A METHOD FOR NOTIFYING A FIRST MOBILE TERMINAL OF AN EVENT RELATED TO A SECOND MOBILE TERMINAL
20230164514 · 2023-05-25
Inventors
Cpc classification
H04W4/80
ELECTRICITY
G01S5/0295
PHYSICS
H04L67/52
ELECTRICITY
G16H50/80
PHYSICS
International classification
H04W4/80
ELECTRICITY
Abstract
A method for notifying on a first mobile terminal an event related to a second mobile terminal is disclosed. The method includes collecting first parameters associated with a short-range radio communication device detected by the first mobile terminal, playing information on the first mobile terminal about an event related to the second mobile terminal when a match is detected between the first parameters and second parameters associated with a short-range radio communication device detected by the second mobile device, the second parameters being collected by the second mobile device. A corresponding mobile terminal capable of notifying an event related to another mobile terminal, as well as to a corresponding tracking device is also disclosed. In case of a pandemic, the method informs a user of mobile terminal that (s)he has been in contact with an infected user of another mobile terminal in the recent past.
Claims
1. A method for notifying on a first mobile terminal an event related to a second mobile terminal, the method comprising: collecting first parameters associated with at least one short-range radio communication device detected by the first mobile terminal; and playing information on the first mobile terminal about an event related to the second mobile terminal when a match is detected between at least one of the first parameters and at least one second parameters associated with at least one short-range radio communication device detected by the second mobile device, the second parameters being collected by the second mobile device.
2. The method for notifying on a first mobile terminal an event related to a second mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the parameters associated with the at least one short-range radio communication device comprise an identifier of the at least one short-range radio communication device.
3. The method for notifying on a first mobile terminal an event related to a second mobile terminal according to claim 2, wherein the parameters associated with the at least one short-range radio communication device further comprise at least one of: a timestamp indicating a time at which the mobile terminal enters the range of the at least one short-range radio communication device, and a timestamp indicating a time at which the mobile terminal leaves the range of the at least one short-range radio communication device.
4. The method for notifying on a first mobile terminal an event related to a second mobile terminal according to claim 2, wherein the collected parameters associated with the at least one short-range radio communication device further comprise a location of the at least one short-range radio communication device or wherein the method further comprises collecting the location of the second mobile terminal when the collected parameters do not comprise the location of the short-range radio communication device, the information played on the first mobile terminal comprising the location.
5. The method for notifying on a first mobile terminal an event related to a second mobile terminal according to claim 1, further comprising storing the first parameters in a memory of the first mobile terminal.
6. The method for notifying on a first mobile terminal an event related to a second mobile terminal according to claim 5, wherein the first parameters are encrypted prior to their storing.
7. The method for notifying on a first mobile terminal an event related to a second mobile terminal according to claim 1, comprising: receiving the second parameters associated with at least one short-range radio communication device detected by the second mobile device; and determining a match between at least one first parameters and at least one second parameters associated with at least one short-range radio communication device detected by the second mobile device, the determination of a match between at least one first parameter and at least one second parameter triggering the playing of information on the first mobile terminal about an event related to the second mobile terminal.
8. The method for notifying on a first mobile terminal an event related to a second mobile terminal according to claim 1, further comprising: transmitting the first parameters to a remote server storing the second parameters; and receiving the information about an event related to the second mobile terminal when the remote server detects a match between at least one first parameters and at least one second parameters.
9. A method for tracking a mobile terminal, the method being executed by a tracking device and comprising: receiving first parameters associated with at least one short-range radio communication device detected by a first mobile terminal and collected by the first mobile terminal; receiving second parameters associated with at least one short-range radio communication device detected by a second mobile terminal and collected by the second mobile terminal; determining if there is a match between at least one first parameters and at least one second parameters; and when there is a match between the at least one first parameters and the at least one second parameters, requesting a playing of information on the first mobile terminal about an event related to the second mobile terminal.
