U.S. patent application number 14/571717 was filed with the patent office on 2015-05-14 for location based system to deliver targeted content messages to mobile devices.
The applicant listed for this patent is QUALCOMM Incorporated. Invention is credited to John JOZWIAK, Brian M. ROSENBERG.
Application Number | 20150133169 14/571717 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43050667 |
Filed Date | 2015-05-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150133169 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
JOZWIAK; John ; et
al. |
May 14, 2015 |
LOCATION BASED SYSTEM TO DELIVER TARGETED CONTENT MESSAGES TO
MOBILE DEVICES
Abstract
Disclosed is a system to implement a method to deliver a
targeted content message to a mobile device base on the location of
the mobile device. The system may identify a set of businesses
within a coverage area of a femtocell base station to produce
gathered information. The system may receive a request for a call
establishment indicator from the mobile device through the
femtocell base station. Targeted content messages may be identified
as a function of the gathered information. Moreover, the targeted
content message then may be sent to the mobile device as part of
the call establishment indicator.
Inventors: |
JOZWIAK; John; (San Diego,
CA) ; ROSENBERG; Brian M.; (San Diego, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
QUALCOMM Incorporated |
San Diego |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
43050667 |
Appl. No.: |
14/571717 |
Filed: |
December 16, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
12435930 |
May 5, 2009 |
8934875 |
|
|
14571717 |
|
|
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|
Current U.S.
Class: |
455/456.3 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/02 20130101;
H04L 67/18 20130101; H04W 4/029 20180201; H04M 3/4878 20130101;
H04W 8/18 20130101; H04L 67/26 20130101; H04W 84/045 20130101; H04W
4/023 20130101; H04L 67/20 20130101; H04L 67/306 20130101; G06Q
30/0261 20130101; H04M 2242/15 20130101; H04W 4/12 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/456.3 |
International
Class: |
H04W 4/02 20060101
H04W004/02; G06Q 30/02 20060101 G06Q030/02; H04W 4/12 20060101
H04W004/12 |
Claims
1. A method to deliver a targeted content message to a mobile
device, the method comprising: identifying a set of businesses
within a coverage area of a femtocell base station to produce
gathered information; receiving a request for a call establishment
indicator from the mobile device through the femtocell base
station; identifying a targeted content message as a function of
the gathered information; and sending the targeted content message
to the mobile device as part of the call establishment indicator.
Description
CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. .sctn.120
[0001] The present application for patent is a continuation of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 12/435,930, entitled "LOCATION BASED
SYSTEM TO DELIVER TARGETED CONTENT MESSAGES TO MOBILE DEVICES,"
filed May 5, 2009, pending, assigned to the assignee hereof, and
expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIELD
[0002] The following relates generally to wireless communications,
and more specifically to distributing coupons and other targeted
content messages to mobile devices such as mobile phones based on
the location of a femtocell base station utilized by those mobile
devices.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Targeted content messages may include coupons as advertising
devices used by business to help persuade customers to return and
redeem the coupon at their store. A main incentive for the consumer
is savings since coupons may give a price reduction off the
purchase of a product or service. Typically, manufacturers and
retailers distribute coupons through newspapers, flyers, and mail
circulars.
[0004] Recently, advertisers have taken to using the Internet to
distribute coupons. Internet coupons are distributed to users at
their desktop computers as printable coupons and coupon codes.
Printable coupons include those coupons are available on the
Internet that may be printed from a home computer and used in local
stores. Coupon codes mostly are code numbers that may be entered
into a portion of an online ordering form. The code engages a
coupon that may be applied to the total purchase before the
consumer makes the online payment. While distributing coupons over
the Internet is a valuable way for businesses to advertise their
services and customers to save money, their success is limited when
it comes to enticing a customer to enter a store when that customer
is near that store.
SUMMARY
[0005] Disclosed is a system to implement a method to deliver a
targeted content message to a mobile device base on the location of
the mobile device. The system may identify a set of businesses
within a coverage area of a femtocell base station to produce
gathered information. The system may receive a request for a call
establishment indicator from the mobile device through the
femtocell base station. Targeted content messages may be identified
as a function of the gathered information. Moreover, the targeted
content message then may be sent to the mobile device as part of
the call establishment indicator.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication
system 100.
[0007] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a telecommunication system
200.
[0008] FIG. 3 is a schematic of building 300.
[0009] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system 400 to deliver coupons
to mobile devices.
[0010] FIG. 5 illustrates a method 500 to deliver coupons to mobile
devices utilizing system 400.
