Patent Publication Number: US-2022228887-A1

Title: Odometer interpolation using gps data

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally the field of fleet operation management systems for supporting operations of fleet vehicles and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a system to generate odometer reports for existing regulations and mandates. 
     BACKGROUND 
     An odometer is an instrument used for measuring the distance traveled by a vehicle. An Electronic Logging Device (ELD) is electronic hardware that is attached to commercial motor vehicles to record driving hours and may often receive data points indicating distance traveled from the odometer. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, the most significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to the figure number in which that element is first introduced. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing an example system for exchanging data (e.g., sensor data and associated content) over a network in accordance with some embodiments, wherein the system includes an odometer data interpolation system. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating various modules of an odometer data interpolation system, according to certain example embodiments. 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart depicting a method of interpolating odometer data, according to certain example embodiments. 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart depicting a method of collecting odometer data, according to certain example embodiments 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart depicting a method of collecting GPS data, according to certain example embodiments. 
         FIG. 6  is a flowchart depicting a method of augmenting odometer data using GPS data, according to certain example embodiments. 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     As discussed above, an ELD monitors a vehicle to capture data on whether the vehicle is moving, whether the engine is running, miles driven, and duration of engine operation. The tracked information from an ELD may be reviewed through a report generated by an administrator of the ELD. While these reports are generally accurate and thorough, distance measurements often lack the necessary precision to provide a high-resolution indication of a rate of travel or distance traveled over time. A reason for this may be inherent limitations in the way in which odometer data in gathered. For example, some odometers may lack precision below a given distance threshold (e.g., 1 km), such that only whole distance values may be reported (e.g., a distance of 1.5 km may be reported as either 1 km or 2 km). As a result, interpolation of vehicle speed using odometer data points is often imprecise and inaccurate. Accordingly, a system to improve the precision of such data would provide an advantage over existing systems. 
     Example embodiments described herein relate to a system to augment the collected odometer data points with more precise location data which provides an indication of a location of a vehicle associated with the odometer at a given time, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) data points. Additionally, the GPS data points may be collected at a higher sampling rate than the odometer data points, thus providing a more precise indication of a distance traveled by a vehicle at any given time. Accordingly, an odometer interpolation system is configured to perform operations that include: receiving a first odometer data point that includes a first timestamp, and a second odometer data point that includes a second timestamp; plotting the first odometer data point and the second odometer data point on a graph based on the first timestamp and the second timestamp, the graph comprising a first axis that represents distance values and a second axis that represents temporal values; accessing a plurality of GPS data points based on the first timestamp and the second timestamp of the first odometer data point and the second odometer data point, the plurality of GPS data points comprising location data; plotting the plurality of GPS data points at positions between the first odometer data point and the second odometer data point along the graph; and generating a segment that represents distance traveled over time based on the plurality of GPS data points, according to certain example embodiments. 
     In some example embodiments, the odometer interpolation system is configured to collect or otherwise access odometer data from an odometer, at a predefined interval responsive to detecting movement of a vehicle associated with the odometer, or responsive to detecting that the vehicle is started. For example, the odometer interpolation system may be communicatively coupled with one or more sensor devices to detect movement such as an accelerometer. In some embodiments, the odometer interpolation system may determine a vehicle is moving based on vehicle diagnostics data received from the vehicle (e.g., throttle position information). 
     Responsive to determining that a vehicle is in motion, the odometer interpolation system may access odometer data that indicates a distance traveled by the vehicle at a given time. Accordingly, an odometer data point may include a timestamp and a distance value. In some embodiments, the odometer interpolation system may access the odometer to collect odometer data points at a predefined interval, or sampling rate, wherein the interval may be based on a temporal frequency (i.e., every 5 seconds), based on a distance threshold (i.e., every 1 km traveled), or in some embodiments a combination of a temporal frequency and a distance threshold (i.e., every 1 km traveled or every 30 second, whichever comes first). 
