mobile device;

monitoring wirelessly received beacon UUIDs transmitted by one or more beacons within a wireless-reception range of the mobile device, the mobile device being configured to perform a processor-executable operation upon detection of a beacon UUID stored in the listen list, the processor-executable operation being associated with the detected beacon UUID and the application;

detecting a change in one or more monitored user contextual parameters satisfying one or more listen list update trigger conditions, the change in the one or more monitored user contextual parameters indicating movement of the mobile device to a second locale corresponding to a different set of one or more beacon UUIDs; and

updating the listen list associated with the application and stored in the memory of the mobile device with the different set of one or more beacon UUIDs, responsive to satisfaction of the one or more listen list update trigger conditions.

2. The location method of claim 1, wherein the one or more listen list update trigger conditions are based on a detected GPS location of the mobile device.

3. The location method of claim 1, wherein the one or more listen list update trigger conditions are based on a detection of a beacon UUID.

4. The location method of claim 1, wherein the one or more listen list update trigger conditions are based on a calendar event.

5. The location method of claim 1, wherein updating the listen list further comprises updating the one or more listen list update trigger conditions.

6. The location method of claim 1, wherein updating the listen list further comprises receiving the different set of one or more beacon UUIDs from a network.

7. The location method of claim 1, wherein updating the listen list further comprises receiving the different set of one or more beacon UUIDs from the memory of the mobile device.

8. The location method of claim 1, wherein the different set of one or more beacon UUIDs is based on one or more collected additional user contextual parameters.

9. The location method of claim 8, wherein the one or more collected additional user contextual parameters includes at least one of a current time, a location, application policies, and a user preference.

10. The location method of claim 1, wherein updating the listen list further comprises collecting one or more additional user contextual parameters.

11. One or more tangible processor-readable storage media embodied with instructions for executing on one or more processors and circuits of a device a process for location, the process comprising:

storing in memory of a mobile device a listen list of one or more beacon universally unique identifiers (UUIDs), the one or more beacon UUIDs corresponding to a first locale of the mobile device;

monitoring wirelessly received UUIDs transmitted by one or more beacons within a wireless-reception range of the mobile device, the mobile device being configured to perform a processor-executable operation upon detection of a beacon UUID stored in the listen list, the processor-executable operation being associated with the detected beacon UUID;

detecting a change in one or more monitored user contextual parameters satisfying one or more listen list update trigger conditions, the change in the one or more monitored user contextual parameters indicating movement of the mobile device to a second locale corresponding to a different set of one or more beacon UUIDs; and

updating the listen list stored in the memory of the mobile device with the different set of one or more beacon UUIDs, responsive to satisfaction of the one or more listen list update trigger conditions.

12. The one or more tangible processor-readable storage media of claim 11, wherein the listen list update trigger condition is based on a detected GPS location of the mobile device.

13. The one or more tangible processor-readable storage media of claim 11, wherein the one or more listen list update trigger conditions are based on a detection of a beacon UUID.

14. The one or more tangible processor-readable storage media of claim 11, wherein the one or more listen list update trigger conditions are based on a calendar event.

15. The one or more tangible processor-readable storage media of claim 11, wherein the different set of one or more beacon UUIDs is based on one or more collected additional user contextual parameters.

16. The one or more tangible processor-readable storage media of claim 15, wherein the one or more collected additional user contextual parameters includes at least one of a current time, a location, application policies, and a user preference.

17. The one or more tangible processor-readable storage media of claim 11, wherein updating the listen list further comprises updating the one or more listen list update trigger conditions.

18. A system for location comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory; and

a location application stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors, the location application being configured to;

store in the memory a listen list of one or more beacon universally unique identifiers (UUIDs) associated with the location application, the one or more beacon UUIDs corresponding to a first locale of the mobile device;

monitor wirelessly received UUIDs transmitted by one or more beacons;

perform an operation executable by the one or more processors upon detection of a beacon UUID stored in the listen list, the operation being associated with the detected beacon UUID and the location application;

detect a change in one or more monitored user contextual parameters satisfying one or more listen list update trigger conditions, the change in the one or more monitored user contextual parameters indicating movement of the mobile device to a second locale corresponding to a different set of one or more beacon UUIDs; and

update the listen list stored in the memory with the different set of one or more beacon UUIDs, responsive to satisfaction of the one or more listen list update trigger conditions.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the location application is further configured to update the one or more listen list update trigger conditions.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the location application is further configured to collect one or more additional user contextual parameters responsive to the detection of satisfaction of the one or more listen list update trigger conditions and wherein the different set of one or more beacon UUIDs is based at least on the collected one or more additional user contextual parameters.