Constrained range beacon for consensual service registration and delivery in a delimited area

Used for voluntary business registration of both parties and transmission of beacons with limited scope within a designated area

Technical field

The present invention relates to services provided to users of electronic devices, particularly, but not exclusively, to users of mobile communication devices, such as portable phones and appropriately configured PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants). The invention also relates to methods and devices for delivering such services.

Background technique

In recent years, the number of registered users of mobile phone networks has increased significantly worldwide, and with the advancement of technology and the increase of functions, cellular phones have become personalized and reliable devices. As a result, the mobile information society continues to develop, and personalization and localization services have become more and more important. This type of "background-aware" (CA) mobile phone is used in places such as shopping malls or airports, and its base station has low power and a small range in order to provide location-related information. Such information may include information about nearby shops and restaurants, flight gates, check-in times, and more. The user's CA terminal can be equipped according to the pre-stored user preferences, so as to filter the received information, and only remind the user if a piece of data of interest is received.

However, to "promote" (proactively provide transmission) information to mobile phones or PDA devices via RF, IR, or WAN, you need to obtain prior consent, or further provide customers with accepted (or acceptable) configurations for selection. Unsolicited, "junk" reminders and offers will be quickly rejected.

However, the voluntary process itself includes interaction with the central system, or is carried out in advance or at the location of the promotion, and includes selection and the declaration of the user's mobile phone identification, which may lead to the prohibition of random users. Or users may activate filtering on their mobile phones to block unwanted types of e-marketing requests. This may require users to carefully consider and strive to choose the correct personal filter before entering a location. An ineffective system may cause all local users to block sales requests and signals generated to them.

The system emphasizing the above-mentioned proactive marketing problem is described in the jointly assigned UK patent application no.0113629.0 (AgentsRef.PHGB010086) entitled "Voluntary Data Transfer between Two Parties via Beacons", which was filed in June 2001 and is described in the present invention. The priority date of has not yet been made public. The system provides a communication system, including first and second beacon devices capable of transmitting wireless messages and at least one portable device capable of receiving such message transmissions, wherein the first beacon is used in a first broadcast range And broadcast a series of query messages according to the first communication protocol. The at least one portable device is used to detect such query messages and respond with the identifier of the portable device when it is within the first broadcast range. The first beacon device is used to send the received identification to the second beacon, and when the portable device is within the second broadcast range of the second beacon and is triggered by the second beacon receiving the identification of the portable device, the configuration The second beacon and the portable device perform service interaction, and at least one of the broadcast ranges of the first and second beacons is a shorter broadcast range.

The advantage of this system is that the broadcast range of at least one beacon is short, and users must actually move to the beacon to register their portable device for data transmission, so that users have a certain degree of control over the "promotion" process. However, although the beacon broadcast range is shorter than other broadcast ranges, it is not limited, so it may overlap with other beacons set later in the system, which will also provide service interaction, thus leading to Unwanted business delivery. In addition, the lack of physical indication of the broadcast range may cause confusion for users. Users may neither be sure where the beacon is nor how close their portable device needs to be to initiate business interaction.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a communication system that provides interactive services through beacons, whereby the user's selection of services can be completed in a relatively simple manner.

A communication system provided according to the present invention includes a beacon device that provides interactive services. The beacon device can perform wireless transmission within a broadcast range according to a communication protocol, and includes at least one portable device that can receive the transmission according to the protocol , Wherein the broadcast range of the beacon is completely limited within the indicated interaction band, and in use, the portable device needs to be within the indicated interaction band of the beacon to receive the transmission.

The broadcast range of the beacon usually depends on the power of the beacon. This range usually covers a unit circle area with a certain radius around the beacon, for example, a radius of 10m. This range is considered to be the beacon's own or unrestricted range. On the contrary, the present invention completely restricts this range to the indicated interaction band, so that the broadcast range of the beacon is smaller than the range covered by the beacon in the unrestricted state.