     The odometer interpolation system may plot the odometer data points on a graph, wherein a first axis of the graph represents distance values, and a second axis of the graph represents temporal values. Distance values between any two points may be interpolated by the odometer interpolation system based on the distance and temporal values which correspond with the two odometer data points. A report that includes a display of the graph may be generated and displayed. 
     In some embodiments, the odometer interpolation system may access GPS data points that indicate a location of the vehicle that corresponds with the odometer data points, based on attributes of the odometer data points, such as the timestamps. The GPS data points may comprise location data and timestamps. 
     In some embodiments, the GPS data points may be collected by the odometer interpolation system at a predefined interval, or sampling rate, wherein the interval may be based on a temporal frequency (i.e., every 4 seconds), or based on a distance threshold (i.e., every meter traveled). In certain embodiments, a sampling rate in which the GPS data points are collected is at a greater, or higher rate, than a sampling rate in which the odometer data points are collected. 
     In some embodiments, the odometer interpolation system may apply GPS data points to correct detected errors or inaccuracies among the odometer data points. The odometer interpolation system may detect an error or inconsistency based on comparison of any one or more odometer data points to a threshold value. The threshold value may be a predefined threshold value or may be a dynamic threshold value that varies based on attributes of the collected odometer data points. Responsive to detecting such an error, the odometer interpolation system may retrieve a timestamp associated with the erroneous data point and retrieve a set of GPS data points based on the time stamp. 
     The odometer interpolation system may plot the GPS data points at positions between the first odometer data point and the second odometer data point along the graph, and generate a segment based on the GPS data points that represents distance traveled over time. Accordingly, a more precise representation of distance traveled over time may be presented, by augmenting the odometer data points with the GPS data points. For example, augmenting of the odometer data points with the GPS data points may include inserting the GPS data points between valid odometer values, wherein the odometer values may be scaled based on a ratio of odometer distance over aggregated GPS distance. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing an example system  100  for augmenting odometer data points with GPS data points, based on certain example embodiments. The system  100  includes one or more client devices  122  that host a number of applications including a client application  114 . 
     Accordingly, each client application  114  is able to communicate and exchange data with another client application  114  and with the server application  114  executed at the server system  108  via the network  106 . The data exchanged between client applications  114 , and between a client application  114  and the server system  108 , includes functions (e.g., commands to invoke functions) as well as payload data (e.g., text, audio, video or other multimedia data). 
     The server system  108  provides server-side functionality via the network  106  to a particular client application  114 , and in some embodiments to the sensor device(s)  102  and the system gateway  104 . While certain functions of the system  100  are described herein as being performed by either a client application  114 , the sensor device(s)  102 , the system gateway  104 , or by the server system  108 , it will be appreciated that the location of certain functionality either within the client application  114  or the server system  108  is a design choice. For example, it may be technically preferable to initially deploy certain technology and functionality within the server system  108 , but to later migrate this technology and functionality to the client application  114 , or one or more processors of the sensor device(s)  102 , or system gateway  104 , where there may be sufficient processing capacity. 
     The server system  108  supports various services and operations that are provided to the client application  114 . Such operations include transmitting data to, receiving data from, and processing data generated by the client application  114 , the sensor devices  102 , and the system gateway  104 . In some embodiments, the sensor devices  102  may include an odometer associated with a vehicle, as well as a GPS associated with the vehicle. In some embodiments, this data includes, message content, device information, geolocation information, persistence conditions, social network information, sensor data, and live event information, as examples. In other embodiments, other data is used. Data exchanges within the system  100  are invoked and controlled through functions available via graphical user interfaces (GUIs) of the client application  114 . 
     Turning now specifically to the server system  108 , an Application Program Interface (API) server  110  is coupled to, and provides a programmatic interface to, an application server  112 . The application server  112  is communicatively coupled to a database server  118 , which facilitates access to a database  120  that stores data associated with data generated by the sensor devices  102  and processed by the application server  112 . 
