Method, device and system for creating a virtual local social network

Abstract

There is provided a system and method for creating a local social network, based on a user's location and a user's virtual social profile (e.g. a facebook profile, a myspace profile) on a virtual social network (e.g. facebook, myspace). The method includes the steps of: (1) associating a communication device with a user's virtual profile, (2) detecting a communication device within an interactive region, (3) extracting unique parameters of the communication device, (4) retrieving data associated with the communication device and with the user's virtual profile, and (5) initiating data transfer based on the retrieved data.

Claims

1. A method of establishing a link between two or more online social network users based on presence within an interactive region, said method comprising: associating a digital identifier of a specific mobile communication device with a specific online social network user for at least some online social network users to generate a data set which correlates online social network users with their respective mobile communication devices; using digital identifiers identified by a localized transceiver to detect a presence of specific mobile communication devices within an interactive region covered by the localized transceiver and updating corresponding data storage which links online social network users with the interactive region by sending a list of user devices detected within the interactive region to a remote server with a database linking the digital identifiers to social network users; and responsive to identifying within the interactive region copresence of specific online social network users having some common characteristic, triggering an online social network related service to generate and send one or more messages to at least some of one or more of the specific users with content to promote an interaction between the specific online social network users.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the specific online social network user may represent a users' virtual profile.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the specific person represented by the specific online user has an associated online social network profile which includes a list of connected online social network users.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein a connected online social network user represents one or more real-world users selected from: a person, a business, a venue, a group, a cause, a location and an event.

5. The method according to claim 2, wherein the update of a designated interaction database indicates the presence of social network user at or near a location.

6. The method according to claim 2, wherein the social network service message facilitates a communication path through the online social network between online social network users.

7. The method according to claim 2, wherein an update of the list generates a transmission of data between a server and the communication device updated to the list.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the area of an interactive region is the area of detection covered by one or more detectors or transceivers.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein updating an online social network database designating an interaction between the specific online social network user and the other online social network user includes identifying social network members who have updated a remote location database about being at or near a location or within an area of an interactive region.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein updating of the list also depends on duration of device presence in interactive region.

11. An online social network user linking system for promoting communication between two or more online social network users of an online social network based on their presence within an area of an interactive region, said system comprising: a device identifier to associate a digital identifier of a specific mobile communication device with a specific online social network user for at least some online social network users to generate a data set which correlates online social network users with their respective mobile communication devices; a wireless communication device transceiver to detect a presence of the specific mobile communication device within an interactive region and to update a corresponding data storage which links online social network users with the interactive region by sending a, list of user devices detected within the interactive region to a remote server with a database linking the digital identifiers to social network users; and processing circuits to, responsive to identifying within the interactive region copresence of specific online social network users having some common characteristic, triggering an online social network related service to generate and send one or more messages to at least some of one or more of the specific users with content to promote interaction between the specific online social network users.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the specific online social network user may represent a users' virtual profile.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the specific person represented by the specific online user has an associated online social network profile which includes a list of connected online social network users.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein a connected online social network user represents one or more real-world users selected from: a person, a business, a venue, a group, a cause, a location and an event.

15. The system according to claim 12, wherein the designated interaction database is updated when there is an indication the presence of a user at or near a location.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein the social network service message facilitates a communication path through the online social network user and the other online social network users.

17. The system according to claim 12, wherein an update of the list generates a transmission of data between a server and the communication device updated to the list.

18. The system according to claim 11, wherein the area of an interactive region is the area of detection covered by one or more detectors or transceivers.

19. The system according to claim 11, wherein updating of an online social network database designating an interaction between the specific online social network user and the other online social network user includes identifying social network members who have updated a remote location logging database about being at a or near a location or entering an area of an interactive region.

20. The system according to claim 11, wherein said processing circuits also updates the list based on a duration of the presence in interactive region.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The invention, however, both as to organization and method of operation, together with objects, features, and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read with the accompanying drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary computing device adapted to process an application which is adapted to associate a communication device with a user's virtual profile and update a database on a remote server in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is a diagram of an exemplary computing device adapted to process an application which is adapted to associate a communication device with a user's virtual profile and update a database on a remote server in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

(4) FIG. 3 is a flow chart depicting the steps of an embodiment of the present invention which may be executed by an application adapted to associate a communication device with a user's virtual profile and update a database on a remote server;

(5) FIG. 4 shows an exemplary arrangement of a local virtual network server functionally coupled with a set of detectors and/or transceiver adapted to detect a communication device within an interactive region and communicate with a network;

(6) FIG. 5 shows an exemplary arrangement of a local virtual network server functionally coupled with a set of detectors and/or transceiver adapted to detect a communication device within an interactive region and communicate with a network;

