Granted Patent B2

US 10,111,032 · App. 14/937,887 · Granted Oct 23, 2018

Abstract

Claims (41)

1. A method for locating a tracking device comprising:

receiving, at a mobile device from the tracking device, a communication;

in response to receiving the communication, determining, by the mobile device, a first location of the mobile device using a location-detection component and a signal strength of the communication;

providing, from the mobile device to a tracking server, an identity of the tracking device, the determined first location, and a first presence indicator indicating a connection between the tracking device and the mobile device, the tracking server configured to store the determined first location and the first presence indicator in association with the identity of the tracking device;

in response to a determination that the connection between the mobile device and the tracking device has been severed, activating a location-detection functionality of the mobile device;

determining, by the mobile device, a second location of the mobile device using the activated location detection functionality;

providing, from the mobile device to the tracking server, the identity of the tracking device, the determined second location, and a second presence indicator indicating the lack of a connection between the tracking device and the mobile device, the tracking server configured to store the determined second location and the second presence indicator in association with the identity of the tracking device; and

in response to receiving the determined first location, the first presence indicator, the determined second location, and the second presence indicator from the tracking server, displaying, by the mobile device, a map interface showing a first plurality of previous locations of the mobile device while the mobile device was connected to the tracking device and a second plurality of previous locations of the mobile device after the connection between the mobile device and the tracking device has been severed, the first plurality of previous locations of the mobile device including the determined first location and the second plurality of previous locations of the mobile device including the determined second location, the map interface further including a first visual indication identifying each of the first plurality of previous locations and indicating that for each of the first plurality of previous locations, the mobile device was connected to the tracking device, and the map interface further including a second visual indication identifying each of the second plurality of previous locations and indicating that for each of the second plurality of previous locations, the mobile device was not connected to the tracking device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received communication is broadcast as a Bluetooth-format advertisement or connection event.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location-detection component comprises a Global Positioning System (“GPS”) receiver.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determined first location and the determined second location each comprise geographic coordinates.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mobile device is configured to determine that the connection between the tracking device and the mobile device is severed if after an interval of time has passed, the mobile device has not received a communication from the tracking device.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the interval of time is configurable.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving from a user of the mobile device, an indication that the tracking device is lost;

requesting, from the tracking server, locations associated with the tracking device stored by the tracking server, at least one requested location associated with a time before the tracking device was lost, and at least one requested location associated with a time after the tracking device was lost;

receiving, from the tracking server, the requested locations;

displaying, within the map interface, the received locations.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the map interface displays a last known location of the tracking device.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the received locations associated with times before the tracking device was lost are displayed in a first color, and wherein received locations associated with times after the tracking device was lost are displayed in a second color.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the map interface includes a slider bar configured to enable the user to select a timeframe corresponding to a starting time and an ending time, and wherein the map interface displays only received locations associated with times between the starting time and the ending time.

11. A mobile device configured to locate a tracking device comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer instructions that, when executed, perform steps comprising: receiving, at the mobile device from the tracking device, a communication, in response to receiving the communication, determining, by the mobile device, a first location of the mobile device using a location-detection component and a strength of the communication signal; providing, from the mobile device to a tracking server, an identity of the tracking device, the determined first location, and a first presence indicator indicating a connection between the tracking device and the mobile device, the tracking server configured to store the determined first location and the first presence indicator in association with the identity of the tracking device;

in response to a determination that the connection between the mobile device and the tracking device has been severed, activating a location-detection functionality of the mobile device;

determining, by the mobile device, a second location of the mobile device using the activated location detection functionality;

providing, from the mobile device to the tracking server, the identity of the tracking device, the determined second location, and a second presence indicator indicating the lack of a connection between the tracking device and the mobile device, the tracking server configured to store the determined second location and the second presence indicator in association with the identity of the tracking device; and

in response to receiving the determined first location, the first presence indicator, the determined second location, and the second presence indicator from the tracking server, displaying, by the mobile device, a map interface showing a first plurality of previous locations of the mobile device while the mobile device was connected to the tracking device and a second plurality of previous locations of the mobile device after the connection between the mobile device and the tracking device has been severed, the first plurality of previous locations of the mobile device including the determined first location and the second plurality of previous locations of the mobile device including the determined second location, the map interface further including a first visual indication identifying each of the first plurality of previous locations and indicating that for each of the first plurality of previous locations, the mobile device was connected to the tracking device, and the map interface further including a second visual indication identifying each of the second plurality of previous locations and indicating that for each of the second plurality of previous locations, the mobile device was not connected to the tracking device; and

a processor configured to execute the instructions.

12. The mobile device of claim 11 , wherein the received communication is broadcast as a Bluetooth-format advertisement or connection event.

13. The mobile device of claim 11 , wherein the location-detection component comprises a Global Positioning System (“GPS”) receiver.

14. The mobile device of claim 11 , wherein the determined first location and the determined second location each comprise geographic coordinates.

15. The mobile device of claim 11 , wherein the mobile device is configured to determine that the connection between the tracking device and the mobile device is severed if after an interval of time has passed, the mobile device has not received a communication from the tracking device.

16. The mobile device of claim 15 , wherein the interval of time is configurable.

17. The mobile device of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed, perform further steps comprising:

receiving from a user of the mobile device, an indication that the tracking device is lost;

requesting, from the tracking server, locations associated with the tracking device stored by the tracking server, at least one requested location associated with a time before the tracking device was lost, and at least one requested location associated with a time after the tracking device was lost;

receiving, from the tracking server, the requested locations;

displaying, within the map interface, the received locations.

18. The mobile device of claim 17 , wherein the map interface displays a last known location of the tracking device.

19. The mobile device of claim 17 , wherein the received locations associated with times before the tracking device was lost are displayed in a first color, and wherein received locations associated with times after the tracking device was lost are displayed in a second color.

20. The mobile device of claim 17 , wherein the map interface includes a slider bar configured to enable the user to select a timeframe corresponding to a starting time and an ending time, and wherein the map interface displays only received locations associated with times between the starting time and the ending time.

Assignments (9)

Cited By (5)

US 12,328,579 US 12,328,636 US 12,413,416 US 12,470,931 US 12,519,617