     Dealing specifically with the API server  110 , this server receives and transmits data (e.g., sensor data, commands, and payloads) between the client device  122  and the application server  112 . Specifically, the API server  110  provides a set of interfaces (e.g., routines and protocols) that can be called or queried by the client application  114  in order to invoke functionality of the application server  112 . The API server  110  exposes various functions supported by the application server  112 , including account registration, login functionality, the transmission of data, via the application server  112 , from a particular client application  114  to another client application  114 , the sending of sensor data (e.g., images, video, geolocation data, inertial data, temperature data, etc.) from a client application  114  to the server application  114 , and for possible access by another client application  114 , the setting of a collection of data, the retrieval of such collections, the retrieval of data, and the location of devices within a region. 
     The application server  112  hosts a number of applications and subsystems, including a server application  114 , and an odometer interpolation system  124 . The odometer interpolation system  124  is configured to access records within a repository (i.e., the databases  120 ) and automatically apply annotations to at least a portion of the records based on corresponding attributes of the records, according to some example embodiments. Further details of the odometer interpolation system  124  can be found in  FIG. 2  below. 
     The server application  114  implements a number of data processing technologies and functions, particularly related to the aggregation and other processing of data (e.g., sensor data generated by the sensor devices  102 ). As will be described in further detail, the sensor data, including odometer data points and GPS data points, generated by the sensor devices  102  may be aggregated into collections associated with a particular user account. Other processor and memory intensive processing of data may also be performed server-side by the server application  114 , in view of the hardware requirements for such processing. 
     The application server  112  is communicatively coupled to a database server  118 , which facilitates access to a database  120  in which is stored data associated with sensor data generated by the sensor devices  102  and processed by the server application  114 . 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating components of the odometer interpolation system  124  that configure the odometer interpolation system  124  to perform operations that include: receiving a first odometer data point that includes a first timestamp, and a second odometer data point that includes a second timestamp; plotting the first odometer data point and the second odometer data point on a graph based on the first timestamp and the second timestamp, the graph comprising a first axis that represents distance values and a second axis that represents temporal values; accessing a plurality of GPS data points based on the first timestamp and the second timestamp of the first odometer data point and the second odometer data point, the plurality of GPS data points comprising location data; plotting the plurality of GPS data points at positions between the first odometer data point and the second odometer data point along the graph; and generating a segment that represents distance traveled over time based on the plurality of GPS data points, according to certain example embodiments. 
     The odometer interpolation system  124  is shown as including an odometer module  202 , a GPS module  204 , a graph module  206 , and an interpolation module  208 , all configured to communicate with each other (e.g., via a bus, shared memory, or a switch). Any one or more of these modules may be implemented using one or more processors  210  (e.g., by configuring such one or more processors to perform functions described for that module) and hence may include one or more of the processors  210 . 
     Any one or more of the modules described may be implemented using hardware alone (e.g., one or more of the processors  210  of a machine) or a combination of hardware and software. For example, any module described of the odometer interpolation system  124  may physically include an arrangement of one or more of the processors  210  (e.g., a subset of or among the one or more processors of the machine) configured to perform the operations described herein for that module. As another example, any module of the odometer interpolation system  124  may include software, hardware, or both, that configure an arrangement of one or more processors  210  (e.g., among the one or more processors of the machine) to perform the operations described herein for that module. Accordingly, different modules of the odometer interpolation system  124  may include and configure different arrangements of such processors  210  or a single arrangement of such processors  210  at different points in time. Moreover, any two or more modules of the odometer interpolation system  124  may be combined into a single module, and the functions described herein for a single module may be subdivided among multiple modules. Furthermore, according to various example embodiments, modules described herein as being implemented within a single machine, database, or device may be distributed across multiple machines, databases, or devices. 
       FIG. 3  is a flowchart depicting a method  300  of interpolating odometer data, according to certain example embodiments. Operations of the method  300  may be performed by the modules described above with respect to  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the method  300  includes one or more operations  302 ,  304 ,  306 , and  308 . 
     At operation  302 , the odometer module  202  receives, from a vehicle, a first odometer data point that includes a first timestamp, and a second odometer datapoint that includes a second timestamp, and wherein the first and second odometer data points indicate a distance traveled by a vehicle at a given time as indicated by the corresponding timestamps. 
