Method and system for location based hands-free payment

Abstract

Certain aspects of a method and system for location based hands-free payment may include a network that comprises a plurality of mobile devices and a plurality of point of sale devices. A first mobile device may determine its location coordinates and communicate them to a selected point of sale device. An authorization to execute a payment transaction may be triggered on the first mobile device when it is within a defined proximity of the selected point of sale device. In another embodiment of the invention, a first point of sale device may determine the location coordinates of a selected mobile device and trigger a notification based on a generated geo-fence when the selected mobile device is within a defined proximity of the first point of sale device.

1 . A method for communication, the method comprising:
 in a network comprising a plurality of mobile devices and a plurality of point of sale devices:
 determining location coordinates of a first of said plurality of mobile devices; 
 communicating said determined location coordinates to a selected one of said plurality of point of sale devices; and 
 triggering an authorization to execute a payment transaction when said first of said plurality of mobile devices is within a defined proximity of said selected one of said plurality of point of sale devices. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , comprising determining whether said first of said plurality of mobile devices is within said defined proximity of said selected one of said plurality of point of sale devices based on a generated geo-fence around said selected one of said plurality of point of sale devices. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , comprising retrieving a first set of parameters from a reference database corresponding to a plurality of signals received at said location coordinates of said first of said plurality of mobile devices, wherein said plurality of signals are received from a plurality of signal sources, and said plurality of signals comprises at least one multipath signal. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein said reference database stores parameters corresponding to said plurality of signals received at each of a plurality of location coordinates of said plurality of mobile devices in said network with known location coordinates. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 4 , comprising determining said location coordinates of said first of said plurality of mobile devices based on comparing said retrieved first set of parameters with said stored parameters in said reference database. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein said retrieved first set of parameters and said stored parameters comprises one or more of: a time of arrival delay extracted using received signal strength indicator (RSSI) transition, a time of arrival delay extracted using signal preamble correlation, a time difference of arrival, a transmitted signal strength, an angle of arrival, equalizer filter coefficients, channel multipath profile, channel fast Fourier transform (FFT) coefficients, beacon signal strength, phase of each pilot tone, amplitude of each pilot tone and/or Doppler shift associated with movement of said plurality of mobile devices. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 5 , comprising receiving said plurality of signals corresponding to one or more standards comprising one or more of: Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Bluetooth, WiMax, HD Radio, Ultra-wideband (UWB), Global Positioning System (GPS), cellular, and/or 60 GHz standards. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , comprising determining said location coordinates of said first of said plurality of mobile devices based on receiving global positioning system (GPS) information from a plurality of GPS satellites and a weighted average of a plurality of differential correction and/or assistance data from one or more access points. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein a weight assigned to each of said plurality of differential correction and/or assistance data is determined based on one or more of: a reception characteristic of each of said one or more access points, a relative distance, a relative received power level and/or a relative received phase difference between said first of said plurality of mobile devices and each of said one or more access points. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein said plurality of differential correction and/or assistance data received from said one or more access points corresponds to one or more standards comprising one or more of: Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Bluetooth, WiMax, HD Radio, Ultra-wideband (UWB), GPS, cellular, near field communication (NFC), and/or 60 GHz standards. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1 , comprising determining said location coordinates of said first of said plurality of mobile devices based on a calculated time of travel of a received signal from one or more access points to said first of said plurality of mobile devices. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , comprising calculating said time of travel of said received signal based on correlating said received signal with a corresponding received signal with a similar known radio transmission pattern. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11 , comprising calculating said time of travel of said received signal based on correlating a preamble of said received signal with a preamble of said corresponding received signal with said similar known radio transmission pattern. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 1 , comprising recalibrating said determined said location coordinates of said first of said plurality of mobile devices based on receiving a plurality of positioning assistance data from one or more position reference devices using short range wireless communication protocols. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 14 , wherein said one or more position reference devices comprises one or more of: passive near field communication (NFC) tags, active NFC tags, passive radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, active RFID tags, Bluetooth enabled devices, Wi-Fi Direct, 60 GHz enabled devices, and/or Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access points. 
     
     
         16 . A method for communication, the method comprising:
 in a network comprising a plurality of mobile devices and a plurality of point of sale devices:
 determining at a first of said plurality of point of sale devices, location coordinates of a selected one of said plurality of mobile devices; and 
 triggering a notification on said first of said plurality of point of sale devices when said selected one of said plurality of mobile devices is within a defined proximity of said first of said plurality of point of sale devices. 
   
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 16 , comprising determining said location coordinates of said selected one of said plurality of mobile devices comprising a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag based on extracting at least one measured position parameter from each of three or more backscattered signals communicated by said selected one of said plurality of mobile devices. 
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 17 , wherein said three or more backscattered signals are received at one or more RFID readers located at three or more different locations in response to communicating by said one or more RFID readers, three or more RF signals to said selected one of said plurality of mobile devices. 
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 16 , comprising determining said location coordinates of said selected one of said plurality of mobile devices based on measured phase differences and corresponding frequency differences associated with each of three or more signals received from said selected one of said plurality of mobile devices. 
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 19 , wherein each of said three or more signals comprises a plurality of pilot tones that are received at one or more electronic devices located at three or more different known locations via said network. 
     
     
         21 - 50 . (canceled)