Wireless Accessory Location Tracking via Crowdsourced Beacon Keys
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Wireless accessories such as wireless earbuds, headphones, and smartwatches cannot be tracked when lost or stolen due to their inability to determine their location and communicate with remote tracking services over a wide area network.
Innovation Solution
A data processing system that enables the determination of a wireless accessory's location by generating and broadcasting public keys, sending these keys to a server for location data, decrypting the data using a private key, and processing it to determine the accessory's probable location, utilizing a beacon scan and low-power baseband processor operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If wireless accessories use peer-to-peer communications without wide area network access, then power consumption is reduced and device simplicity is maintained, but the ability to track location when lost or stolen is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a remote server as an intermediary that stores location data received from finder devices. When a wireless accessory is lost, the owner's electronic device queries the server for location information. The server acts as a mediator between finder devices that detect beacons and the owner seeking to locate the accessory, enabling tracking without requiring the accessory to have direct wide area network access.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by having finder devices continuously scan for and detect beacon signals from wireless accessories, and by having the remote server pre-store location data associated with public keys before the accessory is lost. This preliminary detection and data storage enables immediate location tracking when needed, without requiring the accessory to actively communicate at the moment of loss.
2Measurement precision
If wireless accessories broadcast beacon signals continuously, then location detection accuracy is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic beacon signal transmission instead of continuous broadcasting. The wireless accessory transmits beacon signals at intervals, allowing finder devices to detect locations over time while the accessory conserves power during non-transmission periods. This periodic action maintains location detection capability while significantly reducing energy consumption compared to continuous broadcasting.
3Device complexity
If location data is transmitted unencrypted, then communication simplicity is maintained, but security is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter of data format from unencrypted to encrypted form. Location data and public keys are transmitted in encrypted format using cryptographic protocols. This parameter change increases security by protecting sensitive information from unauthorized access while maintaining relatively simple communication protocols through the use of standardized encryption methods.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments described herein provide for system and methods to crowdsource the location of wireless devices and accessories that lack a connection to a wide area network. One embodiment provides for a data processing system configured to perform operations comprising loading a user interface on an electronic device, the user interface to enable the determination of a location of a wireless accessory that is associated with the electronic device, generating a set of public keys included within a signal broadcast by the wireless accessory, the signal broadcast during a first period, sending the set of public keys to a server with a request to return data that corresponds with a public key in the set of public keys, decrypting the location data using a private key associated with the public key, and processing the location data to determine a probable location for the wireless accessory.