Computing distances of devices

• US 10,304,049 B2
• Filed: 06/20/2014
• Issued: 05/28/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chatterjee, Shuvo, Thole, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Uber, Nathan C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Haider, Fawaad
• Application Number:
  US14/310,802
• Publication Number:
  US 20150371210A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,803 Days
• Field of Search: 705 21
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/209 Specified transaction journal output feature, e.g. printed receipt or voice output
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3224 Transactions dependent on location of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/327 Short range or proximity payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3278 RFID or NFC payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72454 according to context-related or environment-related conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for computing distance between devices. In one aspect, a method includes the actions of determining an approximate distance between a merchant computer and a customer device based on a strength of a wireless signal associated with data transmitted and received between the merchant device and customer device. The actions further include validating the approximate distance based on signals from a plurality of motion sensors of the customer device to generate a validated distance. The actions further include generating a list with the one or more customers ranked in the list based on the validated distance. The actions further include presenting, on the merchant device, the list of the one or more customers.

Claims

1. A system to determine relative proximity between a customer mobile device and a point-of-sale (POS) system comprising:

the customer mobile device including;

one or more mobile device transceivers that exchange first data with the POS system; and

a plurality of motion sensors that detect horizontal movement, vertical movement, and rotational movement of the customer mobile device; and

the POS system comprising;

a display; and

a POS computer including;

at least one POS transceiver that exchanges second data with the one or more mobile device transceivers over a wireless signal and determines a strength of the wireless signal; and

a POS processor configured to;

receive third data identifying goods or services associated with a financial transaction between a customer operating the customer mobile device and a merchant operating the POS system;

determine an approximate distance between the POS computer and the customer mobile device based on the strength of the wireless signal associated with the second data exchanged between the at least one POS transceiver and the one or more mobile device transceivers;

based on signals from the plurality of motion sensors, determine at least one of the horizontal movement, the vertical movement, or the rotational movement of the customer mobile device;

determine that at least one of the horizontal movement, the vertical movement, or the rotational movement of the customer mobile device does not indicate that the approximate distance between the POS computer and the customer mobile device is inaccurate;

validate the distance between the POS computer and the customer mobile device based on determining that at least one of the horizontal movement, the vertical movement, or the rotational movement of the customer mobile device does not indicate that the approximate distance between the POS computer and the customer mobile device is inaccurate;

access one or more validated distances respectively corresponding to one or more other customers;

rank the customer and the one or more other customers based at least in part on the approximate distance and the one or more validated distances to generate a ranked list of customers;

present, on the display, the ranked list of customers;

receive a selection of the customer; and

request processing of the financial transaction between the customer and the merchant based on receiving the selection of the customer.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the wireless signal is a Bluetooth signal or Wi-Fi signal.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the POS processor is further configured to:

receive a customer identifier for each of the customer and the one or more other customers,

wherein presenting the ranked list of customers is based at least in part on presenting the ranked list of customers with respective customer identifiers.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein a first mobile device transceiver of the one or more mobile device transceivers transmits a first portion of the first data associated with the wireless signal and a second mobile device transceiver of the one or more mobile device transceivers transmits a second portion of the first data that corresponds to the signals from the plurality of motion sensors.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein a same mobile device transceiver of the one or more mobile device transceivers transmits a first portion of the first data associated with the wireless signal and a second portion of the first data that corresponds to the signals from the plurality of motion sensors.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the customer mobile device further includes an application operable to:

receive input from the customer, the input including identification information and financial information; and

send fourth data to the POS system, the fourth data including the identification information and the financial information.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the POS processor is further configured to:

receive the fourth data;

generate an account for the customer based at least in part on the fourth data; and

associate an indication with the account indicating that transactions associated with the identification information can be completed via cardless transaction processing.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the third data further includes at least a portion of the identification information associated with the customer, and the POS processor is further configured to:

access, based at least in part on the portion of the identification information, the account for the customer;

determine, based at least in part on the indication associated with the account, that the financial transaction is eligible for completion via the cardless transaction processing;

send, to the customer mobile device and responsive to the selection of the customer, a request for consent to process the financial transaction via the cardless transaction processing;

receive, from the customer mobile device and responsive to the request for consent, a confirmation to process the financial transaction via the cardless transaction processing; and

process the financial transaction based at least in part on the financial information associated with the account instead of requiring a presence of a payment instrument.