(7) FIG. 6 shows an exemplary arrangement of a local virtual network server functionally coupled with a set of detectors and/or transceiver adapted to detect a communication device within an interactive region, communicate with a network and with a messaging server adapted to transfer data to and from communication device(s);

(8) FIG. 7 shows an exemplary arrangement of a local virtual network server functionally coupled with a set of detectors and/or transceiver adapted to detect a communication device within an interactive region, communicate with a network, with a messaging server adapted to transfer data to and from communication device(s) and with a remote virtual network server;

(9) FIG. 8 is a flow chart depicting the step of a local virtual network server in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

(10) FIG. 9 is a flow chart depicting the step of a remote virtual network server in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

(11) FIG. 10 shows an exemplary arrangement of the system wherein a remote virtual network server is communicating with a plurality of interactive regions and local servers;

(12) FIG. 11 is a flow chart depicting the steps involving a user's communication device according to some embodiments of the present invention;

(13) FIG. 12 is a flow chart depicting the steps of an exemplary system in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

(14) FIG. 13 shows an exemplary arrangement of a system in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, which system may include a local virtual network server functionally coupled with an electromagnetic radiation detector and an electromagnetic transceiver, a remote virtual network server and a messaging server;

(15) FIG. 14 shows an exemplary arrangement of a system in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, including a mobile device (e.g. laptop, pda, mobile phone etc.) which is functioning as a local virtual server;

(16) FIG. 15 shows an exemplary arrangement of a system in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, including one or more mobile devices (e.g. laptop, pda, mobile phone etc.) which are functioning as local virtual servers; and

(17) FIG. 16 is a flow chart depicting the steps of an association process between a communication device and the system in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

(18) It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(19) In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present invention.

(20) Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the following discussions, it is appreciated that throughout the specification discussions utilizing terms such as “processing”, “computing”, “calculating”, “determining”, or the like, refer to the action and/or processes of a computer or computing system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform data represented as physical, such as electronic, quantities within the computing system's registers and/or memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computing system's memories, registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

(21) Embodiments of the present invention may include apparatuses for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the desired purposes, or it may comprise a general purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMS) electrically programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasable and programmable read only memories (EEPROMs), magnetic or optical cards, or any other type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and capable of being coupled to a computer system bus.

(22) The processes and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general purpose systems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct a more specialized apparatus to perform the desired method. The desired structure for a variety of these systems will appear from the description below. In addition, embodiments of the present invention are not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the inventions as described herein.

(23) There is provided a system and method for creating a local social network, based on a user's location and a user's virtual social profile (e.g. a Facebook profile, a myspace profile) on a virtual social network (e.g. Facebook, myspace). The method includes the steps of: (1) associating a communication device with a user's virtual profile, (2) detecting a communication device within an interactive region, (3) extracting unique parameters of the communication device, (4) retrieving data associated with the communication device and with the user's virtual profile, and (5) initiating data transfer based on the retrieved data.

(24) Turning now to FIGS. 1 and 2 there are shown portions of the system including: an application running on a computing device and a remote virtual network server. The system according to FIGS. 1 and 2 may best be described in conjunction with FIG. 3, where is shown a flow chart depicting the step of an application associated with the present invention. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the application may be adapted to: (A) associate a communication device with a user's virtual profile (step 3000), and (B) update a database based on the association (step 3100), both steps will be further explained herein below.

(25) According to some embodiments of the present invention, the system may include an application as shown in FIG. 1 (e.g. software application), which application may be associated and/or functionally coupled with a virtual social network. The application may generate an association/coupling between a (user's) communication device (e.g cell phone, FDA, etc.) and the users virtual social profile. According to further embodiments of the present invention, the association may be between the user's virtual profile and specific parameters of the user's communication device. The parameters of the user's communication device may be: phone number, serial number, production number, MAC address of any of the phone communication components (e.g. Bluetooth transceiver MAC address, WiFi MAC address etc.), a unique name, a unique name and password etc. According to some further embodiments of the present invention, the association may be performed semi-automatically, e.g. the computer on which the application is processed senses/detects the communication device and associates the communication device with the user's virtual profile, or manually, e.g. the user manually enters the parameter (e.g. Bluetooth MAC address) used for the association.

(26) According to some embodiments of the present invention, the system may also include a remote virtual network server, which remote virtual network server may include a database of all the associations of made by the application explained hereinabove. For example, if a user is associating their communication device with his virtual user profile, the association will be stored on the remote virtual local server. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the application (“the association application”) may update the database of the remote virtual network server directly or via another network interface as shown in FIG. 2.

