Device control using entity identifiers

• US 10,691,902 B2
• Filed: 04/28/2017
• Issued: 06/23/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Getac Technology Company Limited (MiTAC Holdings Corp.), Whp Workflow Solutions, LLC
• Original Assignee: Whp Workflow Solutions, LLC
• Inventors: Guzik, Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Feild, Joseph H
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mahase, Pameshanand
• Application Number:
  US15/582,578
• Publication Number:
  US 20180314861A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,152 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/381 using identifiers, e.g. barcodes, RFIDs for URLs G06F16/9554
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 1/128 by electric registration, e.g. electrolytic, spark erosion recording apparatus for measuring instruments G01D15/06; information storage in general G11
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/265 Personal security, identity or safety

Abstract

Techniques for efficiently and automatically activating portable devices include a device nomenclature schema used to associate devices with particular entities, including a person, a group of persons, a role, a location, a type, etc. A first device can be configured to activate one or more other devices according to assigned entity names when certain conditions occur. When a recording event occurs, metadata associated with one or more recording devices is stored, including entities that were activated during the recording event. A reviewer of the event recording can thereby easily determine other devices that might have stored data related to the event.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

storing a relationship between an entity identifier of an entity and a first device identifier of a first electronic device;

storing a relationship between the entity identifier and a second device identifier of a second electronic device;

detecting an activation event associated with the entity identified by the entity identifier; and

in response to detecting the activation event, initiating an activation action on both the first electronic device and the second electronic device by reference to the stored relationship between the entity identifier and the first device identifier and the stored relationship between the entity identifier and the second device identifier using the entity identifier as a key.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the entity identifier further comprises a person'"'"'s name.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the entity identifier further comprises a group name that is associated with more than one person.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the entity identifier further comprises a role name.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the entity identifier further comprises a location name.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the entity identifier further comprises location coordinates.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the entity identifier further comprises a device type.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the activation event further comprises a user selection of the entity.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the detecting an activation event further comprises detecting that a message pertinent to the entity identifier is transmitted.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

storing metadata related to the entity identifier, the first electronic device, the second electronic device, and data assets captured in response to the activation by the first electronic device and the second electronic device that were activated in response to the activation event; and

enabling access to the captured data assets by reference to the stored metadata using at least one of the first electronic device or the second electronic device as a key.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the activating of the first electronic device and the second electronic device includes:

switching the first electronic device from a non-active mode to an active mode using the relationship between the entity identifier and the first electronic device identifier, and

switching the second electronic device from a non-active mode to an active mode using the relationship between the entity identifier and the second electronic device identifier.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the activating of the first electronic device and the second electronic device includes:

turning the first electronic device from a non-power state to a powered state using the relationship between the entity identifier and the first electronic device identifier, and

turning the second electronic device from a non-power state to a powered state using the relationship between the entity identifier and the second electronic device identifier.

13. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the activating of the first electronic device and the second electronic device includes:

transmitting a first message configured to;

directly activate the first electronic device using the relationship between the entity identifier and the first electronic device identifier, and

indirectly activate the second electronic device using the relationship between the entity identifier and the second electronic device identifier, via a second message transmitted from the first electronic device to the second electronic device in response to the first message.

14. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the first message is configured to indirectly activate the second electronic device based on the type of the first message.

15. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the first message is configured to indirectly activate the second electronic device based on content of the first message.

16. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the first message is configured to indirectly activate the second electronic device based on a pre-configuration of the first electronic device.

17. A method, comprising:

receiving a trigger signal from a first portable electronic device associated with a first identifier;

identifying an association of a plurality of other portable electronic devices associated with respective second identifiers with the first portable electronic device using structured metadata in which the association between the plurality of other portable electronic devices and the first portable electronic device is indicated by a shared field in the structured metadata;

determining that the trigger signal indicates an activation of the first portable electronic device; and

in response to the determining that the trigger signal indicates an activation of the first portable electronic device, activating, by reference to the shared field, the plurality of other portable electronic devices using the first identifier as a key.

18. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the identifying of other portable electronic devices comprises identifying portable electronic devices that are associated with the first portable electronic device, based on having a similar identifier as the first portable electronic device.

19. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the identifying of other portable electronic devices comprises identifying portable electronic devices that are within a particular distance of the first portable electronic device.

20. A system, comprising:

one or more processors;

memory operably coupled to the one or more processors;

an assignment module stored in the memory and configured to store a first device identifier associated with a first portable electronic device, a second device identifier associated with a second portable electronic device, and an entity identifier associated with an entity such that the first device identifier and the second device identifier are stored with a first relationship between the first device identifier and the entity identifier and a second relationship between the second device identifier and the entity identifier;

a device interface module stored in the memory and configured to receive an indication of an activation event; and

an activation module stored in the memory and configured to identify the first portable electronic device and the second portable electronic device using the entity identifier and the stored relationships between the entity identifier and the first device identifier and the second device identifier, respectively, and to thereby transmit an activation signal using the entity identifier to activate both the first portable electronic device and the second portable electronic device in accordance with the device interface module detecting the activation event.

21. The system as recited in claim 20, further comprising a tag reader configured to read the first device identifier from the first portable electronic device and the second device identifier from the second portable electronic device.

22. The system as recited in claim 20, wherein the assignment module is further configured to remove the association of the first device identifier and the second device identifier from the entity identifier.

23. A system, comprising:

a database that stores, in mutual association;

metadata that includes;

a first device identifier that identifies a first portable electronic device;

a second device identifier that identifies a second portable electronic device;

data assets captured by the first portable electronic device and the second portable electronic device; and

an entity identifier that identifies a group of portable electronic devices that are associated with the first portable electronic device; and

a user interface configured to enable a user to identify from the metadata an activation event associated with a member of the group identified by the entity identifier, and to search the database to find all devices in the group associated with the metadata.