[0011] FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagrams of several sample
aspects of apparatuses configured to facilitate communication
handoff as taught herein.
[0012] In accordance with common practice, the various features
illustrated in the drawings may not be drawn to scale. Accordingly,
the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily expanded
or reduced for clarity. In addition, some of the drawings may be
simplified for clarity. Thus, the drawings may not depict all of
the components of a given apparatus (e.g., device) or method.
Finally, like reference numerals may be used to denote like
features throughout the specification and figures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0013] Various aspects are now described with reference to the
drawings. In the following description, for purposes of
explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to
provide a thorough understanding of one or more aspects. It may be
evident, however, that such aspect(s) may be practiced without
these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures
and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate
describing these aspects.
[0014] As used in this application, the terms "component",
"module", "system", and the like are intended to refer to a
computer-related entity, either hardware, firmware, software, or a
combination of hardware, firmware, and/or software in execution.
For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a
process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an
executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By
way of illustration, both an application running on a computing
device and the computing device may be a component. One or more
components may reside within a process and/or thread of execution
and a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributed
between two or more computers. In addition, these components may
execute from various computer readable media having various data
structures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way of
local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal
having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component
interacting with another component in a local system, distributed
system, and/or across a network such as the Internet with other
systems by way of the signal).
[0015] Furthermore, various aspects are described herein in
connection with a mobile device. A mobile device may also be
called, and may contain some or all of the functionality of a
system, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile phone, mobile
station, mobile, wireless terminal, device, remote station, remote
terminal, access terminal, user terminal, terminal, wireless
communication device, wireless communication apparatus, user agent,
user device, or user equipment (UE). A mobile device may be a
cellular telephone, a cellular mobile device, a cordless telephone,
a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a smart phone, a
wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant
(PDA), a laptop, a handheld communication device, a handset, a
phone, a handheld computing device, a satellite radio, a wireless
modem card and/or another processing device for communicating over
a wireless system. Moreover, various aspects are described herein
in connection with a base station. A base station may be utilized
for communicating with wireless terminal(s) and also may be called,
and may contain some or all of the functionality of, an access
point, Node B, or some other network entity.
[0016] Various aspects or features will be presented in terms of
systems that may include a number of devices, components, modules,
and the like. It is to be understood and appreciated that the
various systems may include additional devices, components,
modules, etc. and/or may not include all of the devices,
components, modules etc. discussed in connection with the figures.
A combination of these approaches may also be used.
[0017] The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an
example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment described
herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as
preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. The techniques
described herein may be used for various wireless communication
networks such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks,
Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) networks, Frequency Division
Multiple Access (FDMA) networks, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks,
Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, etc. The terms "networks"
and "systems" often are used interchangeably. A CDMA network may
implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio
Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includes Wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA)
and Low Chip Rate (LCR). cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856
standards. A TDMA network may implement a radio technology such as
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA network may
implement a radio technology such as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE
802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM.RTM., etc. UTRA,
E-UTRA, and GSM are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication
System (UMTS). Long Term Evolution (LTE) is an upcoming release of
UMTS that uses E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS and LTE are
described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation
Partnership Project" (3GPP). cdma2000 is described in documents
from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2"
(3GPP2). 3GPP is a collaboration between groups of
telecommunications associations, to make a globally applicable
third generation (3G) mobile phone system specification within the
scope of the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 project
of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). 3GPP2 is a
collaboration between telecommunications associations to make a
globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phone system
specification within the scope of the ITU's International Mobile
Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) project. These various radio
technologies and standards are known in the art.
[0018] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication
system 100. Exemplary wireless communication system 100 may be
configured to support the communication needs of a number of users,
in which various disclosed embodiments and aspects may be
implemented. As shown in FIG. 1, by way of example, system 100
provides communication for multiple cells 102, such as, for
example, macro cells 102a-102g. Each macrocell 102 is an area of
radio coverage in wireless communication system 100 served by one
or more base stations. The wireless communication system 100 may
provide service over a large geographic region, for example,
macrocells 102a-102g may cover a few blocks in a neighborhood.
[0019] Each macrocell 102 may be serviced by a corresponding access
point (AP) 104 (such as APs 104a-104g), such as by a macrocell base
station. A macrocell base station may utilize power outputs of
typically tens of watts to cover an outdoor cell site of about five
kilometers in which the station may receive wireless signals from a
relatively large number of mobile devices. The antennas for
macrocells may be mounted on ground-based masts, rooftops and other
existing structures, at a height that provides a clear view over
the surrounding buildings and terrain.
