Patents by Inventor Charles Joseph Hughes

Charles Joseph Hughes has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11107120
    Abstract: A social networking system receives information describing locations associated with a plurality of its users. Based on information identifying each user and a location associated with each user, the social networking system generates and stores hash values. For example, the social networking system maintains various geo-tiles that each identify geographic areas and generates a hash value based on a user identifier and an identifier of a geo-tile including the location associated with the user. Based on the hash values and locations associated with one or more users, the online system determines a number of unique users associated with locations included in a geographic region. When determining the number of unique users, the online system accounts for a rate at which the online system updates location information associated with various users.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2021
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Charles Joseph Hughes, Xiao Zhang, Patrick Brendan Maginnis
  • Patent number: 10498838
    Abstract: An online system determines a polygon representing a physical location associated with a content item and indexes edges of the polygon based on their positions along an axis of a map. The index is used to retrieve edges spanning a point on the axis representing a location of a client device associated with an online system user. The online system compares the positions of the point and retrieved edges on an axis perpendicular to the axis and determines whether the user is at the physical location based on the comparison. If the user is not at the physical location, a boundary surrounding the point is compared with boundaries surrounding the indexed edges to determine whether the user is within a threshold distance of the physical location. If the user is at or within the threshold distance of the physical location, the user is determined eligible to receive the content item.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2019
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Marco Valerio Barbera, Kevin Ventullo, Charles Joseph Hughes, Yin Wang
  • Patent number: 10467661
    Abstract: An online system identifies a conversion of an advertisement when a client device associated with an online system user is within a threshold distance of a physical location associated with the advertisement. The client device sends obfuscated information identifying the user associated with the client device and the location of the client device to an independent third party when the client device is within a threshold distance of the physical location associated with the advertisement. Using information from the client device, the third party requests information from the online system identifying one or more groups including the user. Based on information identifying groups including various online system users, the third party generates information identifying conversions associated with different groups. The online system may determine effectiveness of various advertisements using the information from the third party identifying conversions associated with different groups.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Matthew Nicholas Papakipos, Michael John Toksvig, Charles Joseph Hughes
  • Patent number: 10366406
    Abstract: A social networking system receives information describing locations associated with a plurality of its users. Based on information identifying each user and a location associated with each user, the social networking system generates and stores hash values. For example, the social networking system maintains various geo-tiles that each identify geographic areas and generates a hash value based on a user identifier and an identifier of a geo-tile including the location associated with the user. Based on the hash values and locations associated with one or more users, the online system determines a number of unique users associated with locations included in a geographic region. When determining the number of unique users, the online system accounts for a rate at which the online system updates location information associated with various users.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Charles Joseph Hughes, Xiao Zhang, Patrick Brendan Maginnis
  • Publication number: 20180338009
    Abstract: An online system determines a polygon representing a physical location associated with a content item and indexes edges of the polygon based on their positions along an axis of a map. The index is used to retrieve edges spanning a point on the axis representing a location of a client device associated with an online system user. The online system compares the positions of the point and retrieved edges on an axis perpendicular to the axis and determines whether the user is at the physical location based on the comparison. If the user is not at the physical location, a boundary surrounding the point is compared with boundaries surrounding the indexed edges to determine whether the user is within a threshold distance of the physical location. If the user is at or within the threshold distance of the physical location, the user is determined eligible to receive the content item.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 21, 2017
    Publication date: November 22, 2018
    Inventors: Marco Valerio Barbera, Kevin Ventullo, Charles Joseph Hughes, Yin Wang
  • Publication number: 20180174172
    Abstract: An online system receives information from client devices describing locations of the client devices and associates locations of various client devices with various online system users. The online system identifies a group of users who were within a threshold distance of a physical location associated with content maintained by the online system, retrieves attributes maintained by the online system in association with users of the group, and generates data describing characteristics of the attributes. Based on the generated data, the online system generates a report describing the group of users and visits by the group of users to a geographic area within the threshold distance of the physical location. The report is provided to a user associated with the content or with the physical location to provide information about users associated with locations within the threshold distance of the physical location.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2016
    Publication date: June 21, 2018
    Inventors: Charles Joseph Hughes, Alexandra Louise Krakaris
  • Publication number: 20170287004
    Abstract: An online system receives a content unit identifying a set of content items each associated with a physical location. Different content items of the set include different content associated with different physical locations. When the online system selects content from the content unit for presentation to a user, the online system selects a content item of the set identified by the content unit based on physical locations associated with the content items and characteristics of the user maintained by the online system. For example, the online system selects a content item of the set associated with a physical location having a minimum distance to a location associated with the user by the online system. Rules associate interactions by the user with content from the content unit with an object associated with the content unit or with another object associated with a selected content item of the identified set.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 1, 2016
    Publication date: October 5, 2017
    Inventors: Charles Joseph Hughes, Blake Ethan Williams, Joseph Paul Devoy, III
  • Patent number: 9641972
    Abstract: An online system receives a description of a physical location associated with a content item and a threshold distance of the physical location. To identify users eligible to be presented with the content item, the online system divides a geographic map of the physical location associated with the content item into a plurality of geo-tiles each representing a portion of the map. The online system computes and stores values describing portions of a geographic region represented by certain geo-tiles and associates the geographic region with the physical location if the stored values equal or exceed a threshold value. If the geographic region is associated with the physical location, users associated with the geographic region are identified by the online system as eligible to receive the content item.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventor: Charles Joseph Hughes
  • Publication number: 20160162932
    Abstract: A social networking system receives information describing locations associated with a plurality of its users. Based on information identifying each user and a location associated with each user, the social networking system generates and stores hash values. For example, the social networking system maintains various geo-tiles that each identify geographic areas and generates a hash value based on a user identifier and an identifier of a geo-tile including the location associated with the user. Based on the hash values and locations associated with one or more users, the online system determines a number of unique users associated with locations included in a geographic region. When determining the number of unique users, the online system accounts for a rate at which the online system updates location information associated with various users.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2014
    Publication date: June 9, 2016
    Inventors: Charles Joseph Hughes, Xiao Zhang, Patrick Brendan Maginnis
  • Publication number: 20150142551
    Abstract: An online system identifies a conversion of an advertisement when a client device associated with an online system user is within a threshold distance of a physical location associated with the advertisement. The client device sends obfuscated information identifying the user associated with the client device and the location of the client device to an independent third party when the client device is within a threshold distance of the physical location associated with the advertisement. Using information from the client device, the third party requests information from the online system identifying one or more groups including the user. Based on information identifying groups including various online system users, the third party generates information identifying conversions associated with different groups. The online system may determine effectiveness of various advertisements using the information from the third party identifying conversions associated with different groups.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 20, 2013
    Publication date: May 21, 2015
    Applicant: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Matthew Nicholas Papakipos, Michael John Toksvig, Charles Joseph Hughes