Use the indicated interactive zone, preferably a colored shed that limits the broadcast range of the beacon, or paint arrows and/or signs on the wall or floor to indicate the restricted range of the beacon, which means that the user can pass Simply ensure that their portable devices are in the clearly displayed interaction band and choose to conduct business interactions or register for business.

The use of bright colors and/or company logos, surrounding tangible surfaces and forming an interactive zone means that the user can quickly see which interactive beacon is approaching, or which beacon the user is not willing to interact with, while allowing the company to change Make good use of their brand value. In addition, limiting the broadcast range of a beacon reduces the possibility of interference between the broadcast and another beacon broadcast, and indicates an independent interaction zone for each beacon, enabling users to choose which services to interact with, reducing accidental registration The possibility of going to another beacon business.

In one embodiment, electromagnetic shielding is used to limit the broadcast range within or on the boundary of the indicator interaction zone. Preferably, the glass, plastic or metal walls surrounding the beacon may have embedded metal grids to absorb broadcast transmissions, thereby restricting broadcasts to the area enclosed by the wall.

In one embodiment, the formation of the surrounding environment of the beacon including physical and/or visible indicating devices to identify the boundary of the interaction zone is best achieved by using such a shielding wall. The boundary of the interaction zone is identified by the specific shape and configuration of the wall. And subject to its restrictions.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the shielding wall can form a pavilion or shed around the beacon, and the wall has a brightly painted or colored surface to mark the interaction zone from the general environment so that the interaction zone is aligned. It is obvious to the customer.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the beacon may be in a shed or pavilion that is properly shielded and clearly displayed, and the interaction band is visibly marked on the wall or floor of the shed or pavilion.

In another embodiment, short-range low-power beacons are used to carefully limit the broadcast range of the beacon. The combination of this beacon and the shielding environment, for example, embedding and indicating the beacon in a 10 cm range wall, advantageously enables many beacons to coexist in a small area without overlapping broadcast areas. Therefore, a central registration point in an airport may include several beacons several meters away, and each beacon is located in a table or table clearly displayed with the provided service mark, and its indicating that the interactive belt does not extend out of the table or table at all. Outside the limit.

Alternatively, the beacon may have an adjustable broadcast range, which may be adjusted according to the indicator interaction zone around the beacon.

The broadcasting range can preferably be limited by the direction of the directional antenna. The combination of short-range beacons and directional antennas can limit the broadcast range to a small fixed volume of space. As will be described in further detail, the interaction zone extending only a few centimeters from the wall, or the interaction zone completely confined to the table or recess in the table can be obtained with a directional antenna, such as a microstrip connection plate antenna and suitable shielding In combination, users of portable devices must slide their devices through the indication area of the wall or put their devices into the service registration desk or access point to express their consent to deliver the service.

Voluntary business interaction behaviors that require the customer's portable device to slide over, drop in/in, or simply move through the designated interaction area may also include voice prompts that reassure customers, indicating that the interaction process is occurring or successfully completed.

In another embodiment, the system includes a beacon network and a portable device. The beacons can communicate with each other through interconnection. The interconnection may be a fixed part of the network infrastructure or provided by a wide area wireless link. One or more beacons are responsible for service registration and have a completely restricted broadcast range within the indication interaction band of each registration point, and other beacons may optionally be service delivery beacons with unlimited broadcast range. When the portable device is in each interactive band of the business beacon, the beacon can communicate with the device wirelessly. When the device is brought into the interactive band of the registered beacon, it means that the device voluntarily registers for the service. When such a registered portable device is detected within the unrestricted broadcast range of the beacon, the service is delivered through the data delivery beacon. Therefore, users can move around the network or beacon infrastructure, such as shopping malls or airports, without having to be bothered by proactive promotion services. This kind of service can only be delivered on the premise that the user has previously registered his interest in the instruction interaction area and thus agrees to the data delivery.

