Granted Patent B2

US 9,525,969 · App. 14/822,573 · Granted Dec 20, 2016

Abstract

Claims (59)

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a mobile device from a tracking device, movement information describing a movement of the tracking device;

determining, by the mobile device, a location associated with the tracking device; and

providing, by the mobile device to a tracking server, an identity of the tracking device, the determined location associated with the tracking device, and the received movement information, the tracking server configured to:

select one or both of the determined location or a previous location of the tracking device stored by the tracking server based on the movement information;

receive a request for location information from a requesting entity; and

provide the selected one or both of the determined location and the previous location to the requesting entity.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the movement information describes a magnitude of movement of the tracking device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the movement information describes a direction of movement of the tracking device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tracking server is configured to store the determined location in association with the identity of the tracking device.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tracking server is configured to select the previous location in response to a determination that the movement described by the movement information comprises less than a threshold amount of movement.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tracking server is configured to select the determined location in response to a determination that the movement described by the movement information comprises greater than a threshold amount of movement.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tracking server is configured to select one or both of the determined location or the previous location based additionally on a distance between the tracking device and the mobile device.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the distance between the tracking device and the mobile device is determined based on a strength of a signal broadcast by the tracking device.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the tracking server is configured to select the determined location in response to a determination that the mobile device and the tracking device are within a threshold distance of each other.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the tracking server is configured to select the previous location in response to a determination that the mobile device and the tracking device are more than a threshold distance from each other.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tracking server is configured to select both the previous location and the determined location in response to a determination that a measure of accuracy describing the previous location and a measure of accuracy describing the determined location are within a threshold measure of accuracy of each other.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the requesting entity comprises the mobile device, and wherein the mobile device is configured to present the received selected locations to a user of the mobile device.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mobile device is configured to provide to the tracking device a confirmation that the tracking device identity, the determined location, and the movement information were provided to the tracking server.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein tracking device is configured to enter a standby mode in response to receiving the confirmation, and wherein the tracking device is configured to stay in the standby mode until subsequent movement is detected.

15. A system comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer instructions for:

receiving, from a tracking device, movement information describing a movement of the tracking device;

determining a location associated with the tracking device; and

providing, to a tracking server, an identity of the tracking device, the determined location associated with the tracking device, and the received movement information, the tracking server configured to:

select one or both of the determined location or a previous location of the tracking device stored by the tracking server based on the movement information;

receive a request for location information from a requesting entity; and

provide the selected one or both of the determined location and the previous location to the requesting entity; and

a processor configured to execute the computer instructions.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer instructions for:

receiving, from a tracking device, movement information describing a movement of the tracking device;

determining a location associated with the tracking device; and

providing, to a tracking server, an identity of the tracking device, the determined location associated with the tracking device, and the received movement information, the tracking server configured to:

select one or both of the determined location or a previous location of the tracking device stored by the tracking server based on the movement information;

receive a request for location information from a requesting entity; and

provide the selected one or both of the determined location and the previous location to the requesting entity.

17. A method comprising:

determining at a first time, by a mobile device within a threshold distance of a tracking device, a first location associated with the tracking device, the first location comprising a high-accuracy location;

receiving, at the mobile device from the tracking device after the mobile device has moved to more than a threshold distance from the tracking device, a location request, the location request including a timestamp indicating a second time, the second time representative of a most recent movement by the tracking device;

in response to the second time being earlier or equal to the first time, determining that the location of the tracking device is the first location; and

in response to the second time being later than the first time:

determining a second location of the mobile device; and

determining that the location of the tracking device is the second location, the second location comprising a low-accuracy location.

18. A mobile device comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer instructions for:

determining at a first time, by the mobile device within a threshold distance of a tracking device, a first location associated with the tracking device, the first location comprising a high-accuracy location;

receiving, at the mobile device from the tracking device after the mobile device has moved to more than a threshold distance from the tracking device, a location request, the location request including a timestamp indicating a second time, the second time representative of a most recent movement by the tracking device;

in response to the second time being earlier or equal to the first time, determining that the location of the tracking device is the first location; and

in response to the second time being later than the first time:

determining a second location of the mobile device; and

determining that the location of the tracking device is the second location, the second location comprising a low-accuracy location; and

a processor configured to execute the computer instructions.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer instructions for:

determining at a first time, by a mobile device within a threshold distance of a tracking device, a first location associated with the tracking device, the first location comprising a high-accuracy location;

receiving, at the mobile device from the tracking device after the mobile device has moved to more than a threshold distance from the tracking device, a location request, the location request including a timestamp indicating a second time, the second time representative of a most recent movement by the tracking device;

in response to the second time being earlier or equal to the first time, determining that the location of the tracking device is the first location; and

in response to the second time being later than the first time:

determining a second location of the mobile device; and

determining that the location of the tracking device is the second location, the second location comprising a low-accuracy location.

Assignments (9)