Data communication with low-energy devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9820082-B2
Application number	US-201514714522-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 18, 2015
Priority date	May 18, 2015
Publication date	Nov 14, 2017
Grant date	Nov 14, 2017

Abstract

In one embodiment, a system includes a first tracked device and a second tracked device. The first tracked device includes first known device data, describing one or more previous connections known to the first tracked device. The second tracked device includes second known device data, describing one or more previous connections known to the second tracked device. The first tracked device is configured to connect to the second tracked device, transfer to the second tracked device at least a portion of the first known device data, and receive from the second tracked device at least a portion of the second known device data. The first tracked device is further configured to modify the first known device data to incorporate the second known device data. The second known device data includes data related to a previous connection involving a third tracked device outside a signal range of the first tracked device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a plurality of tracked devices, each tracked device of the plurality of tracked devices configured to track a status of a respective asset of a plurality of assets, and each tracked device of the plurality of tracked devices comprising respective known device data describing at least one or more previous connections of the tracked device;
wherein a first tracked device of the plurality of tracked devices is configured to track a status of a first asset of the plurality of assets, and wherein the first tracked device comprises first known device data describing at least one or more previous connections of the first tracked device;
wherein a second tracked device of the plurality of tracked devices is configured to track a status of a second asset of the plurality of assets, wherein the second tracked device comprises second known device data describing at least one or more previous connections of the second tracked device, and wherein the second known device data comprises third known device data received by the second tracked device from a third tracked device of the plurality of tracked devices and describing at least one or more previous connections of the third tracked device;
a server outside a transmission range of at least a portion of the plurality of tracked devices, wherein the server is outside the transmission range of the second tracked device, and wherein the server is configured to receive the respective known device data of the at least a portion of the plurality of tracked devices of which the server is outside the transmission range;
wherein the first tracked device is configured to:
switch between a first connection mode and a second connection mode, wherein the switching is configured to increase a count of connections made by the first tracked device;
connect to the second tracked device;
transfer to the second tracked device, from the first tracked device, the first known device data;
receive from the second tracked device the second known device data;
connect to the server; and

transfer to the server, from the first tracked device, the second known device data received from the second tracked device and describing at least the one or more previous connections of the second tracked device and the one or more previous connections of the third tracked device;
wherein the server is configured to perform analysis on the first known device data and additional known device data, and wherein the server is further configured to correct location data in the first known device data based on the analysis.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first connection mode is an advertiser mode, and wherein the second connection mode is an initiator mode.

3. The system of claimed 1 , wherein the first known device data comprises a plurality of records, and wherein the first tracked device is further configured to:
identifying a record in the first known device data describing an other previous connection between the first tracked device and the second tracked device;
determining from the record a time of the other previous connection between the first tracked device and the second tracked device;
wherein, to transfer to the second tracked device the at least a portion of the first known device data, the first tracked device is further configured to select for transfer a portion of the known device data that was updated after the time of the other previous connection.

4. The system of claimed 1 , wherein the first tracked device is further configured to consolidate a first record of the first known device data and a second record of the second known device data, based on a common tracked-device identifier in the first record and the second record.

5. A computer program product for communicating data among tracked devices, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform a method comprising:
connecting to one another a plurality of tracked devices, each tracked device of the plurality of tracked devices configured to track a status of a respective asset of a plurality of assets, and each tracked device of the plurality of tracked devices comprising respective known device data describing at least one or more previous connections of the tracked device;
switching, by the first tracked device, periodically between a first connection mode and a second connection mode, wherein the switching is configured to increase a count of connections made by the first tracked device;
connecting a first tracked device of a plurality of tracked devices to a second tracked device of the plurality of tracked devices, wherein each tracked device of the plurality of tracked devices is configured to track a status of a respective asset of a plurality of assets, and wherein each tracked device of the plurality of tracked devices comprises respective known device data describing at least one or more previous connections of the tracked device;
wherein the first tracked device is configured to track a status of a first asset of the plurality of assets, and wherein the first tracked device comprises first known device data describing at least one or more previous connections of the first tracked device;
wherein the second tracked device is configured to track a status of a second asset of the plurality of assets, and wherein the second tracked device comprises second known device data describing at least one or more previous connections of the second tracked device, and wherein the second known device data comprises third known device data received by the second tracked device from a third tracked device of the plurality of tracked devices and describing at least one or more previous connections of the third tracked device;
transferring, from the first tracked device to the second tracked device, the first known device data;
receiving, at the first tracked device from the second tracked device, the second known device data; and
transferring, from the first tracked device to a server, the second known device data received from the second tracked device and describing at least the one or more previous connections of the second tracked device and the one or more previous connections of the third tracked device;
wherein the server is outside a transmission range of at least a portion of the plurality of tracked devices, wherein the server is outside the transmission range of the second tracked device, and wherein the server is configured to receive the respective known device data of the at least a portion of the plurality of tracked devices of which the server is outside the transmission range; and
wherein the server is configured to perform analysis on the first known device data and additional known device data, and wherein the server is further configured to correct location data in the first known device data based on the analysis.

6. The computer program product of claim 5 , wherein the first connection mode is an advertiser mode, and wherein the second connection mode is an initiator mode.

7. The computer program product of claim 5 , wherein the first known device data comprises a plurality of records, the method further comprising:
identifying a record in the first known device data describing an other previous connection between the first tracked device and the second tracked device;
determining from the record a time of the other previous connection between the first tracked device and the second tracked device;
wherein transferring the at least a portion of the first known device data comprises selecting for transfer a portion of the known device data that was u

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Li yu bo
• Liu Tian Cheng
• Sun Ke Wei
• Xue Chao
• Yang Boa Hua

Classifications

• H04W8/26

  Network addressing or numbering for mobility support · CPC title

• H04W4/008 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04W48/20

  Selecting an access point · CPC title

• H04W8/22

  Processing or transfer of terminal data, e.g. status or physical capabilities · CPC title

• Y02B60/50

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic