Ad hoc formation and tracking of location-sharing groups

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9369847-B2
Application number	US-201213614978-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 13, 2012
Priority date	Jul 7, 2010
Publication date	Jun 14, 2016
Grant date	Jun 14, 2016

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer-readable media for forming and tracking a location-sharing group are disclosed. The location-sharing group can be performed ad hoc without the assistance of a central server. A geofence can be defined that encloses the current locations of the participating devices in the location-sharing group. The geographic location of the location-sharing group as a whole can be tracked and provided to the participating devices in the location-sharing group. Group-level location-sharing can be enabled. Departure of a participating device from the location-sharing group can be detected based on the current location and the coverage radius of each device in the location-sharing group. Entry of points of interest into the geofence of the location-sharing group can be detected and notified to the participating devices in the location-sharing group.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
detecting formation of a location-sharing group between two or more mobile devices, wherein the location-sharing group is identified by geographic locations of the two or more mobile devices, wherein detecting formation of the location-sharing group further comprises receiving a group initiation request from a host device, the host device being one of the two or more mobile devices in the location-sharing group, and the group initiation request identifying the location-sharing group to be formed and one or more participating devices that have been invited to join the location-sharing group by the host device;
tracking the geographic location of the location-sharing group as locations of the two or more mobile devices change;
providing the geographic location of the location-sharing group to at least one of the two or more mobile devices in the location-sharing group;
determining a termination of the location-sharing group; and
in response to determining the termination of the location-sharing group, ceasing to track the geographic location of the location-sharing group.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting formation of the location-sharing group further comprises:
subsequent to receiving the group initiation request, receiving a notification from the host device indicating that the location-sharing group has been formed, wherein the notification includes respective consents from the one or more participating devices to join the location-sharing group.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting formation of the location-sharing group further comprises:
subsequent to receiving the group initiation request, receiving from each of the participating devices a respective consent to join the location-sharing group.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location-sharing group is supported by one or more active network connections between the two or more mobile devices.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the one or more network connections include one or more of a Bluetooth network connection or a WiFi network connection.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein tracking the geographic location of the location-sharing group as locations of the two or more mobile devices change comprises:
monitoring the current geographic locations of the two or more mobile devices;
determining a current boundary of the combined coverage area that encloses the current geographic location of each mobile device by at least the coverage radius of the mobile device; and
determining an updated geographic location for the location-sharing group based on the current boundary.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location-sharing group is an ad hoc location-sharing group formed directly between the between two or more mobile devices.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable memory storing instructions executable by data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
detecting formation of a location-sharing group between two or more mobile devices, wherein the location-sharing group is identified by geographic locations of the two or more mobile devices, wherein detecting formation of the location-sharing group further comprises receiving a group initiation request from a host device, the host device being one of the two or more mobile devices in the location-sharing group, and the group initiation request identifying the location-sharing group to be formed and one or more participating devices that have been invited to join the location-sharing group by the host device;
tracking the geographic location of the location-sharing group as locations of the two or more mobile devices change;
providing the geographic location of the location-sharing group to at least one of the two or more mobile devices in the location-sharing group;
determining a termination of the location-sharing group; and
in response to determining the termination of the location-sharing group, ceasing to track the geographic location of the location-sharing group.

9. The memory of claim 8 , wherein the operations for detecting formation of the location-sharing group further comprises:
subsequent to receiving the group initiation request, receiving a notification from the host device indicating that the location-sharing group has been formed, wherein the notification includes respective consents from the one or more participating devices to join the location-sharing group.

10. The memory of claim 8 , wherein the operations for detecting formation of the location-sharing group further comprises:
subsequent to receiving the group initiation request, receiving from each of the participating devices a respective consent to join the location-sharing group.

11. The memory of claim 8 , wherein the location-sharing group is supported by one or more active network connections between the two or more mobile devices.

12. The memory of claim 11 , wherein the one or more network connections include one or more of a Bluetooth network connection or a WiFi network connection.

13. The memory of claim 8 , wherein the operations for tracking the geographic location of the location-sharing group as locations of the two or more mobile devices change comprise:
monitoring the current geographic locations of the two or more mobile devices;
determining a current boundary of the combined coverage area that encloses the current geographic location of each mobile device by at least the coverage radius of the mobile device; and
determining an updated geographic location for the location-sharing group based on the current boundary.

14. The memory of claim 8 , wherein the location-sharing group is an ad hoc location-sharing group formed directly between the between two or more mobile devices.

15. A system comprising:
one or more processors;
memory storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
detecting formation of a location-sharing group between two or more mobile devices;
defining a geofence around the location-sharing group, the geofence encloses respective current geographic locations of the two or more mobile devices;
providing a geographic coverage of the geofence around the location-sharing group to at least one of the two or more mobile devices in the location-sharing group;
determining a termination of the location-sharing group; and
in response to determining the termination of the location-sharing group, ceasing to track the geographic location of the location-sharing group.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the operations for defining a geofence around the location-sharing group further comprise:
determining the respective current geographic locations of the two or more mobile devices;
determining a respective coverage radius for each of the two or more mobile devices;
determining a boundary of a combined coverage area that encloses the current geographic location of each mobile device by a distance equal to the coverage radius for the mobile device; and
using the boundary of the combined coverage area as the geofence around the location-sharing group.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the operations for determining the respective coverage radius for each of the two or more mobile devices further comprise:
determining a connection type for a network connection presently established between the mobile device and another mobile device in the location-sharing group; and
using a known connectivity range for the connection type as the coverage radius for the mobile device.

Assignees

• Borghei Hooman
• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Borghei Hooman

Classifications

• H04W4/021

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

• H04W4/08 Primary

  User group management · 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

• H04W4/022 Primary

  with dynamic range variability · CPC title

• H04W4/025

  using location based information parameters · CPC title