User geo-location pattern analysis

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9277483-B2
Application number	US-201314039385-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 27, 2013
Priority date	Sep 27, 2013
Publication date	Mar 1, 2016
Grant date	Mar 1, 2016

Abstract

A device receives location information associated with a user of a user device. The location information includes location coordinates associated with the user device over time, and includes errors introduced by one or more location methods used to determine the location information. The device calculates a radius of a geo-location pattern based on the location information, where the geo-location pattern identifies a geographical area encompassing one or more of the location coordinates of the user device. The device calculates center coordinates of the geo-location pattern based on the location information, and determines the geo-location pattern based on the calculated radius and the calculated center coordinates. The device outputs or stores the geo-location pattern.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a device, location information associated with a user of a user device,
the location information including location coordinates associated with the user device over time, and
the location information including errors introduced by one or more location methods used to determine the location information;

calculating, by the device, a radius of a geo-location pattern based on the location information,
the geo-location pattern identifying a geographical area encompassing one or more of the location coordinates of the user device;

calculating, by the device, center coordinates of the geo-location pattern based on the location information;
determining, by the device, the geo-location pattern based on the calculated radius and the calculated center coordinates;
storing, by the device, the geo-location pattern;
receiving, by the device, a request to access a resource from the user device;
receiving, by the device, current location information associated with the user device,
the current location information including current location coordinates associated with the user device when the request is received;

calculating, by the device, a probability of the user device being within the geo-location pattern based on the current location information;
calculating, by the device, a distance of the user device from the center coordinates of the geo-location pattern based on the current location information;
determining, by the device, whether the user device is moving based on the current location information;
calculating, by the device and when the user device is moving, a velocity of the user device based on the distance and the current location information; and
determining, by the device, whether the user is authenticated to access the resource based on the probability, the distance, and the velocity.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
granting the user access to the resource when the user is determined to be authenticated; and
denying the user access to the resource when the user is determined to not be authenticated.

3. The method of claim 1 , where different weights are assigned to the probability, the distance, and the velocity when determining whether the user is authenticated to access the resource.

4. The method of claim 1 , where the geographical area of the geo-location pattern is defined by the center coordinates ( x , y ) and the radius (r), the radius being calculated according:
r=k· √{square root over (σ( x ) 2 +σ( y ) 2 )}{square root over (σ( x ) 2 +σ( y ) 2 )}, k> 3,

where σ(x) and σ(y) correspond to standard deviations of latitude coordinates (x) and longitude coordinates (y) within the geo-location pattern, and k corresponds to a constant.

5. The method of claim 1 , where the center coordinates ( x , y ) are calculated according to:

(

x
t

_

,

y
_

t

)

=

(

n
⁢

⁢

x
_

t
-
1

n
+
1

+

x
c

n
+
1

,

n
⁢

⁢

y
_

t
-
1

n
+
1

+

y
c

n
+
1

)

,

where (x c , y c ) corresponds to a new location coordinate within the geo-location pattern; n corresponds to a number of coordinates in the geo-location pattern; ( x t , y t ) corresponds to current center coordinates; and ( x t-1 , y t-1 ) corresponds to center coordinates before the geo-location pattern is updated.

6. A device, comprising:
one or more processors to:
receive location information associated with a user of a user device,
the location information including location coordinates associated with the user device over time, and
the location information including errors introduced by one or more location methods used to determine the location information,

calculate a radius of a geo-location pattern based on the location information,
the geo-location pattern identifying a geographical area encompassing one or more of the location coordinates of the user device,

calculate center coordinates of the geo-location pattern based on the location information,
determine the geo-location pattern based on the calculated radius and the calculated center coordinates,
store the geo-location pattern in a memory associated with the device,
receive a request to access a resource from the user device,
receive current location information associated with the user device,
the current location information including current location coordinates associated with the user device when the request is received,

calculate a probability of the user device being within the geo-location pattern based on the current location information,
calculate a distance of the user device from the center coordinates of the geo-location pattern based on the current location information,
determine whether the user device is moving based on the current location information,
calculate, when the user device is moving, a velocity of the user device

Assignees

• Verizon Patent & Licensing Inc

Inventors

• Su Yu

Classifications

• H04W12/06

  Authentication · CPC title

• H04W48/04 Primary

  based on user or terminal location or mobility data, e.g. moving direction, speed · CPC title

• H04W4/028

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L63/205

  involving negotiation or determination of the one or more network security mechanisms to be used, e.g. by negotiation between the client and the server or between peers or by selection according to the capabilities of the entities involved (negotiation of communication capabilities H04L69/24) · CPC title

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title