Method and apparatus for processing location information of terminal operating in beacon

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10638267-B2
Application number	US-201715481816-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 7, 2017
Priority date	Apr 8, 2016
Publication date	Apr 28, 2020
Grant date	Apr 28, 2020

Abstract

A method for operating a management server configured to process location information of a terminal includes receiving, from a mobile terminal, a mobile terminal ID of the mobile terminal and a beacon terminal ID of a beacon terminal broadcast by the beacon terminal; generating first location information related to the mobile terminal ID and the beacon terminal ID and indicating an estimated location of the mobile terminal; and generating content information based on the first location information and transmitting the content information to the mobile terminal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method by a management server for processing location information of a terminal, the method comprising:
receiving, from a visited mobile terminal, a visited mobile terminal ID of the visited mobile terminal and a registered moving beacon terminal ID broadcast by a registered moving beacon terminal;
generating first location information related to the visited mobile terminal ID using first path history information for the visited mobile terminal ID and second path history information for the registered moving beacon terminal ID, wherein the first path history information includes visit expectation location information for the visited mobile terminal ID, and visit history information for the visited mobile terminal ID, and the second path history information includes previous location information for the registered moving beacon terminal ID, and current location information for the registered moving beacon terminal ID;
generating content information based on the first location information;
transmitting the content information to the visited mobile terminal;
determining a stay time value indicating a time in which the registered moving beacon terminal stays in a radio frequency (RF) coverage of the visited mobile terminal;
applying a weight value to the second path history information for the registered moving beacon terminal in a case that the stay time value is greater than a threshold value,
receiving, from the visited mobile terminal or the registered moving beacon terminal, a plurality of registered moving beacon terminal IDs broadcast by a plurality of registered moving beacon terminals adjacent to the registered moving beacon terminal; and
updating the first location information based on the weight value and second location information that is mapped on the plurality of registered moving beacon terminal IDs, wherein the updated first location information includes location estimation information that corresponds to, of the visited mobile terminal located, a specific floor and a specific zone.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the content information comprises information related to the estimated location of the visited mobile terminal and includes at least one of: a text, a voice, an image, and a video.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
updating at least one of: the first path history information and the second path history information for a predetermined time;
generating location change information of the visited mobile terminal using at least one of: the updated first path history information and second path history information; and
generating the content information related to the location change in accordance with the time of the visited mobile terminal based on the location change information.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, from the visited mobile terminal, a signal strength measurement of a beacon message transmitted from the registered moving beacon terminal and includes the registered moving beacon terminal ID;
applying a weight value to the registered moving beacon terminal ID related to the registered moving beacon terminal if the signal strength measurement is greater than a preset strength; and
updating the first location information using the weight value.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, from the visited mobile terminal or the registered moving beacon terminal, first fixed location information for a first fixed beacon adjacent to the registered moving beacon terminal and installed in a first space,
wherein the first location information is generated based on at least one of: the first path history information, the second path history information, and the first fixed location information.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
comparing second fixed location information of a second fixed beacon adjacent to the registered moving beacon terminal and installed in a second space with third location information if the third location information indicating a location of the registered moving beacon terminal is pre-stored in the management server;
generating a first setting message instructing the registered moving beacon terminal to not transmit the registered moving beacon terminal ID to the visited mobile terminal if the second fixed location information does not coincide with the third location information based on the result of the comparison; and
transmitting the first setting message to the registered moving beacon terminal.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting an activation flag signal to a third fixed beacon adjacent to the visited mobile terminal based on the first location information,
wherein third fixed location information of the third fixed beacon is broadcast from the third fixed beacon in response to the activation flag signal.

8. A method by a visited mobile terminal, the method comprising:
receiving a beacon message broadcast by a registered moving beacon terminal;
transmitting, to a management server, a visited mobile terminal ID of the visited mobile terminal and a registered moving beacon terminal ID of the registered moving beacon terminal included in the beacon message; and
receiving, from the management server, content information generated based on first location information related to the visited mobile terminal ID and the registered moving beacon terminal ID, wherein the first location information is generated using first path history information for the visited mobile terminal ID and second path history information for the registered moving beacon terminal ID, the first path history information includes visit expectation location information for the visited mobile terminal ID, and visit history information for the visited mobile terminal ID, and the second path history information includes previous location information for the registered moving beacon terminal ID, and current location information for the registered moving beacon terminal ID,
wherein a weight value is applied to the second path history information for the registered moving beacon terminal in a case that a stay time value is greater than a threshold value,
the stay time value indicates a time in which the registered moving beacon terminal stays in a radio frequency (RF) coverage of the visited mobile terminal,
wherein the first location information is updated based on the weight value and second location information that is mapped on a plurality of registered moving beacon terminal IDs, wherein the plurality of registered moving beacon terminal IDs are broadcast by a plurality of registered moving beacon terminals adjacent to the registered moving beacon terminal, and
wherein the updated first location information includes location estimation information that corresponds to, of the visited mobile terminal located, a specific floor and a specific zone.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the content information comprises information related to the estimated location of the visited mobile terminal and includes at least one of: a text, a voice, an image, and a video.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
transmitting a signal strength measurement of the beacon message to the management server,
wherein if the measurement signal strength is greater than a preset strength, a weight value is applied to the registered moving beacon terminal ID related to the registered moving beacon terminal, and the first location information is updated using the weight value.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
transmitting, to the management server the stay time value.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
rece

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Junhyung
• KWON Hyukjoong
• Kim Sunghoon
• Kong Dongkeon

Classifications

• H04W4/80

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

• G01S1/68

  Marker, boundary, call-sign, or like beacons transmitting signals not carrying directional information · CPC title

• H04W4/023 Primary

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

• G01S1/04

  Details · CPC title

• H04W88/18

  Service support devices; Network management devices · CPC title