10. A mobile terminal capable of notifying an event related to another mobile terminal, the mobile terminal comprising a processor configured to: collect first parameters associated with at least one short-range radio communication device detected by the mobile terminal; and play information on the mobile terminal about an event related to the other mobile terminal when a match is detected between at least one of the first parameters and at least one second parameters associated with at least one short-range radio communication device detected by the other mobile terminal, the second parameters being collected by the other mobile terminal.
11. A tracking device capable of tracking a mobile terminal, the tracking device comprising a processor configured to: receive first parameters associated with at least one short-range radio communication device detected by a first mobile terminal and collected by the first mobile terminal; receive second parameters associated with at least one short-range radio communication device detected by a second mobile terminal and collected by the second mobile terminal; determine if there is a match between at least one first parameters and at least one second parameters; and when there is a match between the at least one first parameters and the at least one second parameters, request a playing of information on the first mobile terminal about an event related to the second mobile terminal.
12. The tracking device according to claim 11, wherein the tracking device is embedded in the first mobile terminal.
13. The tracking device according to claim 11, wherein the tracking device is embedded in a remote server.
14. A processing circuit comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing program code instructions of a computer program for the implementation of the method for notifying an event according to claim 1 when the computer program is executed by the processor.
15. A processing circuit comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing program code instructions of a computer program for the implementation of the method for tracking a mobile terminal according to claim 9 when the computer program is executed by the processor.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0056] The present disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following description and drawings, given by way of example and not limiting the scope of protection, and in which:
[0057]
[0058]
[0059]
[0060]
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[0062] The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the development.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS
[0063]
[0064] The system comprises at least a first mobile terminal 10 and a second mobile terminal 12, a first short-range radio communication device 11 (which in this example is a Wi-Fi access node), a second short-range radio communication devices 13 (which in this example is another mobile terminal) and a remote server 14.
[0065] In the following, the second mobile terminal 12 is supposed to be owned by a specific individual, such as an individual being diagnosed as infected by a contagious virus. Mobile terminals 10 and 12, short-range radio communication device 11, 13 and remote server 14 may embed a tracking device 15, as discussed thereafter.
[0066] The mobile terminals 10, 12 may each possess a respective unique identifier Id10, Id12 such as a universally unique identifier (UUID) defined in the document RFC 4122 published by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force). A UUID is a 128-bit number used to identify information in computer systems.
[0067] The functions and interconnexions between those different devices will be explained in reference to
[0068]
[0069] In step SI, the mobile terminal 10 enters the range of the first short-range radio communication device 11. This is typically the case when the mobile terminal 10 starts detecting a radio signal constantly or periodically emitted by device 11.
[0070] In a step S2, the mobile terminal 10 collects parameters associated with the short-range radio communication device 11 it has detected. These parameters comprise a unique identifier Id11 of this short-range radio communication device 11, here the SSID of the Wi-Fi network provided by the short-range radio communication device 11 when device 11 is a Wi-Fi access node.
[0071] These collected parameters may optionally comprise as well a location of the short-range radio communication device 11, if provided. In a specific embodiment where the mobile terminal 10 fails to obtain this location of the short-range radio communication device 11, the mobile terminal 10 may instead collect its own location, obtained for instance by means of a geo-localization module (e.g. GPS) embedded in the mobile terminal 10.
[0072] Once collected, those parameters are timestamped, for instance to associate a specific day and time with the identifier of the detected device 11. In order to do so, for each detected short-range communication device 11, 13, the collected parameters may comprise the identifier Id11, Id13 in association with: [0073] a timestamp indicating a time at which mobile terminal 10 has entered the range of, or connected with, this short-range radio communication, [0074] a timestamp indicating a time at which mobile terminal 10 has left the range of, or disconnected from, this short-range radio communication device (i.e. the time at which it does not detect it any longer), or [0075] both these above-mentioned time stamps.
