Abstract:
Methods and apparatus are disclosed for delivering targeted information to a mobile wireless device based on proximity of the wireless device to a given destination location. The information may include travel or routing information directing the user of the mobile device to the destination location, and other information concerning the sponsor of a destination. The travel information may be tailored to the mode of locomotion inferred from movement information determined for a mobile wireless device carried by the user.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 11/700,619 filed Jan. 31, 2007, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This application relates in general to delivering information to wireless devices, and more particularly relates to improved methods and systems for delivering targeted information to mobile wireless devices. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Targeted delivery of information to mobile wireless devices is a promising technology that is still developing. Such mobile wireless devices may include cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs), and the messages can be in the form of SMS, HTML, IM, email, or other formats now in use or later adopted. The concept of targeted marketing is that consumers and others can be reached on their wireless devices by advertisements or other messages that are targeted and specific to a given location. For instance, if a consumer is traveling near a coffee shop, he or she could receive an advertisement on their cell phone alerting them of a nearby coffee shop and perhaps including a promotional coupon or code as an inducement to visit that establishment However, the message may include only a street address or map to the coffee shop, which is not very persuasive or practical, for example, when the consumer is driving and is not able to safely consult a map on the small screen of a cell phone or PDA. Furthermore, an advertisement that recommends a coffee shop “in your area” is not as meaningful as an advertisement that is targeted to the particular user of a mobile wireless device. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    Stated in general terms, a system according to disclosed embodiments receives the current geographic location of a mobile wireless device and determines whether that current location bears a predetermined relation to the geographic location of at least one given destination. If the relation is determined to exist, a message is produced and delivered to the wireless device. That message may include destination or travel information for directing the user of the wireless device for travel to a destination sponsoring the message. Alternatively, the message may include an embedded link inviting the user to click for directions, a map, store details, and other information concerning a sponsoring destination. The information in either case may contain routing information advising the user of a preferred or recommended route from the current location of the wireless device to the certain destination. 
         [0005]    Stated in somewhat more detail, embodiments may operate to determine or infer the mode of locomotion of a user carrying a mobile wireless device and tailor the travel information to that mode of locomotion. For example, a person determined to be traveling by automobile must obey road directions intended for motorists, one instance being the designated direction of travel along a one-way street. A pedestrian, however, usually can disregard travel restrictions unique to vehicle traffic; walking the “wrong” way along the sidewalk of a one-way street is not usually forbidden or dangerous. For further example, pedestrian travel is not permitted along certain roads, such as expressways or interstate highways. By inferring the nature of locomotion, embodiments of the present invention have the ability to provide customized travel directions customized to the particular user, making it easier for those users to visit the sponsoring source of a message. 
         [0006]    Location information of the mobile wireless devices may be obtained by any suitable technique including techniques known in the art, as discussed below. 
         [0007]    Other systems, methods, and/or computer program products according to embodiments will be or become apparent to one with skilled in the art upon review of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, and/or computer program products be included within this description, be within the scope of the present invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram showing certain elements of a system for delivering targeted information to a mobile wireless device according to a disclosed embodiment. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a fragmentary illustration of a street map showing an example for which customized travel directions may be supplied in response to a user&#39;s mode of locomotion, according to a disclosed embodiment. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart illustrating operation of a disclosed embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0011]      FIG. 1  shows in functional terms an apparatus according to a disclosed embodiment for targeted delivery of information based on the current geographic location of at least one wireless device and, by extension, the current geographic location of the person carrying that wireless device. The mobile wireless device in that disclosed embodiment is indicated generally at  10 , and it will be understood that those wireless devices  10  may be cell phones, PDAs equipped for radio communication, or any other mobile wireless device operative for radio communication with a central location or service provider for such wireless devices. It will also become apparent to those skilled in the art that embodiments may monitor the geographic locations and movements of more than one wireless device  10  and provide targeted information to those plural wireless devices  10  relative to plural destinations at separate geographical locations. 
         [0012]    A wireless network  12  is in radio communication with the wireless device  10 . Where the wireless device  10  comprise a cell phone, it will be understood that the wireless network  12  comprises a number of cell sites for radio communication with the wireless device  10  and other mobile wireless devices. The wireless network  12  in the depicted embodiment is operated by a wireless service provider  14 , which those skilled in the art will understand as including one or more mobile switching centers each of which may serve more than one cell site. The wireless service provider  14  establishes communication between the wireless device  10  through the wireless network  12 , or between the wireless device  10  and one or more landline phones by the interconnection  16  with the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or with other wired or wireless communications networks such as the Internet and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP). 
