Using multiple applications to provide location information

• US 8,855,681 B1
• Filed: 04/20/2012
• Issued: 10/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: George, Michael M., Lopez, Gustavo Eduardo, LoPiccolo-Giles, Dana C., Vasen, Simoina D., Turner, Andrew Russell
• Primary Examiner(s): TAYLOR, NATHAN SCOTT
• Application Number:
  US13/452,363
• Time in Patent Office: 900 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561-4568, 455/457, 705/26.7, 705/347
• US Class Current: 455/456.3
• 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

Methods, systems, and apparatuses for providing location information to a location server by a plurality of applications are described. The plurality of applications of a computing device determines location information associated with the computing device, such as by querying location hardware of the computing device. The applications cause transmission of the location information to a location service via a communication network. The location service utilizes the location information in various ways to target communications to users associated with the computing devices.

Claims

1. A computing device, comprising:

memory;

one or more processors;

a transmission module stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to enable transmissions via a communication network;

a database stored in the memory to include aggregated location information corresponding to the computing device;

a first application stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to query location hardware of the computing device to determine first location information corresponding to the computing device, and to store the first location information in the database as part of the aggregated location information;

a second application stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to query the location hardware of the computing device to determine second location information corresponding to the computing device, and to store the second location information in the database as part of the aggregated location information; and

a location service application programming interface (API) stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to enable the first application and the second application to provide, via the transmission module, the aggregated location information, including the first location information and the second location information, respectively, to a location service.

2. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the first application is further executable to periodically query the location hardware for the first location information.

3. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the first application includes a first portion that is executable to perform a function unrelated to querying the location hardware and causing transmission of the location information, and wherein at least a second portion of the first application associated with querying the location hardware and causing transmission of the location information is executable to run as a background process.

4. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the first application includes a first portion that is executable to perform a function unrelated to querying the location hardware and causing transmission of the location information;

and

wherein a second portion of the first application is further executable to call the location service API to cause transmission of both the first location data and activity data associated with the function that is unrelated to querying the location hardware and causing transmission of the location information.

5. A computing device, comprising:

memory;

one or more processors;

a transmission module stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to enable a plurality of applications to transmit data via a communication network;

a database stored in the memory, the database to include aggregated location information;

the plurality of applications stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to;

query a location hardware of the computing device to determine location information associated with the computing device;

store the location information in the database as part of the aggregated location information; and

cause the transmission of the aggregated location information to a location service via the transmission module.

6. The computing device of claim 5, wherein the aggregated location information that is transmitted to the location service is stored in the database by multiple ones of the plurality of applications.

7. The computing device of claim 5, wherein two or more of the plurality of applications include first portions executable to perform primary functions unrelated to location information, and second portions that are executable in a background to query the location hardware, store the location data in the database as part of the aggregated location information, and cause the transmission of the aggregated location information to the location service, and wherein the primary functions of the first portions are different from one another.

8. The computing device of claim 5, wherein one or more of the plurality of applications include first portions executable to perform primary functions unrelated to location information, and second portions executable to query the location hardware, store the location data in the database as part of the aggregated location information, and cause the transmission of the aggregated location information to the location service, and wherein the one or more of the plurality of applications are further executable to cause transmission of the location information to the location service along with activity data associated with the first portions.

9. The computing device of claim 5, wherein the plurality of applications are further executable to store the location information in the database during an offline state and to cause transmission of the aggregated location information to the location service responsive to detecting a transition of the computing device from the offline state to an online state.

10. The computing device of claim 5, wherein the plurality of applications are further executable to cause transmission of the aggregated location information to the location service as a periodic batch operation.

11. The computing device of claim 5, wherein the plurality of applications are further executable to cause transmission of the location information in real time as the location information is received from the location hardware.

12. The computing device of claim 5, further comprising a location service application programming interface (API) stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to enable one or more of the plurality of applications to transmit the location information to the location service, and wherein the one or more applications are further executable to utilize the location service API to transmit the location information to the location service.

