Determining a Location Related to On-Demand Services Through Use of Portable Computing Devices

Abstract

A method for determining a location relating to an on-demand service on a computing device is provided. One or more processors receiving a transport request from a user. The transport request specifies at least one of a pick-up region or a drop-off region. One or more locations of interests within the at least one of the pick-up region or the drop-off region are determined. Based on the at least one of the pick-up region or the drop-off region, one or more historical locations related to the user is determined. A likely location is determined based on the determined one or more locations of interest and the one or more historical locations.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for determining a location relating to a transport service, the method being implemented by one or more processors and comprising:
 detecting a first user action performed on a mobile computing device of the user;   obtaining first position data generated from a geo-aware resource of the mobile computing device at a given duration when the first user action is performed;   determining, from the first position data, a current location of the mobile computing device and a pick-up region for the user;   determining, based on user-specific information, one or more suggested pick-up locations which are within the pick-up region, the suggested pickup locations being different from the current location;   wherein each of the current location, the pick-up region and the one or more suggested pick-up locations are determined in response to the first user action, and following the first user action, without user input that is specific to any particular location;   repeatedly determining, over the given duration, a location of a plurality of drivers that are within the pickup region using position data provided by a corresponding driver device of each of the plurality of drivers:   providing a map interface for the mobile computing device, the map interface including an entry for each of the one or more suggested pick-up locations and a dynamic representation of one or more of the plurality of drivers that is based on the determined location of that over the given duration; and   identifying a pick-up location from the one or more suggested pick-up locations.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the one or more suggested pick-up locations includes referencing a database to identify one or more businesses within the pick-up region. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the one or more suggested pick-up locations includes identifying a plurality of historical locations of the user, including one or more recently used pick-up locations. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the plurality of historical locations of the user includes one or more locations commonly visited by the user. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the one or more suggested pick-up locations includes ranking a plurality of suggested pick-up locations. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the map interface includes dynamic information which includes an estimated pick-up time for one or more of the plurality of drivers. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a user selection of one of a plurality of service types;   filtering the plurality drivers based on the selected service type; and   updating the map interface to include only available drivers of the selected service type.   
     
     
         8 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 detecting a first user action performed on a mobile computing device of the user;   obtaining first position data generated from a geo-aware resource of the mobile computing device at a given duration when the first user action is performed;   determining, from the first position data, a current location of the mobile computing device and a pick-up region for the user;   determining, based on user-specific information, one or more suggested pick-up locations which are within the pick-up region, the suggested pickup locations being different from the current location;   wherein each of the current location, the pick-up region and the one or more suggested pick-up locations are determined in response to the first use action, and following the first user action, without user input that is specific to any particular location;   repeatedly determining, over the given duration, a location of a plurality of drivers that are within the pickup region using position data provided by a corresponding driver device of each of the plurality of drivers;   providing a map interface for the mobile computing device, the map interface including an entry for each of the one or more suggested pick-up locations and a dynamic representation of one or more of the plurality of drivers that is based on the determined location of that driver over the given duration; and   identifying a pick-up location from the one or more suggested pick-up locations.   
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to determine the one or more suggested pick-up locations by referencing a database to identify one or more businesses. 
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein determining the one or more suggested pick-up locations includes identifying a plurality of historical locations related to the user, including one or more pick-up locations recently visited by the user. 
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of historical locations of the user includes one or more locations commonly visited by the user. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to rank the one or more suggested pick-up locations. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the map interface includes dynamic information which includes an estimated pick-up time for one or more of the plurality of drivers. 
     
     
         14 . A computer system comprising:
 a memory resource that stores a set of instructions;   one or more processors that use the set of instructions to:   detect a first user action performed on a mobile computing device of the user;   obtain first position data generated from a geo-aware resource of the mobile computing device at a given duration when the first user action is performed;   determine, from the first position data, a current location of the mobile computing device and a pick-up region for the user;   determine, based on user-specific information, one or more suggested pick-up locations which are within the pick-up region. the suggested pickup locations being different from the current location;   wherein each of the current location, the pick-up region and the one or more likely suggested pick-up locations are determined in response to the first user action, and following the first user action. without user input that is specific to any particular location;   repeatedly determining, over the given duration. a location of a plurality of drivers that are within the pickup region using position data provided by a corresponding driver device of each of the plurality of drivers:   provide a map interface for the mobile computing device, the map interface including an entry for each of the one or more suggested pick-up locations and a dynamic representation of one or more of the plurality of drivers that is based on the determined location of that driver over the given duration; and   identify a pick-up location from the one or more suggested pick-up locations.   
     
     
         15 . The computer system of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more processors determine the one or more suggested pick-up locations by referencing a database to identify one or more businesses. 
     
     
         16 . The computer system of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more processors determine the one or more suggested pick-up locations by identifying a plurality of historical locations related to the user, including one or more pick-up locations recently visited by the user. 
     
     
         17 . The computer system of  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of historical locations of the user include one or more locations commonly visited by the user. 
     
     
         18 . The computer system of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more processors rank the one or more suggested pick-up locations. 
     
     
         19 . The computer system of  claim 14 , wherein the map interface includes dynamic information which includes an estimated pick-up time for one or more of the plurality of drivers.