Radiobeacon data sharing by forwarding low energy transmissions to a cloud host

• US 10,361,800 B2
• Filed: 04/22/2018
• Issued: 07/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PB, Inc.
• Original Assignee: PB, Inc.
• Inventors: Daoura, Daniel J, Pearson-Franks, Nicholas R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sobutka, Philip
• Application Number:
  US15/959,249
• Publication Number:
  US 20180241488A1
• Time in Patent Office: 457 Days
• Field of Search: 455 7- 25
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/59 for emergency or urgency
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/033 of the user plane, e.g. user's traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/22 using selective relaying for reaching a BTS [Base Transceiver Station] or an access point
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Remote actuation of machines or machine systems is realized by a system for coupling a radiobeacon to a smart device and in turn to a broader network. The smart device is configured as a proximity-actuated “community nodal device” by an application that operates as part of the system. The community nodal device is given instructions to function as a “soft switch”: to automatically “upswitch”, amplify, and broadcast low energy, local area radiobeacon “messages” to a cloud-based server, where the message is interpreted according to rules or policies established by an operator, and a command is transmitted for execution to a remote device. Conventional smart devices generally discard data not addressed to the owner of the smart device. Instead of discarding third party messages, the system preempts their handling, and using a soft switch formed from background resources, anonymously, without access to the message by a user interface of the proxy device, and without waiting for a network query from the host, engineers an “upswitched transmission” of radiobeacon-generated data to a cloud host. Advantageously, confidential sharing of ad hoc community resources results in a negligible load on background resources of the community nodal device. Messages may include a sensor data payload. Bit overloading enables a sensor data payload to be compressed into a few hundred bytes or less.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium holding program instructions that define an application, said application comprising a digital instruction set such that when copied to and installed and executed by a plurality of multi-featured smart devices (“

community nodal devices”

) defining a community of users, is configured to;

(a) cause a community nodal device to process a BTLE signal or signals broadcast from a plurality of radiotags, each broadcast having a digital unique identifier that identifies the owner of the radiotag, a community unique identifier that identifies the community of users, and a sensor data payload transmitted with each radiotag broadcast;

(b) cause BTLE signals received by a community nodal device to be timestamped, geostamped, and formatted with an IP address of a designated cloud host server, thereby defining a qualified radio message;

(c) if a broadcast is made by a radiotag belonging to a first registered owner and received by a community nodal device operated by the first registered owner, then process the message by foreground services of the device, and display or enter the sensor data payload according to a local or system user profile associated with the first registered owner or according to community policies and permissions associated with the community unique identifier;

(d) if a broadcast is made by a radiotag belonging to a first registered owner and received by a community nodal device operated by a second registered owner, wherein the radiotag is not co-owned or co-operated by the registered owner of the second community nodal device, then process the message by background services of the second community nodal device, and upswitch the message for delivery to a cloud host server as a shared community service, wherein the message is not accessible by foreground services of the second community nodal device and is not retained in a memory by the second community nodal device, further wherein the cloud host server is enabled to process the upswitched message according to a programmable rule or rules set up in a local or system user profile associated with the radiotag of the first registered owner or according to community policies and permissions associated with the community unique identifier;

(e) if a broadcast is made by a radiotag belonging to a first registered owner and received by a community nodal device operated by the first registered owner, and if foreground services of the receiving device are not active in real time, then process the message by background services of the first community nodal device and upswitch the message for delivery to a cloud host server, further wherein the message is retained by a memory of the community nodal device and is accessible by foreground services thereof at a later time;

further wherein the cloud host server is enabled to process the upswitched message according to a programmable rule or rules set up in a local or system user profile associated with the radiotag of the first registered owner or according to community policies and permissions associated with the community unique identifier;

(f) enable each community nodal device of the plurality of community nodal devices to upswitch all qualified messages to the cloud host server and to collect contextual or aggregated sensor data from a plurality of radiotags at a system level; and

,

(g) execute program instructions in cooperation with the cloud host server so as to receive all qualified messages broadcast at a system level, to parse the message from each radiotag and identify the registered owner of the radiotag from which the broadcast is initiated, the associated time stamp and geostamp, and to track the location of the radiotag as an owner service; and

,

to display a location of the radiotag or path taken by the radiotag on a map displayable on the community nodal device.

