Method and apparatus for acquiring, processing, using and brokering location information associated with mobile communications devices

Abstract

An information broker operates a location server coupled to a wireless network and a wireline network, which acquires and processes information indicating locations of mobile communication devices on the wireless network. The information broker provides the processed information to one or more recipients. The processed information may be provided by the information broker to a recipient in exchange for payment, as part of a business transaction. The raw or processed location related information may include a history of locations of a mobile communication device and times and durations associated with the locations. The processed information may include graphs or maps of geographic areas in which the mobile devices have been located, movement trends, or other behavioral patterns of mobile users. The processed location data can also be used in performing location-based searches and other location-related applications and for customer analysis, among other uses.

1 . A method comprising: 
 using a processing system to acquire location related information associated with a plurality of mobile devices that provide two-way voice communication and two-way data communication over a wireless telecommunications network;    processing the location related information associated with the plurality of mobile devices in the processing system to produce processed location related information; and    transmitting the processed location related information to a recipient as part of a business transaction.    
     
     
         2 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising using the processing system to maintain a plurality of billing accounts, each associated with a separate potential user of the processed information.  
     
     
         3 . A method as recited in  claim 2 , further comprising using the processing system to update a corresponding one of the billing accounts in conjunction with said transmitting.  
     
     
         4 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting the processed location related information to the recipient over a computer network separate from the wireless telecommunications network.  
     
     
         5 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein said processing comprises: 
 defining a plurality of regions based on location information indicative of a plurality of locations of a mobile device of said plurality of mobile devices, each region associated with a subset of the location information, each region representing a geographic area in which the mobile device has been located; and    storing in a storage device data identifying each of the regions in association with the corresponding subset of the location information.    
     
     
         6 . A method as recited in  claim 5 , wherein each region has a metric associated therewith, the metric corresponding to a number of recorded locations of the mobile device in the corresponding region.  
     
     
         7 . A method as recited in  claim 6 , wherein said processing comprises updating the location information associated with one or more of the regions to account for elapsed time.  
     
     
         8 . A method as recited in  claim 7 , wherein said updating comprises applying a time decay factor to the metric associated with the region.  
     
     
         9 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein said processing the location related information comprises: 
 aggregating at least a subset of the location related information which satisfies a specified criterion, the criterion corresponding to a demographic characteristic of users of said at least some of the devices; and    generating a map based on the aggregated location related information, such that the map is indicative of said demographic characteristic.    
     
     
         10 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein said processing comprises: 
 generating information on a movement trend of users of the mobile devices, and wherein said transmitting the processed location related information to a recipient as part of a business transaction comprises transmitting a report of the movement trend to the recipient as part of the business transaction.    
     
     
         11 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein said processing the location related information comprises: 
 aggregating the location related information corresponding to at least two of the mobile devices; and    generating a set of vectors representing movement of the at least two users based on the aggregated information, each of the vectors representing a trend of movement of the at least two users of the mobile devices wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting data representing the set of vectors to the recipient.    
     
     
         12 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising maintaining a metric associated with a place and an entity; 
 wherein said processing the location related information comprises:    detecting at least one of the mobile devices being in proximity to the place by using the location related information associated with the mobile device and data indicating a location of the place; and    updating the metric in response to a predetermined number of instances of detecting at least one of the mobile devices being in proximity to the place; and    awarding a value to the entity based on the metric.    
     
     
         13 . A method as recited in  claim 14 , wherein said receiving payment comprises receiving payment in exchange for awarding the value.  
     
     
         14 . A machine-implemented method comprising: 
 acquiring location information indicative of locations of a plurality of mobile devices that provide two-way voice communication and two-way data communication over a wireless telecommunications network;    aggregating the location information associated with two or more of the mobile devices;    generating a map based on the aggregated location information; and    transmitting the map to a recipient as part of a business transaction.    
     
     
         15 . A method as recited in  claim 14 , wherein the map represents a demographic characteristic of users of said at least some of the devices.  
     
     
         16 . A method as recited in  claim 15 , wherein the map represents a population density of users of said at least some of the devices.  
     
     
         17 . A method as recited in  claim 16 , wherein said aggregating comprises aggregating the stored location related information which satisfies a specified criterion, such that the map is indicative of said criterion.  
     
     
         18 . A method as recited in  claim 17 , wherein the criterion is specified in a request for the processed location related information.  
     
     
         19 . A method as recited in  claim 18 , wherein the criterion is from the list consisting of: a geographic area, a type of mobile device user, and a time period.  
     
     
         20 . A method as recited in  claim 14 , wherein the map comprises information representing a movement trend of the mobile devices.  
     
     
         21 . A method comprising: 
 acquiring location related information associated with a mobile device that provides two-way voice communication and two-way data communication over a wireless telecommunications network;    maintaining a metric associated with a place and a business entity;    detecting the mobile device being in proximity to the place, based on the location related information associated with the mobile device and data indicating a location of the place;    updating the metric in response to detecting a predetermined number of instances of the mobile device being in proximity to the place; and    awarding a value to the business entity based on the metric.    
     
     
         22 . A method as recited in  claim 21 , wherein said awarding a value is part of a business transaction.  
     
     
         23 . A method as recited in  claim 22 , further comprising receiving payment in exchange for awarding the value, as part of the business transaction.  
     
     
         24 . A method as recited in  claim 22 , wherein the business entity is a retail entity, and wherein said awarding a value comprises using a transaction server to maintain said value in association with information identifying the retail entity, the method further comprising using the transaction server to communicate over a network with a remote server associated with the retail entity.  
     
     
         25 . A method as recited in  claim 24 , wherein the remote server is associated with a point of sale transaction system of the retail entity.  
     
     
         26 . A method as recited in  claim 21 , wherein the value is for use by the business entity as part of a business incentive program directed to customers of the business entity.