Content discovery using beacons

• US 9,998,867 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2014
• Issued: 06/12/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Keithley, Craig J.
• Primary Examiner(s): KELLEY, STEVEN SHAUN
• Application Number:
  US14/500,683
• Publication Number:
  US 20160094946A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,352 Days
• Field of Search: 455 411, 455 412, 4554561-457, 455566
• 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 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• 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 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A radio frequency (RF) beacon deployed in an indoor or outdoor environment broadcasts an RF signal that can be received by a client device operating in the environment. Based on information provided by the beacon and client device sensor data, content (e.g., a software application) locally relevant to the environment is recommended to a user of the client device. The recommended content can be manually or automatically downloaded and installed on the client device so that it can be used in the environment. In some implementations, sensor data is used to indicate whether the user is interested in receiving the recommendation and is capable of receiving the recommendation.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a device operating in an environment, a radio frequency (RF) signal from an RF beacon deployed in the environment;

determining, by the device, based on one or more characteristics of the received RF signal, that the device is within a threshold range of the RF beacon;

determining, by the device, that the device is moving at a speed that is less than a threshold speed;

determining, by the device, an orientation of the device with respect to a coordinate frame;

determining, by the device, based on measurements taken by one or more sensors, whether the device is concealed;

generating, by the device, a recommendation to access a software application that is relevant to the environment, wherein the recommendation is presented in a visual form on a display of the device if the device is determined to be facing up and not concealed;

receiving, by the device, from the RF beacon, a unique identifier of the RF beacon;

comparing, by the device, the unique identifier to a list of links stored on a database, wherein each of the links are for downloading respective software applications;

based on the comparison, receiving, by the device, from the database, a link to download the software application, wherein the link corresponds to the unique identifier of the RF beacon;

receiving, by the device, an invocation of the link from a user of the device that causes the device to download the software application; and

in response to receiving the invocation, downloading, by the device, the software application over a communication link separate from a communication link between the device and the RF beacon,

wherein an alert is presented in one or both of an audio form and a tactile form to notify the user of the device that the recommendation has been generated if the device is determined to be not facing up or concealed.

2. The method of claim 1, where presenting the alert comprises:

generating the alert on the device regarding the recommendation; and

presenting the alert.

3. The method of claim 1, where the alert is force feedback or audio output.

4. The method of claim 1, where the alert is a vibration.

5. The method of claim 1, where determining whether the device is concealed is based at least in part on readings from a proximity sensor onboard the device.

6. The method of claim 1, where determining whether the device is concealed is based at least in part on readings from an ambient light sensor onboard the device.

7. The method of claim 1, where presenting the recommendation in visual form is based at least in part on sensor data that includes accelerometer data for indicating that the device is moving or stationary for a period of time.

8. The method of claim 1, where presenting the recommendation in visual form is based at least in part on detecting a change in range from the beacon.

9. The method of claim 8, where detecting a change in range from the beacon includes detecting a change from a first range class to a second range class.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the software application is pre-populated with data that is determined based on information received from the RF beacon.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the software application is a shopping application that corresponds to a store proximate to the environment.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication link separate from the communication link between the device and the RF beacon is a secure channel through the Internet.

13. An apparatus comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more sensors;

a display;

a wireless transceiver;

memory coupled to the one or more processors and configured to store instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

receiving a radio frequency (RF) signal from an RF beacon deployed in an environment;

determining, based on one or more characteristics of the received RF signal, that the apparatus is within a threshold range of the RF beacon;

determining, by the apparatus, that the apparatus is moving at a speed that is less than a threshold speed;

determining, by the apparatus, an orientation of the apparatus with respect to a coordinate frame;

determining, by the apparatus, based on measurements taken by the one or more sensors, whether the apparatus is concealed;

generating, by the apparatus, a recommendation to access a software application that is relevant to the environment, wherein the recommendation is presented in a visual form on the display of the apparatus if the apparatus is determined to be facing up and not concealed;

receiving, by the apparatus, from the RF beacon, a unique identifier of the RF beacon;

comparing, by the apparatus, the unique identifier to a list of links stored on a database, wherein each of the links are for downloading respective software applications;

