Smart machine to machine behavior tracking

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10587985-B2
Application number	US-201815966863-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 30, 2018
Priority date	Nov 20, 2014
Publication date	Mar 10, 2020
Grant date	Mar 10, 2020

Abstract

Smart M2M devices may be utilized to discover, generate, develop, and use customer behavior information. Security, marketing, and sales may be made through the use of short-range communication mechanisms, and customer behavior information may be gathered while providing devices with product information and other content. In an example configuration, smart M2M devices may determine the location of a device in a venue and compare it to historical location information associated with the device to determine whether authentication should be requested.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. An apparatus comprising:
a processor; and
memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to effectuate operations comprising:
designating a first region of a first plurality of regions as being associated with a first product region, wherein the first region is defined by a first plurality of short-range communication devices associated with a first venue comprising the first product region;
designating a second region of a second plurality of regions, wherein the second region is defined by a second plurality of short-range communication devices associated with a second venue comprising a second product region sharing a same product designation as the first product region;
specifying a proximity for each of the first plurality of short-range communication devices associated with the first venue and for each of the second plurality of short-range communication devices associated with the second venue; and
responsive to receiving a trigger generated in response to a mobile device entering the proximity of a short-range communication device of the second plurality of short-range communication devices within the second venue, providing information pertaining to a product to the mobile device based on historical location information associated with the mobile device pertaining to operation of the mobile device within the first product region of the first venue and historical location information associated with the mobile device pertaining to operation of the mobile device within a third product region of a third venue.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the proximity is specified based on a common scheme, wherein the scheme is applied to the first plurality of short-range communication devices.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the proximity is specified based on a common scheme, wherein the scheme is applied to the first product region.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , the operations further comprising designating a third region of a third plurality of regions, wherein the third region is defined by a third plurality of short-range communication devices associated with the third venue comprising the third product region sharing a same product designation as the first product region.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , the operations further comprising determining that the mobile device comprises a registered mobile device prior to providing information to the mobile device.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the information is provided to the mobile device in a format based on a user preference associated with a user profile, wherein the user profile is associated with the mobile device.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the historical location information comprises location information and location behavior data for a plurality of mobile devices within the second region.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the historical location information comprises location information and location behavior data for a plurality of mobile devices within the first region.

9. A method comprising:
designating a first region of a first plurality of regions as associated with a first product region, wherein the first region is defined by a first plurality of short-range communication devices associated with a first venue comprising the first product region;
designating a second region of a second plurality of regions, wherein the second product region is defined by a second plurality of short-range communication devices associated with a second venue comprising a second product region sharing a same product designation as the first product region;
specifying a proximity for each of the first plurality of short-range communication devices associated with the first venue and for each of the second plurality of short-range communication devices associated with the second venue; and
responsive to receiving a trigger generated in response to a mobile device entering the proximity of a short-range communication device of the second plurality of short-range communication devices within the second venue, providing information pertaining to a product to the mobile device based on historical location information associated with the mobile device pertaining to operation of the mobile device within the first product region of the first venue and historical location information associated with the mobile device pertaining to operation of the mobile device within a third product region of a third venue.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the proximity is specified based on a common scheme, wherein the scheme is applied to the first plurality of short-range communication devices.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the proximity is specified based on a common scheme, wherein the scheme is applied to the first product region.

12. The method of claim 9 further comprising designating a third region of a third plurality of regions, wherein the third region is defined by a third plurality of short-range communication devices associated with the third venue comprising the third product region sharing a same product designation as the first product region.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising determining that the mobile device comprises a registered mobile device prior to providing information to the mobile device.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the historical location information comprises location information and location behavior data for a plurality of mobile devices within the second region.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the historical location information comprises location information and location behavior data for a plurality of mobile devices within the first region.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising executable instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to effectuate operations comprising:
designating a first region of a first plurality of regions as associated with a first product region, wherein the first region is defined by a first plurality of short-range communication devices associated with a first venue comprising the first product region;
designating a second region of a second plurality of regions, wherein the second product region is defined by a second plurality of short-range communication devices associated with a second venue comprising a second product region sharing a same product designation as the first product region;
specifying a proximity for each of the first plurality of short-range communication devices associated with the first venue and for each of the second plurality of short-range communication devices associated with the second venue; and
responsive to receiving a trigger generated in response to a mobile device entering the proximity of a short-range communication device of the second plurality of short-range communication devices within the second venue, providing information pertaining to a product to the mobile device based on historical location information associated with the mobile device pertaining to operation of the mobile device within the first product region of the first venue and historical location information associated with the mobile device pertaining to operation of the mobile device within a third product region of a third venue.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the proximity is specified based on a common scheme, wherein the scheme is applied to the first plurality of short-range communication devices.

18

Assignees

• At & T Ip I Lp

Inventors

• Shaw Venson M
• He Jin

Classifications

• H04W4/021

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

• H04W4/33

  for indoor environments, e.g. buildings · CPC title

• H04W4/023

  using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds · CPC title

• H04W4/029 Primary

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title

• H04W4/80

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title