SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR HIGH-PRECISION INDOOR POSITIONING, NAVIGATION AND SHOPPING BEHAVIOR PROFILING

• US 20130332273A1
• Filed: 06/12/2012
• Published: 12/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Transform Sr Brands, LLC (ESL Investments, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sears Brands LLC (Sears Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Gu, Xiaoyuan, Yang, Jen-Hao, Ekambaram, Vinod K., Ramani, Abhishek, Di Prizio, Giuseppe M., Jones, Charles
• Granted Patent: US 8,930,134 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.53
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/206 specially adapted for indoor navigation
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0027 of actual mobile position, i.e. position determined on mobile
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0205 Location or geographical consideration
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0639 Item locations

Abstract

A positioning system for determining the location of a portable device includes a radio network. The radio network includes radio network nodes for communicating with the portable device and measuring signal strength from the portable device. The radio network also includes a Near Field Communication node for communicating with the portable device and at least initially providing the portable device with configuration information to enable the portable device to pair with the radio network nodes. The system also includes a positioning server for receiving signal strength information from the radio network, determining a location of the portable device, providing the portable device with a graphical representation of its location within a floorplan, receiving an indication of a desired product from the portable device, determining a location of the product, calculating and providing the portable device with a route from the location of the portable device to the product.

Claims

1. An indoor positioning system for determining the location of a portable device, comprising:

a radio network comprising a plurality of spaced, short-range, radio network nodes for communicating with the portable device and measuring corresponding signal strength from the portable device, and a Near Field Communication (NFC) node for communicating with the portable device and at least initially providing the portable device with configuration information to enable the portable device to communicate with the radio network nodes;

a positioning server, coupled with the radio network, for receiving signal strength information from the radio network, determining a location of the portable device based on the signal strength information, providing the portable device with a graphical representation of the location of the portable device within a pre-defined floorplan, receiving an indication of a desired product from the portable device, determining a location of the desired product within the floorplan, calculating a route from the location of the portable device to the location of the product, and providing the route to the portable device.

2. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 1, wherein the radio network nodes comprise Bluetooth Low Energy network nodes.

3. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 1, wherein the radio network nodes comprise a combination of Bluetooth network nodes and 802.11 network nodes.

4. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 1, wherein the NFC node notifies the positioning server upon coming into communication with the portable device, and wherein further the position server determines that the location of the portable device is generally the location of the NFC node.

5. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 1, wherein the positioning server provides the route to the portable device in the form of a graphical representation of the floorplan showing the location of the portable device, the location of the product, and a depiction of the route therebetween.

6. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 1, wherein the positioning server provides the route to the portable device in the form of graphical, turn-by-turn directions.

7. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 1, wherein the positioning server provides the portable device with information about the desired product.

8. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 1, wherein the radio network nodes are spaced from each other in both vertical and horizontal planes, and wherein further the positioning server is configured to determine the location of the portable device in three dimensions based on the signal strength information received from the radio network.

9. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 8, wherein the positioning server determines the location of the portable device in three dimensions based on the signal strength information received from at least four radio network nodes of the radio network.

10. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 1, further comprising a customer profile server coupled with the radio network and the positioning server, the customer profile server storing a user profile associated with the portable device and receiving the location of the portable device from the positioning server and the indication of the desired product from the portable device.

11. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 1, wherein the positioning server provides an updated location of the portable device after a predetermined time interval.

12. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 1, wherein the positioning server provides an updated location of the portable device when the location of the portable device moves a predetermined distance.

13. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 10, wherein the customer profile server receives the indication of the desired product from the portable device.

14. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 13, wherein the customer profile server provides the portable device with a promotional offer based on the indication of the desired product.

15. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 13, wherein the customer profile server provides the portable device with a promotional offer based on the location of the portable device.

16. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 15, wherein the customer profile server provides the portable device with the promotional offer based on the location of the portable device after the portable device has been at the same location for a predetermined amount of time.

17. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 10, wherein the portable device is a first portable device associated with a customer, and wherein further the customer profile server sends a notification to a second portable device associated with a customer service agent after the portable device has been at the same location for a predetermined amount of time, the notification including the location of the first portable device.

18. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 17, wherein the notification includes an identification of the desired product.

19. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 17, wherein the notification includes at least a portion of the user profile.

20. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 10, wherein the portable device is a first portable device associated with a customer, and wherein further the customer profile server is configured to receive a request for assistance from the first portable device and, in response thereto, send a notification to a second portable device associated with a customer service agent, the notification including the location of the first portable device.

21. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 10, wherein the user profile associated with the portable device is linked to an online shopping account and comprises a record of online shopping habits associated with the online shopping account, and wherein further the customer profile server is configured to update the user profile to include offline shopping habits based at least in part on the current location of the portable device and the updated location.

22. The indoor positioning system as recited in claim 21, wherein the customer profile server is configured to provide the portable device with a promotional offer based on a combination of the online shopping habits and the offline shopping habits.

23. A computer-readable medium embodied in a non-transient, physical memory device having stored thereon computer executable instructions for automated georeferencing, the instructions comprising:

receiving indications of a start point and an end point;

receiving an indication of an interval between adjacent waypoints;

calculating the distance between the start point and the end point;

determining the number (N) of waypoints needed between the start point and the end point based on the distance between the start point and end point and the interval; and

defining N waypoints between the start point and the end point.

24. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 23, wherein the instructions further comprise:

calculating a bearing between the start point and the end point,

wherein defining the N waypoints between the start point and the end point comprises defining the N waypoints between the start point and the end point along the bearing.

25. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 23, wherein defining the N waypoints between the start point and the end point comprises geo-coding the waypoints with corresponding latitude and longitude values.

26. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 25, wherein geo-coding the waypoints comprises:

calculating the corresponding latitude and longitude values for each of the waypoints; and

updating a definition of each waypoint to include the corresponding latitude and longitude values.

27. A computer-readable medium embodied in a non-transient, physical memory device having stored thereon computer executable instructions for routing a shopping experience, the instructions comprising:

receiving an indication from a first Internet-enabled device of one or more desired items for purchase;

creating a virtual shopping cart comprising the one or more desired items;

receiving a request from a second Internet-enabled device to create a shopping route at a particular store based on the virtual shopping cart;

determining the respective locations in the store of the one or more desired items;

determining an optimal route for collecting each of the one or more desired items in the store; and

providing the optimal route to the second Internet-enabled device.

28. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 27, wherein the instructions further comprise:

determining a current location of the second Internet-enabled device at the time the request is received; and

determining the identity of the particular store based on the current location of the second Internet-enabled device.

29. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 27, wherein the instructions further comprise:

determining one or more additional items of potential interest based on the contents of the virtual shopping cart; and

providing the second Internet-enabled device with a suggestion of the one or more additional items.

30. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 27, wherein the instructions further comprise:

providing the second Internet-enabled device with a promotional offer based on the contents of the virtual shopping cart.

31. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 27, wherein the virtual shopping cart is based on a gift registry.

32. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 27, wherein receiving the request from the second Internet-enabled device comprises receiving an indication that a Near Field Communication (NFC) node located in the particular store has come into communication with the second Internet-enabled device.

33. A merchandise pickup system, comprising:

a terminal device associated with a customer service agent;

a Near Field Communication (NFC) node located external to a store, the NFC node operable to provide a portable device associated with a customer and within communication range of the NFC node a description of the location of the NFC node;

a merchandise pickup server communicatively coupled with the terminal device and the portable device over one or more communication networks, the merchandise pickup server configured to receive from the portable device the description of the location of the NFC node, a customer identifier and an order identifier and to provide the terminal device with the description of the location of the NFC node, the customer identifier, the order identifier and an identification of merchandise associated with the order to be picked up.