based on the comparison, receiving, by the apparatus, from the database, a link to download the software application, wherein the link corresponds to the unique identifier of the RF beacon;

receiving, by the apparatus, an invocation of the link from a user of the apparatus that causes the apparatus to download the software application; and

in response to receiving the invocation, downloading, by the apparatus, the software application over a communication link separate from a communication link between the apparatus and the RF beacon,

wherein an alert is presented in one or both of an audio form and a tactile form to notify the user of the apparatus that the recommendation has been generated if the apparatus is determined to be not facing up or concealed.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, where presenting the alert comprises:

generating the alert on the apparatus regarding the recommendation; and

presenting the alert.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, where the alert is force feedback or audio output.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, where the alert is a vibration.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, where determining whether the apparatus is concealed is based at least in part on readings from a proximity sensor onboard the apparatus.

18. The apparatus of claim 13, where determining whether the apparatus is concealed is based at least in part on readings from an ambient light sensor onboard the apparatus.

19. The apparatus of claim 13, where presenting the recommendation in visual form is based at least in part on sensor data that includes accelerometer data for indicating that the apparatus is moving or stationary for a period of time.

20. The apparatus of claim 13, where presenting the recommendation in visual form is based at least in part on detecting a change in range from the beacon.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, where detecting a change in range from the beacon includes detecting a change from a first range class to a second range class.

22. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions operable to cause a device operating in an environment to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by the device operating in the environment, a radio frequency (RF) signal from an RF beacon deployed in the environment;

determining, by the device, based on one or more characteristics of the received RF signal, that the device is within a threshold range of the RF beacon;

determining, by the device, that the device is moving at a speed that is less than a threshold speed;

determining, by the device, an orientation of the device with respect to a coordinate frame;

determining, by the device, based on measurements taken by one or more sensors, whether the device is concealed;

generating, by the device, a recommendation to access a software application that is relevant to the environment, wherein the recommendation is presented in a visual form on a display of the device if the device is determined to be facing up and not concealed;

receiving, by the device, from the RF beacon, a unique identifier of the RF beacon;

comparing, by the device, the unique identifier to a list of links stored on a database, wherein each of the links are for downloading respective software applications;

based on the comparison, receiving, by the device, from the database, a link to download the software application, wherein the link corresponds to the unique identifier of the RF beacon;

receiving, by the device, an invocation of the link from a user of the device that causes the device to download the software application; and

in response to receiving the invocation, downloading, by the device, the software application over a communication link separate from a communication link between the device and the RF beacon,

wherein an alert is presented in one or both of an audio form and a tactile form to notify the user of the device that the recommendation has been generated if the device is determined to be not facing up or concealed.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein presenting the alert comprises:

generating the alert on the device regarding the recommendation; and

presenting the alert.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22, where the alert is force feedback or audio output.

25. A method comprising:

receiving, by a device operating in an environment, a radio frequency (RF) signal from an RF beacon deployed in the environment;

determining, by the device, based on one or more characteristics of the received RF signal, that the device is within a threshold range of the RF beacon;

determining, by the device, that the device is moving at a speed that is less than a threshold speed;

determining, by the device, an orientation of a display of the device with respect to a coordinate frame;

determining, by the device, based on measurements taken by one or more sensors, whether the device is concealed;

generating, by the device, a recommendation to access a software application that is relevant to the environment, wherein the recommendation is presented in a visual form on the display of the device if the device is determined to be not concealed and the orientation of the display is determined to be indicative of user interaction with the device;

receiving, by the device, from the RF beacon, a unique identifier of the RF beacon;

comparing, by the device, the unique identifier to a list of links stored on a database, wherein each of the links are for downloading respective software applications;

based on the comparison, receiving, by the device, from the database, a link to download the software application, wherein the link corresponds to the unique identifier of the RF beacon;

receiving, by the device, an invocation of the link from the user of the device that causes the device to download the software application; and

in response to receiving the invocation, downloading, by the device, the software application over a communication link separate from a communication link between the device and the RF beacon,

wherein an alert is presented in one or both of an audio form and a tactile form to notify the user of the device that the recommendation has been generated if the device is determined to be concealed or the orientation of the display is determined to not be indicative of user interaction with the device.