2. The application of claim 1, wherein said application when executed on a community nodal device, is configured

(a) to enable the community nodal device to execute a function based the sensor data payload and on a rule or rules associated with a local user profile, a system user profile, or according to community policies and permissions associated with the community unique identifier;

and,

(b) to enable the community nodal device to receive a command or a notification from the cloud host server, wherein the command or notification causes the community nodal device to execute a function based on the sensor data payload and on a rule or rules associated with a system user profile, a rule or rules implemented by a system administrator on behalf of a community of users, and according to any contextual or aggregated sensor data collected by the cloud host server from a plurality of radiotags; and

,

(c) to enable the community nodal device to receive a command or a notification from the cloud host server, wherein the command or notification causes the community nodal device to execute a function based on a rule or rules associated with a system user profile, a rule or rules implemented by a system administrator on behalf of a community of users, and according to any contextual or aggregated sensor data collected by the cloud host server from a plurality of radiotags.

3. The application of claim 2, wherein said application is configured to process all broadcast signals by foreground or background services as qualified radio messages in support of collecting aggregated sensor data payloads according to time and location at a system level.

4. The application of claim 3, wherein the application is configured to receive location data from the cloud host server, and to display a current location of a radiotag or path taken by a radiotag on a map, wherein said map is displayable on a smart device or a community nodal device.

5. The application of claim 1, wherein said application is configured for sending and receiving data to and from a cloud host server, and the cloud host server is configured to parse and make a rules-based analysis of a qualified message, including any contents thereof;

and, to transmit a notification or a command over a broad area network to a private smart device, to at least one community nodal device of a community network, to a remote device, to an effector machine, to a hub device, or to a plurality of devices and machines, in accordance with a rule or rules set up in a local or system user profile, a rule or rules implemented by a system administrator on behalf of a community of users, any sensor data payload, or contextual or aggregated sensor data collected by the cloud host server.

6. The application of claim 5, wherein the effector machine is a camera, a smart device, a cell phone, a garage door, a streetlamp, a motorized window, a volume control, a lock, a stove, a vehicle, or a panic alarm;

and a physical machine act results.

7. The application of claim 3, wherein said application is configured to operate in association with said cloud host server so as to enable a subscription finder service for a community of users.

8. The application of claim 7, wherein said digital instruction set includes instructions to associate a qualified radio message with a subscription service, to process the message according to rules and permissions of the subscription service, and to actuate an executable feature of a community nodal device, smart device, or a remote device according to a programmable rule or rules in a subscriber profile or according to community policies and permissions.

9. The application of claim 5, wherein said digital instruction set, when installed and executed by a computing circuit of a multi-featured smart device, is configured to cause a private smart device to display a graphical user interface enabled to receive entries of user-programmed rules and permissions into a user profile on said cloud host server or into a local memory.

10. The application of claim 1, wherein sensor data comprises payload from a plurality of sensors associated with a radiotag;

and wherein the application collects the sensor data for further local or remote processing.

11. A computer program for controlling operation of a plurality of community nodal devices (“

receiving devices”

), each receiving device having an nonvolatile memory for retaining the program and volatile memory for retaining transient data, a processor for executing the program, multiple executable features, and a transceiver for receiving BTLE digital transmissions from a plurality of tracking devices, each transmission including a unique identifier of a tracking device, a community identifier, and a sensor package with sensor data payload that includes motion sensor data output from the tracking device that broadcasts the BTLE transmission, which comprises;

processing, by the receiving device, each transmission and tagging the transmission with a time stamp and a geostamp;

wherein the geostamp is derived from the receiving device or from a cloud host server;

assembling from the receiving device, a soft switch configured for processing transmissions either through foreground services or for upswitching the transmission with IP address, time stamp and geostamp to the cloud host server without use of foreground resources;

for each received transmission from a tracking device, parsing the transmission, by the receiving device, to obtain the unique identifier of the tracking device, wherein each unique identifier is associated with or is not associated with a registered owner of the tracking device;

for those transmissions associated with the registered owner of the tracking device and received by a designated receiving device associated with the registered owner or an authorized user;

processing and displaying or storing the time stamp, geostamp, and any sensor data payload in the transmission on a display or in a memory of the designated receiving device;

for those transmissions not associated with the registered owner of the tracking device and received by an ad hoc receiving device of a bluetoothed network associated with a community of users having a member who is a registered owner of the tracking device;

processing and unswitching the signal with time stamp, geostamp, and any sensor data payload in the transmission to a cloud host server, then forwarding the signal to the member of the community of users having registered ownership as a shared community service, without engaging foreground resources of the ad hoc receiving device or storage of the signal contents therein;

according to the content of the sensor data package received in the designated receiving device or by the cloud host network, executing a function of the designated receiving device or causing execution of a machine function by an accessory device, wherein said function or action is executed according to an owner programmable rule or rules stored in a local or a system user profile associated with the registered owner of the radiotag or according to community policies and permissions associated with the community unique identifier.