According to the present invention, a beacon whose broadcasting range is completely limited within the indication interaction band is provided for the system or infrastructure described above.

According to the present invention, a method is provided to enable a user of a portable device to interact with a communication system. The system includes a service interaction beacon of a wireless broadcast service within a broadcast range, which is characterized in that the broadcast range of the beacon is limited and to The user of the portable device specifies the interaction zone; the beacon broadcasts the service wirelessly through the indication interaction zone; the user's portable device detects the broadcast and allows service interaction when the device is in the indication interaction zone.

In addition, the method can support multiple different service interactions between the portable device and the beacon, and the step of allowing the service interaction includes exchanging identifications between the portable device and the beacon, thereby enabling the portable device to register with one or more Of the business interactions described above.

The method also includes the step of providing the user with a menu of available different business interactions, according to which the user can choose to register.

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention are reiterated in the appended claims, and the disclosures are hereby incorporated as reference and instruct readers to understand.

The preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a beacon and a portable device with unlimited scope and no indication; Figure 3 is a side view showing the system and the shed of Figure 2; Figure 4 shows an example of a printed board directional antenna; Figure 5 illustrates the registration terminal implementing the present invention; and Figure 6 is a representative shopping mall Diagram of the beacon network in.

In the following description, we specifically consider CA applications, beacons and portable devices (phones, PDAs or other devices like smart cards with wireless transmission capabilities, or other devices known to those skilled in the art as "RF tags ( RF tags)" or "smartlabels") use the Bluetooth protocol for message transmission. As we will realize, the invention is not limited to Bluetooth devices, but can be used for other communication devices, especially (though not exclusively) for frequency hopping systems.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a low-power base station or beacon 10, with an unrestricted (as defined above) and unindicated broadcast range 12 common in the system. Such a system, for example, is entitled "Mutual voluntary data transfer via beacons". "The assignee of British patent application no.0113629.0 (Agennts Ref.PHGB010086). Figure 1 also shows a CA portable device, such as a mobile phone or PDA 14, shown in the figure as being in the broadcast range 12 of the beacon. The wireless broadcast range 12 represented by a circle in FIG. 1 is of course invisible to the owner or user of the portable device 14, so it is not obvious to the user where he/she can or cannot interact with the beacon 10 . In this example, the CA terminal 14 is within the broadcast range 12, so users can receive unsolicited or promotional service requests, advertisements, and the like from the beacon 10 on their CA terminal 14.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the beacon device 10, which is surrounded by EMI (electromagnetic interference) shielding plates 18 on both sides, and a shed is formed around the beacon 10. Those skilled in the art of reducing EMI will recognize that this shielding plate can be implemented in many ways. For example, US Patent 4,585,901 describes the preparation of such a plate. The method is to evaporate and deposit a metal layer on the plate base, and also describes the use of nickel. -The method of painting the board with acrylic paint. Or, embedding aluminum foil or powder filler in the plastic plate, using carbon mats and wire mesh, and other techniques known to those skilled in the art. Such a board or screen can be assembled around the beacon in any suitable configuration in order to limit the broadcast range. In Figure 2, the broadcast range of the beacon 10 itself is completely restricted by the boards 18 on both sides, and will not exceed the range of the boards. This constitutes an approximately triangular shed, and the ground is painted with colors to indicate the range of this area. . Therefore, it is indicated to the user that the interactive zone 16 is defined by the configuration of the screen 18 and is identified by the internal ground of these screens. The portable device 14 must be in the indicated interaction zone 16 to interact with the beacon 10 in business.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the shed device of FIG. 2, which clearly shows that the floor of the shed is marked to indicate the interaction zone 16 to the user. Other configurations and combinations of shielding panels or buildings around the beacon are possible, such as using appropriate shielding to form a side-connected business registration shed, or a pedestrian service access area at the entrance of other public places in a shopping mall.