     In some embodiments, the odometer module  202  may access odometer data at a predefined sampling rate, wherein the sampling rate is based on a temporal frequency (i.e., every 5 seconds). In further embodiments, the odometer (i.e., sensor device  102 ) may report an odometer data point to the odometer module  202  at a sampling rate, wherein the sampling rate may include a distance threshold. For example, the odometer may report a data point to the odometer module  202  at the completion of every 1 km. 
     At operation  304 , the graph module  206  plots the first odometer data point and the second odometer data point on a graph based on the corresponding first and second timestamps, wherein the graph comprises a first axis that represent distance value and a second axis that represents temporal values. 
     At operation  306 , the GPS module  204  accesses a plurality of GPS data points based on the first timestamp and the second timestamp, wherein the plurality of GPS data points comprise location data indicating a location of a vehicle, and corresponding timestamps. For example, in some embodiments, a GPS system associated with the vehicle (i.e., a sensor device  102 ), may report a GPS data point to GPS module  306  at a sampling rate, wherein the sampling rate may be based on a temporal frequency, and wherein the sampling rate of the GPS data points is greater than a sampling rate of the odometer data points. 
     At operation  308 , the graph module  206  plots the GPS data points at positions between the first odometer data point and the second odometer data point based on corresponding timestamps of the GPS data points. The interpolation module  208  generates a segment based on the GPS data points, wherein the segment represents a distance traveled by the vehicle over time. The aggregate GPS distance may be scaled to match the distance between the first and second odometer data points. 
     In some embodiments, the operations for plotting the odometer data points and the GPS data points may further comprise adding the data points to a dense tabular data table. Accordingly the system may thereby generate a report based on the dense tabular data table. 
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart depicting a method  400  of collecting odometer data, according to certain example embodiments. Operations of the method  400  may be performed by the modules described above with respect to  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the method  400  includes one or more operations  402 , and  404 . 
     At operation  402 , the odometer interpolation system  124  detect movement of a vehicle associated with the odometer (i.e., the sensor device  102 ). For example, the odometer interpolation system  124  may be communicatively coupled with an accelerometer located within the vehicle or based on vehicle diagnostics data gathered from the vehicle. 
     Responsive to detecting the movement of the vehicle associated with the odometer, at operation  404  the odometer module  202  collects the first odometer data point and the second odometer data point at a sampling rate, wherein the sampling rate may include a temporal frequency, or a distance threshold. 
       FIG. 5  is a flowchart depicting a method  500  of collecting GPS data, according to certain example embodiments. Operations of the method  500  may be performed by the modules described above with respect to  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , the method  500  includes one or more operations  502 ,  504 ,  506 , and  508 . 
     At operation  502 , the interpolation module  208  determines a speed value based on a set of odometer data points that include the first odometer data point and the second odometer data point. The interpolation module  208  may apply linear interpolation, in which linear values may be applied to construct a sequence of data points within the discrete range of values defined by the first data point and the second data point. 
     At operation  504 , the interpolation module  208  may determine that the interpolated speed value transgresses a threshold value, wherein the threshold value may be a predefined threshold value, or in some embodiments may be determined based on the preceding or proceeding odometer data points. For example, the interpolation module  208  may determine a first speed value based on the first and second odometer data points, and compare the interpolated speed value with a speed value interpolated based on other subsets of the odometer data points to determine whether or not the interpolated speed value is within an expected range. 
     Accordingly, at operation  506 , responsive to determining that the interpolated speed value transgresses the threshold value, the interpolation module  208  determines that an error has been detected. The error detected by the interpolation module  208  may include an indication of a timestamp of the erroneous data point (or points). 
     At operation  508 , the GPS module  204  accesses a plurality GPS data points responsive to the interpolation module  208  detecting the error. In some embodiments, the GPS module  204  may access the plurality of GPS data points based on the timestamp of the erroneous data point of points. The GPS data points may then be applied to the graph to correct the error and the interpolation module  208  may interpolate an updated speed value. For example, in some embodiments, the GPS module  204  may throw out the erroneous odometer data points (creating an error gap in the series of data points), and interpolate between the valid odometer data points on either side of the error gap using GPS data points. 