9. A system to determine relative proximity comprising:

at least one computing device transceiver, associated with a computing device, that exchanges first data with at least one mobile device transceiver over a wireless signal, the mobile device transceiver associated with a mobile device; and

a processor, associated with the computing device, operable to;

determine an approximate distance between the computing device and the mobile device based on a strength of the wireless signal associated with the first data exchanged between the at least one computing device transceiver and the at least one mobile device transceiver;

receive, at the at least one computing device transceiver, second data determined by one or more motion sensors associated with the mobile device, the second data including at least one of translational movement associated with the mobile device or rotational movement associated with the mobile device;

determine a movement of the mobile device based on the second data;

determine that the movement of the mobile device does not indicate that the approximate distance between the computing device and the mobile device is inaccurate;

validate the approximate distance between the computing device and the mobile device based on determining that the movement of the mobile device does not indicate that the approximate distance between the computing device and the mobile device is inaccurate;

rank, based at least in part on validating the approximate distance between the computing device and the mobile device, a customer associated with the mobile device and one or more other customers based at least in part on the approximate distance to generate a ranked list of customers;

generate a list based at least in part on the ranked list of customers; and

present the list via a display of the computing device.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the wireless signal is a Bluetooth signal or Wi-Fi signal.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive a customer identifier for the customer and the one or more other customers,

wherein generating the ranked list of customers is based at least in part on generating the ranked list of customers with respective customer identifiers.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the customer and the one or more other customers have previously provided information for processing future transactions as cardless transactions.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the first data and the second data are associated with a same data transmission.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the first data and the second data are associated with different data transmissions.

15. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

determining, by one or more processors, first data that is associated with transmitting and receiving one or more wireless signals between a first device and a second device;

determining an approximate distance between the first device and the second device based on a strength of the one or more wireless signals;

receiving, from the first device, second data associated with one or more motion sensors on the first device, the second data including at least one of translational movement associated with the first device or rotational movement associated with the first device;

determining a movement of the first device based on the second data;

determining that the movement of the first device does not indicate that the approximate distance between the first device and the second device is inaccurate;

validating the approximate distance between the first device and the second device based on determining that the movement of the first device does not indicate that the approximate distance between the first device and the second device is inaccurate;

determining a relative proximity between the first device and the second device based at least in part on the approximate distance between the first device and the second device; and

presenting, via a display of the second device and based at least in part on the relative proximity, an indication associated with the first device.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the one or more wireless signals are Bluetooth signals or Wi-Fi signals.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, comprising:

receiving a customer identifier associated with the first device, the first device operated by a customer, the customer identifier corresponding to the customer;

generating, based at least in part on the relative proximity, a list with the customer identifier ranked among other customer identifiers based on the relative proximity; and

presenting the list via the display, the list including the indication associated with the first device in a position corresponding to the customer identifier.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, further comprising receiving a selection, from the list presented via the display, of the customer identifier.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving identification information and financial information from the second device, the identification information and the financial information being associated with the customer;

generating an account for the customer based at least in part on the identification information and the financial information; and

associating an indication with the account indicating that transactions associated with the identification information can be completed via cardless transaction processing.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving transaction data associated with a financial transaction between the customer and a merchant associated with the first device, the transaction data identifying an item to be acquired by the customer and at least a portion of the identification information;

access, based at least in part on the portion of the identification information, the account for the customer;

determine, based at least in part on the indication associated with the account, that the financial transaction is eligible for completion via the cardless transaction processing;

send, to the second device and responsive to the selection of the customer, a request for consent to process the financial transaction via the cardless transaction processing;

receive, from the second device and responsive to the request for consent, a confirmation to process the financial transaction via the cardless transaction processing; and

process the financial transaction based at least in part on the financial information associated with the account instead of requiring a presence of a payment instrument.