[0020] Each macrocell 102 may be further divided into one or more
sectors. Various access terminals (ATs) 106, including ATs
106a-106k, also known interchangeably as user equipment (UE) or
mobile stations, may be dispersed throughout the system. As mobile
phones, the access terminals may include portable telephones that
may connect with a telephone network over radio wave transmission.
Each AT 106 may communicate with one or more APs 104 on a forward
link (FL) and/or a reverse link (RL) at a given moment, depending
upon whether the AT is active and whether it is in soft handoff,
for example.
[0021] Femtocell base stations additionally may be dispersed
throughout the system. A femtocell base station is a small,
box-sized device that may cover an indoor cell site of a few dozen
to a couple hundred meters. A main advantage of a femtocell base
station is that it allows users in and near a business, office, or
home to use their mobile device without concern that the walls of
their building will significantly weaken their signal.
[0022] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a telecommunication system
200. Telecommunication system 200 may include a group of
independent but interrelated elements to assist in the transmission
of signals over a distance for a purpose of communication.
Telecommunication system 200 may include a telecommunication
network 202 that may be accessed in a variety of ways, including a
landline 204, a macrocell base station 206, and a femtocell base
station 208.
[0023] Telecommunication network 202 may be a network of
telecommunications links and nodes arranged so that messages may be
passed from one part of the network to another over multiple links
and through various nodes. Telecommunication network 202 may
include a computer network, the internet network as a global
`network of networks`, a public switched telephone network, a
global telex network, and the aeronautical Aircraft Communications
Addressing and Reporting System network. In addition,
telecommunication network 202 may carry control information,
traffic from the users of the network, and operations and
administration traffic required for network management.
[0024] Landline 204 may be a telephone line that may communicate
with telecommunication network 202 through a signal that may travel
through a metal wire, optical fiber, or other solid medium 205.
Also known as a main line and a fixed-line, landline 204 may
include a telephone whose signaling and audio information may be
handled on a twisted pair of insulated wires. A twisted pair line
may be more effective at rejecting electromagnetic interference and
crosstalk than an untwisted pair.
[0025] Macrocell base station 206 may be a tower installed at a
fixed location and having an antenna to provide outdoor coverage
for mobile device signals 210 such as within a 3 mile (5 kilometer)
radius. Macrocell base station 206 may access telecommunication
network 202 through a Base Station Controller (BSC)/Mobile
Switching Center (MSC) 212 and access control 214. The Base Station
Controller portion of BSC/MSC 212 may act as a concentrator where
many different low capacity connections become reduced to a smaller
number of connections towards the Mobile Switching Center. Access
control 214 may define or restrict passage of signals between
BSC/MSC 212 and telecommunication network 202.
[0026] Femtocell base station 208 may be a small cellular base
station for use in and near residential environments and small
business environments, such as a building 300. Femtocell base
station 208 may allow service providers to extend cellular service
coverage indoors, especially where access otherwise may be limited
or unavailable. In addition, femtocell base station 208 may provide
a service to cellular users that happen to be in close proximity to
femtocell base station 208, where its signal may be stronger than
that of a macrocell. In an example, femtocell base station 208 may
be a device that is not intended to be mobile and is intended to
reside in a fixed location.
[0027] Femtocell base station 208 may communicate with
telecommunication network 202 through backhaul 216, gateway/Mobile
Switching Center (MSC) 218, and access control 220. Backhaul 216
may transport traffic between distributed sites provided by
gateway/MSC 218 and femtocell base station 208. Typically,
femtocell base station 208 may be connected to the Internet and the
cellular operator's network via DSL router or cable modem. In an
example, backhaul 216 may include at least one of a consumer owned
digital subscriber line (DSL), a cable, and a fiber link.
Gateway/MSC 218 and access control 220 may function similarly to
BSC/MSC 212 and access control 214, respectively. BSC/MSC 212 and
Gateway/MSC 218 may transmit signals back and forth over a signal
path 222. By directing calls to a consumer installed femtocell that
also uses consumer owned backhaul, such as DSL or cable, the
cellular network operator may realize substantial savings in
capital and operating expenditures.
[0028] As a personal miniature base station installed in
subscriber's location, femtocell base station 208 may employ the
radio access network (RAN) functionality (e.g., BTS, BSC, PDSN) and
provide service to a limited number of users. Femtocell base
station 208 may provide service similar to a typical PSTN connected
wired or cordless phone system with multiple receivers. An example
functionality of femtocell base station 208 is a Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System (UMTS) femtocell containing a Node B,
Radio Network Controller (RNC), and general packet radio services
(GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) with Ethernet for backhaul. Femtocell
base station 208 additionally may incorporate standards such as
GSM, cdma2000, Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple
Access (TD-SCDMA), and Worldwide Inter-operability for Microwave
Access (WiMAX) solutions.
