Set-Top Box, System and Method for Providing Awareness in a Hospitality Environment

A system for providing awareness in an environment, the system comprising:

• a built environment;
• a spatial array of set-top boxes, each set-top box being associated with a room in the built environment, each set-top box having an identification including a room identifier;
• each set-top box of the spatial array including:
• a housing;
• a wireless transceiver associated with the housing, the wireless transceiver configured to send a beacon to communicate with a proximate wireless-enabled interactive handheld device;
• a television input and a television output secured in the housing, the television input and the television output configured to respectively receive content from a source in the built environment and forward content to a television;
• a processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the television input and the television output;
• a memory accessible to the processor, the memory including processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
• periodically transmit an identification beacon signal including set-top box identification;
• a data packet associated with the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device, the data packet including at least one set-top box identification, a corresponding signal strength identification indicating the strength of the set-top box identification beacon signal, and a proximate wireless-enabled interactive device identification;
• a server located within the built environment and configured to receive the data packet from the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device;
• the location of the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device being determined following communication from the spatial array of set-top boxes to the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device to the server.

The system as recited in claim 17, wherein each of the common space beacon devices further comprises:

• a processor coupled to a wireless transceiver;
• and
• a memory accessible to the processor, the memory including processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
• periodically transmit an identification beacon signal including beacon device identification.

A system for providing awareness in an environment, the system comprising:

• a built environment;
• a spatial array of set-top boxes, each set-top box being associated with a room in the built environment, each set-top box having an identification including a room identifier;
• each set-top box of the spatial array including:
• a housing;
• a wireless transceiver associated with the housing, the wireless transceiver configured to send a beacon to communicate with a proximate wireless-enabled interactive handheld device;
• a television input and a television output secured in the housing, the television input and the television output configured to respectively receive content from a source in the built environment and forward content to a television;
• a processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the television input and the television output;
• a memory accessible to the processor, the memory including processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
• periodically transmit an identification beacon signal including set-top box identification;
• a data packet associated with the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device, the data packet including at least one set-top box identification, and a proximate wireless-enabled interactive device identification;
• a spatial array of wireless routers disposed in the environment, each wireless router configured to receive the data packet from the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device and forward the data packet;
• a server located within the built environment and in communication with the spatial array of wireless routers;
• the location of the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device being determined following communication from the spatial array of set-top boxes to the proximate wireless-enabled interactive device to the spatial array of wireless routers to the server.