WO2017033089A1

WO2017033089A1 - A computer system for providing advertisements on vehicles based on remotely collected data

Info

Publication number: WO2017033089A1
Application number: PCT/IB2016/054883
Authority: WO
Inventors: Eddie YBAÑEZ
Original assignee: Ybañez Eddie
Priority date: 2015-08-24
Filing date: 2016-08-13
Publication date: 2017-03-02
Also published as: WO2017033088A1; PH22015000427U1; PH22015000427Y1

Abstract

An implementation of the utility model provides a computer system for providing advertisements on vehicles based on remotely collected data. The computer system includes a server computer and a client computer in communication with one another through a communication network, wherein the client computer is provided in a communication medium attachably secured to a portion of a vehicle. A database system containing advertisement data is coupled to the server computer. The server computer also includes computer-executable instructions which may be grouped into a location information analyzer for collecting and analyzing global location information associated with the client computer, a time information generator for generating a time information at which a first advertisement data is preconfigured to be transmitted to the client computer, and an advertisement information controller for retrieving from the database system and transmitting to the client computer the first advertisement data based on the location and time information. The client computer replaces a second advertisement data currently provided via its interface unit with the first advertisement data if the two advertisement data do not match one another.

Description

A COMPUTER SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING ADVERTISEMENTS ON

VEHICLES BASED ON REMOTELY COLLECTED DATA

Technical Field

The present utility model generally relates to a computer system for providing advertisements, and more particularly relates to a computer system for providing advertisements on vehicles based on remotely collected data.

Background of the Utility Model

Stationary forms of advertisements such as billboards, banners, commercials aired via television and radio broadcast, and even electronic advertisements delivered through web browsers installed on computer terminals are becoming ineffective with the rapid changes in the electronic communications landscape and with the continuously increasing number of people who are using various private and public transport systems on a daily basis. Most of the time, consumers, at whom advertisements are usually targeted and who are located in different geographical locations, have different preferences and attitude towards advertising content. In which case, configuring electronic communications framework to advertisements on vehicles is highly desirable.

United States Patent Publication No. 2014/0316900 published on 23 October 2014 to Adroxx Inc. discloses a content delivery system for remotely and dynamically coordinating display of targeted content across display modules of a plurality of moving vehicles. The content delivery system comprises: (i) at least one processor; (ii) memory associated with the at least one processor; and (iii) a program supported in the memory, wherein the program contains a plurality of instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: (a) receive a content item to be displayed on display modules of the plurality of moving vehicles as part of a campaign and associated display criteria; (b) receive real-time information on each of the plurality of vehicles including vehicle location information; (c) dynamically identify vehicles from the plurality of vehicles matching the display criteria for the content item based at least in part on the vehicle location information received in (b) for the vehicles; (d) dynamically transmit the content item to the vehicles identified in (c) over a wireless communications link to be displayed in real time on the display module of each of the vehicles; and (e) repeat (b), (c), and (d) a plurality of times until a campaign limit is reached.

While the content delivery system disclosed in the above cited prior patent publication arguably results in effective communication of advertisements through the vehicles which are in transit most of the time wherein serving of the advertisements, over the wireless communications link, on the processor associated with the vehicles can be based on the geographical location of the vehicles, there is no guarantee that the wireless communications link is present at all times in all locations of the vehicles.

Such a wireless communications link or network may not be available in every location, especially in remote areas not covered by wireless communications infrastructure. Such a situation can be described as a "dead spot." A problem associated with the "dead spot" situation when there is no wireless communications link available to facilitate the serving of advertisements based on the content delivery system of the above cited prior patent publication is that the communication of advertisements with the public or consumers ceases. Another problem with the content delivery system of the above cited prior patent publication is that intermittent connections and network outrages associated with the wireless communications link are sometimes unavoidable, and hence the reliability or quality of the playback of the advertisements on the display modules of the vehicles is mostly likely compromised. Therefore, there remains an outstanding problem associated with finding optimum mechanism and arrangement in a computer system for providing advertisements based on remotely collected data such that the advertisements on vehicles are continuously served even if the remote source of the advertisements is not able to do so in the absence of a wireless communications link or communication network. Summary of the Utility Model

One implementation of the utility model provides a computer system for providing advertisements on vehicles based on remotely collected data. The computer system includes server and client computers in communication with one another over a communication network. The client computer is provided in a communication medium attachably secured to a portion of a vehicle. The computer system also includes a database system coupled to the server computer and containing a preconfigured set of data. A memory system containing computer-executable instructions is also provided in the computer system. The computer-executable instructions may be grouped into a location information analyzer, a time information generator, and an advertisement information controller.

