METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TRANSMITTING MACHINE STATE INFORMATION

1 . A method of transmitting machine status information, comprising:

at a device with one or more processors, memory, a short-range transceiver, and a long-range transceiver:

obtaining, from a payment module, advertised information via the short-range transceiver, wherein the advertised information at least includes a baseline signal strength threshold and status information about the payment module and a payment accepting unit coupled with the payment module;

determining an authorization zone threshold and a payment zone threshold based on the baseline signal strength threshold, wherein the authorization zone threshold corresponds to a lower received signal strength than the payment zone threshold;

monitoring a received signal strength corresponding to the advertised information;

in accordance with a determination that the received signal strength satisfies the authorization zone threshold but not the payment zone threshold, sending, to a server, at least the status information from the advertised information via the long-range transceiver; and

in accordance with a determination that the received signal strength satisfies the payment zone threshold, initiating a transaction with the payment accepting unit.

2 . (canceled)

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the status information indicates that the payment module is storing one or more interrupted transactions.

4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

after sending the status information to the server, receiving a request, from the server, via the long-range transceiver to obtain transaction information for the one or more interrupted transactions from the payment module;

in response to receiving the request, obtaining, from the payment module, transaction information via the short-range transceiver, the transaction information corresponding to the one or more interrupted transactions performed by one or more previous users at the payment accepting unit; and

sending, to the server, the transaction information via the long-range transceiver.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the status information indicates that the payment accepting unit requires servicing.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the status information indicates a count of at least one product in the payment accepting unit.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the status information is encoded with a predefined code.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the advertised information further includes an authorization code for authorizing a user of the device to perform a cashless transaction with the payment accepting unit.

9 . A device, comprising:

a short-range transceiver;

a long-range transceiver;

one or more processors; and

memory storing one or more programs to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:

obtaining, from a payment module, advertised information via the short-range transceiver, wherein the advertised information at least includes a baseline signal strength threshold and status information about the payment module and a payment accepting unit coupled with the payment module;

determining an authorization zone threshold and a payment zone threshold based on the baseline signal strength threshold, wherein the authorization zone threshold corresponds to a lower received signal strength than the payment zone threshold;

monitoring a received signal strength corresponding to the advertised information;

in accordance with a determination that the received signal strength satisfies the authorization zone threshold but not the payment zone threshold, sending, to a server, at least the status information from the advertised information via the long-range transceiver; and

in accordance with a determination that the received signal strength satisfies the payment zone threshold, initiating a transaction with the payment accepting unit.

10 . (canceled)

11 . The device of claim 9 , wherein the status information indicates that the payment module is storing one or more interrupted transactions.

12 . The device of claim 11 , wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions for:

after sending the status information to the server, receiving a request, from the server, via the long-range transceiver to obtain transaction information for the one or more interrupted transactions from the payment module;

in response to receiving the request, obtaining, from the payment module, transaction information via the short-range transceiver, the transaction information corresponding to the one or more interrupted transactions performed by one or more previous users at the payment accepting unit; and

sending, to the server, the transaction information via the long-range transceiver.

13 . The device of claim 9 , wherein the status information indicates that the payment accepting unit requires servicing.

14 . The device of claim 9 , wherein the status information indicates a count of at least one product in the payment accepting unit.

15 . The device of claim 9 , wherein the advertised information further includes an authorization code for authorizing a user of the device to perform a cashless transaction with the payment accepting unit.

16 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which, when executed by a device with one or more processors, a short-range transceiver, and a long-range transceiver, cause the device to perform operations comprising:

obtaining, from a payment module, advertised information via the short-range transceiver, wherein the advertised information at least includes a baseline signal strength threshold and status information about the payment module and a payment accepting unit coupled with the payment module;

determining an authorization zone threshold and a payment zone threshold based on the baseline signal strength threshold, wherein the authorization zone threshold corresponds to a lower received signal strength than the payment zone threshold;

monitoring a received signal strength corresponding to the advertised information;

in accordance with a determination that the received signal strength satisfies the authorization zone threshold but not the payment zone threshold, sending, to a server, at least the status information from the advertised information via the long-range transceiver; and

in accordance with a determination that the received signal strength satisfies the payment zone threshold, initiating a transaction with the payment accepting unit.

17 . (canceled)

18 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the status information indicates that the payment module is storing one or more interrupted transactions.

19 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the instructions cause the device to perform operations further comprising:

after sending the status information to the server, receiving a request, from the server, via the long-range transceiver to obtain transaction information for the one or more interrupted transactions from the payment module;

in response to receiving the request, obtaining, from the payment module, transaction information via the short-range transceiver, the transaction information corresponding to the one or more interrupted transactions performed by one or more previous users at the payment accepting unit; and

sending, to the server, the transaction information via the long-range transceiver.

20 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the advertised information further includes an authorization code for authorizing a user of the device to perform a cashless transaction with the payment accepting unit.

21 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the authorization zone threshold and the payment zone threshold based on the baseline signal strength includes adjusting the baseline signal strength using an offset that accounts for a model type of the device.

22 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the baseline signal strength is one of a plurality of baseline signal strengths included in the advertised information and the baseline signal strength is selected based on a model type of the device.

23 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the authorization zone threshold and the payment zone threshold includes adjusting the authorization zone threshold and the payment zone threshold based on strength of the short-range transceiver.

24 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the advertised information comprises a signal broadcasted by the payment module.

25 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising, displaying, on the device, an indication of how close the device is to the payment zone threshold.