Patent ID: 9697398
Date: 2017-07-04
CPC Classifications: G06K,G06Q,G08B,H04M

Claim:
1. A method, comprising: receiving, at a server, tag identifiers reported by cellular mobile devices, each one of the tag identifiers associated with a different tag; storing, by the server, the tag identifiers in a network accessible electronic database, the network accessible electronic database storing electronic database associations between the tag identifiers and global positioning system information describing locations reported by the cellular mobile devices; receiving, by the server, a search request specifying a tag identifier of the tag identifiers; querying, by the server, the network accessible electronic database for the tag identifier specified in the search request; determining, by the server, that the network accessible electronic database lacks an entry that electronically associates the tag identifier specified in the search request to the global positioning system information; retrieving, by the server, a search policy in response to the network accessible electronic database lacking the entry that electronically associates the tag identifier to the global positioning system information, the search policy defining cellular identifiers for use when searching for the tag identifier; sending, by the server, search instructions to the cellular identifiers defined by the search policy, the search instructions instructing corresponding ones of the cellular mobile devices associated with the cellular identifiers to broadcast an interrogation signal specifying the tag identifier specified in the search request; receiving, by the server, a response to the search instructions, the response sent from a cellular identifier of the cellular identifiers defined by the search policy, the response confirming reception of a signal sent from a tag associated with the tag identifier, and the response reporting the global positioning system information reported as a location associated with the cellular identifier; adding, by the server, the entry to the network accessible electronic database, the entry electronically associating the global positioning system information reported by the response to the cellular identifier and to the tag identifier; and sending, by the server, the global positioning system information as a search response to the search request specifying the tag identifier; wherein the network accessible electronic database stores a centralized repository for the locations reported by the cellular mobile devices.