Electronic Devices, Methods, and Computer Program Products for Detecting a Tag Having a Sensor Associated Therewith and Receiving Sensor Information Therefrom

• US 20140347193A1
• Filed: 02/13/2012
• Published: 11/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications USA Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Ljung, Peter, Wadman, Johan
• Granted Patent: US 10,535,254 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/870.01
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/02 using a radio link
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• 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 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

An electronic device is operated by detecting a tag having a sensor associated therewith and being configured to transmit information over a defined distance using a short range wireless protocol, and receiving sensor information transmitted by the tag over the communication link.

Claims

1. A method of operating an electronic device, comprising:

detecting a tag having a sensor associated therewith and being configured to transmit information over a defined distance using a short range wireless protocol; and

receiving sensor information transmitted by the tag over the communication link.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending the sensor information to an application server.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving a message from the application server providing needed information for interacting with an application residing on the electronic device.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving a message from the application server providing needed information for interacting with another device.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein sending the sensor information to the application server comprises:

sending the sensor information to the application server periodically using a defined schedule.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the sensor is configured to generate the sensor information for an event and wherein sending the sensor information to the application server comprises:

sending the sensor information to the application server responsive to receipt of the sensor information for a single event at the electronic device without delaying to accumulate sensor information for additional events.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the sensor is configured to generate the sensor information for an event and wherein sending the sensor information to the application server comprises:

buffering the sensor information for a plurality of events at the electronic device; and

sending the buffered sensor information to the application server.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the sensor is configured to generate the sensor information for an event and the sensor is further configured to buffer the sensor information for a plurality of events, and wherein sending the sensor information to the application server comprises:

receiving the buffered sensor information transmitted by the tag over the communication link; and

sending the buffered sensor information to the application server.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein sending the sensor information to the application server comprises:

sending the sensor information to the application server based on a transmission bandwidth allocation assigned to the electronic device for communication with the application server.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein sending the sensor information to the application server comprises:

receiving metadata transmitted by the tag over the communication link; and

sending the sensor information to the application server based on the metadata.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the sensor information comprises:

receiving the sensor information based on movement of the electronic device, time of day, sensor activity, and/or power availability.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a message to the tag to change operational behavior of the tag responsive to the tag being placed in a bi-directional communication mode.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the operational behavior comprises operation of the sensor associated with the tag and/or transmission behavior of the tag.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein sending the message to the tag comprises:

updating firmware associated with the tag.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the message is received from an application server.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a mobile terminal.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor information comprises authentication information that identifies a person.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the authentication information comprises biometric information.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

sending a message to the tag that is used to operate a device responsive to authenticating an identity of the person.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein sensing operation of the sensor and/or transmission operation of the tag are changed based on an event sensed by the sensor.

21. An electronic device,

a tag reader circuit that is configured to detect a tag having a sensor associated therewith and being configured to transmit information over a defined distance using a short range wireless protocol, and to receive sensor information transmitted by the tag over the communication link.

22. The electronic device of claim 21, further comprising:

a communications module coupled to the tag reader that is configured to send the sensor information to an application server.

23. The electronic device of claim 22, wherein the communications module is further configured to receive a message from the application server providing needed information for interacting with an application residing on the electronic device.

24. The electronic device of claim 22, wherein the communications module is further configured to receive a message from the application server providing needed information for interacting with another device.

25. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the electronic device is a mobile terminal.

26. A computer program product for operating an electronic device, comprising:

a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code comprising;

computer readable program code configured to detect a tag having a sensor associated therewith and being configured to transmit information over a defined distance using a short range wireless protocol; and

computer readable program code configured to receive sensor information transmitted by the tag over the communication link.

27. A method of operating a communication network, comprising:

receiving sensor information from a plurality of electronic devices, each electronic device being configured to detect a tag having a sensor associated therewith and to receive the sensor information transmitted by the sensor using a short range wireless protocol; and

sending a notification to at least one entity based on the sensor information received from the plurality of electronic devices.