System and method for monitoring locations of mobile devices
A method of identifying mobile computing devices includes sending a request from a first mobile computing device to a second mobile computing device for the location of the second mobile computing device, and receiving the location of the second mobile computing device at the first mobile computing device. The method further includes providing a notification to one of the first and second mobile computing devices based upon the location of the second mobile computing device.
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The present application relates generally to the field of location-based services, and more particularly, to providing location-based data or notifications based upon the location and/or availability of one or more electronic devices.
Some location-based services may permit a user of an electronic device to obtain a graphical display of the location of other electronic devices. This is often accomplished using a server-based system, where various electronic devices may broadcast their location to a server that monitors the locations of the various electronic devices and provides location data to be used, for example, in generating a map of the device locations. One problem associated with this type of system is that with the increasing use of electronic devices, and in particular mobile computing devices, in order to accurately track the location of large numbers of such devices, servers must often send and/or receive significant numbers of communications, often creating delays in response time and increasing operational costs.
Further, some location-based services take into account only the location of an electronic device. In many instances, a user of an electronic device may be unavailable, or may desire to not be bothered by incoming messages such as phone calls, emails, etc. In these cases, the current location-based services may be unable to accommodate the needs and/or desires of many users.
Accordingly, there is a need for an electronic device that is able to provide location-based notifications without the need of a server that monitors the locations of various electronic devices. Further, there is also a need for an electronic device that takes into account the availability of one or more electronic devices in providing location-based data or notifications.
The teachings herein extend to those embodiments which are within the scope of the appended claims, regardless of whether they accomplish one or more of the above-identified needs.
Referring to
As shown in
According to an exemplary embodiment, housing 12 is configured to hold a screen such as display 18 in a fixed relationship above a user input device such as user input device 20 in a substantially parallel or same plane. This fixed relationship excludes a hinged or movable relationship between the screen and the user input device (e.g., a plurality of keys) in the fixed embodiment. Device 10 may be a handheld computer, which is a computer small enough to be carried in a typical front pocket found in a pair of pants, comprising such devices as typical mobile telephones and personal digital assistants, but excluding typical laptop computers and tablet PCs.
In various embodiments, housing 12 could be any size, shape, and dimension. In some embodiments, housing 12 has a width 13 of no more than about 200 mm or, alternatively, no more than about 100 mm. According to some of these embodiments, housing 12 has a width 13 of no more than about 85 mm or, alternatively, no more than about 65 mm. According to some embodiments, housing 12 has a width 13 of at least about 30 mm or, alternatively, at least about 50 mm. According to some of these embodiments, housing 12 has a width 13 of at least about 55 mm.
In some embodiments, housing 12 has a length 15 of no more than about 200 mm or, alternatively, no more than about 150 mm. According to some of these embodiments, housing 12 has a length 15 of no more than about 135 mm or, alternatively, no more than about 125 mm. According to some embodiments, housing 12 has a length 15 of at least about 70 mm or, alternatively, at least about 100 mm. According to some of these embodiments, housing 12 has a length 15 of at least about 100 mm.
In some embodiments, housing 12 has a thickness 17 of no more than about 150 mm or, alternatively, no more than about 50 mm. According to some of these embodiments, housing 12 has a thickness 17 of no more than about 30 mm or, alternatively, no more than about 25 mm. According to some embodiments, housing 12 has a thickness 17 of at least about 10 mm or, alternatively, at least about 15 mm. According to some of these embodiments, housing 12 has a thickness 17 of at least about 50 mm.
In some embodiments, housing 12 has a volume of up to about 2500 cubic centimeters or, alternatively, up to about 1500 cubic centimeters. In some alternative embodiments, housing 12 has a volume of up to about 1000 cubic centimeters or, alternatively, up to about 600 cubic centimeters.
