User identification within a physical merchant location through the use of a wireless network
A method and system are described for determining a location of a consumer within a retail establishment, or other geographical proximity. The method and system use a portable computing device (“PCD”) such as, but not limited to, a mobile phone. The system and method may leverage existing infrastructure, such as wireless routers, to assist the PCD and a remote server in communication with the PCD to determine a location of a consumer in possession of the PCD within a retail location. The system may comprise a PCD running a geo-network discovery (“GND”) module, a server running a service set identifier (“SSID”) verification and rules (“V/R”) module, a telecommunications network, and a wireless router configured to broadcast a unique SSID.
1. A method for providing an electronic retail offer based on the location of a portable computing device (“PCD”), comprising the steps of:
receiving from the PCD over a telecommunications network a service set identifier (“SSID”) at a processor of a remote server, wherein:
the SSID is broadcast from a physically stationary wireless router such that a broadcast range of the physically stationary wireless router defines a geographical region;
the SSID is received at the processor of the remote server in response to the PCD physically entering the broadcast range of the physically stationary wireless router, receiving the SSID from the physically stationary wireless router and transmitting the SSID over the telecommunications network to the processor of the remote server; and
the remote server is physically located outside the broadcast range of the physically stationary wireless router;
determining with the processor of the remote sever if the received SSID is valid;
querying a database with the processor of the remote server for the SSID, wherein the SSID is associated in the database with physical location data of the physically stationary wireless router;
based on the physical location data of the physically stationary wireless router, determining that the physical location of the PCD is within the defined geographical region of the physically stationary wireless router; and
the processor of the remote server transmitting a retail offer over the telecommunications network, wherein the offer is based on the physical location data of the wireless router.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the processor of the remote server decoding the SSID prior to querying the database.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving over the telecommunications network a status of the retail offer; and
updating the database to include records of the status of the retail offer.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
querying the database to identify data associated with the user of the PCD; and
based on the physical location data of the wireless router and the identified data, transmitting over the telecommunications network a retail offer.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the telecommunications network comprises a cellular network.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the PCD comprises at least one of a cellular telephone, a pager, a personal digital assistant, a smartphone, a navigation device, a tablet personal computer, and a hand-held computer with a wireless connection or link.
7. A system for providing an electronic retail offer based on the location of a portable computing device (“PCD”), the system comprising:
a remote server configured to:
receive from the PCD over a telecommunications network a service set identifier (“SSID”), wherein:
the SSID is broadcast from a physically stationary wireless router such that a broadcast range of the physically stationary wireless router defines a geographical region;
the SSID is received by the remote server in response to the PCD physically entering the broadcast range of the physically stationary wireless router, receiving the SSID from the physically stationary wireless router and transmitting the SSID over the telecommunications network to the processor of the remote server; and
the remote server is physically located outside the broadcast range of the physically stationary wireless router;
determine if the received SSID is valid;
query a database for the SSID, wherein the SSID is associated in the database with physical location data of the physically stationary wireless router;
based on the physical location data of the physically stationary wireless router, determine that the physical location of the PCD is within the defined geographical region of the physically stationary wireless router; and
transmit a retail offer over the telecommunications network, wherein the offer is based on the physical location data of the wireless router.
8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the server is further configured to decode the SSID prior to querying the database.
9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the server is further configured to:
receive over the telecommunications network a status of the retail offer; and
update the database to include records of the status of the retail offer.
10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the server is further configured to:
query the database to identify data associated with the user of the PCD; and
based on the physical location data of the wireless router and the identified data, transmit over the telecommunications network a retail offer.
11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the telecommunications network comprises a cellular network.
12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the PCD comprises at least one of a cellular telephone, a pager, a personal digital assistant, a smartphone, a navigation device, a tablet personal computer, and a hand-held computer with a wireless connection or link.
13. A system for providing an electronic retail offer based on the location of a portable computing device (“PCD”), the system comprising:
means for receiving from the PCD over a telecommunications network a service set identifier (“SSID”) at a remote server, wherein:
the SSID is broadcast from a physically stationary wireless router such that a broadcast range of the physically stationary wireless router defines a geographical region;
the SSID is received in response to the PCD physically entering the broadcast range of the physically stationary wireless router, receiving the SSID from the physically stationary wireless router and transmitting the SSID over the telecommunications network to the processor of the remote server; and
the remote server is physically located outside the broadcast range of the physically stationary wireless router;
means for determining if the SSID is valid;
means for querying a database for the SSID, wherein the SSID is associated in the database with physical location data of the physically stationary wireless router;
means for determining that the physical location of the PCD is within the defined geographical region of the physically stationary wireless router based on the physical location data of the physically stationary wireless router; and
means for transmitting a retail offer over the telecommunications network, wherein the offer is based on the physical location data of the wireless router.
14. The system of claim 13 , further comprising means to decode the SSID prior to querying the database.
15. The system of claim 13 , further comprising means to:
receive over the telecommunications network a status of the retail offer; and
update the database to include records of the status of the retail offer.
16. The system of claim 13 , further comprising means to:
query the database to identify data associated with the user of the PCD; and
based on the physical location data of the broadcasting means and the identified data, transmit over the telecommunications network a retail offer.
17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the telecommunications network comprises a cellular network.
18. The system of claim 13 , wherein the means for receiving the identification data comprises at least one of a cellular telephone, a pager, a personal digital assistant, a smartphone, a navigation device, a tablet personal computer, and a hand-held computer with a wireless connection or link.
19. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code executable to implement a method for providing an electronic retail offer based on the location of a portable computing device (“PCD”), the method comprising:
receiving from the PCD over a telecommunications network a service set identifier (“SSID”) at a remote server, wherein:
the SSID is broadcast from a physically stationary wireless router such that a broadcast range of the physically stationary wireless router defines a geographical region;
the SSID is received at the remote server in response to the PCD physically entering the broadcast range of the physically stationary wireless router, receiving the SSID from the physically stationary wireless router and transmitting the SSID over the telecommunications network to the processor of the remote server; and
the remote server is physically located outside the broadcast range of the physically stationary wireless router;
determining with the processor of the remote sever if the received SSID is valid;
querying a database coupled to the remote server for the SSID, wherein the SSID is associated in the database with physical location data of the physically stationary wireless router;
based on the physical location data of the physically stationary wireless router, determining that the physical location of the PCD is within the defined geographical region of the physically stationary wireless router; and
transmitting a retail offer over the telecommunications network, wherein the offer is based on the physical location data of the wireless router.
20. The computer program product of claim 19 , wherein the program code implementing the method further comprises decoding the SSID prior to querying the database.
21. The computer program product of claim 19 , wherein the program code implementing the method further comprises:
receiving over the telecommunications network a status of the retail offer; and
updating the database to include records of the status of the retail offer.
22. The computer program product of claim 19 , wherein the program code implementing the method further comprises:
querying the database to identify data associated with the user of the PCD; and
based on the physical location data of the wireless router and the identified data, transmitting over the telecommunications network a retail offer.
23. The computer program product of claim 19 , wherein the telecommunications network comprises a cellular network communications link.
24. The computer program product of claim 19 , wherein the PCD comprises at least one of a cellular telephone, a pager, a personal digital assistant, a smartphone, a navigation device, a tablet personal computer, and a hand-held computer with a wireless connection or link.