[0076] In a first embodiment, step S2 is executed when the mobile terminal 10 connects to the short-range radio communication device 11. In this embodiment where only the connection to a short-range radio communication device triggers the parameters collection, there can be holes in time, in terms of user localization, since the mobile terminal 10 does not continuously connect to a short-range radio communication device such as devices 11 or 13.
[0077] In another embodiment, the mobile terminal 10 collects parameters associated with any short-range radio communication device 11, 13 it detects, without actually establishing a connection with these short-range radio communication device 11,13. In this embodiment, the mobile terminal 10 collects parameters associated with each the short-range radio communication device 11, 13 it passes by, as long as the mobile terminal 10 passes within their range.
[0078] In this embodiment, not only the mobile terminal 10 collects parameters when connecting to short-range radio communication device 11, but also when detecting a nearby short-range radio communication device 13, without connecting to it. As a consequence, this embodiment gives a more precise picture of the mobile terminal 10 route.
[0079] From time to time, the mobile terminal 10 transmits the collected parameters of each short-range radio communication device 11, 13 it has encountered, for example as a list L10, to the remote server 14. This transmission occurs during a step S3.
[0080] More precisely, for each short-range radio communication device 11, 13 encountered, the mobile terminal 10 stores in list L10 the respective identifier Id11, Id13 of the short-range radio communication devices 11,13 (e.g. the SSIDs of the Wi-Fi network provided by the short-range radio communication devices 11 and 13) or any other identifier of a short-range radio connection provided by these short-range radio communication devices 11, 13, with also possibly a respective location of these short-range radio communication devices 11,13 and at least a timestamp indicating a time at which those parameters are collected.
[0081] In case a connection is established between the mobile terminal 10 and a short-range radio communication device 11 or 13, a duration of this connection may be stored in the list L10 as well.
[0082] Steps S′2 and S′3, similar respectively to steps S2 and S3 as above, are also executed by mobile terminal 12.
[0083] In a step S4, the remote server 14 receives a message about an event related to terminal mobile 12 which should be notified to other mobile terminals. Such an event may be for instance the fact that a user of mobile this mobile terminal 12 has been diagnosed as being infected by a contagious virus. A possible date of infection is also provided to the remote server 14. The infection of the user of the mobile terminal 12 may be thus referred to as an event related to this mobile terminal 12. The remote server 14 forwards this information to the tracking device 15.
[0084] For each mobile terminal different from the mobile terminal 12 related to the event to notify (here for mobile terminal 10 in
[0085] In a step S5, the tracking device 15 extracts from list L10 a first set of parameters collected by mobile terminal 10 and whose timestamps are within the time window. The tracking device 15 extracts as well, from a list L12, a second set of parameters collected by mobile terminal 12 and whose timestamps are within the time window.
[0086] In a step S6, the tracking device 15 compares the first set of parameters collected by mobile terminal 10 with the second set of parameters collected by mobile terminal 12 in order to determine if there is at least one parameter related to the same short-range radio communication device 11 or 13 in both first and second set of parameters.
[0087] In that respect, when an identifier Id11 or Id13 of a short-range radio communication device 11, 13 has been collected in both the first and the second set of parameters, with the same associated timestamps or relatively close timestamps (for instance within an hour interval), then it is determined that the mobile terminal 10 was in the vicinity of the mobile terminal 12 of the infected individual substantially at the same time during the time window.
[0088] In a specific embodiments where the collected parameters comprise both time stamps indicating when the mobile terminal has entered into the range (resp. has connected with) and has left the range (resp. has disconnected with) of the short-range communication device, then a verification is made as to whether the same identifier Id11 or Id13 is collected by both terminals with overlapping time intervals (defined by the collected time stamps). When this is the case, then it is determined that the mobile terminal 10 was in the vicinity of the mobile terminal 12 of the infected individual substantially at the same time during the time window.