(27) Turning now to FIGS. 4 and 5, there are shown different arrangements and setting of the system including in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the system may include a local virtual network server (“local server”, “local virtual server”) and a set of detectors and/or transceivers (e.g. Bluetooth device detectors, Bluetooth device detectors and transceivers). According to some embodiments of the present invention, the area covered by the set of detectors/transceivers (e.g. the area where a communication device will be detected) is referred to as an “interactive region”. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the set of detectors/transceivers may be adapted to detect one or more communication devices within the detection range (e.g, within the interactive region). According to further embodiments of the present invention, the set of detectors/transceivers may be functionally coupled with the local virtual network server in such a way that a list of detected devices within the interactive region may be generated by the local virtual server (e.g. each detector/transceiver will pass the list of detected devices in his range to the local virtual server). According to further embodiments of the present invention, the set of detectors/sensors may be adapted to open a communication session with the detected communication device (e.g. pair Bluetooth device). According to yet further embodiments of the present invention, the local server may be adapted to open a communication session with the detected communication device via the set of detectors/transceivers or directly. Turning now to FIG. 6, there is shown yet another arrangement of the present invention, wherein a communication session between the local server and a detected communication device is conducted using a messaging server adapted to send messages to the detected device (e.g. SMS, MMS, Bluetooth, WiFi, IR, etc.).

(28) Turning now to FIG. 7, there is shown yet another arrangement of the system, including: a local server, a set of detectors/transceivers, a remote server and a messaging server in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. The functionality of the system shown in FIG. 7 may best be described in conjunction with FIGS. 8 and 9 where are shown flow charts depicting the steps of a local server and of a remote virtual network server (respectively) in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

(29) According to some embodiment of the present invention, a local server may detect a communication device within the interactive region as explained hereinabove and extract from the device unique parameters associated with the device (e.g. when pairing with a Bluetooth device, the device's Bluetooth MAC address is extracted) (step 8000).

(30) According to some embodiments of the present invention, the local server is adapted to send parameters associated with a detected device(s) to a remote virtual network server (step 8200 and 9000).

(31) According to some embodiments of the present invention, the remote server may look up a user's virtual profile which is associated with a communication device based on the communication device parameters (step 9100).

(32) According to some embodiments of the present invention, the remote server may retrieve data associated with a user's virtual profile (step 9200), the data retrieved may be any type of data which the virtual profile encapsulates (e.g. “groups” and “communities” the user is a part of, personal details, events, “causes” and/or any other type of data used or defined in a virtual profile).

(33) According to some embodiments of the present invention, the remote server may send data associated with a user's virtual profile, or portions of that data, to a local network server (step 9300), preferably to the local server who detected the communication device within its interactive region (step 8400).

(34) According to some embodiments of the present invention, the local server maybe adapted to send and receive data to and from the detected communication device based on (1) the retrieved data and (2) other detected communication device(s) within the interactive region (step 8500). For example, the local server may be adapted to send a message to a communication device which informs the user of that communication device of the presence of other users within the interactive region (users with a virtual profile) and of similarities (e.g. shared communities, shared groups etc.) between the virtual profiles. According to yet further embodiments of the present invention, the local server may detect a user's exact location, e.g. by means of triangulation, and inform other users of that location.

(35) According to some embodiments of the present invention, the local server may also include a database of all detected communication device(s), data associated with the communication devices and data extracted from the activity and data transfer of the communication device within the interactive region. According to further embodiments of the present invention, the local server may hold a list of currently active users within the interactive region, with time stamps indicating the last detection time of a communication device. According to yet further embodiments of the present invention, a communication device may be removed from the list of currently active users if the communication device wasn't detected for a predefined period of time in the interactive region (steps 8600 and 8700).

(36) According to some embodiments of the present invention, the system may include a messaging server, which messaging server may be adapted send data to a detected communication device and receive data from a detected communication device, according to yet further embodiment of the present invention, the local server and/or remote server may be adapted to trigger data transfer to and from the messaging server and a detected communication device.

(37) Turning now to FIG. 10, there is shown an exemplary arrangement of the system wherein a remote virtual network server is communicating with a plurality of local servers functionally coupled with interactive regions.

(38) According to some embodiments of the present invention, the messaging server may communicate and manage data transferring to one or more local virtual servers in parallel.

(39) Turning now to FIG. 12, there is a flow chart depicting the steps of a system in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, which steps may best be understood in conjunction with FIGS. 10, 13, 14 and 16. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the system may be adapted to associate a communication device with a first virtual profile (step 1200). According to further embodiments of the present invention, the system may be adapted to update a remote database based on said association (step 1210). According to further embodiments of the present invention, the system may be adapted to detect a communication device upon its entering an interactive region (steps 1220 and 1230). According to some embodiments of the present invention, the system may be adapted to extract unique (identifying) parameters of the communication device as described herein above (step 1230). According to some embodiments of the present invention, the system may be adapted to retrieve data (e.g. from the remote database) associated with the communication device (e.g. a virtual user profile) step 1240. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the system may be adapted to initiate and trigger data transfer with one or communication devices based on the retrieved data (step 1250).

