PH12017000282A1 - Connectionless bluetooth tracking system - Google Patents

Abstract

The disclosed invention refers to a location and proximity tracking system for a physical asset comprised of: a Bluetooth peripheral (Fig. 1) that is attached to the asset using a generic metallic keyring through a small cavity (12) and advertises a packet containing a static unique identifier in a form of a media access control (MAC) address (Fig. 8), and a compatible application software running on a mobile device (Fig. 7). The application software (Fig. 7) scans for the advertised unique identifiers (Fig. 8). Upon the detection of a unique identifier (Fig. 8), the applicationsoftware (Fig. 6) executes a function that creates a data model (38), composed of the mobile device's current GPS coordinates and the timestamp of detection, and stores it in the mobile device's persistent memory (40). The stored data model (38), is then indexed with the unique identifier for future retrieval reference.

Description

polled by the compatible software. If the the advertisement signal of the respective Bluetooth peripheral (Fig. 1) to be registered is notdetected at the set amount of time, in the preferred embodiment 5 seconds is used (23), its media access control (MAC) address (Fig. 8) will be sent to a remote server (26). This is to verify if the Bluetooth peripheral (Fig. 1)came from the vendor and for security against imitation products. After receiving the media access control (MAC) address (Fig. 8) of the Bluetooth peripheral (Fig. 1), the server will return a

Boolean value; TRUE the media access control address it exists in the server’s list of known devices and FALSE if it is not recognized (27). In block (28) a successfully verified

Bluetooth peripheral (Fig. 1) is finally registered to the compatible software (Fig. 1), otherwise the user is prompt that the registration is unsuccessful.

A Bluetooth peripheral is registered in order for it to be recognized by the compatible software’s (Fig. 9)filtering routine (37) during the scanning process. (Figure 6) The scanning process used by the system. At block (33) the compatible software’s algorithm (Fig. 6)initializes the Bluetooth interface of the mobile device it is installed on and commands it to scan for Bluetooth peripherals. This Bluetooth technology used is Bluetooth low energy (BLE). When a Bluetooth peripheral (Fig. 1) is scanned, the media access control (MAC) address (Fig. 8) from its advertisement packet is read by the compatible software. If the media access control (MAC) address (Fig. 8) of the scanned Bluetooth peripheral is recognized by the compatible software, it undergoes a tracking routine. A tracking data model is created (38) that contains the timestamp and GPS coordinates of the detecting mobile device during the detection of the Bluetooth peripheral. The timestamp, in the preferred embodiment the timestamp shown is in a form that shows minutes, hours, day, month and year. The GPS coordinates is produced by the mobile device's platform’s provided location management frameworks, in the preferred embodiment it contains the latitude, longitude and error in decimal format. The tracking data model is then stored to the mobile device’s memory for future use. In the preferred embodiment, the tracking data model is utilized by being interpreted as a location marker (41) in a map (42) with an annotated simplified readable timestamp (Figure 7). (Fig. 9) shows a sample of the compatible software’s view. A menu (43) for showing registered Bluetooth peripherals (Fig. 1). In the preferred embodiment, the maximum

Bluetooth peripherals to be registered per mobile device is 5, the example (43) in (Fig. 9)

shows only 1 out of 5. It becomes populated by its previous value plus one every time a

Bluetooth peripheral’s (Fig. 1) media access control (MAC) address is stored in the mobile device’s database (29). It, the compatible software in the preferred embodiment, also has a view showing a signal quality indicator (44) for the RSSI of a tracked Bluetooth peripheral.

The formula used is P = 2 * (RSSI + 100), where P is in percent. P is then interpreted into a signal quality indicator (44) where in every 20% in the value of P is equivalent to 1 highlighted bar.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Bluetooth devices are electronic devices that utilize the Bluetooth wireless technology standard for exchanging data over relatively short distances with other fixed or mobile

Bluetooth devices. Bluetooth is a packet-based protocol that follows the master-slave pattern.

A master Bluetooth device is responsible for initiating connections to a slave Bluetooth device. A master Bluetooth device is responsible for scanning slave Bluetooth devices, which are in turn responsible for advertising packets. Normally, a connection is formed after a master and slave pairs; both are then able to exchange data back and forth. In a connectionless operation, the pattern utilized by this invention, no Bluetooth pairing occurs but only the scanning and detection of blocks occurs and the only data that is sent are advertising packets; which only works one-way, from the slave to the master.

