Location and time sensitive wireless calendaring

• US 8,150,719 B2
• Filed: 09/13/2010
• Issued: 04/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Perrella, Ronald, Menon, Jai, Zhou, Gaiye
• Primary Examiner(s): Loftis, Johnna
• Application Number:
  US12/880,746
• Publication Number:
  US 20100332596A1
• Time in Patent Office: 568 Days
• Field of Search: 705/8, 705/9, 705/7.19, 705/7.18
• US Class Current: 705/7.19
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063116 Schedule adjustment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06314 Calendaring for a resource
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1093 Calendar-based scheduling for persons or groups
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A computer-implemented method provides location-sensitive and time-sensitive calendaring to a wireless device, such as a cell phone, pager, PDA, etc. A user'"'"'s calendar is maintained with a number of appointments, start times and end times for the appointments, meeting place and a list of attendees for the appointments. When the present time reading is within a predetermined minimum of a meeting start time of an appointment of a calendar user, the location of the user is determined based on the location of the wireless device. The location of the meeting place is also determined. Using historical data (of the user or others), the estimated time of arrival of the user at the meeting place is determined. If the estimated time of arrival is after the meeting start time, then a late message may be sent to the user and/or to the other meeting attendees.

Claims

1. A method for rescheduling a calendar appointment comprising a start time, at least two appointment attendees, and an appointment location, the method comprising:

sending, from the calendar management server, a roll call request to at least two wireless devices operating in a wireless communications network, wherein each wireless device is associated with one of the appointment attendees;

receiving in response to the roll call request, at the calendar management server, a location for each wireless device;

calculating, at the calendar management server, for each wireless device, an estimated time of arrival at the appointment location, the estimated time of arrival of each wireless device being based upon the location of each wireless device and a respective velocity of each wireless device;

determining, at the calendar management server, that at least one of the estimated times of arrival is after the start time of the calendar appointment; and

rescheduling, at the calendar management server, in response to the determination that at least one of the estimated times of arrival is after the start time of the calendar appointment, the calendar appointment to a rescheduled start time.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to sending the roll call request, determining, at the calendar management server, that a time reading is within a predetermined minimum of the start time.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein calculating, at the calendar management server, for each wireless device, the estimated time of arrival at the appointment location, is based further upon historical data comprising a database comprising a plurality of time stamps and corresponding location coordinates for each wireless device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein calculating the estimated time of arrival at the appointment location comprises:

using the location of each wireless device, determining a difference between the time stamp corresponding to the location of each wireless device and a time stamp corresponding to the appointment location; and

adding the difference to the time reading to calculate the estimated time of arrival at the appointment location.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating, at the calendar management server, for each wireless device, the estimated time of arrival at the appointment location, is based further upon historical data comprising a historical commute time from the location of each wireless device to the appointment location.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing, from the calendar management server, a notification to at least one of the wireless devices, the notification comprising the rescheduled start time of the calendar appointment.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating, at the calendar management server, for each wireless device of the plurality of wireless devices, the estimated time of arrival at the appointment location, is further based upon an indication of a mode of transportation.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending, from the calendar management server, a late message to the wireless devices to inform the associated appointment attendees that at least one of the appointment attendees is late based upon the determining step.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising, sending, from the calendar management server, a notification message to the wireless devices to inform the associated appointment attendees of a depart time by which to proceed to the appointment location in order to arrive at the appointment location by the rescheduled start time.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium of a calendar management server comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor of the calendar management server, cause the processor to perform steps of a method for rescheduling a calendar appointment comprising a start time, at least two appointment attendees, and an appointment location, the steps comprising:

sending a roll call request to at least two wireless devices operating in a wireless communications network, wherein each wireless device is associated with one of the appointment attendees;

receiving in response to the roll call request a location for each wireless device;

calculating for each wireless device an estimated time of arrival at the appointment location, the estimated time of arrival of each wireless device being based upon the location of each wireless device and a respective velocity of each wireless device;

determining that at least one of the estimated times of arrival is after the start time of the calendar appointment; and

rescheduling, in response to the determination that at least one of the estimated times of arrival is after the start time of the calendar appointment, the calendar appointment to a rescheduled start time.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform an additional step of sending a notification message to the wireless devices to inform the associated appointment attendees of a depart time by which to proceed to the appointment location in order to arrive at the appointment location by the rescheduled start time.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform an additional step of sending a late message to the wireless devices to inform the associated appointment attendees that at least one of the appointment attendees is late based upon the estimated times of arrival calculated for the appointment attendees.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform an additional step of providing a notification to at least one of the wireless devices, the notification comprising the rescheduled start time of the calendar appointment.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform an additional step of, prior to sending the roll call request, determining that a time reading is within a predetermined minimum of the start time.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions for calculating, for each wireless device, the estimated time of arrival at the appointment location are based further upon historical data comprising a database comprising a plurality of time stamps and corresponding location coordinates for each wireless device.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions for calculating the estimated time of arrival at the appointment location comprise instructions for:

using the location of each wireless device, determining a difference between the time stamp corresponding to the location of each wireless device and a time stamp corresponding to the appointment location; and

adding the difference to the time reading to calculate the estimated time of arrival at the appointment location.

17. A system for rescheduling a calendar appointment comprising a start time, at least two appointment attendees, and an appointment location, the system comprising:

a processor;

a memory, in communication with the processor, the memory being configured to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform the steps of;

sending a roll call request to at least two wireless devices operating in a wireless communications network, wherein each wireless device is associated with one of the appointment attendees;

receiving in response to the roll call request a location for each wireless device;

calculating for each wireless device an estimated time of arrival at the appointment location, the estimated time of arrival of each wireless device being based upon the location of each wireless device and a respective velocity of each wireless device;

determining that at least one of the estimated times of arrival is after the start time of the calendar appointment; and

rescheduling, in response to the determination that at least one of the estimated times of arrival is after the start time of the calendar appointment, the calendar appointment to a rescheduled start time.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the instructions stored in the memory further comprise instructions for sending a notification message to the wireless devices to inform the associated appointment attendees of a depart time by which to proceed to the appointment location in order to arrive at the appointment location by the rescheduled start time.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the instructions stored in the memory further comprise instructions for sending a late message to the wireless devices to inform the associated appointment attendees that at least one of the appointment attendees is late based upon the determining step.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the instructions stored in the memory further comprise instructions for, prior to sending the roll call request, determining that a time reading is within a predetermined minimum of the start time.