The location information analyzer is operative to collect and analyze a set of global location information associated with the client computer. The time information generator is operative to generate a set of time information at which a first subset of data representative of a first advertisement is preconfigured to be transmitted to the client computer. The advertisement information controller is operative to retrieve from the database system and transmit to the client computer the first subset of data based on the set of global location information and the set of time information. The transmission of the first subset of data from the server computer to the client computer is responsive to change in any of the set of global location information collected and analyzed by the location information analyzer and the set of time information generated by the time information generator.

The client computer has an interface unit for providing output signals in any one of a plurality of signal formats corresponding to any of the first subset of data from the client computer and to a second subset of data representative of a second advertisement previously transmitted to the client computer by the server computer and currently provided via the interface unit of the client computer.

The output signals corresponding to any of the first and second subsets of data may be read, interpreted, compiled, and recorded by a processor of the client computer. Preferably, the interface unit includes a display unit having a visual indicator which uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs). It is also preferable that an audio unit is provided in the interface unit whereby the output signals in an audio format can be played through the audio unit.

The client computer is configured to compare the first subset of data with the second subset of data in such a manner that, if the first and second subsets of data do not match one another, the client computer provides via the interface unit the output signals in any one of the plurality of signal formats which correspond to the first subset of data. Correspondingly, if the first and second subsets of data match one another, the client computer may be arranged to disregard the first subset of data. In which case, the output signals in any one of the plurality of signal formats corresponding to the first subset of data are not provided via the interface unit.

The provisions of transmitting the first advertisement data from the server computer to the client computer, and enabling the client computer to perform a decision process in determining whether or not to replace the second advertisement data with the first advertisement data ensure that the providing of advertisements on the vehicle will not cease even if the vehicle moves to a location where the communication network is not available to facilitate data transfer operations between the server computer and the client computer.

Furthermore, the provision of providing the second advertisement data via the interface unit of the client computer independently of the transmission of the first advertisement data from the server computer to the client computer not only ensures that communications of advertisements do not cease even where there is no available communication network but also guarantees that any intermittent connection through the communication network will not affect the quality of playback of advertisements via the interface unit of the client computer. For a better understanding of the utility model and to show how the same may be performed, preferred implementations thereof will now be described, by way of non- limiting examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating a computer system for providing advertisements based on remotely collected data in accordance with an implementation of the utility model.

Figure 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of providing advertisements based on remotely collected data in accordance with an implementation of the utility model.

Figure 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a process performed by a server computer of the computer system of Figure 1.

Figure 3 A is a continuation of the flow diagram of Figure 3.

Figure 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a process performed by a client computer of the computer system of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed software architecture of a server computer of the computer system of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed hardware architecture of a server computer of the computer system of Figure 1.

Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed hardware architecture of a client computer of the computer system of Figure 1. Figures 8-12 show different ways of securing a communication medium to a vehicle in accordance with exemplary implementations of the utility model.

Figure 13 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit architecture for enabling a client computer to provide advertisements in an array of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the utility model.

Detailed Description of Preferred Implementations Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a block diagram illustrating a computer system for providing advertisements based on remotely collected data in accordance with an implementation of the present utility model. The system is consistently designated by reference numeral 100 throughout the ensuing description. The system 100 mainly comprises a server computer 102 and a client computer 104 which are in remote communication with one another over a communication network 106, wherein the client computer 104 is provided on a vehicle "V." The client computer 104 is particularly situated in a communication medium V100 that is attachably secured to the vehicle "V." Preferably, the client computer 104 provided in the communication medium V100 has an electrical relationship with an electrical system V102 of the vehicle "V."

Communications between the server computer 102 and the client computer 104 are preferably characterized by data communications, wherein data such as video data, audio data, text data, image data, and the like can be transmitted from the server computer 102 to the client computer 104, or vice versa, over the communication network 106. These data are preconfigured set of data which may be contained in a database system 108 coupled to the server computer 102.

The communication network 106 through which the server computer 102 and the client computer 104 communicate with one another may be a wireless mobile communication network that can be implemented in conformity to any one of several wireless communication standards such as 3G (3rd generation) and 4G (4th generation)/LTE (Long Term Evolution), WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), and IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), to name a few.

Physically, data communications between the server computer 102 and the client computer 104 through the communication network 106 are effected by a network interface device 110 operably situated in the server computer 102 and a client-side network interface device 112 operably situated in the client computer 104. The client-side network interface device 112 may be a wireless network interface device with an internal antenna assembly for receiving and sending information from and to the communication network 106. It is to be understood and appreciated by a person skilled in the art of information and communication technology and as well as in the art of computer science that the communication network 106 may also be characterized by communication standards or technologies which may include 2G (2nd generation), 5G (5th generation), Ethernet (for local area network), two-way radio, hybrid public and private network, Bluetooth, IR (infrared), and the like. Selection from any of these standards and/or technologies may be suitably carried out depending on the intended design of the computer system 100 and/or on the characteristics of data involved in network-dependent data transfer operations between the server computer 102 and the client computer 104.

