Set-top box, system and method for providing awareness in a hospitality environment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10091534-B2
Application number	US-201715824867-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 28, 2017
Priority date	Feb 5, 2014
Publication date	Oct 2, 2018
Grant date	Oct 2, 2018

Abstract

A system and method for providing awareness in a hospitality environment are presented. In one embodiment, a vertical and horizontal array of set-top boxes is provided and each set-top box includes an identification corresponding to the room in which the set-top box is placed. Each set-top box includes a wireless transceiver that periodically transmits an identification beacon that is received by a proximate wireless-enabled interactive device. The proximate wireless-enabled interactive device, in turn, broadcasts data packets including an indication of the strength of set-top box identification signals received. The broadcasts are received by a server via an array of wireless routers. The location of the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device is determined based on the signal strength information in the data packets.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for providing awareness in a hospitality environment, the system comprising:
an array of set-top boxes, each set-top box being associated with a room in the hospitality environment, each set-top box having an identification including a room identifier;
each set-top box of the array of set-top boxes including:
a housing;
a wireless transceiver associated with the housing, the wireless transceiver configured to send a beacon to communicate with a proximate wireless-enabled interactive handheld device;
a television input and a television output secured in the housing;
a processor coupled to the wireless transceiver;
a memory accessible to the processor, the memory including processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
periodically transmit an identification beacon signal including set-top box identification;

a data packet associated with the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device, the data packet including at least one set-top box identification, and a proximate wireless-enabled interactive device identification;
an array of wireless routers disposed in the hospitality environment, each wireless router configured to receive the data packet from the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device and forward the data packet; and
the location of the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device being determined following communication from the array of set-top boxes to the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device to the array of wireless routers to a server.

2. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the wireless transceiver is configured to communicate with a standard selected from the group consisting of infrared (IR), 802.11, 3G, 4G, Edge, WiFi, ZigBee, near field communications (NFC), Bluetooth and Bluetooth low energy.

3. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the wireless routers are configured to communicate with a standard selected from the group consisting of infrared (IR), 802.11, 3G, 4G, Edge, WiFi, ZigBee, near field communications (NFC), Bluetooth and Bluetooth low energy.

4. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the wireless routers are configured to communicate with a WiFi standard.

5. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the proximate wireless-enabled programmable device further comprises a user-supplied wireless-enabled smart interactive handheld device.

6. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the proximate wireless-enabled programmable device further comprises a single button personal locator device.

7. The system as recited claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises an operational mode selected from the group consisting of alerts-enabled, service request-enabled, tracking-enabled, and non-tracking-enabled.

8. The system as recited in claim 7 , wherein in the alerts-enabled mode, the server receives via the array of wireless routers a distress signal from the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device.

9. The system as recited in claim 7 , wherein in the service-request-enabled mode, the server receives via the array of wireless routers a service request from the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device.

10. The system as recited in claim 7 , wherein in the tracking-enabled mode, the server maintains a plurality of locations with timestamps associated with the data packet of the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device.

11. The system as recited in claim 7 , wherein in the non-tracking-enabled mode, the server maintains only the last known locations with timestamps associated with the data packet of the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device.

12. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the server further comprises a back-office hotel server in communication with the array of set-top boxes.

13. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the array of set-top boxes further comprises a plurality of common space beacon devices, each common space beacon device having an identification including a common space.

14. The system as recited in claim 13 , wherein each of the common space beacon devices further comprises:
a processor coupled to a wireless transceiver; and
a memory accessible to the processor, the memory including processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
periodically transmit an identification beacon signal including beacon device identification.

15. A system for providing awareness in a hospitality environment, the system comprising:
an array of set-top boxes, each set-top box being associated with a room in the hospitality environment, each set-top box having an identification including a room identifier;
the array of set-top boxes including a plurality of common space beacon devices, each common space beacon device having an identification including a common space;
each set-top box of the array of set-top boxes including:
a housing;
a wireless transceiver associated with the housing, the wireless transceiver configured to send a beacon to communicate with a proximate wireless-enabled interactive handheld device;
a television input and a television output secured in the housing;
a processor coupled to the wireless transceiver;
a memory accessible to the processor, the memory including processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
periodically transmit an identification beacon signal including set-top box identification;

each of the beacon devices including:
a processor coupled to a wireless transceiver; and
a memory accessible to the processor, the memory including processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
periodically transmit an identification beacon signal including beacon device identification;

a data packet associated with the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device, the data packet including at least one beacon identification, and a proximate wireless-enabled interactive device identification;
an array of wireless routers disposed in the hospitality environment, each wireless router configured to receive the data packet from the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device and forward the data packet; and
the location of the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device being determined following communication from the array of set-top boxes to the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device to the array of wireless routers to a server.

16. The system as recited in claim 15 , wherein the wireless transceiver is configured to communicate with a standard selected from the group consisting of infrared (IR), 802.11, 3G, 4G, Edge, WiFi, ZigBee, near field communications (NFC), Bluetooth and Bluetooth low energy.

17. The system as recited in claim 15 , wherein the wireless routers are configured to communicate with a WiFi standard.

18. The system as recited claim 15 , wherein the system further comprises an operational mode selected from the group consisting of alerts-enabled, service request-enabled, tracking-enabled, and non-tracking-enabled.

19. The system as recited in claim 15 , wherein the server further comprises a back-office hotel server in communication with the array of set-top boxes.

20. A system for providing awareness in a hospitality environment, the system comprising:
an array of set-top boxes, each set-top box being associated with a room in the hospitality environment, each set-top box having an identification including a room identifier;
the array of set-top boxes including a plurality of common sp

Assignees

• Enseo Inc

Inventors

• Ogle Vanessa
• Miller Thomas R
• Fang William C

Classifications

• H04N21/2143 Primary

  located in a single building, e.g. hotel, hospital or museum (arrangements specially adapted for plural spots in a confined site in broadcast systems H04H20/63; adaptations for transmission by electric cable for domestic distribution in television systems H04N7/106) · CPC title

• H04N21/4524

  involving the geographical location of the client (retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; systems specially adapted for using geographical information in broadcast systems H04H60/70; protocols in which the network application is adapted for the location of the user terminal in communication control or processing H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00) · CPC title

• H04N21/25841

  involving the geographical location of the client (retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; arrangements for identifying locations of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/51; location of the user terminal in data switching networks H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00) · CPC title

• H04N21/23605

  Creation or processing of packetized elementary streams [PES] · CPC title

• H04N21/43637

  involving a wireless protocol, e.g. Bluetooth®, RF or wireless LAN [IEEE 802.11] (arrangements for wireless networking or broadcasting of information in indoor or near-field type systems H04B10/114) · CPC title