Enhanced system and method for mobile device-based geo-fencing solutions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9473890-B1
Application number	US-201514869211-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Sep 29, 2015
Priority date	Sep 29, 2015
Publication date	Oct 18, 2016
Grant date	Oct 18, 2016

Abstract

A method, wireless device and computer program product provides geo-fence based services in a wireless communications network. The wireless device (i) determines a current location; (ii) retrieves first settings of a first geo-fence; (iii) implements a geo-fencing policy in response to determining that the current location is within the first geo-fence; and (iv) in response to determining that the current location is not within the first geo-fence: (a) accesses data associated with one of an activity at past locations inside and outside of the first geo-fence; (b) associates with the first geo-fence at least one past location that is outside of the first geo-fence; (c) expands the first settings of the first geo-fence to second settings to include the at least one past location; and (d) implements the geo-fencing policy in response to determining that the current location is within the first geo-fence based on the second settings.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
determining a current location of a wireless device;
retrieving, from a memory, first settings of a first geo-fence, wherein the first settings of the first geo-fence comprise a geographic location and a default radius;
implementing a geo-fencing policy in response to determining, based on the first settings, that the current location is within the first geo-fence; and
in response to determining that the current location is not within the first geo-fence:
accessing data associated with an activity of the wireless device at past locations inside and outside of the first geo-fence;
associating with the first geo-fence at least one past location that is outside of the first geo-fence, based on the activity;
expanding the first settings of the first geo-fence to provide second settings that include the at least one past location, such that the geo-fencing policy extends to an expanded first geo-fence, wherein the radius increases to at least a distance from the geographic location to the at least one past location; and
implementing the geo-fencing policy in response to determining that the current location is within the expanded first geo-fence.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein associating with the first geo-fence at least one past location comprises:
accessing data associated with the activity of the wireless device at a plurality of locations within and outside of the first geo-fence;
executing a data cluster algorithm to select at least a subset of the plurality of locations as affiliated past locations to a geographic location associated with the first settings; and
selecting the at least one past location from the affiliated past locations based on a clustering of the at least one past location with other locations within the first geo-fence.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein executing the data cluster algorithm comprises performing a density-based spatial clustering of application with noise (DBSCAN) algorithm.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the current location of the wireless device comprises sensing a relative location to one or more communication nodes;
implementing the geo-fencing policy comprises disabling a location utility of the device that receives one or more Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals; and
associating with the first geo-fence the at least one past location that is outside of the first geo-fence based on the first settings comprises executing a data cluster algorithm to select a subset of locations inside and outside the first geo-fence as substantially equivalent locations to compensate for inaccuracy in determining the current location using the relative location to one or more communication nodes.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein accessing data associated with an activity of the wireless device at past locations inside and outside of the first geo-fence comprises detecting by at least one of an on-device sensor and an off-device sensor one or more signals identified with a known location proximate to the first geo-fence.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein accessing data associated with an activity of the wireless device at past locations inside and outside of the first geo-fence comprises identifying use of at least one of an on-device application and an off-device application at a time window associated with the first geo-fence.

7. A wireless device comprising:
a receiver that detects information corresponding to a current location of the device;
a processor in communication with the receiver; and
at least one memory device that contains an application and that is configured to store a set of instructions that are executed by the processor, and wherein:
the processor determines a current location of a wireless device, based in part on the information detected by the receiver;
the processor retrieves, from a memory, first settings of a first geo-fence, wherein the first settings of the first geo-fence comprise a geographic location and a default radius;
the processor implements a geo-fencing policy in response to determining that the current location is within the first geo-fence based on the first settings; and
in response to the processor determining, based on the first settings, that the current location is not within the first geo-fence:
the processor accesses data associated with an activity of the wireless device at past locations inside and outside of the first geo-fence from the memory device;
the processor associates at least one past location that is outside of the first geo-fence with the first geo-fence based on the activity;
the processor expands the first settings of the first geo-fence to provide second settings that include the at least one past location such that the geo-fencing policy extends to an expanded first geo-fence, wherein the processor increases the radius to at least a distance from the geographic location to the at least one past location; and
the processor implements the geo-fencing policy in response to determining that the current location is within the expanded first geo-fence.

8. The wireless device of claim 7 , wherein the processor associating with the first geo-fence at least one past location comprises:
the processor accessing, from the memory device, data associated with the activity of the wireless device at a plurality of locations within and outside of the first geo-fence;
the processor executing a data cluster algorithm to select a subset of the plurality of locations as affiliated past locations to a geographic location associated with the first settings; and
the processor selecting the at least one past location based on a clustering of the at least one past location with other locations within the first geo-fence.

9. The wireless device of claim 8 , wherein the data cluster algorithm comprises a density-based spatial clustering of application with noise (DBSCAN) algorithm.

10. The wireless device of claim 7 , further comprising a location utility that receives one or more Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals, wherein:
the processor implements the geo-fencing policy by disabling the location utility;
a receiver senses a relative location to one or more communication nodes;
the processor determines the current location of the wireless device based on the relative location; and
the processor associates the first geo-fence with the at least one past location that is outside of the first geo-fence based on the first settings by executing a data cluster algorithm to select a subset of locations within and without the first geo-fence as substantially equivalent locations to compensate for inaccuracy in determining the current location using the relative location to one or more communication nodes.

11. A computer program product comprising:
a computer-readable storage device having stored thereon program code that, when executed, configures a device having a processor to perform executable operations comprising:
determining a current location of a wireless device;
retrieving, from a memory, first settings of a first geo-fence, wherein the first settings of the first geo-fence comprise a geographic location and a default radius;
implementing a geo-fencing policy in response to determining based on the first settings, that the current location is within the first geo-fence; and
in response to determining that the current location is not within the first geo-fence:
accessing data associated with an activity of the wireless device at past locations inside and outside of the first geo-fence;
associating with the first geo-fence at least one past location that is outside of the first geo-fence based

Assignees

• Motorola Mobility Llc

Inventors

• Liu Feng
• Nair Riya B

Classifications

• H04W4/021 Primary

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

• H04W52/0209

  in terminal devices · CPC title

• G01S19/42

  Determining position · CPC title

• H04W4/028

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title