The server computer 102 includes a memory system 114 for storing various data 116a, 116c, 118, 120 and computer-executable instructions 122. The server computer 102 also includes a processor 124 configured to access any of the data 116a, 116c, 118, 120 from the memory system 114. The processor 124 may be a general-purpose processor, a special-purpose processor, a single-core processor, or a multi-core processor. The processor 124 may also be characterized by a self-contained computing system. The computer-executable instructions 122 stored in the memory system 114 may include programs, engines, program modules, objects, data structures, routines, subroutines, classes, and functions, among others, that may be accessed, read, and executed by the processor 124.

The computer-executable instructions 122 may be grouped into a location information analyzer 126, and a time information generator 128, and an advertisement information controller 130. It is to be understood and appreciated that the computer- executable instructions 122 may be grouped or categorized according to other functions or procedures that may not be covered by the location information analyzer 126, the time information generator 128, and the advertisement information controller 130. Such other functions and procedures may include inherent and support program modules such as a content management program, a content reproduction program, a content transmission program, a calendar program, a navigation program, a mapping program, a function calling program, a notification generation program, and so forth.

The location information analyzer 126 is operative to collect and analyze a set of global location information 120 associated with the client computer 104. A Global Positioning System (GPS) unit 132 may be coupled to the client computer 104 for generating the set of global location information 120 which, in turn, can be transmitted from the client computer 104 to the server computer 102 through the communication network 106. The location information analyzer 126 may be arranged to collect and analyze the set of global location information 120 separately or simultaneously. The set of global location information 120 may include a set of geographical coordinates (e.g., longitudinal and latitudinal values) representing a current location of the client computer 104 in which the GPS unit 132 is operably installed.

The GPS unit 132 which can be characterized by the United States Global Positioning System may also be replaced by other suitable satellite positioning systems such as the Russian Glonass System, the European Galileo System, any unitary system which utilizes one or more combinations of such individual satellite positioning systems, or any system which utilizes pseudolites operable in conjunction with satellites. The GPS unit 132 may include a GPS sensor for sensing visible GPS satellites and a GPS receiver for receiving and processing GPS coordinates and related data. The sensor of the GPS unit 132 may be arranged to resolve anomalies associated with readings of the GPS coordinates and obtain various measurements which may represent, among others, pseudorange or the pseudo distance between a satellite and a navigation satellite receiver, delta range or the difference in accumulated phase from one GPS measurement period to the next, or time difference of arrival or frequency difference of arrival.

It is to be understood and appreciated that one or more GPS units 132 may be coupled to the client computer 104, and that the sensor of the GPS unit 132 may or may not provide navigation functions. However, it is preferable that the computer system 100 of the present utility model is not provided with a navigation function as the same requires large-scale computational resources such as more memory space and computational power to function properly and efficiently.

The time information generator 128 is operative to generate a set of time information 118 at which a first subset of data 116a stored in the database system 108 is preconfigured to be transmitted to the client computer 104 through the communication network 106. The first subset of data 116a is representative of a first advertisement that can be served on the client computer 104 by the server computer 102 over the communication network 106. The set of time information 118 may include values indicative of hours, minutes, and seconds (e.g., 08:00:00, 14:20:00, 16:30:00, etc.) at which the first subset of data 116a stored in the database system 108 is preconfigured to be transmitted to the client computer 104.

The set of time information 118 may also include a time duration (e.g., 10 seconds, 10 minutes, 1 hour) within which the first subset of data 116a are preconfigured to be served on the client computer 104 by the server computer 104 under certain conditions of the communication network 106. The time information generator 128 may be arranged to collect a further set of time information which represents a common reference time at which a set of geographical coordinates is determined by the GPS unit 132 and transmitted to the server computer 102 from the client computer 104. The advertisement information controller 130 is operative to retrieve from the database system 108 and transmit to the client computer 104 the first subset of data 116a based on the set of global location information 120 and the set of time information 118. The transmission of the first subset of data 116a from the server computer 102 to the client computer 104 is preferably responsive to change in any of the set of global location information 120 collected and analyzed by the location information analyzer 126 and the set of time information 118 generated by the time information generator 128. In other words, such transmission may be arranged to be performed by the server computer 102 in real-time or near real-time and, preferably, within short time intervals (e.g., 2 seconds, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, etc.). It is preferable that for every change in the location information 120 associated with the client computer 104 as received by the server computer 102, a new or updated first subset of data 116a may be arranged to be transmitted from the server computer 102 to the client computer 104 over the communication network 106.

