Clustering geofence-based alerts for mobile devices

摘要

A geofence management system obtains location data for points of interest. The geofence management system determines, at the option of the user, the location of a user mobile computing device relative to specific points of interest and alerts the user when the user nears the points of interest. The geofence management system, however, determines relationships among the identified points of interest, and associates or “clusters” the points of interest together based on the determined relationships. Rather than establishing separate geofences for multiple points of interest, and then alerting the user each time the user's mobile device enters each geofence boundary, the geofence management system establishes a single geofence boundary for the associated points of interest. When the user's mobile device enters the clustered geofence boundary, the geofence management system notifies the user device to alert the user of the entrance event. The user then receives the clustered, geofence-based alert.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method for providing combined alert notifications, comprising:
determining, by the one or more computing devices, a relationship among two or more points of interest; associating, by the one or more computing devices, the two or more points of interest in response to determining the relationship among the two or more of the points of interest; determining, by the one or more computing devices, a geofence boundary of a geofence, wherein the geofence boundary of the geofence encompasses the two or more associated points of interest; communicating, by the one or more computing devices, geofence boundary data to a user computing device for the geofence boundary encompassing the two or more associated points of interest, wherein the user computing device is separate and distinct from the one or more computing devices; determining, by the one or more computing devices, that the user computing device has entered the geofence boundary; and providing, by the one or more computing devices and in response to determining that the user device has entered the geofence boundary encompassing the two or more points of interest, a combined alert on the user computing device regarding the associated points of interest when the user device is determined to be in the geofence boundary.