[0029] FIG. 3 is a schematic of building 300. Building 300 may be a
structure that has a roof and walls, such as a shopping mall,
office building, or residential home. For purposes of discussion,
building 300 is drawn in FIG. 3 as a shopping mall 300 having
retail units 302, such as a store 304 and a store 306, and
interconnecting walkways 308 to enabling visitors 310 to easily
walk from one shop 302 to the next. Retail units 302 may include
mercantile establishments for the sale of goods or services.
Walkways 308 may include paths set aside for walking. Visitors 310
may include invitees, such as people who entered building 300 with
for a purpose of business or other dealings, and licensees whose
activities may be conducted at the behest of an owner or possessor
of areas within building 300. Visitors 310 also may include someone
who visits and employees.
[0030] Building 300 may include a plurality of femtocell base
stations 208. For example, the owner of building 300 may install
femtocell base stations 312 to 328 to service the wireless
communication needs of its employees and visitors 310. The
proprietors of retail units 302 may install femtocell base stations
to service the wireless communication needs of their own employees
and visitors 310. For example, store 304 may include a femtocell
base station 330.
[0031] Femtocell base stations 208, including femtocell base
stations 312 to 328 and femtocell base station 330, may service
mobile devices 224 (FIG. 2) in and near building 300. For example,
shopping mall owned femtocell base station 312 may serve mobile
devices 224 within a femtocell service region 332 and proprietor
owned femtocell base station 330 may serve mobile devices 224
within a femtocell service region 334. Femtocell service region 332
and femtocell service region 334 each may be a geographic region
within which mobile devices 224 may communicate with femtocell base
station 312 and femtocell base station 330, respectively. Femtocell
base station 208 typically may support up to eight mobile devices
224 in a business setting. In an example, femtocell base station
208 may support mobile device 226 (handset 2 or H1) (FIG. 2),
mobile device 228 (handset 3 or H2), and mobile device 230 (handset
3 or H3).
[0032] Femtocell base station 208 may broadcast the communication
services of a single wireless service provider within a particular
part of the 9 kHz to 300 GHz wireless spectrum. The wireless
service providers may include T-Mobile.RTM., Sprint.RTM.,
Verizon.RTM., and AT&T.RTM.. Each femtocell base station 314 in
shopping mall 300 may be wireless plan specific. In one example,
femtocell base station 314 may include a first femtocell base
station for AT&T.RTM. customers and a second adjacent femtocell
base station for Verizon.RTM. customers.
[0033] In operation, building 300 may prevent reasonable connection
between macrocell base station 206 and mobile devices 224 through a
macrocell base station signal 232. For example, interior walls,
exterior walls, and windows of building 300 may result in signal
power loss over a traveled path. When femtocell base station 208 is
installed in building 300, mobile devices 224 may communicate
exclusively with femtocell base station 208 through a mobile device
signal 234 with minimal power loss. In an example, a mobile device
224 may use a little energy to monitor signals from femtocell base
station 208 approximately every 2.5 seconds.
[0034] Femtocell base station 208 may service the wireless
communication needs of mobile devices 224 preregistered with the
particular femtocell base station 208 as their business femtocell
base station. Preregistered mobile devices may include those of the
owner of the shopping mall, the proprietors of the stores within
the shopping mall, and employees of these businesses. In addition,
femtocell base station 208 may services the wireless communication
needs of visiting mobile devices. Here, the mobile phones belonging
to workers assigned to work in a particular store 302 may be viewed
as business phones whereas the mobile phones of guests, visitors,
those passing through the wireless communication coverage area of
shopping mall owned femtocell base station 312 or proprietor owned
femtocell base station 330 may be viewed as visiting mobile
devices.
[0035] As people move in and out of shopping mall femtocell service
region 332 and proprietor femtocell service region 334, their
mobile device 224 may move in and out of femtocell service region
202. Thus, the makeup of the set of all mobile devices 224 within a
given femtocell service region may change over time. In addition,
some femtocell base stations will service only those mobile devices
having a subscription to a particular wireless provider. For
example, a first femtocell base station 316 may only service mobile
devices 224 that maintain a Verizon.RTM. wireless service plan
whereas a second, adjacent femtocell base station 316 may only
services mobile devices 224 that maintain a Sprint.RTM. wireless
service plan. In an example, building 300 may include sufficient
femtocell base stations 208 to provide services for those mobile
phone subscribers within building 300.