In today’s market for tracking systems, most Bluetooth tracking systems function through the utilization of an established two way connection between a slave Bluetooth peripheral and its respective master that tracks it, may it be a discrete device or a mobile device, etc. The universal problem for these kinds of tracking systems is a short battery life for both the master and slave device which is caused by the prerequisite two-way connection, or Bluetooth pairing as it is called in the art, utilized by such systems in order to function.

The disclosed invention aims to solve this short battery life through lowering the overall energy consumption required to sustain a tracking system by eliminating the need for

Bluetooth pairing.

Through a live test, that is still ongoing, the energy saving advantage of the system has been evident on the first produced unit of the invented Bluetooth peripheral (Figure 1) is still functioning even after 8 months. On the master side, or the mobile device, a test was conducted wherein the compatible software (Fig. 7) is the only running software on the mobile device until it ran out of battery. The test yielded a data that a mobile device on a 100% battery which is running the compatible software’s tracking process (Fig. 6) will have a projected battery lifespan of 90 hours or 3.75 days.

Referring to US 8,847,754 B2, a prior art; A device, system and method for providing (a) a wireless communications component, configured to send and receive wireless signals such that the device is locatable via a wireless means; the wireless communications component including: (i) a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) module for measuring signal strength of a wireless signal received at the wireless communications component, wherein the device is configured to be tracked by a mobile computing device (MCD) running a mobile application. wherein the distance of the device from the MCD is calculated by the mobile application upon receiving between one and three RSSI values, measured by the RSSI module, and sent in a signal by the device to the MCD, wherein the distance is calculated based an average of the received RSSI values.

Above is an example of a tracking system that requires Bluetooth pairing between the mentioned wireless communication component and mobile computing device (MCD) in order to send and receive data between each other. As Bluetooth technology improves, the two-way communication used by invention cited above in order to function for tracking is now a considerable overhead and only adds unnecessary energy consumption. The disclosed invention aims to solve this unnecessary energy consumption by eliminating the need for a two-way communication in order to function; instead the invention will utilize a one way connectionless communication and utilize a heuristic algorithm on the side of the mobile device with an installed compatible software to track a Bluetooth peripheral.

One, can argue that increasing the capacity of batteries can mitigate this problem, but still this does not directly address the relatively high power consumption posed by such type of tracking systems. The disclosed invention aims to directly address such high power consumption, thus turning any provided additional additional energy, due to increased battery capacity, into a form of augmentation rather than just something needed in order to provide a relatively satisfactory performance.

Also citing US 6717516 B2; devices having either wireless data communication capability or RFID tags can be located using dual function fixed devices which are distributed throughout a facility. The devices will identify those units with which they are communicating using a wireless radio data communications protocol and also identify items within the local area using RFID tags on the units. This invention also has the slave peripheral send and receive data from its master. On top of that, also use RFID which is another form overhead when it comes for still the same tracking application. It also proposes the use of multiple trackers to cover a large area, which is inefficient and expensive cost-

wise. The disclosed invention tackles and eliminates such redundancies by streamlining and only leaving the bare minimum required to perform tracking operations; this is done through the use of improved and current Bluetooth technology, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and efficient software algorithms; it also utilizes today’s large population of mobile device users and can contests the latter invention in terms of tracking coverage, if it is enabled to indiscriminately send tracking data to the server’s database regardless if the detecting mobile device locally recognizes the detected Bluetooth peripheral. As it may be possible for a

Bluetooth peripheral, through its advertising process, to be recognized by the vendor’s server even if it is not recognized the compatible tracking software. E.g. the tracking software opportunistically scanning a Bluetooth peripheral, from the same vendor, registered to another mobile device.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The field of invention is in tracking systems. It also related in the field of mobile applications, internet of things (IoT) and security. The intended application of the system is for tracking securing physical assets and valuables, and finding such if lost. Fortunately, due to the innate nature of IoT devices to advertise respective unique identification information.

The invention may also be implemented to deploy a rapid inventory tracking system.