         [0013]    An information service provider  20  according to the disclosed embodiment provides monitoring and information delivery services for participating subscribers desiring to deliver targeted information to users of mobile wireless devices  10  and receives information from the wireless service provider  14  concerning the identities and geographic locations of wireless devices  10 . It should be understood that the services and operations of the information service provider  20  may be provided by the wireless service provider  14  or by an entity separate from the wireless service provider  14 , although the two service providers  14  and  20  are shown functionally separated in  FIG. 1 . In either case, the information service provider  20  provides monitoring and targeted message delivery functions for subscribers to the mobile information service, based on information provided to the information service provider  20  by those subscribers. Typical subscribers to the present targeted message delivery services might be retail providers of goods or services in general; the example of coffee shops mentioned herein is somewhat exemplary of a relatively low-cost provider whose products might be considered as impulse purchases appealing to passers-by, although no limitation regarding the nature of subscribers or subscriber activities should be inferred from the examples given herein. 
         [0014]    Each such subscriber will have entered into an arrangement with the information service provider  20  whereby the information service provider  20  receives geographic location information about the mobile wireless devices  10  from the wireless service provider  14  and, in response to that geographic location information, delivers messages to the wireless devices  10 . Those messages are customized to the products or services provided by the subscribers and deemed likely to interest users of wireless devices  10  within some predetermined proximity to at least one location of a particular subscriber. The messages, which may be in the form of SMS, HTML, email, IM, or any other form of text message delivery compatible with wireless devices  10  as will be known to those skilled in the art, include a field populated by variable information such as the current location of the wireless device  10 , distance and travel instructions from that current location to the location of the subscriber location, nearby landmarks, or other information to attract and assist the user of the wireless device  10 . That variable-information field is populated by an application that queries the wireless service provider  14  for the current geographical location of the wireless device  10  and, from that location information, may determine the current speed and direction of travel of the wireless device  10  and process that current-location information against reference information to determine the proximity, in distance and projected travel time, to the closest location of the subscriber and travel directions to that location. The reference information may include detailed geographic cartographic information sufficient to provide step-by-step travel instructions from a known starting location (typically the current location of the wireless device  10 ) to a known destination location such as a subscriber location. Such electronic cartographic mapping services are known to those skilled in the art, one example being the MapQuest® web map service. 
         [0015]    The information service provider  20  includes a processor  22  operatively communicating at  24  with the wireless service provider  14 , a destination database  28  operatively connected to the processor  22  for receiving and storing information identifying the locations and other information of participating subscribers, and a map information database  26  containing the cartographic information relevant to the locales of likely interest to customers of the subscribers. Information concerning the geographic locations of the wireless device  10  is provided by the wireless service provider  14  and may be obtained by any technique known in the art. Such geographic location techniques currently include the global positioning system (GPS) relying on satellite information that can be received by a GPS-enabled wireless device  10 . Other current techniques for locating wireless devices  10  include, without limitation, time-difference-of-arrival measurement based on signals transmitted by the wireless devices  10  and received at multiple radio towers of the wireless network  12 . Techniques for obtaining and processing geographic location information of cell phones and other wireless devices  10  are known to those skilled in the art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,110,749, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Whatever the source, the geographic-location information for the wireless device  10  is supplied to the processor  22  of the information service provider  20  through any suitable data link  24  including wireless or wireline connections and using Internet Protocol (IP) or any other suitable data-transfer technique. 
         [0016]    The processor  22  of the information service provider  20  is programmed to compare the geographic location information received for the wireless device  10  with the geographic location of at least one subscriber so as to determine whether a predetermined relation exists between the locations of the wireless device  10  and a subscriber location, and to produce a message for delivery to the wireless device  10  with suggested destination information if the predetermined relation exists. That message itself may indicate the location of one or more coffee shops (in the present example) and may contain information including the preferred route for travel to that destination location based on the user&#39;s current location. Alternatively, the message may include at least one embedded link for the user to click or otherwise select, offering user options for selecting the destination location closest to the current location of the user&#39;s wireless device  10 , in response to which the information service provider  20  generates a message containing directions to the subscriber location, store details, or other information of possible interest to the user. Another option is to have the information service provider  20  populate the location field of the message with the name of the street, neighborhood, direction, and/or speed of the wireless device  10 . 
