Sign-in method and system

• US 9,699,016 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2015
• Issued: 07/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tencent Technology Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Original Assignee: Tencent Technology Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Inventors: Deng, Xi
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Mong-Thuy
• Application Number:
  US14/710,323
• Publication Number:
  US 20150244557A1
• Time in Patent Office: 784 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561-4564, 455457, 455411
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0815 providing single-sign-on or federations
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/63 Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• 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

Disclosed are a sign-in method and system. The method includes: obtaining, by using a location-based service (LBS) of a mobile terminal, geographical information of a current location of a person who signs in; binding the geographical information of the current location with identity information of the person who signs in and time information, using the geographical information of the current location, the identity information of the person who signs in, and the time information as sign-in information, and sending the sign-in information to a sign-in server; verifying, by the sign-in server, the sent sign-in information; and recording the sign-in information if the verification succeeds. The present disclosure not only can save costs of labor, material, and money, but also can enable several people to sign in simultaneously, thereby greatly improving sign-in efficiency.

Claims

1. A sign-in method, comprising:

storing, by a sign-in server, sign-in information of an activity which requires sign-in of at least one pre-determined attendee at a pre-determined geographical sign-in spot, the sign-in information of the activity comprises geographical information of the sign-in spot, identity information of the at least one attendee, and sign-in time information of the sign-in spot;

receiving, by the sign-in server from a mobile terminal, sign-in information of a person who signs in, the sign-in information received comprises geographical information of a current location of the person who signs in, identity information of the person who signs in and a time when the person signs in;

verifying, by the sign-in server, the sign-in information received; and

recording the sign-in information if the verification succeeds;

wherein verifying by the sign-in server the sign-in information received comprises;

comparing, by the sign-in server, the geographical information, the identity information, and the time in the sign-in information received respectively with the geographical information, the identity information, and the sign-in time information in the sign-in information of the activity stored in the sign-in server; and

determining whether the person is one of the at least one attendee of the activity and whether the current location and the time when the person signs in are consistent with the geographical information of the sign-in spot and the sign-in time information of the sign-in spot.

2. The sign-in method according to claim 1, after the step of verifying, by the sign-in server, the sent sign-in information, further comprising:

feeding back, by the sign-in server, a verification result to the mobile terminal.

3. The sign-in method according to claim 1, wherein the geographical information of the current location of the person who signs in is obtained in a Global Positioning System (GPS) positioning manner.

4. The sign-in method according to claim 1, wherein the geographical information is latitude and longitude information of the current location of the person who signs in.

5. The sign-in method according to claim 1, further comprising:

making, by the sign-in server, a determination that the verification succeeds if the received sign-in information is consistent with the sign-in information of the activity pre-stored in the sign-in information storing unit.

6. The sign-in method according to claim 5, wherein comparing by the sign-in server the geographical information, the identity information, and the time in the sign-in information received respectively with the geographical information, the identity information, and the sign-in time information in the sign-in information of the activity stored in the sign-in server comprises:

searching in sign-in information of activities pre-stored in the sign-in server for an activity whose sign-in spot is within a pre-determined range around the current location of the person specified by the geographical information in the received sign-in information;

if an activity is found,

searching in sign-in information of the found activity for identity information which is consistent with the identity information in the received sign-in information;

if identity information consistent with the identity information in the received sign-in information is found in the sign-in information of the found activity,

verifying whether the time in the received sign-in information is within a pre-determined range around a time specified by sign-in time information in the sign-in information of the found activity; and

making the determination that the verification succeeds if the time is within the pre-determined range.

7. A sign-in system, comprising:

a mobile location server, configured to provide a location-based service (LBS) by using a network;

one or more mobile terminals, configured to store identity information of a person who signs in, obtain, from the mobile location server, geographical information of a current location of the person who signs in, bind the geographical information of the current location with the identity information of the person who signs in and time information, use the geographical information of the current location, the identity information of the person who signs in, and a time when the person signs in as sign-in information, and send the sign-in information; and

a sign-in server, configured to store sign-in information of an activity which requires sign-in of at least one pre-determined attendee at a pre-determined geographical sign-in spot, the sign-in information of the activity comprises geographical information of the sign-in spot, identity information of the at least one attendee, and sign-in time information of the sign-in spot;

receive the sign-in information sent by the mobile terminals;

verify the sign-in information comprising comparing the geographical information, the identity information, and the time in the sign-in information received respectively with the geographical information, the identity information, and the sign-in time information in the sign-in information of the activity stored in the sign-in server, and determining whether the person is one of the at least one attendee of the activity and whether the current location and the time when the person signs in are consistent with the geographical information of the sign-in spot and the sign-in time information of the sign-in spot; and

record the sign-in information after the verification succeeds.

8. The sign-in system according to claim 7, wherein after completing the verification, the sign-in server feeds back a verification result to the mobile terminals.

9. The sign-in system according to claim 7, wherein the sign-in server comprises:

a communication unit, configured to receive and send data;

a sign-in information storing unit, configured to pre-store geographical information of each sign-in spot of each activity, and identity information of at least one attendee of each activity and sign-in time information that correspond to each sign-in spot;

the sign-in information of the activity pre-stored in the sign-in information storing unit; and

a record information storing unit, configured to store sign-in information passing the verification.

10. The sign-in system according to claim 7, wherein the mobile location server obtains, in a Global Positioning System (GPS) positioning manner, the geographical information of the current location of the person who signs in.

11. The sign-in system according to claim 7, wherein the geographical information is latitude and longitude information of the current location of the person who signs in.

12. A sign-in server, comprising:

a sign-in information storing unit, configured to pre-store sign-in information of an activity which requires sign-in of at least one pre-determined attendee at a pre-determined geographical sign-in spot, the sign-in information of the activity comprises geographical information of the sign-in spot, identity information of the at least one attendee, and sign-in time information of the sign-in spot;

a communication unit, configured to receive from a mobile terminal sign-in information of a person who signs in, the sign-in information received comprises geographical information of a current location of the person who signs in, identity information of the person who signs in and a time when the person signs in;

a verification unit, configured to verify sign-in information received, wherein verifying comprises comparing the geographical information, the identity information, and the time in the sign-in information received respectively with the geographical information, the identity information, and the sign-in time information in the sign-in information of the activity pre-stored in the sign-in information storing unit, and determining whether the person is one of the at least one attendee of the activity and whether the current location and the time when the person signs in are consistent with the geographical information of the sign-in spot and the sign-in time information of the sign-in spot; and

a record information storing unit, configured to store the sign-in information received if the verification succeeds.

13. The sign-in server according to claim 12, wherein

the verification unit is configured to make a determination that the received sign-in information passes verification if the received sign-in information is consistent with the sign-in information of the activity pre-stored in the sign-in information storing unit.

14. The sign-in server according to claim 13, wherein

the verification unit is configured to search in sign-in information of activities pre-stored in the sign-in information storing unit for an activity whose sign-in spot is within a pre-determined range around the current location of the person who signs in in the received sign-in information;

if an activity is found, search in sign-in information of the activity found for identity information which is consistent with the identity information in the received sign-in information;

if the identity information in the sign-in information of the activity found is consistent with the identity information in the received sign-in information, verify whether the time in the received sign-in information is within a pre-determined range around a time specified by sign-in time information in the sign-in information of the activity found; and

making a determination the received sign-in information passes verification if the time is within the pre-determined range.