Near field communication with asset tracking devices
Video and/or security devices include a near field communication (NFC) module configured to communicate with other NPC-capable devices, such as cell phones, user ID tags or badges carried or worn by users. The NPC communications allows users to quickly and easily establish a connection with other devices, such as to track assets, perform configuration and testing, or to perform safety procedures.
1 . A method of obtaining asset device diagnostic data, the method comprising:
detecting, by a near field communication (NFC) device of a mobile communication device, an asset device within a communication range of the NFC device, wherein the asset device is coupled to a physical asset and configured to obtain diagnostic data of the physical asset;
receiving an asset identifier of the asset device directly from the asset device via NFC communications with the asset device;
receiving diagnostic data of the physical asset directly from the asset device via NFC communications with the asset device;
in response to the NFC communication, activating a radio communications module of the asset device, the radio communications module configured to communicate using one or more of Bluetooth, cellular, or Wi-Fi; and
displaying at least some of the received diagnostic data received from the asset device on a display of the mobile communication device.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting a request for the diagnostic data to the asset device via NFC communications with the asset device.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the asset device is configured to automatically ingest diagnostic information.
4 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
determining diagnostic data to request from the asset device based one or more of the asset identifier, an asset type, or user preferences.
5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting at least a portion of the diagnostic data to a backend server.
6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a geographic location of the mobile communication device and transmitting the geographic location to a backend server with an indication that the physical asset is at the determined geographic location.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the mobile communication device comprises a cell phone, smart phone, tablet, or notebook computer.
8 . An asset device comprising:
a power source;
a near field communications module;
a radio communications module comprising one or more components configured to support one or more radio communications protocols;
one or more computer processors; and
a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith that, when executed by the one or more computer processors, cause the asset device to:
in response to a field being provided by an initiator device:
enable the radio communications module;
receive configuration information via the radio communications protocol; and
update a device configuration of the asset device based on the received configuration information.
9 . The device of claim 8 , further comprising:
a GPS receiver.
10 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the radio communications module includes a Bluetooth communications component, and wherein the program instructions further cause the asset device to activate the Bluetooth communications component.
11 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the radio communications module includes a cellular communications component, and wherein the program instructions further cause the asset device to activate the cellular communications component.
12 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the radio communications module includes a WiFi communications component, and wherein the program instructions further cause the asset device to activate the WiFi communications component.
13 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the power source comprises a battery, and wherein the program instructions further cause the asset device to provide any combination of one or more of: a battery level, a battery health indicator, a GPS receiver status, or a radio communications module status.
14 . The device of claim 9 , wherein the program instructions further cause the asset device to:
determine a location of the asset device using the GPS receiver; and
transmit the determined location to a management server using the radio communications module.
15 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the configuration information device is received from the initiator device.
16 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the configuration information device is received from a management server.
17 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the configuration information comprises any combination of one or more of: a check in interval, one or more flags to enable or disable one or more radio communications module components, or network access information.
18 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the configuration information comprises a configuration file comprising one or more of a script, JSON file, or csv file.
19 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the configuration comprises a command to be executed by the asset device.
20 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting configuration information from the mobile communication device to the asset device via NFC communications, wherein the configuration information comprises one or more of: a check-in interval, one or more flags to enable or disable radio components, network access information, a configuration file comprising a script, JSON file, or CSV file, or a command to be executed by the asset device.