         [0017]    Given the current location and calculated velocity of the wireless device  10 , the service provider  20  may be programmed to infer whether the movement patterns of that wireless device  10  are consistent with travel in a vehicle or as a pedestrian, and to determine travel information in accord with that determination. For example, determining the velocity of the wireless device  10  at more than a predetermined walking speed will support an inference that the user carrying that wireless device  10  is in a vehicle, while a user moving at a walking speed is likely traveling on foot. Detected stop-and-go movement of the wireless device  10  may indicate that the user is moving in traffic, particularly where the intervals of “go” movement exceed a likely walking speed. 
         [0018]    In response to inferring the user&#39;s mode of travel, the process may produce travel directions specific to that mode of travel. Referring to  FIG. 2  for an example according to one disclosed embodiment, the street Piedmont Avenue is one-way northbound until that street intersects at  208  with 14 th  Street, which allows two-way traffic. However, Piedmont Avenue is two-way north of the intersection  208 . It follows that an eastbound motorist on 14 th  Street cannot legally turn right to reach a coffee shop  210  on Piedmont Avenue immediately south of the intersection  208 . However, a pedestrian on 14 th  Street, walking toward the intersection  208 , can turn right at that intersection and head toward the coffee shop  210 . Assuming the detected movement pattern of the wireless device  10  heading east on 14 th  Street meets predetermined criteria programmed for the processor  22  ( FIG. 1 ) of the information service provider  20  to infer whether or not that wireless device  10  is vehicle-borne, the processor  22  may be programmed to produce travel instructions consistent with that determination. Those travel instructions to the pedestrian user of the wireless device  10  may, for example, include a map illustrating a right-turn at the intersection  208  and highlighting the location of the coffee shop  210  immediately south of that intersection. However, travel instructions to an inferred vehicle-borne user would not include a right turn at the intersection  208  and might instead contain a specific warning that the driver must turn left at that intersection, where 14 th  Street dead-ends at the intersection. If the participating subscriber has another coffee shop reachable on Piedmont Avenue within some predetermined distance north of the intersection  208 , the message generated to the motorist may also include that information along with instructions for reaching that other location. 
         [0019]      FIG. 3  illustrates an example of targeted delivery of information to the wireless device  10  according to the embodiment of  FIG. 1 . At the start  302  of the process illustrated in  FIG. 3 , it is assumed that a subscriber or account holder of the information service has registered, with the information service provider  20 , at least one location with a known geographic location. That registration would typically include one or more messages for delivery to prospective customers carrying mobile wireless devices  10 , and a link with a source of cartographic information able to generate travel instructions to the subscribing location based on selected parameters and determined geographic locations of the wireless device  10 . Such parameters could include, for example, the maximum desired geographic separation or relative velocity between a determined current location of the wireless device  10  and the subscriber location. Furthermore, the subscriber may provide time- or date-relevant information pertaining to one or more locations, dates, or times for providing special offers to prospective customers of the subscriber. That information is supplied to the information service provider  20  by a subscriber and is stored on the destination database  28  by the processor  22 . 
         [0020]    Referring again to  FIG. 3 , location information is obtained at  304  from the participating wireless device  10 . That location information may be obtained at periodic intervals, as is known in the art. Using the obtained location information, the processor  22  of the information service provider  20  determines at  306  the nature of movement of the user, e.g., in a vehicle or on foot as previously mentioned, and compares that inferred locomotion at  308  with map data obtained from the map database  26  to compare the current location of the wireless device  10  with the geographical location of at least one participating location previously stored in the destination database  28 . That comparison  308  continues unless the comparison shows at  310  that the wireless device  10  has reached a predetermined threshold point for sending a message from the participating subscriber and targeted to the user of the wireless device  10 . In that latter case, the processor  22  at  312  generates an appropriate message for travel from the current location of the wireless device  10  to the subscriber location and at  314  forwards that message to the wireless service provider  14  ( FIG. 1 ) for delivery to the wireless device  10 . The threshold point may be a function of the remaining distance between the wireless device  10  and the subscriber location, or may be a function of estimated remaining travel time to the subscriber location at the current speed of the wireless device  10 . 
         [0021]    It should also be understood that the foregoing relates only to disclosed embodiments of the present invention and that numerous changes and modifications therein may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.