As it could be possible to provide real time location tracking using the system’s concept, it may also be used to track personnel that work in the field of shipping, delivery, debt collection, fleet management, commuter service, car rental & other tasks that require travelling personnel, wherein a solution for seeing and visualizing live location updates would be highly beneficial.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The invention refers to the method aimed to minimize or conserve theincreasing energy consumption problem caused by establishing and sustaining a Bluetooth connection between a Bluetooth peripheral (Fig. 1) and a Bluetooth enabled mobile device in order to perform tracking operations. The disclosed invention eliminates the need for a Bluetooth connection, or Bluetooth pairing thereby reducing the energy consumption for both the connectionless Bluetooth peripheral (Fig. 1) and mobile device. Instead of utilizing Bluetooth pairing to perform tracking operations, the disclosed invention utilizes a method (37) wherein the compatible software algorithm (Fig. 6), through the Bluetooth hardware of the mobile device it is running on, only scans for the registered, therefore recognized, unique identifiers advertised by nearby Bluetooth peripherals. In the preferred embodiment the media access control address (or MAC address) is used as the unique identifier. During the detection of a nearby connectionless Bluetooth peripheral (Fig. 1), the algorithm (Fig. 6) of the software installed on the mobile device creates a tracking data model, containing the GPS coordinates of the mobile device and timestamp during detection, and stores it in the mobile device’s persistent memory (40) the data model is then indexed with the string format of the MAC address of the detected connectionless Bluetooth peripheral in the mobile device’s persistent memory. The data model can then be retrieved and interpreted into view for the system user’s accessibility; in the preferred embodiment the GPS coordinates are interpreted as a marked location in a map shown in a mobile application (Fig. 7).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is the exploded view of the Bluetooth peripheral

Figure 2 is the bottom view of the printed circuit board (5) showing the Bluetooth module

Figure 3 is the prefered embodiment of the compact packaging for the Bluetooth peripheral

Figure 4 is the flowchart of the advertising process used by the Bluetooth peripheral

Figure 5 is the flowchart of the registration process used to register the identity of a Bluetooth peripheral to a compatible software

Figure 6 is the flowchart of the compatible software’s process for tracking Bluetooth peripherals

Figure 7 is a screenshot of a compatible application software displaying the prefered embodiment of interpreting the tracking data using a map

Figure 8 is an example of a MAC address.

Figure 9 is the compatible software’s signal indicator view and selection view. No UI has been provided for other methods as they occur in the background.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(Figure 1) The exploded view of the Bluetooth peripheral and its prefered embodiment of packaging. The top cover (1) has a hole (2) for a plastic component (3) that will provide reach for pressing the pushbutton (6) on the pcb. The purpose of the pushbutton (6) is to disable the advertising process (Fig. 4) by cutting the Bluetooth module’s (11) power supply and forcing it to reset. A CR2032 battery is inserted vertically to a plastic battery slot (4). The printed circuit board (PCB) (5) will rest on the plastic component (9) in where in the face with the metal battery slot (7) and pushbutton (6) is the visible and top face. The plastic component (3) will rest on top the pushbutton (6)and then finally covered the the top cover plastic component (1). Where the plastic component (3) should be inserted the the top cover plastic component’s (1) hole (2). Once the chassis has been assembled in such manner the plastic battery slot (4) is then inserted horizontally to a cavity (10) found in the plastic component (9); the plastic battery slot (4) will then subsequently get inserted to the metal battery slot (7). (Figure 2) The bottom view of the pcb (5), that shows the Bluetooth module (11). The

Bluetooth module (11) is responsible for advertising packets (Fig. 4). It is powered through the battery that rests in the slot (7). The Bluetooth module (11) is low power and consumes only (N) amperes over a battery’s lifetime. (Figure 3) The preferred embodiment of packaging for the Bluetooth peripheral. It has a small circular hole (12) wherein a keyring is attached in order for the packaging to be attached to a valuable, preferably, in the same manner as a keychain.

(Figure 4) The flowchart of the process performed the Bluetooth module’s (11) firmware program. Upon powering up the Bluetooth module (11) will initialize and start advertising a packet after sleeping in for 1.285 seconds, in the preferred embodiment. Such value for the interval was chosen by the inventors since it satisfies the prescribed advertisement delay of the compatible software for iOS platform, while still being sufficient enough for compatible software for the Android platform.

