Providing notifications to devices based on real-time conditions related to an on-demand service

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9960986-B2
Application number	US-201414219862-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 19, 2014
Priority date	Mar 19, 2014
Publication date	May 1, 2018
Grant date	May 1, 2018

Abstract

A system and method for providing notifications is described. The system accesses a notification database that stores a plurality of notification entries. Each notification entry includes notification text, location information, and condition information. For each of a plurality of devices, information is received that includes a current location of that device and a current status associated with that device. At least one device is determined to meet the condition information of a notification entry based on the received information. A notification corresponding to the notification entry is transmitted to the at least one device.

First claim

What is being claimed is:

1. A method for providing notifications to computing devices, the method being performed by one or more processors of a computing system and comprising:
managing a notification database that stores notifications for drivers of a transportation service, wherein the notification database associates each notification of a set of notifications with (i) a corresponding geo-fence representing one or more sub-regions within a given region, and (ii) a set of conditions for use in distributing the notification, the set of conditions including a utilization condition of a given sub-region, and a current status of driver devices that are to receive the notification, the utilization condition being indicative of a ratio between demand for the transportation service and a supply of available drivers for a given portion of the given region;
generating a notification user interface enabling an administrator to configure, for each notification, the corresponding geo-fence and the utilization condition for the notification;
receiving, from each driver device of a plurality of driver devices throughout the given region, (i) global positioning system (GPS) data indicating a real-time location of the driver device, and (ii) status information indicating a current status of the driver device;
interfacing with at least one third party resource to receive event data corresponding to a given event, the at least one third party resource comprising at least one of a traffic system, an emergency system, or a venue schedule;
for a given time interval, selectively notifying drivers about the given event at a corresponding event location by:
A) determining a utilization condition for a sub-region of the corresponding event location;
B) determining, from the set of notifications, a notification for the sub-region of the corresponding event location based on the set of conditions associated with the determined notification, the determined notification including location data that corresponds to the corresponding event location;
C) selecting, from the plurality of driver devices, a set of driver devices to receive the determined notification from the notification database based at least in part on (i) the real-time location of each selected driver device in the selected set of driver devices relative to the corresponding event location; and (ii) the current status of each selected driver device in the selected set of driver devices;
D) transmitting the determined notification to the selected set of driver devices, without transmitting the determined notification to other driver devices in the plurality of driver devices; and
E) adjusting a map user interface that is displayed on each selected driver device based on the real-time location of the selected driver device relative to the event location, wherein for each selected driver device, adjusting the map user interface includes (i) displaying a first marker on the map user interface to represent the real-time location of the selected driver device along with a second marker to represent the corresponding event location, and (ii) increasing a zoom level of the displayed map user interface to dynamically display the first marker along with the second marker.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determined notification includes audio content that is outputted on the selected set of driver devices.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of conditions for the determined notification further includes a status requirement that corresponds to the current status of each selected driver device in the selected set of driver devices.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determined notification includes event information that corresponds to the given event.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the GPS data from the plurality of driver devices are received periodically.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of conditions of each notification in the set of notifications further comprises a time condition, and wherein transmitting the determined notification to the selected set of driver devices is further based on the time condition being satisfied.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the determined notification to each selected driver device in the selected set of driver devices enables a service application for the transportation service to provide content relating to the real-time location of the selected driver device and the corresponding event location.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a transportation service for a given region, cause the one or more processors to:
manage a notification database that stores notifications for drivers of the transportation service, wherein the notification database associates each notification of a set of notifications with (i) a corresponding geo-fence representing one or more sub-regions within the given region, and (ii) a set of conditions for use in distributing the notification, the set of conditions including a utilization condition of a given sub-region, and a current status of driver devices that are to receive the notification, the utilization condition being indicative of a ratio between demand for the transportation service and a supply of available drivers for a given portion of the given region;
generate a notification user interface enabling an administrator to configure, for each notification, the corresponding geo-fence and the utilization condition for the notification;
receive, from each driver device of a plurality of driver devices throughout the given region, (i) global positioning system (GPS) data indicating a real-time location of the driver device, and (ii) status information indicating a current status of the driver device;
interface with at least one third party resource to receive event data corresponding to a given event, the at least one third party resource comprising at least one of a traffic system, an emergency system, or a venue schedule;
for a given time interval, selectively notify drivers about the given event at a corresponding event location by:
A) determining a utilization condition for a sub-region of the corresponding event location;
B) determining, from the set of notifications, a notification for the sub-region of the corresponding event location based on the set of conditions associated with the determined notification, the determined notification including location data that corresponds to the corresponding event location;
C) selecting, from the plurality of driver devices, a set of driver devices to receive the determined notification from the notification database based at least in part on (i) the real-time location of each selected driver device in the selected set of driver devices relative to the corresponding event location; and (ii) the current status of each selected driver device in the selected set of driver devices;
D) transmitting the determined notification to the selected set of driver devices, without transmitting the determined notification to other driver devices in the plurality of driver devices; and
E) adjusting a map user interface that is displayed on each selected driver device based on the real-time location of the selected driver device relative to the corresponding event location, wherein for each selected driver device, adjusting the map user interface includes (i) displaying a first marker on the map user interface to represent the real-time location of the selected driver device along with a second marker to represent the corresponding event location, and (ii) increasing a zoom level of the displayed map user interface to dynamically display the first marker along with the second marker.

Assignees

• Uber Technologies Inc

Inventors

• Tao Christine
• Rehani Navya
• Mcconnell Thomas

Classifications

• H04L41/5051

  Service on demand, e.g. definition and deployment of services in real time · CPC title

• H04L12/1895

  for short real-time information, e.g. alarms, notifications, alerts, updates · CPC title

• H04L41/5096

  wherein the managed service relates to distributed or central networked applications · CPC title

• H04L43/10 Primary

  Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route · CPC title

• H04W4/021 Primary

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