[0089] In another specific embodiment where the tracking device 15 knows about the identifier Id12 of the mobile terminal acting as a short-range radio communication device (i.e. when it acts as a wifi access point for instance), if the tracking device 15 determines that this identifier Id12 of the mobile terminal 12 is comprised in the first set of parameters collected by mobile terminal 10 whose timestamps are within the time window, then the tracking device 15 may determine that the mobile terminal 10 was within direct short range of the mobile terminal 12 of the infected individual at some time during the time window.
[0090] Once a match between the mobile terminal 10 and the mobile terminal 12 of the infected user is detected, the tracking device 15 embedded in the remote server 14 generates, m a step S7, one or more parameters associated with said event. These parameters comprise information that an infected individual was in the vicinity mobile terminal 10. They may also comprise identifiers Id11, Id13 of the short-range radio communication device 11, 13 identified by the tracking device 15, the location of said short-range radio communication device 11, 13, and an indication of a time and date at which the encounter occurred.
[0091] In a step S8, the tracking device 15 embedded in the remote server 14 sends a request RQS to the mobile terminal 10 comprising the parameters associated with the event and requesting the mobile terminal 10 to play a notification comprising information about said event, such as “you were near an infected individual”, for instance.
[0092] When additional information such as the location of the short-range communication device (or of the mobile terminal when it has failed to collect it) or a timestamp associated with the identifier Id11, Id13 has been collected, this information can be used to enrich the notification, such as “you were near an infected individual on Month Day Year, time, at location X” for instance.
[0093] In a step S9, the mobile terminal 10 plays this notification. This notification can be a message, such as a text message, displayed on a screen of the mobile device 10, or a vocal message played by a speaker of the mobile device 10, or both.
[0094]
[0095] In a step RI, the mobile terminal 10 enters the range of the first short-range radio communication device 11.
[0096] In a step R2, the mobile terminal 10 collects parameters associated with the short-range radio communication device 11, including its unique identifier Id11, here the SSID of the Wi-Fi network provided by the short-range radio communication device 11 since device 11 is a Wi-Fi access node. The collected parameters may also possibly comprise a location of the short-range radio communication device 11 or, when the mobile terminal fails to obtain such a location, the location of the mobile terminal 10 itself, as described previously. Once collected, those parameters are timestamped as described in relation to
[0097] Just as in the previous embodiment, step R2 may be executed when the mobile terminal 10 connects to a short-range radio communication device 11,13 or when it detects one of them, without establishing a connection with the short-range radio communication device 11, 13.
[0098] In a step R3, the mobile terminal 10 stores locally the collected parameters of each short-range radio communication device 11, 13, it has encountered, for example as a list L10, in its memory. To increase data privacy, the list L10 is encrypted prior to being stored.
[0099] For each short-range radio communication device 11, 13 encountered, the mobile terminal 10 stores in list L10 the identifier Id11, Id13, of the short-range radio communication devices 11, 13 (e.g. the SSID of the Wi-Fi connection provided by the short-range radio communication devices 11) or any other identifier of a short-range radio connection provided by the short-range radio communication device 13, with possibly a location of the short-range radio communication devices 11, 13 (or alternatively of the mobile terminal 10 itself when it fails to obtain it), and at least a timestamp indicating a time at which those parameters are collected. In case a connection is established between the mobile terminal 10 and one of short-range radio communication devices 11, 13, a duration of this connection may also be stored in the list L10 as well.
[0100] Steps R2′ and R3′, which are similar respectively to steps R2 and R3 as above, are also executed by mobile terminal 12.
[0101] At this stage, each one of mobile terminals 10 and 12 stores a list comprising information about its whereabouts.
[0102] In this second implementation, there is no automatic upload of all the collected parameters to the remote server 14, but rather an upload of parameters collected by a specific mobile terminal 10 or 12, when necessary.