(40) Turning now to FIG. 13, there is shown an exemplary arrangement of a system in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, which system may include a local virtual network server functionally coupled with an electromagnetic radiation detector and an electromagnetic transceiver, a remote virtual network server and a messaging server.

(41) According to some embodiments of the present invention, the local virtual network server may have a processor and may be coupled to: (1) a memory (2) an electromagnetic radiation detector and (3) an electromagnetic transceiver. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the remote virtual network server may be coupled to a memory. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the local virtual network server may be adapted to detect electromagnetic radiation emitting from a first (1300) and a second (1350) mobile communication device. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the local virtual network server may be adapted to detect, extract and transmit parameters associated with the electromagnetic radiation emitting from the first and second mobile communication device.

(42) According to some embodiments of the present invention, the remote virtual network server is adapted to receive parameters associated with said electromagnetic radiation and retrieve user associated data with said parameters. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the remote virtual network server is adapted to trigger data exchange with the first and second mobile device based on said retrieved user associated data.

(43) According to some embodiments of the present invention, the data exchange may be facilitated using a messaging server. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the electromagnetic radiation may be a Bluetooth radiation, wifi radiation, wimax radiation and/or LTE (“Long Term Evolution”).

(44) According to some embodiments of the present invention, the parameters associated with the electromagnetic radiation may include Mac address of the communication device, services provided and enabled ports by the operating system. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the electromagnetic transceiver may be a Bluetooth transceiver, a wifi transceiver a wimax transceiver and/or an LTE transceiver. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the user associated data may include a virtual user profile.

(45) Turning now to FIGS. 14 and 15, there are shown exemplary arrangements of the system in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the system may include a mobile device (e.g. laptop, PDA, mobile phone etc.) which is adapted to operate as a local virtual server functionally coupled with an electromagnetic transceiver and detector (e.g. a laptop with Bluetooth transceiver, a mobile device coupled with an operating system and a Bluetooth transceiver etc.). FIG. 15 shows an arrangement with more than one local virtual server, in this arrangement each local server is a “node” which is coupled with an interactive region. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the remote virtual server may be adapted to manage the interactive region by joining the detected devices by each local server, and tunneling the data\messages to the appropriate local servers and/or mobile devices.

(46) An example of such management may be given in FIG. 15, showing a system which includes a remote server, a messaging server, two local servers (“mobile server”, “dynamic server”, “dynamic agents”) populating one interactive region, which interactive region is currently populated with three communication devices (1500, 1530 and 1540). Communication device 1500 is detected by dynamic agent 1510 and is communicated with by the messaging server. Communication device 1530 and 1540 are detected by dynamic agent 1520 which is also the one sending them messages (i.e. the remote server is tunneling messages which have 1530 and 1540 as recipients via dynamic agent 1520).

(47) Turning now to FIG. 16, there is shown a flow chart depicting the steps of an association process between a communication device and the system in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the system ay detect a communication device (step 1600), this may happen when the communication device enters an interactive region, or when a “dynamic agent” was activated in proximity to the device. According to further embodiments of the present invention, the system may extract unique (identifying) parameters from the communication device as described herein above (step 1610). According to further embodiments of the present invention, the system may be adapted to send the communication device a registration message (step 1620), according to some further embodiments of the present invention, such a message may be an HTML message with a unique link, a text message with a unique code and web site address to enter the code, and or any other message which will comprise means of authenticating the device. According to further embodiments of the present invention, the registration message may be sent to the communication device based on the extracted parameters (e.g. if one of the parameters is a MAC address of a Bluetooth transceiver, the message may be sent to the transceiver based on the extracted MAC address). According to further embodiments of the present invention, the system may associate the extracted parameters (i.e. the unique identifiers of the communication device) with data received from the user as shown in step 1640 (e.g. the user followed a unique HTML link and entered its name or associated a virtual profile). This may best be understood in conjunction with the system described in FIG. 1.

(48) According to some embodiments of the present invention, the system may gather parameters associated with the electromagnetic radiation of a communication device. According to yet further embodiments of the present invention, the system may gather the parameters in a passive way (e.g. sensing) or using active procedures (e.g. SOP, queries, etc.).

(49) According to some embodiments of the present invention, data sent to a communication device from the (1) local server, (2) remote server and/or (3) messaging server may be sent using SMS's, MMS's, hyperlinks, Bluetooth messages and/or any other type of message known today or to be devised in the future.

(50) While certain features of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, many modifications, substitutions, changes, and equivalents will now occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the invention.