Method and system for asset management

• US 10,852,441 B2
• Filed: 08/26/2019
• Issued: 12/01/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Estimote Polska Sp. z o.o.
• Original Assignee: Estimote Polska Sp. z o.o.
• Inventors: Krzych, Jakub, Kostka, Lukasz
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Mong-Thuy T
• Application Number:
  US16/551,379
• Publication Number:
  US 20200064487A1
• Time in Patent Office: 463 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/11 wherein the cooperating elements are pseudolites or satellite radio beacon positioning system signal repeaters
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/49 whereby the further system is an inertial position system, e.g. loosely-coupled
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 7/588 Random number generators, i.e. based on natural stochastic processes
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 20/00 Machine learning
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/03 Protecting confidentiality, e.g. by encryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/069 using certificates or pre-shared keys
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• 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

An asset management system can include one or more beacons, a remote computing system, and a program. The asset tracking method can include operating the beacon according to programmable instructions, and can additionally or alternatively learn to detect events.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

an anchor beacon, the anchor beacon comprising;

a first processor operably connected to an inertial measurement unit, wherein the first processor is operable between a training mode and a processing mode, wherein the first processor is configured to log data associated with an event in the training mode, and is configured to detect the event in the processing mode;

a Bluetooth system, wherein the Bluetooth system is operable between a plurality of modes comprising a scanning mode and an offline mode, and wherein the Bluetooth system is configured to scan for a venue beacon packet associated with a venue beacon in the scanning mode; and

a second processor, separate and distinct from the first processor, that is configured to process the venue beacon packet and generate a payload according to custom instructions received from a remote computing system and settings received from the remote computing system;

a cellular system, wherein the cellular system is configured to;

transmit the payload to the remote computing system; and

receive a remote payload from the remote computing system; and

a security system, wherein the security system comprises a random number generator; and

the remote computing system, configured to;

receive user-provided code;

compile the user-provided code into the custom instructions for the anchor beacon, wherein the custom instructions comprise bytecode; and

load the custom instructions onto the anchor beacon.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein, in the training mode:

the anchor beacon;

logs data, associated with the event, from a set of sensors on-board the anchor beacon; and

transmits the data to the remote computing system; and

the remote computing system;

receives the data;

determines an event model based on training data, wherein the training data comprises the data; and

transmits the event model to the anchor beacon.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the event is associated with the custom instructions, wherein, in the processing mode, the anchor beacon:

receives the event model from the remote computing system;

detects the event based on data from the set of sensors and the event model; and

in response to detecting the event, executes the custom instructions.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising an authentication token, wherein the authentication token is stored at the remote computing system, wherein the remote computing system transmits a message, using the authentication token, based on an event identifier extracted from the payload.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the anchor beacon further comprises an ultra-wide band (UWB) radio, the system configured to:

determine an anchor beacon location using the UWB radio; and

after determining the anchor beacon location, determine a refined anchor beacon location using the inertial measurement unit.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the remote computing system is configured to:

identify an abstract beacon variable, associated with the venue beacon, within the user-provided code;

resolve the abstract beacon variable into a beacon identifier for the venue beacon, based on a beacon registry managed by the remote computing system, wherein the beacon identifier represents the venue beacon in the custom instructions.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the user-provided code is in a web-based programming language.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the anchor beacon, after operating in the scanning mode;

receives a venue beacon packet, wherein the venue beacon packet comprises a venue beacon token, and the venue beacon packet is associated with a received signal strength indicator (RSSI); and

transmits the venue beacon packet and the RSSI to the remote computing system;

the remote computing system, after receiving the venue beacon packet and the RSSI;

obtains a venue beacon identifier by processing the venue beacon token using a beacon key associated with the venue beacon, wherein the beacon key is known by the venue beacon and the remote computing system; and

determine an anchor beacon location for the anchor beacon based on the RSSI and a known physical location associated with the venue beacon identifier.

9. A method for managing an anchor beacon including a Bluetooth radio, and a cellular radio, the method comprising, at the anchor beacon:

receiving bytecode from a remote computing system, wherein the bytecode is compiled by the remote computing system from user-provided code;

determining operation parameters from the bytecode; and

operating according to the operation parameters, wherein operating the anchor beacon comprises operating in at least;

a first mode, comprising;

generating a first payload according to custom instructions received from the remote computing system and settings received from the remote computing system by sampling a plurality of sensors on-board the anchor beacon; and

sending the first payload, by using the cellular radio, to the remote computing system;

a second mode, comprising;

operating the Bluetooth radio in a scanning mode and detecting a venue beacon packet, wherein the venue beacon packet comprises a venue beacon identifier associated with a venue beacon; and

sending a second payload, comprising the venue beacon identifier, with the cellular radio to the remote computing system.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising at the remote computing system, after receiving the payload from the anchor beacon:

determining occurrence of an event by processing the payload; and

in response to determining occurrence of the event, sending a message to an account using an authentication token stored by the remote computing system.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the anchor beacon comprises an inertial measurement unit, the method further comprising:

at the anchor beacon, detecting movement of the anchor beacon based on the inertial measurement unit;

in response to movement detection;

operating the Bluetooth radio in the scanning mode, from a Bluetooth offline mode; and

operating the cellular radio in the transmission mode, from a cellular offline mode.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the remote computing system provides a power estimation for the anchor beacon based on the user-provided code.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein compiling the bytecode from the user-provided code comprises:

identifying an abstract beacon variable, associated with the venue beacon, within the user-provided code; and

resolving the abstract beacon variable into the venue beacon identifier based on a beacon registry managed by the remote computing system, wherein the venue beacon identifier represents the venue beacon in the custom instructions.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

in the second mode, determining a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) associated with the venue beacon packet, wherein the second payload comprises the RSSI;

at the remote computing system;

determining the venue beacon identifier and the receipt signal from the second payload;

determining a location for the anchor beacon based on the RSSI and a physical location associated with the venue beacon identifier.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the venue beacon identifier is an encrypted token, wherein the encrypted token is based on a venue beacon key associated with the venue beacon, wherein the venue beacon key is known by the remote computing system.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

at the anchor beacon, operating in a training mode, wherein the training mode comprises logging data from at least one sensor from the plurality of sensors;

at the remote computing system;

receiving the data from the anchor beacon;

determining an event model based on the data; and

transmitting the event model to the anchor beacon;

at the anchor beacon, detecting the event based on data from at least the one sensor and the event model.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the anchor beacon comprises a first processor that executes the first mode and second mode, and a second processor that detects the event based on the event model.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein determining the event model comprises determining the event model based on the data and a predetermined template model.