       FIG. 6  is a flowchart depicting a method  600  of augmenting odometer data using GPS data, according to certain example embodiments. As discussed above, the odometer interpolation system  124  may interpolate a rate of travel of a vehicle based on pairs of odometer data points. A common issue arising in systems which rely entirely on odometer data to track a distance traveled by a vehicle is the lack of precision. For example, an odometer may be limited in the precision of the distance measured and can only report data points that represents whole numbers (i.e., 10 km), but are unable to report partial distances (i.e., 10.2 km). As a result, if a vehicle finishes a trip before the odometer is able to click over to a whole distance value, the distance reported by the odometer may be off by a significant margin (e.g., off by 999 meters). 
     Operations of the method  600  may be performed by the modules described above with respect to  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , the method  600  includes one or more operations  602 ,  604 ,  606 , and  608 . The method  600  may be performed as a precursor to, or subroutine of, one or more of the operations of the method  400 , as depicted in  FIG. 4 . 
     At operation  602 , the odometer module  202  receives a third odometer data point that comprises a timestamp and an indication of a distance traveled by the vehicle. 
     At operation  604 , the odometer interpolation system  124  receives an indication that the vehicle associated with the odometer is stationary for a threshold period of time. For example, in some embodiments, the odometer interpolation system may access an accelerometer, or vehicle diagnostics data, in order to determine that the vehicle has come to a stop. Upon determining that the vehicle is stationary for a threshold period of time (e.g., 5 minutes), the odometer interpolation system may conclude that vehicle has concluded a trip. 
     At operation  606 , responsive to determining that the vehicle has been stationary for a threshold period of time, the GPS module  204  accesses a set of GPS data points based on the timestamp of the third odometer data point, wherein the set of GPS data points provide an indication of one or more locations of the vehicle. 
     At operation  608 , the interpolation module  208  determines a distance traveled by the vehicle based on the third odometer data point, and the set of GPS data points. For example, the distance traveled by the vehicle may be based on a sum of the third odometer data point and the length of each segment represented by the GPS data points. 
       FIG. 7  is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine  700 , according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically,  FIG. 7  shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine  700  in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions  710  (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code) for causing the machine  700  to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. As such, the instructions  710  may be used to implement modules or components described herein. The instructions  710  transform the general, non-programmed machine  700  into a particular machine  700  programmed to carry out the described and illustrated functions in the manner described. In alternative embodiments, the machine  700  operates as a standalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine  700  may operate in the capacity of a server machine or a client machine in a server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine  700  may comprise, but not be limited to, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a personal digital assistant (PDA), an entertainment media system, a cellular telephone, a smart phone, a mobile device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch), other smart devices, a web appliance, a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, or any machine capable of executing the instructions  710 , sequentially or otherwise, that specify actions to be taken by machine  700 . Further, while only a single machine  700  is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include a collection of machines that individually or jointly execute the instructions  710  to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. 
     The machine  700  may include processors  704 , memory memory/storage  706 , and I/O components  718 , which may be configured to communicate with each other such as via a bus  702 . The memory/storage  706  may include a memory  714 , such as a main memory, or other memory storage, and a storage unit  716 , both accessible to the processors  704  such as via the bus  702 . The storage unit  716  and memory  714  store the instructions  710  embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The instructions  710  may also reside, completely or partially, within the memory  714 , within the storage unit  716 , within at least one of the processors  704  (e.g., within the processor&#39;s cache memory), or any suitable combination thereof, during execution thereof by the machine  700 . Accordingly, the memory  714 , the storage unit  716 , and the memory of processors  704  are examples of machine-readable media. 
