US 9,854,394 B1Granted

Ad hoc location sharing group between first and second cellular wireless devices

AssigneeX One, Inc.

InventorRichard D. Haney

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A system for exchanging GPS or other position data between wireless devices for purposes of group activities, child location monitoring, work group coordination, dispatching of employees etc. Cell phones and other wireless devices with GPS receivers have loaded therein a Buddy Watch application and a TalkControl application. The Buddy Watch application communicates with the GPS receiver and other wireless devices operated by buddies registered in the users phone as part of buddy groups or individually. GPS position data and historical GPS position data can be exchanged between cell phones of buddies and instant buddies such as tow truck drivers via a buddy watch server. Emergency monitoring services can be set up with notifications to programmable individuals in case an individual does not respond. Positions and tracks can be displayed. TalkControl simplifies and automates the process of joining talk groups for walkie talkie services such as that provided by Nextel.

Claims29

Dependent claims

A server-implemented method for sharing position data between a first cellular wireless device associated with a first individual and a second cellular wireless device associated with a second individual, each of the first cellular wireless device and the second cellular wireless device being a GPS-enabled device, the server-implemented method comprising:

communicating with the first cellular wireless device via a wide area network (WAN), to authenticate the first cellular wireless device as having an identity that matches a stored account associated with the first individual;
receiving from the first device, via the WAN, a request for a position-sharing relationship between the first cellular wireless device and the second cellular wireless device;
associating an identifier with the position sharing relationship;
sending the identifier, via the WAN, to at least one of the first cellular wireless device and the second cellular wireless device;
receiving, via the WAN, first GPS position data from the first cellular wireless device in association with the identifier, the first GPS position data identifying location of the first cellular wireless device;
receiving, via the WAN, second GPS position data from the second cellular wireless device in association with the identifier, the second GPS position data identifying location of the second cellular wireless device;
using the first GPS position data and the second GPS position data to calculate relative position between the second cellular wireless device and the first cellular wireless device;
transmitting, via the WAN, a first map to the first cellular wireless device, the first map showing the relative position, wherein the first map is to be electronically rendered by the first cellular wireless device to visually present the first map to the first individual via a display of the first cellular wireless device;
receiving, via the WAN, updated location of the second cellular wireless device from the second cellular wireless device in the form of additional GPS position data;
automatically recalculating the relative position between the first cellular wireless device and the second cellular wireless device based on the additional GPS position data;
and
automatically transmitting, via the WAN, a second map to the first cellular wireless device, the second map showing the recalculated relative position, wherein the second map is to be electronically rendered by the first cellular wireless device to visually present the second map to the first individual via the display of the first cellular wireless device.

9 more elements

An apparatus for sharing position data between a first cellular wireless device associated with a first individual and a second cellular wireless device associated with a second individual, each of the first cellular wireless device and the second cellular wireless device being a GPS-enabled device, the apparatus comprising:

at least one server;
and
instructions stored in server-accessible storage, the instructions when executed to cause the at least one server to
communicate with the first cellular wireless device via a wide area network (WAN), to authenticate the first cellular wireless device as having an identity that matches a stored account associated with the first individual,
receive from the first device, via the WAN, a request for a position-sharing relationship between the first cellular wireless device and the second cellular wireless device,
associate an identifier with the position sharing relationship,
send the identifier, via the WAN, to at least one of the first cellular wireless device and the second cellular wireless device,
receive, via the WAN, first GPS position data from the first cellular wireless device in association with the identifier, the first GPS position data identifying location of the first cellular wireless device,
receive, via the WAN, second GPS position data from the second cellular wireless device in association with the identifier, the second GPS position data identifying location of the second cellular wireless device,
use the first GPS position data and the second GPS position data to calculate relative position between the second cellular wireless device and the first cellular wireless device,
transmit, via the WAN, a first map to the first cellular wireless device, the first map showing the relative position, wherein the first map is to be electronically rendered by the first cellular wireless device to visually present the first map to the first individual via a display of the first cellular wireless device,
receive, via the WAN, updated location of the second cellular wireless device from the second cellular wireless device in the form of additional GPS position data,
automatically recalculate the relative position between the first cellular wireless device and the second cellular wireless device based on the additional GPS position data, and
automatically transmit, via the WAN, a second map to the first cellular wireless device, the second map showing the recalculated relative position, wherein the second map is to be electronically rendered by the first cellular wireless device to visually present the second map to the first individual via the display of the first cellular wireless device.

11 more elements

means for communicating with the first cellular wireless device via a wide area network (WAN), to authenticate the first cellular wireless device as having an identity that matches a stored account associated with the first individual;
means for receiving from the first device, via the WAN, a request for a position-sharing relationship between the first cellular wireless device and the second cellular wireless device;
means for associating an identifier with the position sharing relationship;
means for sending the identifier, via the WAN, to at least one of the first cellular wireless device and the second cellular wireless device;
means for receiving, via the WAN, first GPS position data from the first cellular wireless device in association with the identifier, the first GPS position data identifying location of the first cellular wireless device;
means for receiving, via the WAN, second GPS position data from the second cellular wireless device in association with the identifier, the second GPS position data identifying location of the second cellular wireless device;
means for using the first GPS position data and the second GPS position data to calculate relative position between the second cellular wireless device and the first cellular wireless device;
means for transmitting, via the WAN, a first map to the first cellular wireless device, the first map showing the relative position, wherein the first map is to be electronically rendered by the first cellular wireless device to visually present the first map to the first individual via a display of the first cellular wireless device;
means for receiving, via the WAN, updated location of the second cellular wireless device from the second cellular wireless device in the form of additional GPS position data;
means for automatically recalculating the relative position between the first cellular wireless device and the second cellular wireless device based on the additional GPS position data;
and
means for automatically transmitting, via the WAN, a second map to the first cellular wireless device, the second map showing the recalculated relative position, wherein the second map is to be electronically rendered by the first cellular wireless device to visually present the second map to the first individual via the display of the first cellular wireless device.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/428,964Filed 9 Feb 2017 · continuation
Priority: 4 Apr 2005
Granted: 26 Dec 2017
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification54 codes

H04W 4/02
Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor: services making use of location information
G01C 21/20
Navigation; Navigational instruments not provided for in groups G01C1/00 - G01C19/00: instruments for performing navigational calculations
G01S 19/01
Satellite radio beacon positioning systems; Determining position, velocity or attitude using signals transmitted by such systems: satellite radio…
G01S 19/03
Satellite radio beacon positioning systems transmitting time-stamped messages, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System], GLONASS [Global Orbiting…:…

Family

Application11/099,362Parent of this continuation · filed 4 Apr 2005
Application12/075,408Parent of this continuation · filed 11 Mar 2008
US 7,353,034 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 1 Apr 2008
Application13/889,132Parent of this continuation · filed 7 May 2013
US 8,538,458 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 17 Sep 2013
Application14/139,695Parent of this continuation · filed 23 Dec 2013
US 8,798,593 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 5 Aug 2014
Application15/404,481Parent of this continuation · filed 12 Jan 2017
US 9,584,960 B1Parent of this continuation · filed 28 Feb 2017
US 2006/0223518 A1Published application
US 2008/0227473 A1Published application
US 2014/0148135 A1Published application
US 9,749,790 B1Related patent
US 9,854,394 B1This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.