Managing a user's geolocation home range

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10123163-B2
Application number	US-201615294717-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 15, 2016
Priority date	Oct 15, 2016
Publication date	Nov 6, 2018
Grant date	Nov 6, 2018

Abstract

A geolocation home range for a user is managed. The user's geolocation is tracked and recorded periodically, as the user travels to different geolocations. An initial collection of geolocations is established, which defines the user's home range. Each of the geolocations corresponds to a micro-range for the user, which is a geo-fenced geographic region. When the user's current geolocation changes in a prescribed manner, the user's home range is modified based upon this change, or else the user is considered to be outside their home range.

First claim

Wherefore, what is claimed is:

1. A geolocation home range management system, comprising:
a geolocation home range manager comprising a mobile computing device that is carried by a user, and a computer program having a plurality of sub-programs executable by said computing device, wherein the sub-programs configure said computing device to,
continuously track a current geolocation of the user as they travel to different geolocations,
based upon said continuous tracking, establish an initial geolocation home range for the user with a union of a plurality of two-dimensional micro-ranges, wherein each of the two-dimensional micro-ranges is defined by said continuous tracking and corresponds to a particular geolocation the user traveled to, wherein the plurality of two-dimensional micro-ranges define one or more geographically distinct geo-fenced geographic regions, and
whenever the current geolocation of the user changes in a prescribed manner, modify the initial geolocation home range for the user based upon said change.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sub-program for continuously tracking a current geolocation of the user as they travel to different geolocations comprises a sub-program for, every prescribed interval of time,
receiving a geolocation data point specifying the current geolocation of said computing device, and
storing the geolocation data point in a home list of recent user geolocations.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the prescribed interval of time is six hours.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the geolocation data point comprises one of:
a latitude metric and a longitude metric that collectively specify a particular two-dimensional geolocation; or
a latitude metric, a longitude metric, and an altitude metric that collectively specify a particular three-dimensional geolocation.

5. The system of claim 2 , wherein the geolocation data point comprises one of:
a set of rectilinear Cartesian coordinates that specifies a particular two-dimensional geolocation; or
a set of rectilinear Cartesian coordinates that specifies a particular three-dimensional geolocation; or
a set of local East, North, Up (ENU) Cartesian coordinates that specifies a particular three-dimensional geolocation; or
a set of local North, East, Down (NED) Cartesian coordinates that specifies a particular three-dimensional geolocation.

6. The system of claim 2 , wherein the sub-program for establishing an initial geolocation home range for the user based upon said continuous tracking comprises a sub-program for, whenever the home list of recent user geolocations comprises a prescribed number of geolocation data points,
for each of the geolocation data points in said home list,
generating a micro-range corresponding to the geolocation data point, said micro-range having a prescribed shape that is centered on the geolocation data point, the prescribed shape having a prescribed size, and
storing said micro-range in a home set of micro-ranges, and

assigning a union of the micro-ranges in said home set to be the initial geolocation home range for the user, wherein the user is considered to be within their initial geolocation home range whenever the geolocation data point specifying the current geolocation of said computing device is within one or more of the micro-ranges in said home set.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the prescribed number of geolocation data points is 40 geolocation data points.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the prescribed shape is a circle, and the prescribed size is a radius of 29 kilometers.

9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the prescribed manner comprises the geolocation data point specifying the current geolocation of said computing device being within the initial geolocation home range for the user, and the sub-program for modifying the initial geolocation home range for the user based upon said change comprises sub-programs for:
modifying the home list of recent user geolocations by replacing an oldest one of the geolocation data points in said home list with the geolocation data point specifying the current geolocation of said computing device;
generating a current micro-range corresponding to the geolocation data point specifying the current geolocation of said computing device, said current micro-range having the prescribed shape that is centered on the geolocation data point specifying the current geolocation of said computing device;
modifying the home set of micro-ranges by replacing the micro-range corresponding to said oldest one of the geolocation data points in said home set with said current micro-range; and
assigning a union of the micro-ranges in the modified home set of micro-ranges to be a revised geolocation home range for the user.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the prescribed manner further comprises the user increasing their commute distance, and the revised geolocation home range for the user is an expanded version of the initial geolocation home range for the user that accommodates said increased commute distance.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the prescribed manner further comprises the user decreasing their commute distance, and the revised geolocation home range for the user is a shrunken version of the initial geolocation home range for the user that accommodates said decreased commute distance.

12. The system of claim 2 , wherein the prescribed manner comprises the geolocation data point specifying the current geolocation of said computing device being outside the initial geolocation home range for the user, and the sub-program for modifying the initial geolocation home range for the user based upon said change comprises sub-programs for:
storing the geolocation data point specifying the current geolocation of said computing device in a not-home list of recent user geolocations for as long as said geolocation data point continues to be outside the initial geolocation home range for the user;
whenever the not-home list of recent user geolocations comprises a prescribed number of geolocation data points,
for each of the geolocation data points in said not-home list,
generating a micro-range corresponding to the geolocation data point, said micro-range having a prescribed shape that is centered on the geolocation data point, the prescribed shape having a prescribed size, and
storing said micro-range in a not-home set of micro-ranges, and

assigning a union of the micro-ranges in said not-home set to be a secondary geolocation home range for the user, wherein the user is considered to be within their secondary geolocation home range whenever the geolocation data point specifying the current geolocation of said computing device is within one or more of the micro-ranges in said not-home set;

whenever the geolocation data point specifying the current geolocation of said computing device is within the secondary home range for the user,
modifying the not-home list of recent user geolocations by replacing an oldest one of the geolocation data points in said not-home list with the geolocation data point specifying the current geolocation of said computing device,
generating a current micro-range corresponding to the geolocation data point specifying the current geolocation of said computing device, said current micro-range having the prescribed shape that is centered on the geolocation data point specifying the current geolocation of said computing device,
modifying the not-home set of micro-ranges by replacing the micro-range corresponding to said oldest one of the geolocation data points in said not-home set with said current micro-range, and
assigning a union of the micro-ranges in the modified no

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Kernan Brian

Classifications

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title

• H04W4/021 Primary

  Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences · CPC title