     The I/O components  718  may include a wide variety of components to receive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information, exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. The specific I/O components  718  that are included in a particular machine  700  will depend on the type of machine. For example, portable machines such as mobile phones will likely include a touch input device or other such input mechanisms, while a headless server machine will likely not include such a touch input device. It will be appreciated that the I/O components  718  may include many other components that are not shown in  FIG. 7 . The I/O components  718  are grouped according to functionality merely for simplifying the following discussion and the grouping is in no way limiting. In various example embodiments, the I/O components  718  may include output components  726  and input components  728 . The output components  726  may include visual components (e.g., a display such as a plasma display panel (PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a projector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), acoustic components (e.g., speakers), haptic components (e.g., a vibratory motor, resistance mechanisms), other signal generators, and so forth. The input components  728  may include alphanumeric input components (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receive alphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumeric input components), point based input components (e.g., a mouse, a touchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or other pointing instrument), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touch screen that provides location and/or force of touches or touch gestures, or other tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., a microphone), and the like. 
     In further example embodiments, the I/O components  718  may include biometric components  730 , motion components  734 , environmental environment components  736 , or position components  738  among a wide array of other components. For example, the biometric components  730  may include components to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facial expressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measure biosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voice identification, retinal identification, facial identification, fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram based identification), and the like. The motion components  734  may include acceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensor components, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth. The environment components  736  may include, for example, illumination sensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components (e.g., one or more thermometer that detect ambient temperature), humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g., barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphones that detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g., infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., gas detection sensors to detection concentrations of hazardous gases for safety or to measure pollutants in the atmosphere), or other components that may provide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding to a surrounding physical environment. The position components  738  may include location sensor components (e.g., a Global Position system (GPS) receiver component), altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters or barometers that detect air pressure from which altitude may be derived), orientation sensor components (e.g., magnetometers), and the like. 
     Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies. The I/O components  718  may include communication components  740  operable to couple the machine  700  to a network  732  or devices  720  via coupling  722  and coupling  724  respectively. For example, the communication components  740  may include a network interface component or other suitable device to interface with the network  732 . In further examples, communication components  740  may include wired communication components, wireless communication components, cellular communication components, Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components to provide communication via other modalities. The devices  720  may be another machine or any of a wide variety of peripheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a Universal Serial Bus (USB)). 
     Moreover, the communication components  740  may detect identifiers or include components operable to detect identifiers. For example, the communication components  740  may include Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detection components, optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detect one-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code, multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) code, Aztec code, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, UCC RSS-2D bar code, and other optical codes), or acoustic detection components (e.g., microphones to identify tagged audio signals). In addition, a variety of information may be derived via the communication components  740 , such as, location via Internet Protocol (IP) geo-location, location via Wi-Fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting a NFC beacon signal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth. 
     Glossary 
     “CARRIER SIGNAL” in this context refers to any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the machine, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of such instructions. Instructions may be transmitted or received over the network using a transmission medium via a network interface device and using any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols. 
     “CLIENT DEVICE” in this context refers to any machine that interfaces to a communications network to obtain resources from one or more server systems or other client devices. A client device may be, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, desktop computer, laptop, portable digital assistants (PDAs), smart phones, tablets, ultra books, netbooks, laptops, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, game consoles, set-top boxes, or any other communication device that a user may use to access a network. 
     “COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK” in this context refers to one or more portions of a network that may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), the Internet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a plain old telephone service (POTS) network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi® network, another type of network, or a combination of two or more such networks. For example, a network or a portion of a network may include a wireless or cellular network and the coupling may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) connection, or other type of cellular or wireless coupling. In this example, the coupling may implement any of a variety of types of data transfer technology, such as Single Carrier Radio Transmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourth generation wireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, others defined by various standard setting organizations, other long range protocols, or other data transfer technology. 
     “MACHINE-READABLE MEDIUM” in this context refers to a component, device or other tangible media able to store instructions and data temporarily or permanently and may include, but is not be limited to, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), buffer memory, flash memory, optical media, magnetic media, cache memory, other types of storage (e.g., Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and/or any suitable combination thereof. The term “machine-readable medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, or associated caches and servers) able to store instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any medium, or combination of multiple media, that is capable of storing instructions (e.g., code) for execution by a machine, such that the instructions, when executed by one or more processors of the machine, cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies described herein. Accordingly, a “machine-readable medium” refers to a single storage apparatus or device, as well as “cloud-based” storage systems or storage networks that include multiple storage apparatus or devices. The term “machine-readable medium” excludes signals per se. 