The beacon 10 may also preferably be combined with a directional antenna to limit the broadcast range. For example, a directional antenna such as a rectangular microstrip connecting plate antenna has a side length of several centimeters, and the resulting broadcast beam width is Bw, which can be roughly given by the following formula: Bw=55*wavelength/side length------ ------------Equation 1 Figure 4 shows a microstrip connecting plate antenna 20, and a strip conductor 21 with a side length 22 is mounted on an insulating base 23 with a bottom layer 24. The formula (1) is applied to the antenna 20, which has a side length 22 of 12 cm, works in the Bluetooth wireless frequency band of 2.4 GHz, and obtains a beam width of 55 degrees. Therefore, the antenna with a side length of 12 cm limits an angle on the Bluetooth wireless beacon that can be transmitted quite far. In an embodiment using this antenna, a beacon with a broadcasting range of about 10 cm is mounted on the wall together with the above antenna to form an interaction zone extending only a few centimeters from the antenna. The area of the interaction zone is roughly due to the reduction in beam width. It is consistent with the area of the antenna, as shown in the figure. In order to interact with the beacon, the portable device must be placed very close to the antenna (ie, within the indicated interaction zone and on the wall or in front) in order to interact with the system's narrow beamwidth transmission. This configuration itself is very suitable for the "swipe card" system. In layman's terms, the user swipes their phone over the wall indicated by the interaction belt to interact with the beacon.

Shielding and directional antennas are used to strictly limit and indicate the interaction zone of the beacon, which brings great freedom to the system designer. For example, FIG. 5 illustrates the registration terminal 24, in which the embedded beacon and the printed board antenna are located under the shaped recess 26, and the recess 26 and the shaped area 28 are used as the interactive zone 16 for instructions, and the user's portable device must be placed in it To register the business.

The registered terminal 24 shown in FIG. 5 is preferably used in a part of the infrastructure or beacon network. Some of the beacon broadcast positions are not restricted and are configured to detect and identify the This kind of terminal is registered with the portable device of the service to deliver service. In the following example, an interconnected wireless beacon network in a shopping mall is described, although the skilled person should realize that this network is not limited to specific scenarios or applications including shopping malls, and can be equally applied in Hotels, airports, internet bars, museums and other public services and commercial locations.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a module of the CA mobile phone 14 for interconnecting low-power, short-range base stations or beacons 30, 32, 33. The beacon 30 has a short and limited broadcast range within the indicated interaction zone 16 and in this example serves as a registered beacon in the side wall 18 of the shielding shed. The beacons 32 and 33 have unlimited broadcasting ranges and function as service delivery beacons. For the sake of clarity, only one registration and two delivery beacons are shown, but the system will work equally when there are many such interconnected beacons in the network. This design can be used in shopping malls and other places to provide location-related information, such as local maps, information about nearby shops and restaurants, etc., with a beacon downloading information button on the mobile device. The information key is a small data object that provides a reference for registration of all information sources. The format is that there are many predetermined fields, one of which contains a short description text provided to the user. The other field is a pointer or address of a form, such as the URL of a web address or phone number. Other auxiliary domains can control how data is provided to users and how addresses are analyzed. The registration beacon 30 usually broadcasts many such keys periodically, each of which is generally associated with a different service. In order to receive the registration key, the user must first bring the CA terminal (phone 14) to the interactive zone 16 of the beacon 30. The beacon working in the query mode broadcasts a query to any CA terminal in the interactive zone 16 in the form of a short key.

If the phone 14 is within range, it responds to the query key and sends its own identification to the beacon 30, and then the beacon 30 starts to interact with the portable device 14. For example, the terminal screen 34 of the registered beacon booth can provide users with different services through the menu system, and the user can select a service on the screen, and then move their phone through (slide over) the interactive belt or transfer their phone Register the service in the interactive zone 16. The registration beacon 30 sends the registration and portable device identification data to the transfer beacon, such as the beacon 32, through the secure transmission link connected between them. This link is usually part of the beacon infrastructure fixed system, and can simply include cables or other conventional communication connection devices.

