Locating a product or a vender using a mobile communication device

• US 8,694,366 B2
• Filed: 12/16/2011
• Issued: 04/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/23/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Gula Consulting Limited Liability Company (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Wounder GmbH (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Barnes, Melvin L. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lastra, Daniel
• Application Number:
  US13/328,725
• Publication Number:
  US 20120089470A1
• Time in Patent Office: 844 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14.1
• US Class Current: 705/14.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/134 Hyperlinking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1053 Employment or hiring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/322 Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3224 Transactions dependent on location of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/325 using wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0236 Incentive or reward received by requiring registration or ID from user
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0259 based on store location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 : Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 : Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0639 : Item locations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 : Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724 : User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
• 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

Systems and methods of using a mobile communication device to locate a product or a vender within a shopping facility. The method comprises receiving, via an input associated with the mobile communication device, a request to locate the product or the vender within the shopping facility, transmitting the request to a remote computer system, and receiving at the mobile communication device from the remote computer system an indication of whether the product or vender is located within the shopping facility, and, if the product or the vender is located within the shopping facility, an indication of the location of the product or the vender within the shopping facility. The remote computer system is configured to determine whether the product or the vender is located within the shopping facility and determine a location of the product or the vender within the shopping facility.

Claims

1. A method of using a mobile communication device to locate a product or a vender within a shopping facility, the method comprising:

receiving, via an input associated with the mobile communication device, a request to locate the product or the vender within the shopping facility;

in response to receiving the request, transmitting via a communications network the request from the mobile communication device to a remote computer system, wherein the remote computer system is configured to determine whether the product or the vender is located within the shopping facility, and, if the product or the vender is located within the shopping facility, the remote computer system is configured to determine a location of the product or the vender within the shopping facility; and

receiving at the mobile communication device from the remote computer system an indication of whether the product or vender is located within the shopping facility, and, if the product or the vender is located within the shopping facility, an indication of the location of the product or the vender within the shopping facility.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the shopping facility includes a plurality of venders each of which has associated therewith a vender computer system, the method further comprising:

in response to receiving the request, transmitting via the communication network the request from the mobile communication device to the vender computer systems, wherein the vender computer systems are configured to determine whether the product or the vender is located within the shopping facility, and, if the product or the vender is located within the shopping facility, the vender computer systems are configured to determine a location of the product or the vender within the shopping facility; and

receiving at the mobile communication device from the vender computer systems one or more responses indicating whether the product or vender is located within the shopping facility, and, if the product or the vender is located within the shopping facility, one or more responses indicating the location of the product or the vender within the shopping facility.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the shopping facility includes a plurality of venders each of which has associated therewith a vender computer system and a vender location, the method further comprising:

receiving, via the input, a list of items to be purchased from one of the plurality of venders;

in response to receiving the list of items, transmitting via the communication network the list of items from the mobile communication device to the vender computer system associated with said one of the plurality of venders, wherein the vender computer system is configured to determine a location of each item in the list of items within the vender location associated with said one of the plurality of venders; and

receiving at the mobile communication device from the vender computer system a response indicating the location of each item in the list of items within the vender location.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the vender computer system is further configured to determine price data for one or more of the items in the list of items, the method further comprising:

receiving at the mobile communication device from the vender computer system a response indicating the price data for one or more of the items in the list of items.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the price data comprises a price of each item in the list of items and a total price for all of the items in the list of items.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

causing the mobile communication device to scan each item in the list of items that is placed in a container; and

as the mobile communication device exits the vender location, transmitting from the mobile communication device to the vender computer system a list of scanned items and payment information to facilitate payment for each item in the list of items that is placed in a container.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein each item is scanned via a barcode reader associated with the mobile communication device.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein each item is scanned via a radio frequency identification tag reader associated with the mobile communication device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the shopping facility includes a plurality of venders each of which has associated therewith a vender computer system and a vender location, the method further comprising:

receiving, via the input, a list of items to be purchased from one of the plurality of venders; and

in response to receiving the list of items, transmitting via the communication network the list of items from the mobile communication device to the vender computer system associated with said one of the plurality of venders, wherein the vender computer system is configured to instruct vender personnel within the vender location associated with said one of the plurality of venders to gather each item in the list of items for pickup by or delivery to a user of the mobile communication device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the vender has associated therewith a vender location within the shopping facility, the method further comprising:

receiving, via the input, a vender-information request;

in response to receiving the vender-information request and before the mobile communication device reaches the vender location, transmitting the vender-information request from the mobile communication device to the remote computer system, wherein the remote computer system is configured to determine a response to the vender-information request; and

receiving at the mobile communication device from the remote computer system the response to the vender-information request.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the vender-information request comprises a request for information relating to a volume of business currently present at the vender location and wherein the response to the vender-information request comprises one or more of a wait time for service or entry, a number of individuals present at the vender location, a percentage of maximum allowable number of individuals that are present, an estimated wait time to purchase a product, a probability of obtaining service, a number of individuals waiting to be serviced, an audio or video data transmission of a portion of the vender location, or an availability of a particular product.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the remote computer system is configured to determine the response to the vender-information request based at least in part on data received from monitoring equipment.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the remote computer system is configured to determine the response to the vender-information request based at least in part on data received from a point-of-sale system.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

in response to receiving the vender-information request, transmitting from the mobile communication device to the remote computer system one or more of a product request or a reservation request.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the remote computer system comprises an area computer system associated with the shopping facility;

the shopping facility includes a plurality of communication nodes that are configured to communicate with the mobile communication device; and

the mobile communication device transmits the request to one or more of the plurality of communication nodes.

16. A mobile communication device comprising:

a communication module configured to communicate via a communication network;

an input; and

a processor in operative association with the communication module and the input, the processor configured to;

receive via the input a request to locate a product or a vender within a shopping facility;

in response to receiving the request, transmit via the communication module the request from the mobile communication device to a remote computer system, wherein the remote computer system is configured to determine whether the product or the vender is located within the shopping facility, and, if the product or the vender is located within the shopping facility, the remote computer system is configured to determine a location of the product or the vender within the shopping facility; and

receive from the remote computer system via the communication module an indication of whether the product or vender is located within the shopping facility, and, if the product or the vender is located within the shopping facility, an indication of the location of the product or the vender within the shopping facility.

17. The mobile communication device of claim 16, wherein the shopping facility includes a plurality of venders each of which has associated therewith a vender computer system and a vender location, and wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive via the input a list of items to be purchased from one of the plurality of venders;

in response to receiving the list of items, transmit via the communication module the list of items from the mobile communication device to the vender computer system associated with said one of the plurality of venders, wherein the vender computer system is configured to determine a location of each item in the list of items within the vender location associated with said one of the plurality of venders; and

receive from the vender computer system via the communication module a response indicating the location of each item in the list of items within the vender location.

18. The mobile communication device of claim 16, wherein the shopping facility includes a plurality of venders each of which has associated therewith a vender computer system and a vender location, and wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive via the input a list of items to be purchased from one of the plurality of venders; and

in response to receiving the list of items, transmit via the communication module the list of items from the mobile communication device to the vender computer system associated with said one of the plurality of venders, wherein the vender computer system is configured to instruct vender personnel within the vender location associated with said one of the plurality of venders to gather each item in the list of items for pickup or delivery.

19. The mobile communication device of claim 16, wherein the vender has associated therewith a vender location within the shopping facility, and wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive via the input a vender-information request;

in response to receiving the vender-information request and before the mobile communication device reaches the vender location, transmit the vender-information request from the mobile communication device to the remote computer system, wherein the remote computer system is configured to determine a response to the vender-information request; and

receive from the remote computer system via the communication module the response to the vender-information request.

20. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions comprising:

instructions for receiving, via an input associated with a mobile communication device, a request to locate a product or a vender within a shopping facility;

instructions for, in response to receiving the request, transmitting via a communication network the request from the mobile communication device to a remote computer system, wherein the remote computer system is configured to determine whether the product or the vender is located within the shopping facility, and, if the product or the vender is located within the shopping facility, the remote computer system is configured to determine a location of the product or the vender within the shopping facility; and

instructions for receiving at the mobile communication device from the remote computer system an indication of whether the product or vender is located within the shopping facility, and, if the product or the vender is located within the shopping facility, an indication of the location of the product or the vender within the shopping facility.