Personal Area Network Device Last Presence Time Display

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Solution Overview

Problem

The challenge is to help users locate misplaced personal area network (PAN) devices, such as mobile phones and wireless headsets, which are easily lost due to their mobile nature, by providing a mechanism to detect their absence and recall the last detected presence time.

Innovation Solution

A PAN device detects the absence of another device by checking for communication and, upon a triggering event, presents the time of the last detected presence via a user interface, allowing the user to recall the location where the device was last seen.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If PAN devices are made mobile and portable, then ease of operation and versatility are improved, but the risk of misplacement increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedevice mobilityVSAvoiddevice location tracking

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by continuously monitoring and recording the last known location and communication status of PAN devices before they are misplaced. When a device is lost, the recorded historical data provides immediate clues about its last seen location, enabling users to retrieve it quickly.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system provides feedback to users about the status and location of their PAN devices through communication status monitoring. When a device goes out of communication range, the system notifies the user and provides the last known location information, creating a feedback loop that helps users track and retrieve misplaced devices.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Loss of information

If continuous communication monitoring is implemented, then device location awareness is improved, but energy consumption increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedevice presence informationVSAvoiddevice energy consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of continuous monitoring, the system uses periodic action by checking communication status at intervals. The host device periodically attempts to communicate with PAN devices and records their status, which reduces energy consumption while still providing timely location information when devices are misplaced.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #19Periodic action

Data Source

PatentUS8472876B1Methods and systems for presenting the time of the most recently detected presence of a personal area network device

Publication Date: 2013.06.25 SPRINT SPECTRUM LLC

AI summary

Methods and systems are provided for determining the absence of a personal area network (PAN) device and for responsively presenting the time of the last detected presence of the PAN device. In an exemplary embodiment, a PAN device encounters a triggering event and responsively checks and determines that another PAN device is absent. Upon detecting the absence of the other PAN device (such as by detecting an absence of communication from the other PAN device), the exemplary PAN device presents via a user interface an indication of the time that it last detected presence of the other PAN device. By presenting the time of the last detected presence of the other PAN device, the user of the PAN device may be able to recall where he or she was at that time, which may help the user find the misplaced PAN device, hopefully at that location.