[0036] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system 400 to deliver coupons
to mobile devices. FIG. 5 illustrates a method 500 to deliver
coupons to mobile devices utilizing system 400. Method 500 may
deliver a targeted content message based on a location of a caller
402.
[0037] In system 400 and method 500, caller 402, such as a user
holding a mobile device 224, may represent the mobile devices. A
business provider 404 may own and operate a femtocell base station
208 that may be in communication with telecommunication network
202. Caller 402 may make a call that may be carried by femtocell
base station 208 operated by business provider 404. An ad server
406 may maintain a coupon database 408 storing coupons 410. Coupons
410 may be targeted content messages stored in a variety of forms
that may be capable of being formatted into a variety of forms,
such as a completed coupon to be transmitted through a text
message, or an image of a coupon having a bar code that may be
scanned, where the coupon may be transmitted as a Multimedia
Messaging Service (MMS) message. System 400 further may include a
telecommunication provider 412 having a profile database 414 that
may house location information 416, caller information 418, and
business information 420. Telecommunication provider 412 may be a
network entity 412. System 400 and method 500 may utilize part or
all of wireless communication system 100 and/or telecommunication
system 200.
[0038] Method 500 may start at step 502. At step 504, network
entity 412 may identify businesses and other retail units 302
within the coverage area of femtocell base station 208. Generally,
retail units 302 will have preregistered the phone numbers of their
mobile devices with a particular femtocell base station 208 and the
location of such phone numbers may be known and, in turn, the
location of the given femtocell base station 208 can be known. In
addition, a given femtocell base station 208 may receive wireless
requests from a number of mobile devices 224. The more requests the
given femtocell base station 208 received from a particular mobile
device 224, the more likely that such a mobile device 224 is a
primary utilizer of the given femtocell base station 208.
Information about the preregistered mobile devices 224, such as
that one belongs to a Gap.RTM. store and one belongs to a See's
Candy.RTM. store, may be stored within location information 416.
Once determined, this set of retail units 302 generally will not
change over time.
[0039] While macrocell 102 base stations can only narrow down a
mobile device location to within a couple of hundred meters, the
coverage area of femtocell base station 208 may be a couple tens of
meters (ten to thirty meters). Visitors 310 located within such a
small area may have a significant interest in the twenty or so
retail units 302 located immediately near them that may be serviced
by one femtocell base station. In turn, the twenty or so retail
units 302 located immediately near a particular visitor 310 may be
interested in luring that visitor 310 into their shop in hopes of
making a sale.
[0040] Method 500 may take advantage of the small target area
provided by a femtocell base station 208 to limit the amount of
content to be broadcast while increasing the effectiveness of that
broadcast. For example, assume that a femtocell base station is
located near American clothing and accessories retailer The Gap,
Inc..RTM. and that store desires that everyone passing in front of
the store carrying a mobile phone having an exportable profile to
receive a Gap.RTM. coupon if their exportable profile indicates
that the phone holder is under the age of thirty. Here, it may be
easier to manage a distribution of such content from a femtocell
base station performing relatively few tasks rather than from a
macrocell base station, which performs a significant number of
tasks to handle hundreds of cell phones in addition to covering a
wide geographic area.
[0041] Coupons 410 and other targeted content messages should be
sent at a time when visitor 310 is engaging with their mobile
device 224. For example, targeted content messages 410 may be sent
when caller 402 typically would otherwise receive a dial tone or a
ringback tone. A dial tone includes a telephony signal used to
indicate that the telephone exchange is working, has recognized an
off-hook, and is ready to accept a call. A ringback tone is the
audible ringing that may be heard on the telephone line by the
calling party after dialing and prior to the call being answered at
the receiving end. The ringback tone serves to assure the calling
party that a ringing signal is being sent on the called party's
line, although the ringback tone may be out of sync with the
ringing signal. The ringback tone may be a ringing sound or a busy
signal sound. Both the dial tone and the ringback tone may be
locally generated in that if caller 402 dialed Chicago, Ill. from
San Diego, Calif., the tone likely would be generated some place in
California rather than in Chicago. Caller 402 may receive either a
dial tone or ringback tone, but not both at the same time.
[0042] At step 506, method 500 may determine whether caller 402 has
requested a dial tone through femtocell base station 208.