The client computer 104 has a client-side memory system 134 for storing client data and client-side computer-executable instructions (not illustrated) and a client-side processor 136 configured to access the data and the computer-executable instructions from the client-side memory system 134. The client-side computer-executable instructions stored in the client-side memory system 134 of the client computer 104 may include client-side programs, program modules, objects, data structures, routines, subroutines, classes, and functions, similar to those of the server computer 102. These client-side instructions stored in the client-side memory system 134 may be accessed, fetched, read, and executed by the client-side processor 136.

The client computer 104 is preferably a microprocessor-based device (e.g., a microcontroller) having programmable inputs, outputs, throughput, and memory system, among others, to perform customized functions ascribed to it. The microprocessor of the microprocessor-based device may be characterized by a data processing unit that can be connected to analog-to-digital converters for processing analog inputs into digital outputs, or to digital-to-analog converters for processing digital inputs into analog outputs. It is to be understood and appreciated that the client computer 104 may alternatively be in the form of other electronic apparatus provided with an interface unit 138 and is enabled to have access to the communication network 106 in order to communicate with the server computer 102.

The interface unit 138 of the client computer 104 may be used for providing output signals in any one of a plurality of signal formats corresponding to any of the first subset of data 116a from the server computer 102 and to a second subset of data 116c. The second subset of data 116c is representative of a second advertisement previously transmitted to the client computer 104 by the server computer 102, prior to the scheduled transmission of the first subset of data 116a from the server computer 102 to the client computer 104 based on the set of global location information 120 and the set of time information 118. The second subset of data 116c specifically corresponds to the second advertisement currently provided via the interface unit 138 of the client computer 104 at the time of receipt of the client computer 104 of the first subset of data 116a from the server computer 102 over the communication network 106.

The interface unit 138 may include a display unit having a visual indicator which uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The visual indicator may also render the output signals in a video format. Alternatively, the interface unit 138 may include an audio unit whereby the output signals in an audio format can be played through the audio unit. It is to be understood and appreciated that the LEDs may be suitably replaced by any one or more of plasma displays, liquid crystal displays (LCD), electro-luminescent displays, projected displays, field emission displays, and vacuum fluorescent displays, among others. The client computer 104 is further configured to compare the first subset of data

116a with the second subset of data 116c. If the first and second subsets of data 116a, 116c do not match one another, the client computer 104 is preferably arranged to provide via the interface unit 138 the output signals in any one of the plurality of signal formats which correspond to the first subset of data 116a. Correspondingly, if the first and second subsets of data 116a, 116c match one another, the client computer 104 is preferably arranged to disregard the output signals which correspond to the first subset of data 116a or removed, partially or completely, from the client-side memory system 134.

As shown in Figures 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 which illustrate different ways of securing the communication medium V100 to the vehicle "V" in accordance with exemplary implementations of the present utility model. The communication medium V100 may be in the form of an advertisement panel or signage that can be mounted on various portions of the vehicle "V" which may be of sedan type. In Figure 8, the communication medium V100 is secured to the roof portion 800 of the vehicle "V" through a set of mounting brackets 802. The set of mounting brackets 802 holding in stable position the communication medium V100 may be securely fixed to the roof portion 800 of the vehicle "V" by using, for example, bolts and nuts or screws.

In Figure 9, the vehicle "V" is illustrated as a heavy vehicle like a cargo truck. Since cargo trucks normally have sidewalls 900 with large surface area, it is preferable that the communication medium V100 is secured to any one or both of the sidewalls 900 of the cargo trucks by using, for example, bolts and nuts or screws. In Figures 10, 11 and 12, it is illustrated that the communication medium V100 of various configurations or sizes may be placed, respectively, on the rear portions 1000, 1100, 1200 of the illustrated vehicles "V." The communication medium V100 is preferably in the form a visual display panel but may also be an audio system or a combination of both the visual display panel and the audio system. If the communication medium V100 is electrically connected to the electrical system of the vehicle "V," the communication medium V100 may be powered directly though the electrical system of the vehicle "V." Otherwise, the communication medium V100 may be powered through a set of batteries that can be charged through the electrical system of the vehicle "V." Alternatively, the communication medium V100 may be powered by a power source independently of the electrical system of the vehicle (e.g., through a solar power source via photovoltaic modules).

The provisions of transmitting the first advertisement data 116a from the server computer 102 to client computer 104, and enabling the client computer 104 to perform a decision process in determining whether or not to replace the second advertisement data 116c with the first advertisement data 116a ensure that communications of advertisements in the vehicle "V" which are in transit most of the time will not cease even if the vehicle "V" moves to a location where the communication network 106 is not available to facilitate data transfer operations between the server computer 102 and the client computer 104.