Referring now to
Device 10 comprises a receiver 38 which comprises analog and/or digital electrical components configured to receive and transmit wireless signals via antenna 22 to provide cellular telephone and/or data communications with a fixed wireless access point, such as a cellular telephone tower, in conjunction with a network carrier, such as, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, etc. Device 10 can further comprise circuitry to provide communication over a local area network, such as Ethernet or according to an IEEE 802.11x standard or a personal area network, such as a Bluetooth or infrared communication technology.
Device 10 further comprises a microphone 36 (see
Device 10 further comprises a location determining application, shown in
Device 10 may be arranged to operate in one or more location determination modes including, for example, a standalone mode, a mobile station (MS) assisted mode, and/or an MS-based mode. In a standalone mode, such as a standalone GPS mode, device 10 may be arranged to autonomously determine its location without real-time network interaction or support. When operating in an MS-assisted mode or an MS-based mode, however, device 10 may be arranged to communicate over a radio access network (e.g., UMTS radio access network) with a location determination entity such as a location proxy server (LPS) and/or a mobile positioning center (MPC).
Referring now to
Processor 40 provides a notification (e.g., email, phone call, text message, graphical map display, etc.) to device 10 and/or devices 50, 52 based upon location data for devices 50, 52. For example, the notification may comprise a graphical display of a map that includes the location of device 10 and/or the location of one or more other electronic devices. Alternatively, the notification may comprise a message (e.g., an email, text message, etc.) that is automatically generated and sent to device 10 (and/or one or more other electronic devices). For example, a user of device 10 may receive an email indicating that a particular device is within a certain proximity of device 10 or at a certain geographic location.
According to an exemplary embodiment, devices 50, 52 (and/or their respective users) may belong to a predetermined database of devices, such as contacts information database 42 shown in
Processor 40 may request the location data in response to receiving an input from a user of device 10. According to an alternative embodiment, processor 40 may be configured to request the location data automatically based upon time or location parameters. For example, processor 40 may request location data every hour (or every ½ hour, every minute, etc.), or the location data may be requested on a continuous basis. Device 10 may also permit a user to identify discrete times at which location data is to be requested. Alternatively, processor 40 may request the location data based upon the location of device 10. For example, if a user wants to know if a particular device is nearby whenever the user passes a specific location, the user may configure processor 40 to request the location data of the particular device whenever device 10 is at or near the specific location. The specific location and/or time parameters may be configured by a user of device 10 and may vary based upon the devices to which the request for location data is sent.
After sending the request for the location data, device 10 receives the location data from devices 50, 52. The location data may include information such as the current geographic locations of devices 50, 52, the current distance between devices 50, 52 and device 10, a point of interest nearest to or in the vicinity of devices 50 and/or 52, and so on. Other location data may also be provided according to various other alternative embodiments.
According to an exemplary embodiment, the receipt of location data is permission-based. In order for a user of device 10 to receive the location data for a particular device (even if the particular device is associated with a user on a “friends list”), the user of the particular device must first grant permission for the location data to be communicated to device 10. If no permission has been granted, device 10 will not receive a response from the other device. According to one embodiment, an indication that permission has not been granted may be provided to a user of device 10. Devices 50, 52 may be configured to store a user-defined list of contacts which do and/or do not have permission to request location data associated with devices 50, 52.
Once the location data is received by device 10, processor 40 may send out one or more notifications to device 10 and/or devices 50, 52 based upon the location data. For example, a user of device 10 may wish to simply know the locations of devices 50, 52. In such a case, processor 40 may provide a notification, such as the graphical display shown in
According to another embodiment, processor 40 may provide the notification based on the geographic location of devices 50, 52, rather than the proximity of devices 50, 52 to device 10. For example, referring further to
Referring now to
As shown in
As discussed with respect to
According to one embodiment, device 10 requests and receives the availability data for a particular electronic device from the electronic device, e.g., one of devices 50, 52, rather than from, for example, a server that collects, stores, and updates availability data for a number of electronic devices. According to another embodiment, the availability data is provided by a server or a third party source.