12. The computer program of claim 11, wherein the sensor data payload defines one or more sensor conditions, each condition relating to conditional execution of a particular rule or rules stored in a local or a system user profile associated with the registered owner of the radiotag or according to community policies and permissions associated with the community unique identifier.

13. The computer program of claim 12, wherein a first condition is at least one of acceleration information, orientation information, and rotation information transmitted as part of said sensor data package, and a second condition is a sensor output as part of said sensor data package from a switch sensor having an on and off position, wherein said sensor switch is assembled in a housing of a tracking device and may be actuated manually from a normal off position.

14. The computer program of claim 13, wherein the computer program is configured to conditionally trigger a FIND PHONE alarm state in a designated receiving device when said two conditions are met.

15. The computer program of claim 12, wherein a first condition is at least one of acceleration information, orientation information, and rotation information transmitted as part of said sensor data package, and a second said condition is a sensor output as part of said sensor data package from a switch sensor having an on and off position, wherein said sensor switch is assembled in a housing of a tracking device and may be actuated manually from a normal off position.

16. The computer program of claim 13, wherein the computer program is configured to conditionally trigger a FIND PHONE alarm state in a designated receiving device when said two conditions are met.

17. The computer program of claim 13, wherein said rule or rules for triggering an executable feature of said designated receiving device comprise a series of two or more signals from the designated radiotag indicative of motion of the radiotag followed by a loss of radio contact, and the feature that is actuated on the receiving device is an OUT OF RANGE alarm.

18. The computer program of claim 13, wherein said rule or rules for triggering an executable feature of said designated receiving device comprise a series of two or more signals from the designated radiotag indicative of no motion of the radiotag followed by a loss of radio contact, and the feature that is actuated on the receiving device is a LEFT BEHIND alarm.

19. The computer program of claim 13, wherein said rule or rules for triggering an executable feature of said designated receiving device comprise a series of two or more signals from the designated radiotag indicative of a relative motion of the radiotag in a first direction or velocity, and one or more signals generated by the designated receiving device indicating a relative motion that is not copacetic, and the feature that is actuated on the receiving device is LOST/ERROR alarm.

20. The computer program of claim 13, the cloud host server determines position of the radiotag from radio contacts made with ad hoc receiving devices belonging to members of the community, and wherein the radiotag cannot determine position independently, and the feature that is actuated on the receiving device is a TRACKING MAP feature showing the most recent position of the radiotag and the path taken.

21. The computer program of claim 13, wherein the owner of the designated device can grant a permission to another user to access and control a radiotag under the owner'"'"'s control.

22. The computer program of claim 11, wherein the local or system user profiles comprise programmable rules and permissions associated with one or more executable features or operations of a multi-featured receiving device, wherein said executable features or operations are selectable from:

(i) making a notification or a display on a user interface of the receiving device,

(ii) waking up a program or a hardware component of the smart device;

(iii) storing a sensor data input from a transmission or a series of sensor data inputs decoded from a series of radiotag signals;

(iv) aggregating sensor data inputs from a plurality of radiotag signals messages from one or more radiotags;

(v) mapping a sensor data input or an aggregation of sensor data inputs on a virtual map and displaying the virtual map on the receiving device;

(vi) activating or deactivating a permission on the receiving device;

(vii) forwarding a radiotag signal according to rules established by an owner;

(viii) causing an action on the smart device;

(ix) causing an effector device to take an action;

(x) setting an alert;

(xi) triggering a visual or audible alarm in the receiving device, in a radiotag, in both, or,

(xii) a combination thereof.

23. The computer program of claim 22, wherein the effector device is a camera, a smart device, a cell phone, a garage door, a streetlamp, a motorized window, a volume control, a lock, a stove, a vehicle, or a panic alarm;

and a physical machine act results.