Furthermore, the provision of providing the second advertisement data 116c via the interface unit 138 of the client computer 104 independently of the transmission of the first advertisement data 116a from the server computer 102 to the client computer 104 not only ensures that communications of advertisements do not cease even where there is no available communication network, such as the illustrated communication network 106, but also guarantees that any intermittent connection through such communication network will not affect the quality of playback of advertisements via the interface unit 138 of the client computer 104.

In one implementation of the present utility model, the client computer 104 is configured merely to transmit the location information 120 to the server computer 102 through the aid of the GPS unit 132, receive advertisement data at predetermined time intervals or based on the location and time information, and compare advertisement data with one another. In that case, the client computer 104 may be arranged to perform various computing tasks in an efficient manner, and the risk of the client computer 104 breaking down or malfunctioning in any way is low.

Further, since most advertisement data have different characteristics, some of which require high-technology architecture while others are operable using sophisticated hardware architecture, the computer system 100 of the present utility model provides for the server computer 102 that is configured to perform pre-processing of advertisement data in relation to other data and for the client computer 104 that is arranged to efficiently perform various computing tasks in a highly volatile and dynamic environment with limited computational, memory and energy resources. Referring now to Figure 2, there is a shown a flow diagram illustrating a method of providing advertisements based on remotely collected data in accordance with an implementation of the present utility model. The flow diagram of Figure 2 characterizes a procedure or algorithm that can be performed by the server computer of Figure 1. The flow starts at block 200 wherein the server computer obtains time information by initializing the time information generator of Figure 1 which may be embodied as an engine or computer software that performs predetermined functions. As illustrated in greater detail in Figure 1, the time information generator is preconfigured to record in a database system all time information associated with the procedures which are arranged to be carried out by the server computer.

The initialization of the time information generator in block 200 causes the server computer to determine whether there is at least one available time information as shown in decision block 202. The time information may be embodied, for example, by a particular time data set (e.g., 11:00:00 hours) at which an advertisement data must be transmitted to the client computer by the server computer over any suitable communication network. The advertisement data also comes with location information or location data which define a geographical location of the client computer on which the advertisement data are preconfigured to be served. Serving of the advertisement data to the client computer by the server computer is preferably carried out is real-time or near real-time fashion.

If there is no such time information available for retrieval from the database system as determined in the decision block 202, the flow may be arranged to move back to the previous block 200, waiting for the time information to become available for retrieval from the database system. Otherwise, the flow proceeds with obtaining global location information by initializing the location information analyzer of Figure 1, as shown in succeeding block 204, which may be embodied as an engine or computer software that performs predetermined functions similar to the time information generator.

The initialization of the location information analyzer causes the server computer to specifically determine location information embodied by GPS coordinates defining the current global location information (e.g., latitude 10.0001, longitudinal: 123.8008 III N 10 18'57" E 123 53'8") of the client computer. Simply put, the determination of the location information is based on the real-time GPS coordinates that are collected by one or more GPS units and are transmitted by the client computer to the server computer.

If there is no available global location information as determined in decision block 206, the flow may be arranged to move back to the previous block 204 wherein the server computer passively awaits the GPS coordinates to arrive from the client computer through any suitable communication network. Otherwise, the flow progresses to block 208 wherein the server computer transmits the advertisement data to the client computer based on the time information and as well as on the global location information by initializing the advertisement information controller of Figure 1 which may be embodied as an engine or computer software that performs predetermined functions similar to the time information generator and the location information analyzer.

Referring to Figure 3, there is shown a flow diagram illustrating a process performed by the server computer of the computer system of Figure 1 in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present utility model. The flow diagram of Figure 3 characterizes a procedure or algorithm. Figure 3 A is a continuation of the flow diagram of Figure 3, and the continuation point is marked by encircled letter "A." The flow commences by obtaining current global location information of the client computer of Figure 1 as shown in block 300. The location information of the client computer may be transmitted by the client computer to the server computer over any suitable communication network. The transmission of the location information from the client computer to the server computer may be performed in various ways. For example, as long as the lines of communication between the server computer and the client computer are open, the client computer may be arranged to generate GPS coordinates embodying the global location information and transmit the same to the server computer over any suitable communication networks at predetermined time intervals. In which case, the server computer may be arranged to continuously receive the GPS coordinates from the client computer as long as it communicates with the client computer. In another example, the server computer may be arranged to actively check whether it receives the GPS coordinates at predetermined time intervals. While no location information is received by the server computer as determined in decision block 302, the flow may be arranged to go back to the previous block 300 to wait for the location information to arrive in the server computer from the client computer. Otherwise, receipt of the location information by the server computer causes the flow to be directed to block 304 wherein the server computer determines the current time information upon, or at the moment of, arrival of the location information.

