Granted Patent B2

US 12,731,481 · App. 18/747,258 · Granted Sep 8, 2026

Inventors: David L. Brown (Chattanooga, TN); John J. Giobbi (Bend, OR)

Assignee: Proxense, LLC

G08C17/02G06F21/32G06F21/35G06F21/629G06F2221/2111

Abstract

Claims (38)

1 . A method comprising:

detecting a personal digital key within a proximity zone of a sensor device, the personal digital key containing a secure memory uniquely segmented into a plurality of different service blocks, each service block unique to a corresponding one of a plurality of different applications and individually accessible only upon presentation of a corresponding unique access key;

responsive to detecting the personal digital key within the proximity zone, wirelessly communicate with the personal digital key, a message to enable use of the corresponding unique access key with a corresponding service block of the plurality of different service blocks, the corresponding unique access key configured to enable a particular application from the plurality of different applications to access the corresponding service block in the personal digital key via the sensor device;

authenticating the particular application prior to enabling access to the corresponding service block; and

providing, by the sensor device, subsequent to successful authentication, a dedicated data path between an accessed service block and the particular application subsequent to authentication to facilitate direct interaction.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein responsive to wirelessly communicating the corresponding unique access key to the personal digital key, gathering position data about the personal digital key and transmitting the position data to a sensor-management module managing a network of sensor devices.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein gathering the position data about an asset using the personal digital key includes at least one of collecting a personal digital key identifier, a signal strength indication, and a timestamp.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein for an asset associated with the personal digital key, the asset being at least one of a digital asset and a physical asset, using the personal digital key to generate location tracking data based on position data and generating the location tracking data for the asset based on the position data, and further comprising:

determining a prior location history of the personal digital key associated with the asset; and

applying the position data and the prior location history of the personal digital key to a location deterministic algorithm.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

responsive to initiating a wireless transmission of a command from the particular application to the personal digital key associated with the asset;

receiving an acknowledgement message of an execution of the command by the personal digital key; and

providing the acknowledgement message to the particular application.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the command includes one from a group of turning on a light on the personal digital key and setting off an audible tone on the personal digital key.

7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the execution of the command by the personal digital key is used to locate the asset in at least one of an indoor site and an outdoor site.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor device provides a data path between the personal digital key associated with an asset and the particular application, wherein the particular application is a credit card transaction application.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the particular application is a location tracking application.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the location tracking application uses a graphical user interface to display a trail of the personal digital key associated with an asset.

11 . A system comprising:

a sensor device and a memory including instructions that, when executed by the sensor device, cause the system to:

detect a personal digital key within a proximity zone of the sensor device, the personal digital key containing a secure memory uniquely segmented into a plurality of different service blocks, each service block unique to a corresponding one of a plurality of different applications and individually accessible only upon presentation of a corresponding access key;

responsive to detecting the personal digital key within the proximity zone, wirelessly communicate with the personal digital key, a message to enable use of a corresponding access key associated with a corresponding service block of the plurality of different service blocks, the corresponding access key configured to enable a particular application from the plurality of different applications to access the corresponding service block in the personal digital key via the sensor device;

authenticate, by at least one of the sensor device and a server associated with the sensor device, use of the corresponding access key for the particular application prior to enabling the particular application to access the corresponding service block; and

provide, by the sensor device, subsequent to successful authentication of the particular application, a communication session as a dedicated data path between an accessed service block and the particular application to facilitate direct interaction, to allow the particular application to store information to, and retrieve information from, an accessed service block, the accessed service block serving as a secure local memory for the particular application.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein responsive to wirelessly communicating the corresponding access key to the personal digital key, gathering position data about the personal digital key and transmitting the position data to a sensor-management module managing a network of sensor devices.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein gathering position data about an asset using the personal digital key includes at least one of collecting a personal digital key identifier, a signal strength indication, and a timestamp.

14 . The system of claim 11 , wherein for an asset associated with the personal digital key, the asset being at least one of a digital asset and a physical asset, using the personal digital key to generate location tracking data based on position data and generate the location tracking data for the asset based on the position data, and wherein the instructions, when executed by the sensor device, further cause the system to:

determine a prior location history of the personal digital key associated with the asset; and

apply the position data and the prior location history of the personal digital key to a location deterministic algorithm.

15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the sensor device, further cause the system to:

receive an acknowledgement message of an execution of a command by the personal digital key, responsive to initiating a wireless transmission of the command from the particular application to the personal digital key associated with an asset; and

provide the acknowledgement message to the particular application.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the command includes one from a group of turning on a light on the personal digital key and setting off an audible tone on the personal digital key.

17 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the execution of the command by the personal digital key is used to locate the asset in at least one of an indoor site and an outdoor site.

18 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the sensor device provides a data path between the personal digital key associated with the asset and the particular application, wherein the particular application is a credit card transaction application.

19 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the particular application is a location tracking application.

20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the location tracking application uses a graphical user interface to display a current position of the personal digital key associated with an asset.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (8)

References Cited (400)