Systems and method for configuring mobile device applications based on location

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9681253-B2
Application number	US-201615240375-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 18, 2016
Priority date	Aug 30, 2012
Publication date	Jun 13, 2017
Grant date	Jun 13, 2017

Abstract

Methods and systems for automatically configuring mobile device applications based on location are described. In an example, methods and systems for enabling contextual in-store experience modification on a mobile device can include capabilities for altering the functionality of a mobile application based at least in part on the location of the mobile device. For example, a mobile shopping application can be configured to perform different functions depending upon the type of retail location the mobile device is currently in. Additionally, the mobile application can be configured to enable different functions between a retail location and a user's residence, among other locations.

First claim

The claimed invention includes:

1. A method of improving location determination accuracy of a mobile device comprising:
monitoring, on the mobile device, a parent geofence that geographically encompasses a plurality of child geofences, each of the child geofences representing a physical location within the parent geofence;
detecting, based at least in part on a first location of the mobile device, entry into a first child geofence of the plurality of child geofences within the parent geofence;
detecting, based at least in part on a second location of the mobile device, entry into a second child geofence of the plurality of child geofences within the parent geofence;
tracking a chronology of the plurality of child geofences entered by the mobile device, the chronology indicating a chronological sorting of location data indicative of locations of the mobile device within the parent geofence, the location data including at least first location data corresponding to the first location of the mobile device and second location data corresponding to the second location of the mobile device; and
calculating a trajectory of the mobile device based on the chronology of child geofences.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of child geofences include a corresponding mobile application configuration, the mobile application configuration altering a function performed by an application executed on the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring the plurality of child geofences includes monitoring a plurality of types of geofences.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
associating a type of geofence from the plurality of types of geofences with each geofence of the plurality of child geofences; and
assigning a mobile application configuration to each type of geofence of the plurality of types of geofences.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting entry into a first child geofence from among the plurality of child geofences based on the trajectory.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
accessing a wish list associated with a user of the mobile device, the wish list comprising a list of desired items; and
causing display of a notification at the mobile device based on the trajectory, wherein the notification includes an offer based on the list of desired items of the wish list.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating a geofence that encompasses a location based on the trajectory.

8. A system to improve location determination accuracy of a mobile device comprising:
one or more processors;
a memory including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations comprising:
monitoring, on the mobile device, a parent geofence that geographically encompasses a plurality of child geofences, each of the child geofences representing a physical location within the parent geofence;
detecting, based at least in part on a first location of the mobile device, entry into a first child geofence of the plurality of child geofences within the parent geofence;
detecting, based at least in art on a second location of the mobile device, entry into a second child geofence of the plurality of child geofences within the parent geofence;
tracking a chronology of the plurality of child geofences entered by the mobile device, the chronology indicating a chronological sorting of location data indicative of locations of the mobile device within the parent geofence, the location data including at least first location data corresponding to the first location of the mobile device and second location data corresponding to the second location of the mobile device; and
calculating a trajectory of the mobile device based on the chronology of child geofences.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein each of the plurality of child geofences include a corresponding mobile application configuration, the mobile application configuration altering a function performed by an application executed on the mobile device.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the monitoring the plurality of child geofences includes monitoring a plurality of types of geofences.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the instructions cause the system to perform operations further comprising:
associating a type of geofence from the plurality of types of geofences with each geofence of the plurality of child geofences; and
assigning a mobile application configuration to each type of geofence of the plurality of types of geofences.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions cause the system to perform operations further comprising:
detecting entry into a first child geofence from among the plurality of child geofences based on the trajectory.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions cause the system to perform operations further comprising:
accessing a wish list associated with a user of the mobile device, the wish list comprising a list of desired items; and
causing display of a notification at the mobile device based on the trajectory, wherein the notification includes an offer based on the list of desired items of the wish list.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions cause the system to perform operations further comprising:
generating a geofence that encompasses a location based on the trajectory.

15. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a mobile device, cause the mobile device to perform operations to improve location determination accuracy of a mobile device, the operations comprising:
monitoring, on the mobile device, a parent geofence that geographically encompasses a plurality of child geofences, each of the child geofences representing a physical location within the parent geofence;
detecting, based at least in part on a first location of the mobile device, entry into a first child geofence of the plurality of child geofences within the parent geofence;
detecting, based at least in part on a second location of the mobile device, entry into a second child geofence of the plurality of child geofences within the parent geofence;
tracking a chronology of the child geofences entered by the mobile device, the chronology indicating a chronological sorting of location data indicative of locations of the mobile device within the parent geofence, the location data including at least first location data corresponding to the first location of the mobile device and second location data corresponding to the second location of the mobile device; and
calculating a trajectory of the mobile device based on the chronology of child geofences.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein each of the plurality of child geofences include a corresponding mobile application configuration, the mobile application configuration altering a function performed by an application executed on the mobile device.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the monitoring the plurality of child geofences includes monitoring a plurality of types of geofences.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions cause the mobile device to perform operations further comprising:
associating a type of geofence from the plurality of types of geofences with each geofence of the plurality of child geofences; and
assigning a mobile application configuration to each type of geofence of t

Assignees

• Ebay Inc

Inventors

• Lyman Nate L
• Russo Frank

Classifications

• H04W4/50

  Service provisioning or reconfiguring · CPC title

• H04L67/34 Primary

  involving the movement of software or configuration parameters  (network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416) · CPC title

• H04W4/021 Primary

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

• H04W4/001 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L67/18

  Electricity · mapped topic