Now the data transfer beacon 32 recognizes the registered portable device through the identification and registration data. Therefore, when the beacon 32 detects that the portable device 14 is in the data transfer broadcast range 12, it can transfer the required registration service to the portable device 14, and at the same time It will ignore other device identifiers or portable devices whose registration keys are unknown within the broadcast range (ie, they have not previously been registered at the beacon 30).

In addition, once a user brings their portable device into or passes through an area where the broadcast range overlaps, such as location A shown in FIG. 6, only the beacon 32 will deliver the service to the (known) portable device, although the beacon 33 It is within range and can detect the portable device, but cannot interact with it, because the user's portable device is only registered with the service delivered by the beacon 32, and the identifier of the portable device is not provided to the beacon 33. Therefore, voluntary business promotions can be carried out within the beacon network.

This interconnected beacon network design that works with portable devices is described in more detail in the commonly assigned UK patent application no.0020101.2 entitled "Local data transfer via beacons", the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. And the relevant characteristics are reiterated below.

The present invention adds the following concept to the inquirer (registration) and interactor (service delivery/interaction) wireless beacon devices (preferably working in accordance with the Bluetooth protocol) disclosed in the aforementioned patent applications: The wireless beacon, its range is clearly displayed to the user as an indicator interaction zone, so it can perform simple registration of mutually voluntary reception services (information, reminders, etc.).

The service or service category required by the user is selected at a registered (inquirer) beacon (multiple beacons), so that the user's Bluetooth device ID (portable device identifier) is sent to the relevant beacon in the network. If they are data transfer or interactive wireless beacons, once the portable device using the registered Bluetooth device ID is within the range of such beacons, they can interact immediately.

Or, once users have expressed their consent by "swiping" their Bluetooth device in the indicating interaction zone, subsequent promotional signals including local information, business or social opportunities can be transmitted to the mobile device without any Bluetooth beacon. Instead, it is through SMS, WAP, or other wide area network devices (for example, those devices that work according to the IEEE 802.11 protocol suite). In this case, the system appropriately associates the Bluetooth device IDs of the mobile devices with their wide area network addresses (phone numbers).

Multiple data delivery or interactive beacons can be associated with a registration or query beacon to send local related content to the client (portable device). As before, the inquirer passes the identity of the registered customer to all relevant interactors in the network. This means that the registration process only needs to be performed once when the customer is within the network.

Once the interactors know the customer ID, they can begin to perform business interaction or data transfer tasks. Both of them can continuously page all customers. When a client enters the range of a data transfer beacon, it will respond to the page by establishing a link with that data transfer beacon. Other data transfer beacons usually stop paging that portable device ID until the link is idle. A more advanced paging scheme is to only paging in nearby cells, because users must pass through one or more neighboring cells before reaching a distant cell. This method allows large systems to more economically carry out paging. Other paging strategies are also possible.

In order to provide the registration cancellation of the system, a beacon booth can be provided at the entrance/exit of the shopping center. Once the user brings the device into the interactive zone indicated by the user, the portable device can be detected again and removed from the system registration.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, some combinations of EMI shielding, short-range beacons, beacons with adjustable broadcast ranges, and directional antennas are disclosed. The purpose is to limit the range of the beacons while appropriately adjusting the beacons (multiple beacons). ) The shape, logo, or clear display of the surrounding environment to indicate to the user the restricted range as an interaction zone.

Many other combinations are also obvious to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, such as clever use of lighting near a beacon with a limited range, and instructing the user of the interaction zone in a complicated and eye-catching manner.

From reading this disclosure, other modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. These modifications can include other features known in the design, manufacture and use of fixed and portable communication systems, and systems and components incorporated herein, and can be used to replace or add to the features already described herein.