# US 11,122,388 B2 · Method and system for container location analysis

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- Number: US 11,122,388 B2
- Document ID: US11122388B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/013,478
- Filed: 2020-09-04
- Published: 2020-12-24
- Granted: 2021-09-14
- Earliest claimed: 2019-04-11
- Assignees: Compology, Inc.
- Applicants: Compology, Inc.
- Inventors: Tyler Benjamin; Justin Armstrong
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11122388B2

## CPC

- G06Q 10/087: Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
- G06F 18/23: Clustering techniques
- G06Q 10/0877: {by inventory control or reporting using inventory tracking or counting}
- G06V 20/52: Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects (recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69)
- H04W 4/022: {with dynamic range variability}
- H04W 4/023: {using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds}
- H04W 4/029: Location-based management or tracking services
- H04M 1/724: User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
- H04M 1/72403: with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
- H04W 4/33: for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
- H04W 4/38: for collecting sensor information
- H04W 4/40: for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
- H04W 88/02: Terminal devices
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)
- H04M: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (circuits for controlling other apparatus via a telephone cable and not involving telephone switching apparatus G08)

## Abstract

A method for container location analysis, preferably including one or more of: determining a candidate geofence, determining a set of geofences, and/or adjusting geofence positions. A system for fill level determination, preferably including a computing system, and optionally including one or more containers and/or one or more location sensors associated with each container.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for location analysis, comprising:
receiving a set of initial geofences, each initial geofence of the set defining a respective position in a space and a respective shape;
determining a plurality of candidate geofence positions in the space;
for each initial geofence of the set:
selecting a neighboring geofence from the set of initial geofences;
based on the initial geofence and the neighboring geofence, selecting, from the plurality of candidate geofence positions, a respective set of candidate geofence positions; and
if the respective set of candidate geofence positions consists of a single candidate geofence position, adding the initial geofence to an eligible subset of geofences;
based on the respective sets of candidate geofence positions, determining an eligible subset of candidate geofence positions, wherein no candidate geofence position of the eligible subset of candidate geofence positions is included in more than one respective set of candidate geofence positions; and
for each geofence of the eligible subset of geofences, if the respective single candidate geofence position is included in the eligible subset of candidate geofence positions, relocating the geofence position to the respective single candidate geofence position, wherein, for a first geofence of the eligible subset of geofences, the respective single candidate geofence position is included in the eligible subset of candidate geofence positions.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein:
the neighboring geofence is selected based on a distance L* between the initial geofence and the neighboring geofence; and
the respective set of candidate geofence positions is selected such that a distance from the initial geofence to each candidate geofence position of the respective set is less than a respective threshold distance, wherein the respective threshold distance is determined based on the distance L*.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the distance L* is defined between a center of the initial geofence and a center of the neighboring geofence.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein, for each initial geofence of the set, the respective set of candidate geofences is selected such that a distance from the initial geofence to each candidate geofence of the respective set is less than a respective threshold distance.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein, for each initial geofence of the set, the respective threshold distance is determined based on the distance L*.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5, wherein, for each initial geofence of the set, the respective threshold distance is less than L*/2.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a location dataset comprising a set of locations in the space, wherein the plurality of candidate geofence positions is determined based on the set of locations.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein:
the set of locations comprises an unassigned subset, wherein each location of the unassigned subset is not enclosed by any initial geofence of the set;
the method further comprises, after relocating the geofence positions, based on the unassigned subset, determining a third set of geofences;
each geofence of the third set defines a respective position in the space and a respective shape; and
each geofence of the third set encloses a respective plurality of locations of the unassigned subset.

### Claim 9 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein:
the set of locations comprises a plurality of subsets, each subset associated with a different container of a plurality of containers; and
determining the plurality of candidate geofences comprises, for each subset of the plurality of subsets:
based on the subset, selecting an initial position;
based on the initial position, selecting a cluster of locations of the subset; and
determining a respective candidate geofence of the plurality based on the cluster of locations of the subset.

### Claim 10 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein the set of locations comprises a plurality of subsets, each subset associated with a different container of a plurality of containers, wherein the plurality of containers comprises a dumpster.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein the first geofence is associated with a waste generation site.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, wherein a second geofence of the set of initial geofences is associated with a waste disposal site.

### Claim 13 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein the set of locations comprises a plurality of subsets, each subset associated with a different container of a plurality of containers, wherein the plurality of containers comprises an intermodal freight container.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving a location dataset comprising a set of locations in the space, the set of locations comprising a plurality of subsets, each subset associated with a different container of a plurality of containers; and
based on the set of locations, determining a location type for a geofence in the space.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein the set of initial geofences comprises the geofence.

### Claim 16 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein the location type is a waste generation location.

### Claim 17 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein the location type is a waste disposal location.

### Claim 18 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein the location type is a container depot location.

### Claim 19 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein determining the location type is performed based on a first subset of the set of locations, wherein a location of the first subset is located within the geofence.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19, wherein the first subset is associated with a first container, wherein determining the location type is performed based further on metadata associated with the first container.

### Claim 21 (depends on 20)

The method of claim 20, wherein the metadata comprises a time series indicative of a first container fill level.