[0103] In a step R4, the remote server 14 receives a message informing it that a user of mobile terminal 12 is, for example, infected by a contagious disease. A possible date of infection may also be provided to the remote server 14 at this stage, this date of infection being useable to determine a time window in which individuals who have been in the vicinity of the user of mobile terminal 12 will be looked for. This time window can take into account the incubation period of the disease. The infection of the user of mobile terminal 12 is referred to as an event related to this mobile terminal 12.
[0104] In a step R5, the remote server 14 sends a request RQS1 to the mobile terminal 12, the user of which is infected, asking it to transmit its list L12 of collected parameters to the remote server 14 where it is stored together with the identifier Id12 of the mobile terminal 12, for later use.
[0105] In a step R6, the mobile terminal 12 transmits its list L12 of collected parameters to the remote server 14 together with its identifier Id12 in a message MSG1.
[0106] At some point, a user of the mobile terminal 10 wants to know if he/she was in contact with an infected individual. The user of the mobile terminal 10, by means of a user interface of the mobile terminal 10, triggers the sending of a request RQS2 to the remote server 14, in a step R7, asking for the lists of collected parameters of mobile terminals whose user declared themselves as infected.
[0107] In a step R8, in response to request RQS2, the remote server 14 transmits the list L12 of parameters collected by the mobile terminal 12, together with the supposed date of infection of the user of mobile terminal 12 and/or the time window, to the mobile terminal 10 in a message MSG2. Here, the list L12 collected by only one mobile terminal 12 is transmitted for illustration, but several lists, respectively collected by different mobile terminals belonging to infected users, could be transmitted to mobile terminal 10, naturally.
[0108] In a step R9, the tracking device 15 embedded in mobile terminal 10 uses the parameters collected by mobile terminal 10 and the parameters collected by mobile terminal 12, together with the time window, in order to determine if the mobile device 10 and the mobile terminal 12 have been in the vicinity of the same short-range radio communication device 11, 13 around the same given time.
[0109] In a step R10, the tracking device 15 extracts from list L10 a first set of parameters collected by mobile terminal 10 and whose timestamps are within the time window. The tracking device 15 extracts as well, from a list L12 a second set of parameters collected by mobile terminal device 12 and whose timestamps are within the time window.
[0110] In a step R11, the tracking device 15 compares the first set of parameters collected by mobile terminal 10 with the second set of parameters collected by mobile terminal 12 in order to determine if there is at least one parameter related to a short-range radio communication device 11, 13 which is common to the first and the second set of parameters.
[0111] For instance, when an identifier Id11 or Id13 of a short-range radio communication device 11, 13 is common to the first and the second set of parameters, then it is determined that the mobile terminal 10 was in the vicinity of the mobile terminal 12 of the infected individual at some time during the time window.
[0112] Once a match between the mobile terminal 10 and mobile terminal 12 of the infected user is detected, the tracking device 15 embedded in the mobile terminal 4 generates, in a step R12, one or more parameters associated with said event. These parameters comprise an information that an infected individual was in the vicinity mobile terminal 10. They may also comprise an identifier Id11, Id13 of the short-range radio communication device 11, 13 identified by the tracking device 15, the location of said short-range radio communication device 11, 13, and an indication of a time and date at which the encounter occurred.
[0113] In a step R13, the tracking device 15 triggers the playing a notification comprising information about said event such as “you were near an infected individual on Month Day Year, time, at location X”. This notification can be a message, such as a text message, displayed on a screen of the mobile device 10, or a vocal message played by a speaker of the mobile device 10, or both.
[0114] In another embodiment of the second implementation of the method for notifying an event and the method for tracking a mobile terminal, the tracking device 15 is embedded in the remote server 14, not in the mobile terminal 10, and steps R8 to R13 are not executed. Instead, in this embodiment, a user of the mobile terminal 10 who wants to know if he/she was in contact with an infected individual, triggers, by means of the user interface of the mobile terminal 10, the transmission of its own list L10 of collected parameters to the remote server 14 together with a request for determining whether the mobile terminal 10 was within range of a short-range radio communication device 12 belonging to an infected individual or not.