Typically, caller 402 may request a dial tone on pressing an "on"
button on mobile device 224 so that mobile device 224 engages in
communication with femtocell base station 208. In addition, caller
402 may merely seek out coupons delivered by this described method
by pressing the "on" button on mobile device 224 without an actual
desire to make a phone call or without an actual follow-up of
making a phone call. In this way, method 500 may convert a
previously non-revenue generating event--the dial tone--to a
revenue generating event without invoking the pay features of a
mobile phone subscription service.
[0043] If caller 402 has requested a dial tone, then method 400 may
proceed to step 510. If caller 402 has not requested a dial tone,
then method 400 may determine at step 508 whether caller 402 has
requested a ringback tone through femtocell base station 208.
Typically, caller 402 may request a ringback tone by pressing a
"send" button mobile device 224 after inputting a telephone number
into mobile device 224. If caller 402 has not requested a ringback
tone, then method 400 may return to step 506. If caller 402 has
requested a ringback tone, then method 400 may proceed to step
510.
[0044] At step 510, network entity 412 may determine whether it has
identifying information 418 about caller 402 within profile
database 414. An example of identifying information about caller
402 may be an exportable version of the profile of the caller,
including identity (e.g., name, age, gender), preferences, likes,
and dislikes. The profile of caller 402 may include information
about the user's behavior (which stores they have visited in the
past, products they have bought), mobile service registration
details, and information voluntarily provided by caller 402. The
exportable profile may have traveled from mobile device 224 to
network entity 412. Additionally, network entity 412 may have
previously compiled profile data for the phone number of mobile
device 224.
[0045] If network entity 412 determines at step 510 that it does
have additional information on caller 402, then method 500 may
proceed to step 512 with both location information 416 and caller
information 418 as gathered information 422. If network entity 412
determines at step 510 that it does not have additional information
on caller 402, then method 500 may proceed to step 512 with
location information 416 about business provider 404 and other
businesses located near femtocell base station 208 as gathered
information 422.
[0046] At step 512, method 500 may compare gathered information 422
to coupons 410 in coupon database 408 to obtain a coupon set 424.
In general, coupon set 424 may be a function of the immediate
physical location of caller 402 and more particularly a function of
both the businesses within the coverage area of femtocell base
station 208 and a profile of caller 402 utilizing femtocell base
station 208. Each coupon may include a price reduction or other
incentive for caller 402 using the mobile device to return and
redeem the coupon at one of the target business providers
immediately near caller 402. Coupon set 424 may include coupons of
business provider 404 and include coupons for other service
providers located near business provider 404, namely that utilize
femtocell base station 208. Coupon set 424 may include any targeted
content message, including non-coupon advertisements and may
include audio, visual, and vibratory or haptic features.
[0047] At step 514, method 500 may establish a coupon delivery
priority for coupon set 424. The coupon delivery priority may be
based on which targeted content message 410 promises to yield the
most revenue such as to network entity 412. For example, if coupon
set 424 contained both a Gap.RTM. coupon and a See's Candy.RTM.
coupon and delivery of the See's Candy.RTM. coupon would generate
more display revenue for network entity 412, then the See's
Candy.RTM. coupon may be delivered first to mobile device 224 and,
if sufficient time remained during the tone period, then the
Gap.RTM. coupon could be delivered.
[0048] At step 516, method 500 may determine whether to send text
message coupons to caller 402 for more than one business. The
coupons for more than one business may include coupons for business
provider 404--the owner of femtocell base station 208--and coupons
for providers located near business provider 404. Business provider
404 may be motivated to provide coupons for providers located near
business provider 404 through femtocell base station 208 if
business provider 404 split the targeted content message display
revenue with network entity 412. If method 500 determines to send
text message coupons for more than one business, then method 500
may proceed to step 522 and send those text message coupons to the
mobile device 224 utilized by caller 402. The coupons may be sent
to caller 402 by network entity 412 in a form of text message with
a coupon for each service provider. If method 500 determines not to
send coupons for more than one business, then method 500 may
proceed to step 518.
[0049] At step 518, method 500 may determine whether to send a text
message coupon to caller 402 for the target service provider that
owns femtocell base station 208; that is to say, method 500 may
determine at step 518 determine whether to send caller 402 a text
message coupon for business provider 404 only. If method 500
determines to send caller 402 a text message coupon for business
provider 404, then method 500 may proceed to step 522 and send that
text message coupon to the mobile device 224 utilized by caller
402. Here, network entity 412 may send caller 402 a text message
with a coupon for the Gap.RTM., for example. If method 500
determines not to send caller 402 a text message coupon for
business provider 404, then method 500 may proceed to step 520.
