Methods and systems for locating peripheral devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9277353-B2
Application number	US-201313855196-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 2, 2013
Priority date	Apr 2, 2013
Publication date	Mar 1, 2016
Grant date	Mar 1, 2016

Abstract

A system and method for locating peripheral devices by determining a current location of a computing device, searching for peripheral devices based on the current location of the computing device, displaying an indication of the peripheral devices based on the current location of the computing device, receiving a selected peripheral device of the peripheral devices, and transmitting information to the selected peripheral device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of locating peripheral devices, the method comprising:
receiving a request to perform a task using a peripheral device;
determining a current location of a computing device using one or more processors;
searching a database for one or more peripheral devices based on the current location of the computing device, wherein the database associates peripheral devices with known locations, wherein the database further associates peripheral devices with a use counter, and the use counter associated with the selected peripheral devices is incremented based on the receiving the selected peripheral device of the one or more peripheral devices from the user;
displaying, using a peripheral device finder application, at the computing device, a list of the one or more peripheral devices sorted based on a recommendation score, the list of the one or more peripheral devices comprising the one more peripheral devices with its associated use counter, wherein the recommendation score is calculated based on information comprising:
distance of the one or more peripheral devices from the current location of the computing device;
pricing information associated with the one or more peripheral devices;
pricing information associated with using special features associated with the one or more peripheral devices;
a size of the task;
a use count of the one or more peripheral devices by users of the peripheral device finder application; and
a use count of the one or more peripheral devices by all types of users;
receiving, from the user, a selection of a new peripheral device that is not associated with the database;
associating the new peripheral device with the current location of the computing device in the database based on receiving the selection of the new peripheral device from the user; and
transmitting information to the new peripheral device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the current location of the computing device is determined using a GPS receiver.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising connecting to a wide area network access point, wherein the current location of the computing device is determined using:
a known location of the wide area network access point; and
an estimated range of the wide area network access point.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more peripheral devices comprise one or more printers.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the searching for the one or more peripheral devices based on the current location of the computing device comprises searching for the one or more peripheral devices based on a predetermined distance from the current location of the computing device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the database further associates peripheral devices with pricing information.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the database further associates peripheral devices with access hours of the peripheral devices.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the displaying the list of the one or more peripheral devices sorted based on the recommendation score comprises displaying an indication that a peripheral device of the one or more peripheral devices is recommended based on a determination that the peripheral device receive a highest recommendation score.

9. A system for locating peripheral devices comprising:
a processing system comprising one or more processors; and
a memory system comprising one or more computer-readable media, wherein the one or more computer-readable media contain instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to perform operations comprising:
receiving a request to perform a task using a peripheral device;
determining a current location of a computing device using one or more processors;
searching a database for one or more peripheral devices based on the current location of the computing device, wherein the database associates peripheral devices with known locations, wherein the database further associates peripheral devices with a use counter, and the use counter associated with the selected peripheral devices is incremented based on the receiving the selected peripheral device of the one or more peripheral devices from the user;
displaying, using a peripheral device finder application, at the computing device, a list of the one or more peripheral devices sorted based on a recommendation score, the list of the one or more peripheral devices comprising the one more peripheral devices with its associated use counter, wherein the recommendation score is calculated based on information comprising:
distance of the one or more peripheral devices from the current location of the computing device;
pricing information associated with the one or more peripheral devices;
pricing information associated with using special features associated with the one or more peripheral devices;
a size of the task;
a use count of the one or more peripheral devices by users of the peripheral device finder application; and
a use count of the one or more peripheral devices by all types of users;
receiving, from the user, a selection of a new peripheral device that is not associated with the database;
associating the new peripheral device with the current location of the computing device in the database based on receiving the selection of the new peripheral device from the user; and
transmitting information to the new peripheral device.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the current location of the computing device is determined using a GPS receiver.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the processing system further performs operations comprising connecting to a wide area network access point, wherein the current location of the computing device is determined using:
a known location of the wide area network access point; and
an estimated range of the wide area network access point.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more peripheral devices comprise one or more printers.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the searching for the one or more peripheral devices based on the current location of the computing device comprises searching for the one or more peripheral devices based on a predetermined distance from the current location of the computing device.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the database further associates peripheral devices with pricing information.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein the database further associates peripheral devices with access hours of the peripheral devices.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the displaying the list of the one or more peripheral devices sorted based on the recommendation score comprises displaying an indication that a peripheral device of the one or more peripheral devices is recommended based on a determination that the peripheral device receive a highest recommendation score.

Assignees

• Xerox Corp

Inventors

• Merriam Ray Uri

Classifications

• G06F3/1285

  Remote printer device, e.g. being remote from client or server · CPC title

• H04W4/02 Primary

  Services making use of location information · CPC title

• G06F16/29 Primary

  Geographical information databases · CPC title