Patent ID: 9392409
Filing Date: 2016-07-12
CPC Classification: H04W

Claim Text:
1. A method for detecting in a venue, the proximity of a mobile device that is enabled, according to a communications protocol, to request access to a wireless local area network (WLAN) infrastructure element, comprising the steps of: (a) monitoring wireless communications in the venue in accordance with the communications protocol; (b) detecting first message from the mobile device that was sent as part of the communications protocol to request access to the WLAN infrastructure element, and reading from said first message, the identity of the requested WLAN infrastructure element; (c) artificially provoking second message to be sent from the mobile device by sending a provocatively-formatted message to the mobile device without the use of WLAN infrastructure elements, the provocatively-formatted message being a message that is formatted with an identity of its source, to be said read identity of the requested WLAN infrastructure element of said first message, said second message counting as more than normal for the communications protocol as being provoked by said provocatively-formatted message that uses as its out-of-protocol source address, said read identity of the requested WLAN infrastructure element.