[0050] At step 520, method 500 may determine whether to send caller
402 a coupon image. If method 500 determines to send caller 402 a
coupon image, then method 500 may proceed to step 522 and send
caller 402 a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) message with an
image of a coupon with a bar code that can be scanned. If method
500 determines not to send caller 402 a coupon image, then method
500 may return to step 506.
[0051] A call establishment indicator may include any signal
utilized to attract attention to and perhaps characterize a step in
a process to bring about a wireless communication. For example, as
used herein, a call establishment indicator may include both a dial
tone and a ringback tone. At step 522, method 500 may send caller
402 a targeted content message, such as a coupon. The coupon may be
delivered to caller 402's mobile device 224 through femtocell base
station 208 in place of a call establishment indicator, such as a
dial tone or a ringback tone. For example, through replacing dial
or ringback call establishment tones, instead of hearing a ringback
tone, caller 402 may hear, "While we attempt to locate your party,
please stop by Auntie Anne's Pretzels.RTM. immediately near you to
use the half-off coupon you just received in your phone." call
establishment indicator
[0052] In another example, method 500 may incorporate a discount on
the phone call in exchange for listening to an advertisement for a
business adjacent to caller 402. For example, caller 402 may hear,
"Please enjoy the first three minutes of your phone call
compliments of Ruby Tuesday's@ restaurant," while physically being
in a position to see the Ruby Tuesday's@ restaurant. Such an offer
may motivate callers to move from their present location in
shopping mall 300 to be within a femtocell base station 208
wireless communication coverage area where they may obtain a
discount on their phone call. By bringing potential customers
closer to a set of retail stores 302 serviced by a given femtocell
base station 208, method 500 may make it more likely that such
customers may enter those retail stores, which is a desirable
outcome for the set of retail stores 302. Under this example, as
the number of femtocell base stations 208 within shopping mall 300
increase, the coverage area for a given femtocell base station 208
may be decreased such as to a point where a consumer needs to be
standing directly in front or within a particular store to take
advantage of offers included in a targeted content message. Here,
each retail store 302 may desire their own, relatively inexpensive
femtocell base station 208 as part of their advertising budget.
[0053] A ring cadence may be two seconds of ringing followed by
four seconds of silence. In one example, the time over which
coupons may be conveyed to caller 402 may not be less than eight
seconds and not greater than twenty seconds. However, the time over
which coupons are conveyed to caller 402 should be long enough to
convey the message but not longer than that which would tax the
patience of caller 402. In another example, the time over which
coupons may be conveyed to caller 402 may not be less than five
seconds and not greater than seven seconds. Since the ringback tone
heard by caller 402 may be out of sync with the ringing signal
heard by the called person, the coupon packet may include coding to
force a time delay between caller 402 hearing the ringback tone and
the person receiving the call hearing the ringing signal. This may
allow method 500 to implement a predetermined time over which
coupons may be conveyed to caller 402. From step 522, method 500
may return to step 506.
[0054] FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagrams of several sample
aspects of apparatuses configured to facilitate communication
handoff as taught herein. The components described herein may be
implemented in a variety of ways. Referring to FIG. 6, apparatus
600 is represented as a series of interrelated functional blocks.
The function block diagram may describe a function between input
variables and output variables utilizing a set of elementary blocks
where input and output variables may be connected to blocks by
connection lines and an output of a block also may be connected to
an input of another block. In some aspects, the functionality of
these blocks may be implemented as a processing system including
one or more processor components. In some aspects, the
functionality of these blocks may be implemented using, for
example, at least a portion of one or more integrated circuits
(e.g., an ASIC). As discussed herein, an integrated circuit may
include a processor, software, other related components, or some
combination thereof. The functionality of these blocks also may be
implemented in some other manner as taught herein. The apparatus
600 may include one or more modules that may perform one or more of
the functions described above with regard to various figures.
Apparatus 600 may include an identifying means 602, a determining
means 604, a sending means 606, and a receiving means 608, each
configured to be in communication with other elements of apparatus
600. Outputs of identifying means 602 and determining means 604 may
be transmitted between sending means 606 and receiving means
608.
[0055] Identifying means 602 may correspond to, for example, a
mobile device set identifier such as for mobile devices presently
in communication with the femtocell base station and whose unique
identifiers are preregistered with the femtocell base station and
such as discussed herein. Identifying means 602 may correspond to a
processor such as discussed herein. The processor may instruct a
receiver to monitor for signals on an uplink and instruct a
processor to process any signals received by the receiver. The
processor may attempt to demodulate and decode received signals.
The processor may generate information relating to acquired
signals. The processor may be a central processing unit and may be
a machine that can execute computer programs.