For example, the time information may be " 11:00:00 hours" at the moment of the receipt of the computer server of the current global location information which may be "latitude 10.0001, longitudinal: 123.8008 III N 10 18^*57" E 123 53^*8"." This means that, at 11:00:00 hours, the client computer is located in a geographical area or spot (e.g., an area or spot in Cebu City, Philippines) represented by the given location information. At subsequent block 306, the server computer accesses an advertisement information database (represented by database block 308) containing previous location and time information at which advertisement data are preconfigured to be served on the client computer over any suitable communication network. The previous location and time information stored in the advertisement information database 308 are preconfigured data. The configuration of the location and time information may be made according to preferences of advertisers.

For example, if a particular advertiser desires to render an advertisement on the client computer at a specified time and within a specified geographical area, then the advertiser-specified time and geographical location information must be stored in the advertisement information database 308 such that they are associated with or linked to that advertisement. One or more time information and location information could be associated with one advertisement. The advertisement information database may contain multiple advertisements arranged to be provided on the client computer based on the location and time information.

Once the previous location and time information have been successfully retrieved from the advertisement information database 308 by the server computer, the flow is caused to move forward to block 310 wherein the server computer matches the current location and time information with all the previous location and time information associated with one or more advertisements stored in the advertisement information database 308. Using the given example, the server computer determines whether the "latitude 10.0001, longitudinal: 123.8008 III N 10 18^*57" E 123 53'8" location information and the " 11:00:00 hours" time information match any record previously arranged in the advertisement information database 308. If there is no match as determined in decision block 312, then the flow may be arranged to move back for the previous block 300 wherein the server computer obtains another location information associated with the client computer and form a loop from the block 300 to the decision block 312 as long as there is no record in the advertisement information database 308 that matches any current location information and its accompanying time information obtained by the server computer in the block 300. The continuation point between the decision block 312 and the previous block 300 is marked by the encircled letter "B".

Using the given example again, if the server computer determines that the " 11:00:00 hours" time information and the "latitude 10.0001, longitudinal: 123.8008 III N 10 18'57" E 123 53'8" location information match any record in the advertisement information database 308, then the flow advances to blocks 314 and 316, wherein, respectively, the server computer determines a first advertisement data associated with the matching current and previous location and time information stored in the advertisement information database 308, and serves the determined first advertisement data on the client computer over any suitable communication network.

It is to be understood and appreciated that the flow diagram of Figure 3 may be suitably altered without departing from its intended purpose of determining an advertisement data to be served on the client computer based on the location information associated with the client computer and the time information accompanying the location information. For example, the time information mentioned in block 304 may be determined first prior to obtaining the global location information in block 300. It is likewise possible that the advertisement information database 308 can be accessed first prior to determining the location and time information. One or more databases may also be utilized as part of the advertisement information database 308.

Referring now to Figure 4, there is shown a flow diagram illustrating a process performed by a client computer of the computer system of Figure 1 in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present utility model. The flow diagram of Figure 4 characterizes a procedure or algorithm. The flow starts at decision block 400 wherein the client computer determines whether it receives a first advertisement data from the server computer over any suitable communication network. The first advertisement data represent a first advertisement and are transmitted by the server computer as illustrated in the flow diagram of Figure 3.

While no first advertisement data is received by the client computer, the current advertisement data on the client computer will continue to be provided via any interface unit of the client computer as shown in block 402. The current advertisement is represented by a second advertisement data that may be similar to or different from the first advertisement data served on the client computer by the server computer through any suitable communication network. The second advertisement data represent a second advertisement and are previously transmitted from the server computer to the client computer prior to the transmission of the first advertisement from and to the same server and client computers. On the other hand, if the client computer receives the first advertisement data from the server computer at the decision block 400, the flow moves to block 404 wherein the client computer determines or identifies the second advertisement data currently provided on its interface unit. At subsequent block 406, the flow advances to the step of comparing the first advertisement data with the second advertisement data. This comparison determines whether the first and second advertisement data are similar or different, as shown in decision block 408. In performing the comparison between the first and second advertisement data, the client computer may suitably use identifiers uniquely identifying the two advertisement data.

If the two advertisement data match one another (i.e., they are identical), the flow is redirected to the previously mentioned block 402 wherein the client computer continues to provide via its interface unit the second advertisement data. Otherwise, the determination that the two advertisement data do not match one another (i.e., they are different) causes the flow to conclude at block 410 wherein the client computer replaces the second advertisement data with the first advertisement data provided via the interface unit thereof. In which case, the second advertisement data replaced by the first advertisement data may be disregarded or completely deleted from the client computer.

