Method, system and apparatus for checking state of beacon device

• US 9,467,883 B2
• Filed: 03/04/2015
• Issued: 10/11/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SK Planet Co., Ltd. (SK Telecom Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: SK Planet Co., Ltd. (SK Telecom Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Shin, Chul Yong, Huh, Jae Hyung
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Wesley
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHAKRABORTY, RAJARSHI
• Application Number:
  US14/638,356
• Publication Number:
  US 20150304866A1
• Time in Patent Office: 587 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41.2
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• 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

Abstract

A method, system and apparatus for checking the state of a beacon device are disclosed. The system for the checking the state of a beacon device includes a beacon device and a service device. The beacon device transmits information about a beacon state to the service device and then receives a response signal from the service device. The service device receives the information about the beacon state from the beacon device, performs an update with the received information about the beacon state in association with a list of beacon devices, searches for the information about the beacon state of the beacon device, and provides the found information about the beacon state to the terminal.

Claims

1. A service device, comprising:

a service communication unit configured to transmit and receive data required for checking of a beacon state of operation of a beacon, with each beacon device including a Wi-Fi module for communicating with the service communication unit and with the service communication unit in communication with, at least, one terminal and the beacon device; and

a service control unit in communication with the service communication unit and configured to respond to a request signal from said at least, one terminal to perform control to receive information about the beacon state of the beacon device from the beacon device for maintenance and management of the beacon device, with the service control unit upon receipt of said request signal performing an update with the received information about the beacon state in association with a list of beacon devices, and for checking automatically and remotely of the information about the beacon state of the beacon device, by searching for the information about the beacon state of the beacon device and then providing the found information about the beacon state to the terminal,

wherein the information received by the service control unit about the beacon state from the beacon device consists of one or more normal operation information, communication state information, operating system (OS) information, upgrade information, and power information for providing the terminal with a determination based upon said received information in association with a stored list of corresponding beacon devices as to whether the beacon device is operating normally or not, and

wherein the service control unit stores the information about the beacon state of the beacon device, and stores the list of corresponding beacon devices for updating the information about the beacon state in association with the stored list of corresponding beacon devices with the service communication unit communicating with the terminal and the beacon device for providing an indication of whether the beacon device is operating normally or not, based upon the updated information.

2. The service device of claim 1, wherein the service communication unit is further configured to receive the information about the beacon state from the beacon device based on short-range wireless communication.

3. The service device of claim 1, wherein the control unit further comprises a service storage unit configured to store the list of beacon devices and the information about the beacon state of the beacon device.

4. A terminal, comprising:

a communication unit configured to transmit and receive data required for checking of a beacon state of a beacon device through communication with, at least, one beacon device and a service device; and

a control unit in communication with the communication unit and configured to control the service device for maintenance and management of the beacon device by having the service device communicate with the beacon device to receive information about the beacon state from the beacon device to check information relating to the beacon operating state of the beacon device and to output the checked information about the beacon state onto a screen,

wherein the information about the beacon state consists of one or more normal operation information, communication state information, operating system (OS) information, upgrade information, and power information for indicating whether the beacon device is operating normally or not, and

wherein the service device receives the information about the beacon state from the beacon device and stores a list of corresponding beacon devices for use in updating the information about the beacon state in association with the stored list of corresponding beacon devices and with the communication unit communicating with the service device and the beacon device so that the terminal can automatically and remotely check if the beacon device is operating normally or not.

5. The terminal of claim 4, wherein the communication unit is further configured to receive a beacon signal using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).

6. The terminal of claim 4, wherein the control unit is further configured to:

perform user authentication;

consult a list of one or more allowed beacon devices after the user authentication;

select a specific beacon device from the consulted list;

set broadcasting information for the selected beacon device; and

activate a communication function through setting of wireless Internet client information with the service device.

7. The terminal of claim 4, wherein the control unit is further configured to, in order to check the beacon state of the beacon device, identify at least one of a Universally Unique IDentifier (UUID) of the beacon device, a major adapted to be indicative of a group of beacon devices, and a minor used to identify the beacon device in the group of beacon devices.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein computer-readable program instructions for controlling a service device in communication with a beacon device such that, when the computer-readable program instructions are executed by a computer, the computer performs the method of:

instructing the service device to check information about a beacon state of at least one beacon device in response to a request from a user for maintenance and management of the beacon device;

receiving the information from the service device about the beacon state of the beacon device in response to the request;

checking the received information about the beacon state; and

outputting the checked information about the beacon state onto a screen,

wherein the information about the beacon state consists of one or more normal operation information, communication state information, operating system (OS) information, upgrade information, and power information indicating whether the beacon device operates normally or not, and

wherein the service device stores the information received about the beacon state from the beacon device and stores a list of corresponding beacon devices such that the user can check the state of the beacon device automatically and remotely.