The packet advertised by the Bluetooth module (11) contains its media unique access control (MAC) address (Fig. 8). The media access control (MAC) address (Fig. 8) is a key component used by the system for filtering the identity of a Bluetooth peripheral (11) during the registration process (Fig. 5) and for segregating its tracking data in the mobile device memory (40).

After sleeping (13) the Bluetooth module (11) only advertises a packet for precisely 0.005 seconds, such value was chosen in order for the Bluetooth module (11) to save on energy consumption. (Figure 5) The registration process used by the system to register the media access control (MAC) address of the Bluetooth peripheral (Fig. 1) to the compatible softwarein order to be identified by the filter used by the tracking process (37).

The user manually sets the compatible software (Fig. 9)into registration mode (15).

While in registration mode (15) the compatible software (Fig. 9)will scan for the nearest

Bluetooth peripheral (Fig. 1), based on the quality of its return signal strength indicator (RSSI). Once a nearest Bluetooth peripheral (Fig. 1)has been identified, it will then be automatically selected by the compatible software (Fig. 9)to undergo further registration (19).

As seen on block (16) a Bluetooth peripheral can be specified for registration by placing it near the mobile device while registration mode is active. The software will then enter confirmation mode (20). Upon entering confirmation mode the software will inform the user to disable the advertising process (Fig. 4) of the Bluetooth peripheral (Fig. 1). In the preferred embodiment, the Bluetooth peripheral’s (11) advertising process (Fig. 2) can be disabled by the user when pressing the button (6) on the printed circuit board (5) of the Bluetooth peripheral (Fig. 1), with the help of a plastic component (3). The signal loss will then be

Claims (16)

CLAIMS The invention discloses:

1. A method of tracking the location of a Bluetooth enabled apparatus in a connectionless manner comprising of: Recursive advertising of packets; Utilizingthe detection of a Bluetooth peripheral advertisement packets and loss of such advertisement packets as cues for the peripheral device registration; Employing data segregation and extracting the Media Access Control of the scanned peripherals device using compatible software installed on the mobile device; Creating a tracking routine if it is recognized by the compatible software producing a tracking data model after the registration and saving it in the memory as a location marker; Establishing a remote server for peripheral recognitions, verifications and tracking routine;

2. A method in Claim 1 wherein initial registration of the Bluetooth peripheral involves manual registration process for a Bluetooth peripheral (Fig. 1) using compatible software.

3. A method in Claim 2 wherein that initial registration is based from the scanned return signal strength indicator of the Bluetooth peripheral. (Fig.1)

4, A method in Claim 2 wherein a software is employed to establish confirmation mode to disable advertisingprocess allowing signal loss

5. A method in Claim 4 wherein the signal loss will be polled by the compatible software.

6. A method on Claim 5 wherein the signal loss will indicate device registration.

7. A method in Claim 1, wherein it only utilizes the detection of a Bluetooth peripheral advertisement in order to create a tracking data model indexed with the unique media access control (MAC) address of the Bluetooth peripheral or equivalent conversions of it on the mobile device.

8. A method in Claim 4 wherein the confirmation mode is an information on the mobile phone for the user.

9. A method in Claim 4 wherein the disabling of the advertisement packets should be done manually by pressing the button on the peripheral device.

10. A method in Claim 1 such that the registration will be used for the filtering routine and scanning process.

11. A method in Claim 1 wherein the Bluetooth peripheral undergoes a tracking routine if it is recognized by the compatible software.

12. A method in Claim 1 wherein the tracking routine creates a tracking data model

13. A method in Claim 12 wherein the tracking data model is interpreted as the location marker (41) in a map (42) with an annotated simplified readable timestamp

14. A method in Claim 13wherein the preferred embodiment of the timestamp shown is in a form that shows minutes, hours, day, month and year

15. A method in Claim 12 wherein, preferred embodiment of the location marker contains the latitude, longitude and error in decimal format scanning of the Bluetooth peripheral based on the signal strength.

16. A tracking system device for physical assets, comprising;

1. A unconnectableBluetooth peripheral (Fig. 1),

2. A compatible mobile software (Fig. 9)running on a mobile device (Fig.

7).That can run a registration process (Fig. 5) and tracking process (Fig. 6) for a Bluetooth peripheral without the need for Bluetooth pairing and sending data to a Bluetooth peripheral.