Beacon Message Filtering for Location Discovery

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing peer-to-peer location-based messaging systems face challenges such as difficulty in updating beacon messages, lack of customization for relevance, and security issues, leading to inefficient management and high costs, which discourage deployment in many locations.

Innovation Solution

A system that allows users to remotely and quickly change messages associated with wireless beacons through a server system, using filter parameters to selectively display messages on mobile devices, enhancing security by locking beacon devices to prevent malicious changes, and enabling efficient management of beacons across multiple locations.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If the system provides messages to mobile devices for every beacon detected, then users can discover all locations, but the mobile device consumes excessive battery power and network bandwidth

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvelocation discovery capabilityVSAvoidbattery power consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies local quality by customizing message delivery based on user-specific filter criteria. Each user receives messages only for beacons matching their personalized location preferences, rather than uniformly delivering all beacon messages. This selective delivery reduces energy consumption while maintaining tailored location discovery capabilities for each user.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements partial action by selectively providing messages only for beacons that satisfy user-defined filter criteria, rather than providing all detected beacon messages. This partial message delivery approach reduces unnecessary network traffic and battery consumption while still enabling users to discover relevant locations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

2Loss of information

If the system provides messages for every beacon detected, then users receive comprehensive location information, but the mobile device is overwhelmed by irrelevant messages

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvelocation information completenessVSAvoiduser notification management

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Adaptability or versatility

If the system allows flexible message customization for each beacon, then users can provide relevant information, but the system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemessage customization capabilityVSAvoidsystem management complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The server system acts as an intermediary between beacon owners and mobile devices. Beacon owners can customize messages through the server interface without directly managing beacon devices. The server handles message storage, filtering, and delivery, simplifying the overall system architecture while enabling flexible customization. This mediator approach separates the complexity of message management from the simplicity of beacon operations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system segments functionality between multiple components: simple beacon devices for detection, a centralized server system for message management and filtering, and mobile devices for display. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - beacons remain simple while the server handles complex customization logic, reducing overall system complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

4Ease of manufacture

If the system uses simple beacon devices, then deployment costs are reduced, but the ability to provide customized messages is limited

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebeacon device costVSAvoidmessage customization capability

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of embedding customization capability in each physical beacon device, the system uses a virtual copy approach where the server stores and manages customized messages. The simple beacon devices transmit only basic identification signals, while the server provides the customized message content dynamically. This copying approach maintains beacon simplicity while enabling sophisticated message customization through the server's virtual message database.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Data Source

PatentUS11757817B1Peer-to-peer location-based messaging

Publication Date: 2023.09.12 CPMR INC

AI summary

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs stored on a computer-readable storage medium, for peer-to-peer location-based messaging. In some implementations, a mobile device selectively displays displayable messages associated with beacons corresponding to specific locations that the mobile device visits. The mobile device can extract identifiers from wireless messages from beacons and determine whether to display a message corresponding to a beacon based on filter parameters of a user and data indicating characteristics of a property where a beacon is located. The displayable messages corresponding to beacons can be messages users who associated with the beacons have previously designated for presentation upon detection of the beacons. The mobile device can display the displayable message for a beacon while the mobile device is a detection range to receive the wireless message from the beacon.