Methods, systems and devices for automatic linking of activity tracking devices to user devices

• US 8,744,804 B2
• Filed: 11/27/2013
• Issued: 06/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fitbit, Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Fitbit, Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Messenger, Jayson, Burton, Barry, Park, James
• Primary Examiner(s): Raymond, Edward
• Application Number:
  US14/092,860
• Publication Number:
  US 20140089514A1
• Time in Patent Office: 188 Days
• Field of Search: 702/160, 702/150, 702/155, 702182-185, 702/188
• US Class Current: 702/160
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0214 of power generation or supply
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0242 adapted to measure environmental factors, e.g. temperature, pollution
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0271 using a remote monitoring unit
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02055 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/021 Measuring pressure in heart or blood vessels A61B5/0205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/024 Detecting, measuring or recording pulse rate or heart rate A61B5/0205, A61B5/021 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1112 Global tracking of patients, e.g. by using GPS
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1118 Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/222 combined with detection or measurement of physiological parameters, e.g. heart rate
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4809 Sleep detection, i.e. determining whether a subject is asleep or not
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4812 Detecting sleep stages or cycles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4815 Sleep quality
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6838 Clamps or clips
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 22/006 Pedometers
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/30 relating to physical therapies or activities, e.g. physiotherapy, acupressure or exercising
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 : Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70

Abstract

Methods, systems and devices are provided for automatically linking a device to an activity tracking device. One method includes obtaining, at the device, a semi-unique identifier from a website. The semi-unique identifier is for an activity tracker that has been paired to a user account of the website. The method includes scanning, by the device, for the semi-unique identifier. The scanning is of advertising messages generated by one or more activity trackers. The method identifies the activity tracker by matching the advertised semi-unique identifier to the semi-unique identifier obtained from the website. The method then includes establishing a link between the activity tracker and the device. The link is established without requiring user initiation to link the activity tracker to the device.

Claims

1. A method,

advertising, by an activity tracking device, data that includes a semi-unique identifier of the activity tracking device, the advertising of the data is configured for detection by a device that is scanning for advertised data;

connecting with the device once the semi-unique identifier is found by the device and the semi-unique identifier matches a copy of the semi-unique identifier obtained by the device; and

establishing a link with the device, the linking occurring when the device verifies that the activity tracking device having the semi-unique identifier is associated to the user account, the method being executed by a processor.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein for the device obtains the semi-unique identifier in reference to an account of an activity tracking website, or from a file, or from local or remote storage of the device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising,

repeating the advertising, the connecting and the establishing of the link to enable communication with a second device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising,

generating the semi-unique identifier using a serial number of the activity tracking device, or the semi-unique identifier is a portion of a serial number of the activity tracking device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein advertising the semi-unique identifier includes transmitting one or more advertising packet using a wireless communication device of the activity tracking device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the wireless communication is processed using a Bluetooth low energy (BT LE) protocol, or a Bluetooth (BT) protocol, or a WiFi protocol, or a cellular protocol, or a combination of two or more thereof.

7. A method,

receiving, at a tracking device, a request to pair with a user account managed by a website executing an activity management application;

transferring data from the tracking device to the website in response to the request, the data including a semi-unique identifier of the tracking device, the semi-unique identifier being associated with the user account so that client devices associated to the user account have access to an association of the semi-unique identifier of the tracking device; and

advertising, by the tracking device, the semi-unique identifier, wherein client devices associated to user account scan for the semi-unique identifier and limit connection to tracking devices that have advertised the semi-unique identifier, the method being executed by a processor.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising,

automatically attempting a connection with client devices that scanned for the tracking device and found the semi-unique identifier;

and

linking the tracking device to one of the client devices, without requiring user input to initiate the linking.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the tracking device is linkable to a plurality of client devices having access to the user account.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the data includes information associated with a serial number of the tracking device, such that the semi-unique identifier is part of or derived from the serial number.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the semi-unique identifier for the tracking device is generated by,

accessing a serial number of the tracking device and identifying a subset of the serial number, the subset of the serial number used to define the semi-unique identifier, or