[0056] A determining means 604 may correspond to, for example, a
processor as discussed herein. Determining means 604 may correspond
to, for example, a signal processor as discussed herein. The
processor may determine whether a received call includes one of a
unique identifier of a target mobile device and a unique identifier
of the femtocell base station. The processor may determine whether
a second mobile device answered a paging message if the call is for
the second mobile device. The processor may determine whether a
first mobile device answered a paging message if the second mobile
device did not answered the call, determine whether to disconnect
the first mobile device from a traffic channel with the femtocell
base station if the second mobile device answered the paging
message and the first mobile device answered the paging message,
and determine whether a conference call feature has been enabled in
the femtocell base station. In addition, the processor may
determine whether to block the second mobile device from answering
the paging message if the first mobile device answered the paging
message.
[0057] A sending means 606 may correspond to, for example, a device
such as a transceiver to send a paging message from the femtocell
base station as discussed herein. Sending means 606 may correspond
to, for example, a controller as discussed herein. A receiving
means 608 may correspond to, for example, a transceiver to receive
a call in the femtocell base station as discussed herein. Receiving
means 608 may correspond to, for example, a communication
controller as discussed herein. One transceiver may communicate
with other transceivers and with other nodes. Each transceiver may
include a respective transmitter to send signals and a respective
receiver to receive signal. Each transceiver may receive and
process a respective information stream to provide one or more
analog signals, and further conditions (e.g., amplifies, filters,
and upconverts) the analog signals to provide a modulated signal
suitable for transmission. A transceiver may include at least one
of a transmitter and a receiver, where a transmitter and receiver
may be combined and share common circuitry or a single housing.
[0058] While the specification describes particular examples of the
present invention, those of ordinary skill can devise variations of
the present invention without departing from the inventive concept.
For example, the teachings herein refer to circuit-switched network
elements but are equally applicable to packet-switched domain
network elements.
[0059] Those skilled in the art will understand that information
and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different
technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions,
commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may
be referenced throughout the above description may be represented
by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or
particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination
thereof.
[0060] Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that the
various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, methods and
algorithms described in connection with the examples disclosed
herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer
software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this
interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative
components, blocks, modules, circuits, methods and algorithms have
been described above generally in terms of their functionality.
Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software
depends upon the particular application and design constraints
imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the
described functionality in varying ways for each particular
application, but such implementation decisions should not be
interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present
invention.
[0061] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and
circuits described in connection with the examples disclosed herein
may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a
digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated
circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other
programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic,
discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed
to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose
processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the
processor may be any conventional processor, controller,
microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be
implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a
combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of
microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a
DSP core, or any other such configuration. Additionally, at least
one processor may comprise one or more modules operable to perform
one or more of the steps and/or actions described above.
[0062] The methods or algorithms described in connection with the
examples disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in
a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of
the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory,
ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a
removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known
in the art. A storage medium may be coupled to the processor such
that the processor can read information from, and write information
to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may
be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium
may reside in an ASIC. Additionally, in some aspects, the steps
and/or actions of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any
combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a machine
readable medium and/or computer readable medium, which may be
incorporated into a computer program product.
[0063] Part or all of the systems mentioned herein may be
implemented as a computer program product on a storage medium
having instructions stored thereon/in. These instructions may be
used to control, or cause, a computer to perform any of the
processes. For example, a computer may execute a computer readable
medium having a set of instructions which, when executed by a
computer, cause the computer to deliver a coupon to a mobile device
using method 300. The storage medium may include without limitation
any type of disk including floppy disks, mini disks (MD's), optical
disks, DVDs, CD-ROMs, micro-drives, and magneto-optical disks,
ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, DRAMs, VRAMs, flash memory devices
(including flash cards), magnetic or optical cards, nanosystems
(including molecular memory ICs), RAID devices, remote data
storage/archive/warehousing, or any type of media or device
suitable for storing instructions and/or data.
[0064] In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions
described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or
any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions
may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or
code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media
includes both computer storage media and communication media
including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer
program from one place to another. A storage media may be any
available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of
example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can
comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage,
magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any
other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program
code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be
accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a
computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is
transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a
coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber
line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and
microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair,
DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and
microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc,
as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical
disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc
where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs
reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above
should also be included within the scope of computer-readable
media.
[0065] The previous description of the disclosed examples is
provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the
present invention. Various modifications to these examples will be
readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic
principles defined herein may be applied to other examples without
departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the
present invention is not intended to be limited to the examples
shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with
the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
* * * * *