Set-top box, system and method for providing awareness in a hospitality environment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9800932-B2
Application number	US-201715596276-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 16, 2017
Priority date	Feb 5, 2014
Publication date	Oct 24, 2017
Grant date	Oct 24, 2017

Abstract

A system and method for providing awareness in a hospitality environment are presented. In one embodiment, a vertical and horizontal array of set-top boxes is provided and each set-top box includes an identification corresponding to the room in which the set-top box is placed. Each set-top box includes a wireless transceiver that periodically transmits an identification beacon that is received by a proximate wireless-enabled interactive device. The proximate wireless-enabled interactive device, in turn, broadcasts data packets including an indication of the strength of set-top box identification signals received. The broadcasts are received by a server via an array of wireless routers. The location of the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device is determined based on the signal strength information in the data packets.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for providing awareness in an environment, the system comprising:
a horizontal array of set-top boxes, each set-top box being associated with a room in the environment, each set-top box having an identification including a room identifier;
each set-top box of the horizontal array including:
a housing;
a wireless transceiver associated with the housing, the wireless transceiver configured to send a beacon to communicate with a wireless-enabled interactive handheld device;
a television input and a television output secured in the housing, the television input and the television output configured to respectively receive content and forward content;
a processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the television input and the television output;
a memory accessible to the processor, the memory including processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
periodically transmit an identification beacon signal including set-top box identification;

the wireless-enabled interactive device including:
a housing;
an emergency button;
a processor coupled to a wireless transceiver;
a memory accessible to the processor, the memory including processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
receive set-top box identification beacon signals;
measure the strength of the identification beacon signals;
periodically transmit a broadcast signal including a data packet having at least one set-top box identification, a corresponding signal strength identification indicating the strength of the set-top box identification beacon signal, and a wireless-enabled interactive device identification;
responsive to the activation of the emergency button, immediately transmit a broadcast signal including a data packet having at least one set-top box identification, a corresponding signal strength identification indicating the strength of the set-top box identification beacon signal, a wireless-enabled interactive device identification, and an emergency alert;

a horizontal array of wireless routers disposed in the environment, each wireless router configured to receive the data packet from the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device and forward the data packet; and
a server located within the environment and in communication with the horizontal array of wireless routers, the server responsive to the data packet including an emergency alert, activating an emergency alert notification.

2. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the wireless transceiver is configured to communicate with a standard selected from the group consisting of infrared (IR), 802.11, 3G, 4G, Edge, WiFi, ZigBee, near field communications (NFC), Bluetooth and Bluetooth low energy.

3. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the wireless routers are configured to communicate with a WiFi standard.

4. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the horizontal array of set-top boxes further comprises a plurality of common space beacon devices, each common space beacon device having an identification including a common space.

5. The system as recited in claim 4 , wherein each of the common space beacon devices further comprises:
a processor coupled to a wireless transceiver; and
a memory accessible to the processor, the memory including processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
periodically transmit an identification beacon signal including beacon device identification.

6. A system for providing awareness in an environment, the system comprising:
a horizontal array of set-top boxes, each set-top box being associated with a room in the environment, each set-top box having an identification including a room identifier;
each set-top box of the horizontal array including:
a housing;
a wireless transceiver associated with the housing, the wireless transceiver configured to send a beacon to communicate with a wireless-enabled interactive handheld device;
a television input and a television output secured in the housing, the television input and the television output configured to respectively receive content and forward content;
a processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the television input and the television output;
a memory accessible to the processor, the memory including processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
periodically transmit an identification beacon signal including set-top box identification;

the wireless-enabled interactive device including:
a housing;
an emergency button;
a processor coupled to a wireless transceiver;
a memory accessible to the processor, the memory including processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
receive set-top box identification beacon signals;
measure the strength of the identification beacon signals;
periodically transmit a broadcast signal including a data packet having at least one set-top box identification, a corresponding signal strength identification indicating the strength of the set-top box identification beacon signal, and a wireless-enabled interactive device identification;
responsive to the activation of the emergency button, immediately transmit a broadcast signal including a data packet having at least one set-top box identification, a corresponding signal strength identification indicating the strength of the set-top box identification beacon signal, a wireless-enabled interactive device identification, and an emergency alert;

a horizontal array of wireless routers disposed in the environment, each wireless router configured to receive the data packet from the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device and forward the data packet; and
a server located within the hospitality environment and in communication with the horizontal array of wireless routers, the server including:
a processor; and
a memory accessible to the processor, the memory including processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
receive the data packet from the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device;
determine the location of the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device as being proximate to the set-to box of strongest signal strength, the location of the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device being determined following communication from the horizontal array of set-top boxes to the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device to the horizontal array of wireless routers to the server; and
responsive to the data packet including an emergency alert, activating an emergency alert notification.

7. The system as recited in claim 6 , wherein the wireless transceiver is configured to communicate with a standard selected from the group consisting of infrared (IR), 802.11, 3G, 4G, Edge, WiFi, ZigBee, near field communications (NFC), Bluetooth and Bluetooth low energy.

8. The system as recited in claim 6 , wherein the wireless routers are configured to communicate with a WiFi standard.

9. The system as recited in claim 6 , wherein the horizontal array of set-top boxes further comprises a plurality of common space beacon devices, each common space beacon device having an identification including a common space.

10. The system as recited in claim 9 , wherein each of the common space beacon devices further comprises:
a processor coupled to a wireless transceiver; and
a memory accessible to the processor, the memory including processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
periodically transmit an identification beacon signal including beacon device identification.

11. A system for provi

Assignees

• Enseo Inc

Inventors

• Ogle Vanessa
• Miller Thomas R
• Fang William C

Classifications

• H04N21/42221

  Transmission circuitry, e.g. infrared [IR] or radio frequency [RF] · CPC title

• H04N21/43637

  involving a wireless protocol, e.g. Bluetooth®, RF or wireless LAN [IEEE 802.11] (arrangements for wireless networking or broadcasting of information in indoor or near-field type systems H04B10/114) · CPC title

• H04N21/4516 Primary

  involving client characteristics, e.g. Set-Top-Box type, software version or amount of memory available · CPC title

• H04N21/4524

  involving the geographical location of the client (retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; systems specially adapted for using geographical information in broadcast systems H04H60/70; protocols in which the network application is adapted for the location of the user terminal in communication control or processing H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00) · CPC title

• H04N21/2143 Primary

  located in a single building, e.g. hotel, hospital or museum (arrangements specially adapted for plural spots in a confined site in broadcast systems H04H20/63; adaptations for transmission by electric cable for domestic distribution in television systems H04N7/106) · CPC title