User information generation method and device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12501398-B2
Application number	US-202318180617-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 8, 2023
Priority date	Feb 16, 2021
Publication date	Dec 16, 2025
Grant date	Dec 16, 2025

Abstract

A user information generation method and apparatus is proposed. The method may include collecting, from at least one smart device counting apparatus, smart device count information generated using a signal transmitted by at least one smart device within a predetermined range. The method may also include generating user count information as a result of calculating a number of users within the range by applying an average number of smart devices possessed by each person to the smart device count information. The method may further include generating location estimation information about the smart device, based on the smart device count information, and generating movement trend detection information about users based on the location estimation information about the smart device, the user count information, and map information.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for generating user information, the method comprising:
collecting, from at least one smart device counting apparatus, smart device count information generated using a signal transmitted by at least one smart device within a predetermined range; generating user count information as a result of calculating a number of users within the range by applying an average number of smart devices possessed by each person to the smart device count information; generating location estimation information about the smart device, based on the smart device count information; and generating movement trend detection information about users based on the location estimation information about the smart device, the user count information, and map information, wherein collecting the smart device count information comprises collecting the smart device count information generated using an advertising packet transmitted by the at least one smart device based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication from the smart device counting apparatus, wherein, when collecting the smart device count information, a total number of advertising packets included in a result of first filtering of removing, based on a media access control (MAC) address included in the advertising packet, an overlapping advertising packet from an advertising packet list of a collection of advertising packets transmitted by the at least one smart device for a preset time is collected as the smart device count information, wherein the advertising packet list further comprises a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), observed when receiving the advertising packet, and a timestamp at which the advertising packet is received, and wherein, when collecting the smart device count information, a total number of advertising packets included in a result of second filtering of removing an advertising packet having the RSSI less than a preset strength from the result of the first filtering is collected as the smart device count information.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein, when collecting the smart device count information, a total number of advertising packets included in a result of third filtering of identifying a smart device at a fixed location by decoding data included in the advertising packet, and removing the smart device at the fixed location from the result of the first filtering is collected as the smart device count information.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the location estimation information about the smart device comprises:
collecting pieces of count information about the smart device from at least three smart device counting apparatuses; calculating a distance from the smart device to each of the at least three smart device counting apparatuses using the RSSI included in the smart device count information; and generating the location estimation information about the smart device using a location of each of the at least three smart device counting apparatuses, which is already known, and the distance from the smart device to each of the at least three smart device counting apparatuses.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the location estimation information about the smart device comprises:
collecting pieces of count information about the smart device from at least three smart device counting apparatuses; calculating a first distance difference, which is a difference between a distance from the smart device to a third smart device counting apparatus and a distance from the smart device to a second smart device counting apparatus, and a second distance difference, which is a difference between the distance from the smart device to the third smart device counting apparatus and the distance from the smart device to the first smart device counting apparatus, using a difference in timestamp included in the smart device count information and a speed of radio waves; and generating the location estimation information about the smart device using a location of each of the at least three smart device counting apparatuses, which is already known, the first distance difference, and the second distance difference.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the movement trend detection information comprises:
generating movement detection information about the users based on the location estimation information about the smart device, the user count information, and the map information; and generating flow detection information comprising time-specific distribution of the users based on the location estimation information about the smart device, the user count information, and the map information.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the smart device count information comprises the MAC address of the smart device transmitting the advertising packet, the RSSI observed when receiving the advertising packet, and the timestamp at which the advertising packet is received, and
wherein collecting the smart device count information comprises:
generating the result of first filtering of removing the overlapping advertising packet from the smart device count information, based on the MAC address; and
generating the result of second filtering of removing the advertising packet out of a range of a preset strength from the result of the first filtering, based on the RSSI.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the smart device count information comprises location information about the smart device counting apparatus generating the smart device count information, and
wherein generating the user count information comprises:
extracting demographic information about a corresponding location according to the location information about the smart device counting apparatus generating the smart device count information; and
determining the average number of smart devices possessed by each person in the location, based on the demographic information.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the demographic information comprises information about an age and gender of a user visiting the location, and
wherein the user count information is determined based on the smart device count information and the average number of smart devices possessed by each person according to the age and gender of the user.

9 . A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing instructions, when executed by one or more processors, configured to perform the method of claim 1 .

10 . An apparatus for generating user information, the apparatus comprising:
a processor; and a memory configured to be operatively connected to the processor and to store at least one code performed by the processor, wherein the memory is configured to store a code that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to
collect, from at least one smart device counting apparatus, smart device count information generated using a signal transmitted by at least one smart device within a predetermined range;
generate user count information as a result of calculating a number of users within the range by applying an average number of smart devices possessed by each person to the smart device count information;
generate location estimation information about the smart device, based on the smart device count information;
generate movement trend detection information about users based on the location estimation information about the smart device, the user count information, and map information;
collect the smart device count information generated using an advertising packet transmitted by the at least one smart device based on Bluetooth Low Energy BLE) communication from the smart device counting apparatus when collecting the smart device coun

Assignees

• Univ Chosun Iacf

Inventors

• Pyun Jae Young
• Kim Dae Ho

Classifications

• H04W48/10

  using broadcasted information · CPC title

• H04B17/327 Primary

  Received signal code power [RSCP] · CPC title

• H04W4/023

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

• H04W4/021

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