     “COMPONENT” in this context refers to a device, physical entity or logic having boundaries defined by function or subroutine calls, branch points, application program interfaces (APIs), or other technologies that provide for the partitioning or modularization of particular processing or control functions. Components may be combined via their interfaces with other components to carry out a machine process. A component may be a packaged functional hardware unit designed for use with other components and a part of a program that usually performs a particular function of related functions. Components may constitute either software components (e.g., code embodied on a machine-readable medium) or hardware components. A “hardware component” is a tangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may be configured or arranged in a certain physical manner. In various example embodiments, one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone computer system, a client computer system, or a server computer system) or one or more hardware components of a computer system (e.g., a processor or a group of processors) may be configured by software (e.g., an application or application portion) as a hardware component that operates to perform certain operations as described herein. A hardware component may also be implemented mechanically, electronically, or any suitable combination thereof. For example, a hardware component may include dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured to perform certain operations. A hardware component may be a special-purpose processor, such as a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). A hardware component may also include programmable logic or circuitry that is temporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. For example, a hardware component may include software executed by a general-purpose processor or other programmable processor. Once configured by such software, hardware components become specific machines (or specific components of a machine) uniquely tailored to perform the configured functions and are no longer general-purpose processors. It will be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware component mechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may be driven by cost and time considerations. Accordingly, the phrase “hardware component” (or “hardware-implemented component”) should be understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or to perform certain operations described herein. Considering embodiments in which hardware components are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of the hardware components need not be configured or instantiated at any one instance in time. For example, where a hardware component comprises a general-purpose processor configured by software to become a special-purpose processor, the general-purpose processor may be configured as respectively different special-purpose processors (e.g., comprising different hardware components) at different times. Software accordingly configures a particular processor or processors, for example, to constitute a particular hardware component at one instance of time and to constitute a different hardware component at a different instance of time. Hardware components can provide information to, and receive information from, other hardware components. Accordingly, the described hardware components may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multiple hardware components exist contemporaneously, communications may be achieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses) between or among two or more of the hardware components. In embodiments in which multiple hardware components are configured or instantiated at different times, communications between such hardware components may be achieved, for example, through the storage and retrieval of information in memory structures to which the multiple hardware components have access. For example, one hardware component may perform an operation and store the output of that operation in a memory device to which it is communicatively coupled. A further hardware component may then, at a later time, access the memory device to retrieve and process the stored output. Hardware components may also initiate communications with input or output devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection of information). The various operations of example methods described herein may be performed, at least partially, by one or more processors that are temporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured to perform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanently configured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented components that operate to perform one or more operations or functions described herein. As used herein, “processor-implemented component” refers to a hardware component implemented using one or more processors. Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partially processor-implemented, with a particular processor or processors being an example of hardware. For example, at least some of the operations of a method may be performed by one or more processors or processor-implemented components. Moreover, the one or more processors may also operate to support performance of the relevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as a “software as a service” (SaaS). For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a group of computers (as examples of machines including processors), with these operations being accessible via a network (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., an Application Program Interface (API)). The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed among the processors, not only residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments, the processors or processor-implemented components may be located in a single geographic location (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other example embodiments, the processors or processor-implemented components may be distributed across a number of geographic locations. 
     “PROCESSOR” in this context refers to any circuit or virtual circuit (a physical circuit emulated by logic executing on an actual processor) that manipulates data values according to control signals (e.g., “commands”, “op codes”, “machine code”, etc.) and which produces corresponding output signals that are applied to operate a machine. A processor may, for example, be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC) or any combination thereof. A processor may further be a multi-core processor having two or more independent processors (sometimes referred to as “cores”) that may execute instructions contemporaneously. 
     “TIMESTAMP” in this context refers to a sequence of characters or encoded information identifying when a certain event occurred, for example giving date and time of day, sometimes accurate to a small fraction of a second.