Global-positioning system (GPS) update interval based on sensor

1. A method comprising:

by a server, sending at a pre-determined polling frequency an activation signal waking from a sleep mode an application on a mobile computing device and causing the application to activate a location service of the mobile computing device for a time period of a pre-determined sampling duration;

by the server, receiving location data from the mobile computing device after the pre-determined sampling duration to determine a travel distance of the mobile computing device;

by the server, determining the travel distance of the mobile computing device based on the received location data; and

by the server, adaptively adjusting the pre-determined polling frequency and pre-determined sampling duration based at least in part on the determined travel distance of the mobile computing device such that:

when the travel distance is determined to be more than a pre-determined travel distance, increasing the pre-determined polling frequency and decreasing the time period of the pre-determined sampling duration, and sending, by the server, the activation signal with the adjusted pre-determined polling frequency and activating the location service for the adjusted pre-determined sampling duration;

when the travel distance is determined to be less than or equal to the pre-determined travel distance, decreasing the pre-determined polling frequency and increasing the time period of the pre-determined sampling duration, and sending, by the server, the activation signal with the adjusted pre-determined polling frequency and activating the location service for the adjusted pre-determined sampling duration; and

when the determined travel distance is below a measurement accuracy of a global positioning system (GPS) function of the mobile computing device, decreasing the pre-determined polling frequency and increasing the time period of the pre-determined sampling duration.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the travel distance by comparing a position of the mobile computing device from a most-recent location reading to a position of the mobile computing device from a second-most-recent location reading.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the travel distance is determined based at least in part on output from an accelerometer or gyroscope of the mobile computing device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location service comprises polling a location of a cellular tower, a location of a WI-FI hotspot, or a GPS function of the mobile computing device.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising polling the location of the cellular tower or the location of the WI-FI hotspot in response to a failure of the GPS function to acquire GPS data.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending a location-service activation signal during the pre-determined sampling duration.

7. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software configured when executed to:

send at a pre-determined polling frequency an activation signal waking from a sleep mode an application on a mobile device and causing the application to activate a location service of the mobile device for a time period of a pre-determined sampling duration;

receive location data from the mobile computing device after the pre-determined sampling duration to determine a travel distance of the mobile computing device;

determine the travel distance of the mobile computing device based on the received location data; and

adaptively adjust the pre-determined polling frequency and pre-determined sampling duration based at least in part on the determined travel distance of the mobile computing device such that:

when the travel distance is determined to be more than a pre-determined travel distance, increase the pre-determined polling frequency and decrease the time period of the pre-determined sampling duration, and send the activation signal with the adjusted pre-determined polling frequency and activate the location service for the adjusted pre-determined sampling duration;

when the travel distance is determined to be less than or equal to the pre-determined travel distance, decrease the pre-determined polling frequency and increase the time period of the pre-determined sampling duration, and send the activation signal with the adjusted pre-determined polling frequency and activate the location service for the adjusted pre-determined sampling duration; and

when the determined travel distance is below a measurement accuracy of a global positioning system (GPS) function of the mobile computing device, decrease the pre-determined polling frequency and increase the time period of the pre-determined sampling duration.

8. The media of claim 7 , wherein the software is further configured to determine the travel distance by comparing a position of the mobile computing device from a most-recent location reading to a position of the mobile computing device from a second-most-recent location reading.

9. The media of claim 7 , wherein the travel distance is determined based at least in part on output from an accelerometer or gyroscope of the mobile computing device.

10. The media of claim 7 , wherein the location service comprises polling a location of a cellular tower, a location of a WI-FI hotspot, or a GPS function of the mobile computing device.

11. The media of claim 10 , wherein the software is further configured to poll the location of the cellular tower or the location of the WI-FI hotspot in response to a failure of the GPS function to acquire GPS data.

12. The media of claim 7 , wherein the software is further configured to send a location-service activation signal during the pre-determined sampling duration.

13. A device comprising:

a processor coupled to a storage; and

one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media coupled to the processor and embodying software configured when executed to:

send at a pre-determined polling frequency an activation signal waking from a sleep mode an application on a mobile computing device and causing the application to activate a location service of the mobile device for a time period of a pre-determined sampling duration;

receive location data from the mobile computing device after the pre-determined sampling duration to determine a travel distance of the mobile computing device;

determine the travel distance of the mobile computing device based on the received location data; and

adaptively adjust the pre-determined polling frequency and pre-determined sampling duration based at least in part on the determined travel distance of the mobile computing device such that:

when the travel distance is determined to be more than a pre-determined travel distance, increase the pre-determined polling frequency and decrease the time period of the pre-determined sampling duration, and send the activation signal with the adjusted pre-determined polling frequency and activate the location service for the adjusted pre-determined sampling duration;

when the travel distance is determined to be less than or equal to the pre-determined travel distance, decrease the pre-determined polling frequency and increase the time period of the pre-determined sampling duration, and send the activation signal with the adjusted pre-determined polling frequency and activate the location service for the adjusted pre-determined sampling duration; and

when the determined travel distance is below a measurement accuracy of a global positioning system (GPS) function of the mobile computing device, decrease the pre-determined polling frequency and increase the time period of the pre-determined sampling duration.

14. The device of claim 13 , wherein the software is further configured to determine a travel distance associated with the movement by comparing a position of the mobile computing device from a most-recent location reading to a position of the mobile computing device from a second-most-recent location reading.

15. The device of claim 13 , wherein the travel distance is determined based at least in part on output from an accelerometer or gyroscope of the mobile computing device.