Apple Inc. (AAPL) wins proximity server patent, possibly iBeacon crucial

Among a bundle of 50 patents that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) today and published on their site, one stands out as possibly protecting a crucial part of the new iBeacon system. This patent, Patent #US008694676, entitled “Proximity Detection for Media Proxies,” lays claim to a method of querying clients with a proximity probe and using a proximity server to determine which “media proxy” is closest to the client, and should therefore be used to communicate with the device.

As the concept illustration shows, “Proximity Detection” replaces the old system of round-robin transmission between all media proxies within range. Earlier, telecommunications were carried out by assigning a signal from an individual mobile device, such as an iPhone, to any media proxy in range. As a proxy became saturated with users, callers or Internet users were shunted to the next available proxy, again with no regard to which was closer or farther.

proximity server patentProximity detection changes that by using a proximity probe to collect data that finds out the exact location of the mobile device in space. Analysis of this data is carried out by the proximity server, which then assigns the physically closest proxy to the device, rather than just the next proxy on an arbitrary list. This is obviously of vital importance for the iBeacon – a “round robin” system could result in useless messages being transmitted from more distant beacons, while useful data from nearer beacons would be ignored.

According to a detailed description of iBeacon functionality published by Cisco, proper functioning of the iBeacon system depends on up to three “identifiers” which determine which beacon will provide what information to a specific mobile device. Of these identifiers, two are optional – individual beacon numbers and group beacon numbers. The only mandatory, universal identifier is “Proximity UUID,” a function which ties in closely with today’s proximity server patent. Signal strength power is used to pinpoint the distance in meters between various beacons and the iPhone, and the nearest iBeacon is then selected by the proximity server to transmit.

The patent application was initially filed slightly more than a year ago, on January 31st, 2013. The assignee is, naturally enough, Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California. Three inventors are listed. Of these, two, Sanjoy Sen and Sean March are in Plano, Texas, while the third, Cedric Aoun, is located in Boulogne-Billancourt, France.

Mr. Sen has been named in at least 14 patent applications, 12 of which have been granted, with assignees as diverse as Apple, Microsoft, Constellation Technologies LLC, and Rockstar Consortium. Mr. March has appeared in just 5 patent applications, while Mr. Aoun has 11 applications and 7 issued patents to his credit, including three assigned to Apple, Inc. (AAPL).

Though the patent application does not mention the iBeacon by name, it is clearer closely related to the proximity technology at the core of Apple’s (AAPL) dynamic new beacon system. The patent likely provides the needed legal protection for the intellectual property used in the iBeacon “Proximity UUID” identifier. Perhaps this is why the USPTO granted the patent in such a short amount of time, as the technology it describes is already demonstrably in use.