Processor 40 may display an indication of the availability of particular devices along with the locations of the particular devices. For example, as shown in
According to one embodiment, when a particular device is unavailable, processor 40 does not receive the location data for the device. Device 10 may then provide an indication that the device is unavailable without providing the location of the device. According to another embodiment, if a particular device is unavailable, neither the availability nor the location of the device is provided.
Referring now to
As discussed above, processor 40 may take availability data for other electronic devices into account in addition to location data in determining whether to provide a notification and the content of the notification. For example, referring again to
As discussed with respect to the FIGURES, device 10 requests and receives location data from another electronic device, such as device 50. According to an alternative embodiment, a server may be provided that tracks the location of the devices and generates a notification to one or both devices based on the location of the devices (e.g., based on whether the two devices are within a certain distance or the two devices are within a specific geographic area). A server-based architecture may utilize many of the same features as the peer to peer architecture, including friends lists, permission requirements, availability-based notifications, etc.
While the detailed drawings, specific examples and particular formulations given describe exemplary embodiments, they serve the purpose of illustration only. The hardware and software configurations shown and described may differ depending on the chosen performance characteristics and physical characteristics of the computing devices. The systems shown and described are not limited to the precise details and conditions disclosed. Furthermore, other substitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions, and arrangement of the exemplary embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.
Claims
1. A method of identifying mobile computing devices, comprising:
- sending a request from a first mobile computing device to a second mobile computing device for the location of the second mobile computing device;
- receiving the location of the second mobile computing device at the first mobile computing device; and
- providing a notification to one of the first and second mobile computing devices based upon the location of the second mobile computing device.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the notification is based further upon availability data indicative of an availability status of the second mobile computing device.
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
- sending a request for the availability data for the second mobile computing device; and
- receiving the availability data at the first mobile computing device from the second mobile computing device.
4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
- receiving the availability data from a server separate from the first and second mobile computing devices.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the notification comprises displaying a map indicating the geographic location of the second mobile computing device.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the notification further comprises providing the availability data of the second mobile computing device.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the availability data of the second mobile computing device is based upon electronic calendar data stored on the second mobile computing device.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification is one of an email, a phone call, and a text message.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the request is sent over a cellular communications network.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the notification is based further upon permission data indicative of a permission status of the second mobile computing device defined by a user of the second mobile computing device
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first mobile computing device is a handheld computing device.
12. An electronic device, comprising:
- a display; and
- a processing circuit configured to run an application, the application configured to send a request to a mobile computing device for the location of the mobile computing device, receive the location of the mobile computing device, and provide a notification based upon the location of the mobile computing device.
13. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the application is configured to provide the notification based further upon availability data indicative of an availability status for the mobile computing device.
14. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the notification comprises a geographic map indicating the location of the mobile computing device.
15. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the notification further comprises an indication of the availability data of the mobile computing device.
16. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to send a second notification to the mobile computing device upon receipt of the location of the mobile computing device.
17. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the second notification is one of a wireless phone call, a text message, and an email.
18. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the processor is configured to provide the notification based further upon permission data indicative of a permission status for the mobile computing device defined by a user of the mobile computing device.
19. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the electronic device is a mobile computing device.
20. A method of identifying mobile computing devices, comprising:
- requesting location and availability data for a first mobile computing device; and
- receiving the location data for the first mobile computing device based upon the availability data of the first mobile computing device;
- wherein the availability data is indicative of an availability status of the first mobile computing device.
21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:
- providing a notification to a second mobile computing device based upon the availability data.
22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:
- providing the availability data for the first mobile computing device on a display of the second mobile computing device.
23. The method of claim 20, further comprising:
- sending a wireless communication from the second mobile computing device to the first mobile computing device based upon the availability data.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 11, 2007
Publication Date: Oct 16, 2008
Applicant:
Inventor: William K. Stewart (San Francisco, CA)
Application Number: 11/786,550
International Classification: H04Q 7/20 (20060101); H04M 1/00 (20060101);