producing a random code.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein client devices associated with the user account,

execute a client activity tracking application;

wherein the client activity application has access to the relationship between the semi-unique identifier and the tracking device;

wherein the scanning for the semi-unique identifier is managed by the client activity application, such that advertising devices that do not advertise the semi-unique identifier are excluded from connection with the client devices.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein for a client device of the client devices, upon opening a client activity application, executing the scan for the semi-unique identifier, the scanning occurring without requiring user input to link the tracking device to the client device, and the scanning acts to prevent connections with devices that do not have the semi-unique identifier.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein opening the client activity application includes logging into the client activity application using credentials for the user account, the logging in occurring at least once during a first or subsequently logging in to the client activity application.

15. The method of claim 7, wherein the advertising of the semi-unique identifier facilitated by transmitting an advertising packet using a wireless radio communication.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the wireless radio communication is facilitated by a Bluetooth low energy (BT LE) protocol, or a Bluetooth (BT) protocol, or a WiFi protocol, or a cellular protocol, or a combination thereof.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the semi-unique identifier is transferred in an advertising packet formatted according to the BT LE protocol.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the semi-unique identifier is a 16 bit data unit transferred in payload of the advertising packet.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising,

initiating a broadcast of the advertising packing by the activity tracker when the activity tracker is not linked to a client device.

20. A method, comprising,

obtaining, at a device, a semi-unique identifier from a website, the semi-unique identifier being for an activity tracker that has been paired to a user account of the website;

scanning, by the device, for the semi-unique identifier, the scanning being of advertising messages generated by one or more activity trackers;

identifying the activity tracker by matching the advertised semi-unique identifier to the semi-unique identifier obtained from the website; and

establishing a link between the activity tracker and the device, the link being established without requiring user initiation to link the activity tracker to the device, the method being executed by a processor.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the device is a mobile device, and wherein the obtaining, scanning, identifying and linking is triggered automatically upon opening and logging into a mobile app of the mobile device.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the advertising messages are received from the one or more activity trackers, the advertising messages containing the semi-unique identifiers of each of the activity trackers.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein the advertising messages are defined as a subset of a serial number of the respective one or more activity trackers.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein the scanning is within a proximity distance to the device, the proximity distance being within a Bluetooth wireless communication distance.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein the device associated with the user account is configured to,

execute a client activity tracking application;

wherein the client activity application has access to a relationship between the semi-unique identifier and the activity tracker;

wherein the scanning for the semi-unique identifier is managed by the client activity application, such that advertising devices that do not advertise the semi-unique identifier are excluded from connection with the device.

26. A tracking device configured for capture of activity for a user, comprising,

a housing;

a sensor disposed in the housing to capture motion data associated with activity of the user;

memory for storing the captured motion data and a semi-unique identifier of the tracking device; and

a processor for managing connection of the tracking device with a client device over a wireless connection, the processor configured to transfer data from the tracking device to the client device which communicates with a website, the data including the semi-unique identifier of the tracking device, the semi-unique identifier being associated with a user account at the website so that client devices associated to the user account have access to the semi-unique identifier of the tracking device, the processor configured to enable advertising of the semi-unique identifier to enable client devices associated to user account to scan for the semi-unique identifier and establish a link with the tracking device.

27. The device of claim 26, wherein the housing is part of a wearable wrist attachable structure, or an attachable structure that can be carried or worn by the user and the wearable wrist attachable structure is defined at least partially from a plastic material.

28. The device of claim 26, wherein the housing further includes wireless communication logic for transferring data over the wireless connection.

29. The device of claim 26, wherein the client device is configured for access with an activity management server over the Internet, the activity management server stores the semi-unique identifier for the tracking device in association with the user account,

wherein one or more tracking devices can be associated to the user account, each tracking device having a respective semi-unique identifier;

and

wherein the processor executes firmware having program instructions to enable the link.

30. The device of claim 26, wherein the housing is part of a smartwatch with wireless communication logic.