Referring to Figure 5, there is shown a block diagram illustrating a detailed software architecture of the server computer of the computer system of Figure 1 in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present utility model. The software architecture of Figure 5 is a high-level architecture which shows how the server computer determines and serves on any client computer an advertisement data based on global location information it receives from the mobile or remotely located client computer. The software architecture of Figure 5 may mainly include a location information analyzer engine 500, a time information generator engine 502, and an advertisement information controller engine 504, all of which are associated with one another. The location information analyzer engine 500, the time information generator engine 502, and the advertisement information controller engine 504 and as well as their respective program modules may be executed on one or more processors resident in the server computer of Figure 1, and may be coded in any suitable programming or scripting language such as BASIC or Visual Basic, Pascal, C, C++, Java, assembler, COBOL, PERL, AJAX, or the like. The illustrated engines 500, 502, 504 are exemplary only and, as such, additional or fewer engines may be implemented within the illustrated software architecture of the server computer as long as the function of providing advertisements based on location and time information can be achieved.

The location information analyzer engine 500 corresponds to the location information analyzer of Figure 1 and may specifically include a location information receiving module 506, a location information processing module 508, and a location information lookup module 510, all of which are associated with one another. The time information generator engine 502 corresponds to the time information generator of Figure 1 and may specifically include a time indexing module 512. The advertisement information controller engine 504 corresponds to the advertisement information controller of Figure 1, and may specifically include an advertisement selection module 514. As illustrated, the global location information enter the location receiving module 506 which prepares the data for processing by the location information processing module 508. Preferably, the validity of the location information is checked by the location information processing module 508. This validation procedure ensures that the location information can be properly used in subsequent procedures until the generation of the advertisement data by the advertisement selection module 514 of the advertisement information controller engine 504.

Anomalies in the location information that enter the location information receiving module 506 may also be detected and consequently resolved by the location information processing module 508, thereby ensuring that all location information that will be used in all subsequent procedures in different modules are accurate and will not cause disparity in the resulting advertisement data to be provided by the advertisement selection module 514 of the advertisement information controller engine 504.

Once the location information has been validated by the location information processing module 508, the same shall be read by the location information lookup module 510. A location information table 516 stored in a location information database 518 is accessed by the location information lookup module 510 in order to check whether the location information it received from the location information processing module 508 and originating from the location information receiving module 506 has a matching record in the location information database 518.

The time indexing module 512 of the time information generator engine 502 may be arranged to schedule and periodically perform a process and storing in and retrieving from the location information database 518 a set of location information. The time indexing module 512 may also be arranged to schedule and periodically perform a process for storing in and retrieving from an advertisement information database 520 a set of advertisement data which may be considered as time-based data. Through the time indexing module 512, indexes for ordered records associated with the time-based advertisement data may be created in the advertisement information database 520 using columns of a database table which, in turn, may be used for efficient lookups and speedy data retrieval operations.

From the ordered database records of the location information in the location information database 518 and advertisement data in the advertisement information database 520, the advertisement selection module 514 may be arranged to select an advertisement data from an advertisement information table 522 stored in the advertisement information database 520 based on the location information analyzed by the location information analyzer engine 500 and as well as on the time information determined by the time information generator engine 512. It is to be understood and appreciated that the aforementioned engines and modules associated with the server computer of the computer system of the present utility model may or may not correspond to discrete blocks of software codes, depending on how they are arranged. In this regard, it can be readily realized that the functions described for each of the aforementioned engines and/or modules can be performed by executing various code portions which are stored on one or more non-transitory, nonvolatile computer-readable memory system of the server computer of Figure 1 at predetermined time intervals.

It is also to be understood and appreciated that the execution of the program codes from the non-volatile memory system of Figure 1 can be done on appropriate computing resources, and that the aforementioned engines and/or modules are merely presented in segregated format based on their intended functions for the sake of illustrating how they are relevant to the implementations of the computer system of the present utility model. The illustrated engines and/or modules can be fewer or greater in number, as it is well known in the art of computing that such program codes representing various functions of different engines and/or modules can be combined or segregated in any suitable but efficient manner insofar as software execution is concerned.

Referring to Figure 6, there is shown a block diagram illustrating a detailed hardware architecture of the server computer of the computer system of Figure 1 in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present utility model. The hardware architecture of Figure 6 may include a system bus 600 that enables communication of the following components: a processor or central processing unit 602 for processing computer-executable instructions, a main memory system 604 for containing data and the computer-executable instructions, a static memory system 606, and a network interface device 608 for interfacing the computer server with any suitable communication network.

