Power preservation through motion-activated location reporting

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9525970-B2
Application number	US-201514822576-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 10, 2015
Priority date	Oct 9, 2014
Publication date	Dec 20, 2016
Grant date	Dec 20, 2016

Abstract

A tracking device can securely communicate with a secondary device by generating a hash value based on the identity of the tracking device. If the secondary device cannot resolve the hash value, the hash value can be provided to a tracking server, such as a cloud server, for resolving the hash value. Upon resolving the hash value, the tracking server can store a location of the tracking device in association with the identity of the tracking device. To preserve power, the secondary device can activate location-detection functionality (such as a GPS receive) only in response to the detection of movement of the tracking device, can obtain location information, and can de-activate the location-detection functionality upon providing the location information to the tracking server. The tracking server can associate one or both of a previous location and the current location information based on movement of the tracking device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, at a mobile device from a tracking device, a signal indicating a detection of movement of the tracking device;
in response to receiving the signal indicating the detection of movement, activating a location-detection component of the mobile device;
determining, by the mobile device, a location associated with the tracking device using the location-detection component;
providing, from the mobile device to a tracking server, an identity of the tracking device and the determined location, the tracking server configured to store the determined location in association with the identity of the tracking device; and
de-activating the location-detection component of the mobile device in response to the storage of the determined location in association with the identity of the tracking device by the tracking server.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received signal is broadcast as a Bluetooth-format advertisement or connection event.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tracking device detects movement using a gyroscope or an accelerometer.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location-detection component comprises a Global Positioning System (“GPS”) receiver.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determined location comprises geographic coordinates.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tracking server is configured to provide to the mobile device a confirmation that the determined location is stored in association with the identity of the tracking device.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the location-detection component is de-activated in response to receiving the confirmation.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mobile device is configured to provide to the tracking device a confirmation that the determined location and device identity were provided to the tracking server.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the tracking device is configured to enter a standby mode in response to receiving the confirmation, and wherein the tracking device is configured to stay in the standby mode until subsequent movement is detected.

10. A system comprising:
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer instructions for:
receiving, from a tracking device, a signal indicating a detection of movement of the tracking device;
in response to receiving the signal indicating the detection of movement, activating a location-detection component;
determining a location associated with the tracking device using the location-detection component;
providing, to a tracking server, an identity of the tracking device and the determined location, the tracking server configured to store the determined location in association with the identity of the tracking device; and
de-activating the location-detection component in response to the storage of the determined location in association with the identity of the tracking device by the tracking server; and

a processor configured to execute the computer instructions.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the received signal is broadcast as a Bluetooth-format advertisement or connection event.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the tracking device detects movement using a gyroscope or an accelerometer.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the location-detection component comprises a Global Positioning System (“GPS”) receiver.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the determined location comprises geographic coordinates.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the tracking server is configured to provide to the system a confirmation that the determined location is stored in association with the identity of the tracking device.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the location-detection component is de-activated in response to receiving the confirmation.

17. The system of claim 10 , wherein the system is configured to provide to the tracking device a confirmation that the determined location and device identity were provided to the tracking server.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the tracking device is configured to enter a standby mode in response to receiving the confirmation, and wherein the tracking device is configured to stay in the standby mode until subsequent movement is detected.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer instructions for:
receiving, from a tracking device, a signal indicating a detection of movement of the tracking device;
in response to receiving the signal indicating the detection of movement, activating a location-detection component;
determining a location associated with the tracking device using the location-detection component;
providing, to a tracking server, an identity of the tracking device and the determined location, the tracking server configured to store the determined location in association with the identity of the tracking device; and
de-activating the location-detection component in response to the storage of the determined location in association with the identity of the tracking device by the tracking server.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the tracking server is configured to provide a confirmation that the determined location is stored in association with the identity of the tracking device, and wherein the location-detection component is de-activated in response to receiving the confirmation.

Assignees

• Tile Inc

Inventors

• Farley Michael George
• Evans Nicholas George

Classifications

• H04W8/245

  from a network towards a terminal · CPC title

• H04W64/00

  Locating users or terminals {or network equipment} for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management · CPC title

• H04W4/02 Primary

  Services making use of location information · CPC title

• H04M1/72519

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04M1/724

  User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones · CPC title