13. A method, comprising:

determining, by a plurality of applications of a computing device based on queries to a location hardware of the computing device, location information associated with the computing device;

storing, by ones of the plurality of applications, the location information in a database of the computing device, the location information forming aggregated location information; and

causing, by at least one of the plurality of applications, transmission of the aggregated location information to a location service via a communication network.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the storing includes aggregating first location information determined by a first one of the plurality of applications with second location information determined and stored in the database by a second one of the plurality of applications.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the storing of the location information in the database occurs during an offline state of the computing device, and the method further comprises detecting a transition from the offline state to an online state of the computing device, wherein the causing the transmission is responsive to the transition.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the aggregated location information includes a first location of the computing device associated with a first time of the offline state and a second location of the computing device associated with a second time of the offline state.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising enabling, by a location service API, one of the plurality of applications to access a transmission module of the computing device to cause, responsive to calls from the plurality of applications, the transmission of the location information to the location service, the location service API including a resource identifier of the location service.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the causing includes causing transmission of the location information substantially contemporaneously with the determination of the location information.

19. The method of claim 13, further comprising suppressing, by one of the plurality of applications, access to the location hardware for other ones of the plurality of applications during a time that the one of the plurality of applications is actively executing.

20. The method of claim 13, further comprising executing a location function of at least one of the one or more applications as a background process during a time that a non-location function of the at least one application does not execute.

21. A location service, comprising:

memory;

one or more processors;

a location aggregator stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to receive, from a plurality of mobile devices, location information associated with individual ones of the plurality of the mobile devices, the location information associated with individual ones of the plurality of mobile devices aggregated by a plurality of applications of individual ones of the mobile devices prior to transmission to the location aggregator; and

a target module stored in the memory and executable to cause, based at least in part on the location information associated with individual ones of the plurality of mobile devices, a target communications to be transmitted to users associated with the plurality of mobile devices.

22. The location service of claim 21, further comprising a user profile module stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to determine, based at least on the location information associated with individual ones of the plurality of mobile devices, user profiles associated with individual ones of the users of the plurality of mobile devices, and wherein the target module is further executable to cause the target communications to be transmitted to the users associated with the mobile devices based at least on the user profiles.

23. The location service of claim 22, wherein the user profile module is configured to infer, at least from the location information of at least one of the mobile devices, one or more of a work location, a home location, a merchant association, or a frequently visited geographical area of the at least one of the mobile devices, and wherein the target module is further executable to cause one of the target communications to be transmitted to the at least one of the mobile devices based at least on the one or more of inferred work location, inferred home location, inferred merchant association, or inferred frequently visited geographical area.

24. The location service of claim 21, wherein the location information indicates a current location of at least one of the mobile devices, and wherein the target module is further executable to cause the target communication to be transmitted to the users based at least in part on a predicted future location area determined from the current location.

25. The location service of claim 24, wherein the target module is further executable to determine the predicted future location area further based at least on one or more of a speed of travel of the at least one of the mobile devices or a direction of travel of the at least one of the mobile devices.

26. The location service of claim 24, wherein the target module is further executable to determine the predicted future location area further based at least on past location data associated with the at least one of the mobile devices that indicates a number of previous visits to the predicted future location exceeding a predetermined threshold.

27. The location service of claim 21, wherein the location aggregator is further executable to receive, from at least one of the mobile devices, activity information generated in accordance with at least one of the plurality of applications of the at least one of the mobile devices, and wherein the target module is further executable to cause a corresponding one of the target communications to be transmitted further based at least on the activity information.

28. The location service of claim 27, wherein the activity data is associated with an item for sale at a location, or a predicted future location, of the at least one of the user devices determined from the location information, and wherein the corresponding one of the target communications includes information about the item.

29. The location service of claim 21, wherein the computing device further comprises a location pattern module stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to infer an existence of a merchant at a particular location based at least in part on the location information of the plurality of mobile devices indicating a number of past visits to the particular location exceeding a predetermined threshold.

30. The location service of claim 21, wherein the computing device further comprises a location pattern module stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to determine identities of repeat customers for a merchant based at least in part on the location information of the plurality of mobile devices indicating a number of repeat visits within a predetermined time frame exceeding a predetermined threshold.

31. The location service of claim 21, wherein the computing device further comprises a location pattern module stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to determine one or more user regions based at least on the location information of the plurality of mobile devices for the one or more regions indicating a number of past user visits exceeding a predetermined threshold.