The hardware architecture of Figure 6 may also include a hard disk drive controller 610 connected to a hard disk drive 610a, a keyboard controller 612 connected to a keyboard 612a, an interface controller 614 connected to a peripheral device 614a, and a display controller 616 connected to a display device 616a such as a computer monitor. Two or more peripheral devices may communicate with the server computer through the system bus 600 and the interface controller 614. These peripheral devices may include a pointing device, a printer, a scanner, a video projector, and the like.

Referring to Figure 7, there is shown a block diagram illustrating a detailed hardware architecture of the client computer of the computer system of Figure 1 in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present utility model. The client computer which is preferably a microcontroller may include a client processor 700 in communication with a client-side memory system 702, programmable circuit elements 704, timers and counters 706, interrupt control 708, analog-to-digital converter 710, and digital-to-analog converter 712. The memory system 702 may include a RAM (random access memory) 702a, a ROM (read-only memory) 702c, flash memory 702e, and EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory) 702g. The programmable circuit elements 704 are programmable or configurable circuitry and operable in various modes in such a manner that when the client computer receives new or updated advertisement data from the server computer over any suitable communication network, corresponding output signals are produced and compared with those of the advertisement data currently provided via the interface unit of the client computer.

The programmable circuit elements 704 are also operable in such a manner that the advertisement data currently provided via the interface of the client computer is replaced with the new or updated advertisement data if they do not match one another, and that the advertisement data currently provided via the interface unit of the client computer may be disregarded or removed, partially or completely, from the memory system 702 of the same client computer if the two advertisement data match one another. The programming associated with the programmable circuit elements 704 may use any suitable programming language such as C, C++, and assembler.

Referring now to Figure 13, there is a shown a block diagram illustrating a circuit architecture for enabling a client computer, through the microprocessor 136 illustrated in Figure 7, to provide advertisements in an array of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) 1300 in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present utility model. The array of LEDs may be mounted on an electronic circuit board 1302. The circuit architecture of Figure 13 includes an interface circuit 1304 for coupling any input device capable of receiving signals and the microprocessor 136 which processes the signals using computer-executable instructions in the memory system 702 and the programmable circuit elements 704.

The circuit architecture of Figure 13 also includes an oscillator circuit 1306 configured to form clock signals for providing the necessary clock functions for the microprocessor 136. The programmable circuit elements 704 may be programmed using any suitable programming language such as those that are mentioned above through the programming ports 1308.

Through a drive and control circuit 1310, digital latches for providing advertisements in the form of LED displays may be arranged to control how the LEDs in the array of LEDs will be lit. The electronic circuit board 1302 may be strategically positioned inside the communication media in the form of advertisement panels as illustrated in Figures 8-12. The configurations for operating the array of LEDs are well- known in the concerned art, and the spirit of the present utility model is not concerned with modifications in the electrical and electronic characteristics of commercially available LED displays. Thus, such configurations are not illustrated herein in greater detail.

Claims

A COMPUTER SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING ADVERTISEMENTS ON VEHICLES BASED ON REMOTELY COLLECTED DATA Claims

1. A computer system (100) for providing advertisements based on remotely collected data, the system (100) comprising at least one client computer (104), at least one server computer (102) in communication with the at least one client computer (104) over a communication network, and a database system (108) coupled to the server computer (102) and containing a preconfigured set of data (116a, 116c), the server computer (102) comprising: a location information analyzer (126) operative to collect and analyze a set of global location information (120) associated with the client computer (104); a time information generator (128) operative to generate a set of time information (118) at which a first subset of data (116a) representative of a first advertisement is preconfigured to be transmitted to the client computer (104); and an advertisement information controller (130) operative to retrieve from the database system (108) and transmit to the client computer (104) the first subset of data (116a) based on the set of global location information (120) and the set of time information (118), wherein the client computer (104) has an interface unit (138) for providing output signals in any one of a plurality of signal formats corresponding to any of the first subset of data (116a) from the client computer (104) and to a second subset of data (116c) representative of a second advertisement previously transmitted to the client computer (104) by the server computer (102) and currently provided via the interface unit (138) of the client computer (104), wherein the client computer (104) is configured to compare the first subset of data (116a) with the second subset of data (116c), wherein, if the first and second subsets of data (116a, 116c) do not match one another, the client computer (104) provides via the interface unit (138) the output signals in any one of the plurality of signal formats which correspond to the first subset of data (116a), and wherein the client computer (104) is provided in a communication medium (VI 00) attachably secured to a vehicle (V).

2. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein the communication medium (V100) is a visual display panel.

3. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein the communication medium (VI 00) is an audio system.

4. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein the communication medium (V100) is electrically connected to an electrical system of the vehicle (V).

5. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein the communication medium (V100) is powered by a power source independently of an electrical system of the vehicle (V).