METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SENDING RING SETTING REMINDERS TO MOBILE DEVICES WITHIN A PREDETERMINED AREA

• US 20080125140A1
• Filed: 11/27/2006
• Published: 05/29/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Services Corporation (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Udani, Sanjay Kumar
• Granted Patent: US 8,452,309 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

A method and a system for sending a ring setting reminder to one or more mobile devices within a predetermined area are provided. The ring setting reminder may be a reminder signal sent to cell phones and other mobile devices within a movie theater complex or other predetermined area to remind the users of the mobile devices to silence the ringers of the mobile devices before the start of the movie or other event. The identification of the mobile devices may occur at the predetermined area or through a wireless communication network. The wireless communication network may be configured to identify the predetermined area within the wireless communication network, identify one or more of the mobile devices located within the predetermined area, and send the reminder signal to correspond with the start of an event at the predetermined area.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying one or more active mobile devices within a predetermined area; and

sending the reminder signal to the one or more active mobile devices within the predetermined area.

2. The method according to claim 1 further comprising receiving a request to send the reminder signal to the one or more active mobile devices within a predetermined area.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the sending of the reminder signal precedes an event at the predetermined area.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the one or more active mobile devices operate within at least one wireless communication network having a plurality of transceiver elements, and the identifying of the one or more active mobile devices includes determining at least one transceiver element having a coverage area that includes the predetermined area.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the identifying of the one or more active mobile devices within the predetermined area includes querying each of the active mobile devices within the coverage area of the at least one transceiver element to solicit a location of each of the active mobile devices within the coverage area.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein at least one of the one or more active mobile devices within the coverage area includes a locating sensor for determining a location of the at least one active mobile device, and wherein the method further comprising receiving responses to the query that provide the respective locations of the at least one active mobile device within the coverage area.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein identifying the one or more active mobile devices within the predetermined area further includes receiving responsive signals from at least one active mobile device of the one or more active mobile devices at least two transceiver elements of the wireless communication network and determining the location for the at least one active mobile device that transmits said responsive signals based on a time of arrival of said responsive signals to the at least two transceiver elements.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein identifying the one or more active mobile devices within the predetermined area further includes receiving responsive signals from at least one active mobile device of the one or more active mobile devices at least two transceiver elements of the wireless communication network and determining the location for the at least one active mobile device that transmits said responsive signals based on an angle of arrival of said responsive signals to the at least two transceiver elements.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising sending a request to at least one wireless communication network to send the reminder signal to the one or more active mobile devices within a predetermined area and wherein the identifying of one or more active mobile devices within the predetermined area is conducted before the sending of the request to the at least one wireless communication network.

10. A system comprising:

a plurality of transceiver elements, each transceiver element defining a coverage area, wherein each transceiver element is configured to send and receive one or more signals to and from one or more active mobile devices within the coverage area of the transceiver element;

at least one storage element configured to identify the one or more active mobile devices for each transceiver element; and

a controller element configured to receive a request to send a reminder signal to one or more mobile devices within a predetermined area of one or more of the coverage areas, identify the one or more active mobile devices within the predetermined area and direct transmission of a reminder signal to the one or more mobile devices that have been identified.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein the controller element is configured to identify at least a first transceiver element defining a coverage area that includes the predetermined area and to instruct the first transceiver element to send a reminder signal to the one or more of the active mobile devices within the predetermined area.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the controller element is configured to instruct the first transceiver element to send a query signal to the one or more active mobile devices within the coverage area of the first transceiver element to solicit a location for each of the one or more active mobile devices within the coverage area of the first transceiver element.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the first transceiver element is configured to receive a locating signal in response to the query signal from each of the one or more active mobile devices within the coverage area of the first transceiver element, and wherein the locating signal includes a location for the active mobile device associated with the locating signal based on a determination made by the active mobile device.

14. The system according to claim 12, wherein the first transceiver element and at least a second transceiver element are configured to receive a locating signal in response to the query signal from each of the one or more active mobile devices within the coverage area of the first transceiver element, and wherein the controller element is configured to at least partially determine a location for each of the active mobile devices within the coverage area of the first transceiver element based on a time of arrival of each locating signal to the first transceiver element and a time of arrival of each locating signal to the second transceiver element.

15. The system according to claim 12, wherein the first transceiver element and at least a second transceiver element are configured to receive a locating signal in response to the query signal from each of the one or more active mobile devices within the coverage area of the first transceiver element, and wherein the controller element is configured to at least partially determine a location for each of the active mobile devices within the coverage area of the first transceiver element based on an angle of arrival of each locating signal to the first transceiver element and an angle of arrival of each locating signal to the second transceiver element.

16. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:

a first executable portion configured to identify one or more active mobile devices within a predetermined area; and

a second executable portion configured to send the reminder signal to the active mobile devices within the predetermined area.

17. The computer program product according to claim 16 further comprising a third executable portion configured to receive a request to send the reminder signal to the one or more active mobile devices within the predetermined area.

18. The computer program product according to claim 16, wherein the one or more active mobile devices operate within at least one wireless communication network having a plurality of transceiver elements, and the computer program product further comprising a third executable portion configured to determine at least one transceiver element having a coverage area that includes the predetermined area.

19. The computer program product according to claim 18 further comprising a fourth executable portion configured to query each of the one or more active mobile devices within the coverage area of the at least one transceiver element to solicit a location of each of the one or more active mobile devices within the coverage area.

20. The computer program product according to claim 19 further comprising a fifth executable portion configured to receive a locating signal in response to the query from each of the one or more active mobile devices within the coverage area of the at least one transceiver element and determine a location for each of the one or more mobile devices within the coverage area of the least one transceiver element that transmits the locating signal.