[0115] Upon reception of this request by the remote server 14, steps S5 to S9 are executed as explained in reference to
[0116]
[0117] A mobile terminal 10 may comprise at least one hardware processor 41, a storage unit 42, an input device 43, a display device 44, and a network interface 45, which are typically connected by a data bus 46. Of course, constituent elements of the mobile terminal 10 may be connected by a connection other than a data bus connection.
[0118] The hardware processor(s) 41 controls operations of the mobile terminal 10. The storage unit 42 stores at least one program capable of notifying a mobile terminal of an event linked to another mobile terminal to be executed by the processor 41, and various data, such as parameters used by computations performed by the processor 41, intermediate data of computations performed by the processor 41, and so on. The processor 41 may be formed by any known and suitable hardware, or software, or a combination of hardware and software. For example, the processor 41 may be formed by dedicated hardware such as a processing circuit, or by a programmable processing unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes a program stored in a memory thereof
[0119] The storage unit 42 may be formed by any suitable storage or means capable of storing the program, data, or the like in a computer-readable manner. Examples of the storage unit 42 include non-transitory computer-readable storage media such as semiconductor memory devices, and magnetic, optical, or magneto-optical recording media loaded into a read and write unit. The program causes the processor 41 to perform a process according to an embodiment of the present development as described with reference to
[0120] The input device 43 may be formed by a keyboard, a pointing device such as a mouse, or the like for use by the user to input commands, for example to make user's selections of parameters used for selecting the level of proficiency of the reader in reading logograms.
[0121] The display device 44 and the input device 43 may be formed integrally by a touchscreen panel.
[0122] A network interface 45 provides a connection between the mobile terminal 10 and short-range radio communication devices 11, 12, 13 and a remote server 14.
[0123]
[0124] A tracking device 15 may comprise at least one hardware processor 51, a storage unit 52, and an interface 53, which are typically connected by a data bus 54. Of course, constituent elements of the tracking device 15 may be connected by a connection other than a data bus connection.
[0125] The hardware processor(s) 51 controls operations of the tracking device 15. The storage unit 52 stores at least one program capable of tracking a mobile terminal to be executed by the processor 51, and various data, such as parameters used by computations performed by the processor 51, intermediate data of computations performed by the processor 51, and so on. The processor 51 may be formed by any known and suitable hardware, or software, or a combination of hardware and software. For example, the processor 51 may be formed by dedicated hardware such as a processing circuit, or by a programmable processing unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes a program stored in a memory thereof
[0126] The storage unit 52 may be formed by any suitable storage or means capable of storing the program, data, or the like in a computer-readable manner. Examples of the storage unit 52 include non-transitory computer-readable storage media such as semiconductor memory devices, and magnetic, optical, or magneto-optical recording media loaded into a read and write unit. The program causes the processor 51 to perform a process according to an embodiment of the present development as described with reference to
[0127] The interface 53 provides a connection between the tracking device 15 and the mobile terminal 10 or the remote server 14.
[0128] Although the present development has been described hereinabove with reference to specific embodiments, the present development is not limited to the specific embodiments, and modifications will be apparent to a skilled person in the art which lie within the scope of the present development.
[0129] In particular, the present development has been described in details in the specific context of the notification, on a mobile terminal, that the user of another terminal has been diagnosed as infected by a contagious virus. However, the present development can apply to any other type of event worthy to be notified on a mobile terminal, when this event is related to another mobile terminal that has been in short proximity of this terminal in a recent past.
[0130] In addition, the case of a single mobile terminal 10 being notified has been illustrated in
[0131] Many further modifications and variations will suggest themselves to those versed in the art upon making reference to the foregoing illustrative embodiments, which are given by way of example only and which are not intended to limit the scope of the development, that being determined solely by the appended claims. In particular the different features from different embodiments may be interchanged, where appropriate.