PASSIVE DYNAMIC GEOFENCING FOR MOBILE DEVICES

• US 20140057648A1
• Filed: 07/29/2013
• Published: 02/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Russo, Frank, Lyman, Nate
• Granted Patent: US 9,769,604 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0413 MIMO systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0417 Feedback systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0602 using antenna switching H04B7/0686 takes precedence; antenna beam directivity switching H01Q3/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• 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 4/022 with dynamic range variability
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring

Abstract

Systems and methods for passive dynamic geofencing on a mobile device are discussed. For example, a method for passive dynamic geofencing can include operations such as monitoring a first parent geofence and a first plurality of child geofences; detecting crossing a boundary of the first parent geofence into a second parent geofence; loading the second parent geofence and a second plurality of child geofences encompassed by the second parent geofence; and monitoring the second parent geofence and the second plurality of child geofences.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

monitoring, on a mobile device, a first parent geofence and a first plurality of child geofences, the first plurality of child geofences geographically encompassed by the first parent geofence;

detecting, on the mobile device, crossing a boundary of the first parent geofence into a second parent geofence;

loading, based at least in part on detection of crossing the boundary, the second parent geofence and a second plurality of child geofences within the second parent geofence; and

monitoring, on the mobile device, the second parent geofence and the second plurality of child geofences.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting, on the mobile device, crossing into one of the second plurality of child geofences; and

triggering, on the mobile device based at least in part on detecting the crossing into one of the second plurality of child geofences, a pre-defined operation.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein triggering the pre-defined operation includes triggering an operation from the following group of operations:

signaling a user of the mobile device;

sending a message from the mobile device;

displaying content relevant to the one of the second plurality of child geofences; and

activating an application associated with the one of the second plurality of child geofences.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising unloading, based at least in part on detection of crossing the boundary, the first parent geofence and the first plurality of child geofences.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the unloading of the first parent geofence and the first plurality of child geofences occurs prior to loading the second parent geofence or the second plurality of child geofences.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, on the mobile device over a network, the first parent geofence and the first plurality of child geofences, wherein the first plurality of child geofences correspond to one or more physical locations of interest to a user of the mobile device.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising transmitting, from the mobile device over the network to a service provider, a list of physical locations of interest to the user of the mobile device.

8. A method comprising:

receiving, over a network from a mobile device, a first geofence page request including a current location associated with the mobile device;

generating, based at least in part on the current location associated with the mobile device, a first parent geofence and a first plurality of child geofences in response to the first geofence page request, wherein the first plurality of child geofences are within the first parent geofence;

transmitting, over the network to the mobile device, the first parent geofence and the first plurality of child geofences;

receiving, over the network from the mobile device, a second geofence page request, the second geofence page request including an updated current location associated with the mobile device;

generating, based at least in part on the updated current location associated with the mobile device, a second parent geofence and a second plurality of child geofences located within the second parent geofence; and

transmitting, over the network to the mobile device, the second parent geofence and the second plurality of child geofences.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein generating the first parent geofence includes accessing a database of parent geofences based on the current location associated with the mobile device received in the first geofence page request.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the first geofence page request and the second geofence page request each include an application ID or service ID that is used in generating parent and child geofences, wherein the application ID or service ID identify a mobile application or service requesting geofence data.

11. The method of claim 8, further including:

pre-generating a plurality of parent geofences and associated child geofences to cover a defined geographical area; and

storing the plurality of parent geofences and associated child geofences as a plurality of geofence pages indexed according to geographic boundaries of each parent geofence of the plurality of parent geofences; and

wherein generating the first parent geofence and first plurality of child geofences includes selecting one of the plurality of geofence pages based at least in part on location data within the first geofence page request, and wherein generating the second parent geofence and second plurality of child geofences includes selecting one of the plurality of geofence pages based at least in part on location data within the second geofence page request.

12. A machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed on a mobile device, cause the mobile device to:

monitor a first parent geofence and a first plurality of child geofences, the first plurality of child geofences geographically encompassed by the first parent geofence;

detect crossing a boundary of the first parent geofence;

request, based at least in part on detection of crossing the boundary, a second parent geofence and a second plurality of child geofences within the second parent geofence;

load, upon receiving, the second parent geofence and the second plurality of child geofences; and

monitoring the second parent geofence and the second plurality of child geofences.

13. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, further comprising instructions that cause the mobile device to:

detect crossing into one of the second plurality of child geofences; and

trigger, based at least in part on detecting the crossing into one of the second plurality of child geofences, a pre-defined operation.

14. The machine-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions that cause the mobile device to trigger the pre-defined operation include instructions to trigger an operation from the following group of operations:

signal a user of the mobile device;

send a message from the mobile device;

display content relevant to the one of the second plurality of child geofences; and

activate an application associated with the one of the second plurality of child geofences.

15. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, further comprising instructions that cause the mobile device to unload, based at least in part on detection of crossing the boundary, the first parent geofence and the first plurality of child geofences.

16. The machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions that cause the mobile device to unload the first parent geofence and the first plurality of child geofences execute prior to instructions for loading the second parent geofence or the second plurality of child geofences.

17. A geofence paging system comprising:

a communication module configured to,

receive, over a network connection from a mobile device, communications including geofence page requests, the geofence page requests including current location information associated with the mobile device, and

transmit, over the network connect to the mobile device, geofence pages for monitoring on the mobile device in response to the geofence page requests;

a generation module for generating geofence pages in response to geofence page requests received by the communication module, each geofence page including a parent geofence and a plurality of associated child geofences, wherein at least the parent geofence is generated based on the current location information associated with the mobile device; and

a rules engine maintaining and enforcing rules used by the generation module for generating geofence pages.

18. The geofence paging system of claim 17, wherein the rules engine maintains and enforces a rule requiring the plurality of associated child geofences be geographically related to the parent geofence.

19. The geofence paging system of claim 18, wherein the rules engine requires that all child geofences be geographically inside boundaries of the parent geofence to which the child geofences are assigned.

20. A machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed within a network-based system, cause the network-based system to:

receive, over a network from a mobile device, a first geofence page request including a current location associated with the mobile device;

generate, based at least in part on the current location associated with the mobile device, a first parent geofence and a first plurality of child geofences in response to the first geofence page request, wherein the first plurality of child geofences are within the first parent geofence;

transmit, over the network to the mobile device, the first parent geofence and the first plurality of child geofences;

receive, over the network from the mobile device, a second geofence page request, the second geofence page request including an updated current location associated with the mobile device;

generate, based at least in part on the updated current location associated with the mobile device, a second parent geofence and a second plurality of child geofences located within the second parent geofence; and

transmit, over the network to the mobile device, the second parent geofence and the second plurality of child geofences.

21. The machine-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the first geofence page request and the second geofence page request each include an application ID or service ID that is used in generating parent and child geofences, wherein the application ID or service ID identify a mobile application or service requesting geofence data.

22. The machine-readable medium of claim 20, further including instructions that cause the network-based system to:

pre-generate a plurality of parent geofences and associated child geofences to cover a defined geographical area; and

store the plurality of parent geofences and associated child geofences as a plurality of geofence pages indexed according to geographic boundaries of each parent geofence of the plurality of parent geofences; and

wherein generating the first parent geofence and first plurality of child geofences includes selecting one of the plurality of geofence pages based at least in part on location data within the first geofence page request, and wherein generating the second parent geofence and second plurality of child geofences includes selecting one of the plurality of geofence pages based at least in part on location data within the second geofence page request.