Tracking and communicating with short-range communication devices

Abstract

First communication circuitry of a first device is made discoverable by a second device via a short-range wireless protocol. A device name for the first communication circuitry is set to a user identifier that is specific to a user of the first device. The second device discovers the first device and the user identifier is transmitted to the second device. A response message can also be included with the user identifier and can be appended to the user identifier. The second device stores the user identifier, and the response message if included, in a log to record a presence of the user of the first device within a range between the first and second devices of the short-range wireless protocol.

1 . A system comprising:
 a first device including:
 first communication circuitry configured to communicate with a second device by a short-range wireless protocol; and 
 first control circuitry configured to:
 activate the first communication circuitry so that the first communication circuitry is detectable by the second device via the short-range wireless protocol, 
 set a device name for the first communication circuitry to a string that includes a user identifier that is specific to a user of the first device and a response to an inquiry, 
 receive a scan signal from the second device via the first communication circuitry and the short-range wireless protocol, and 
 transmit the device name, which includes the user identifier and the response, to the second device via the first communication circuitry and the short-range wireless protocol in response to receiving the scan signal, 
 
   the second device including:
 second communication circuitry configured to communicate with the first device by the short-range wireless protocol; and 
 second control circuitry configured to:
 activate the second communication circuitry to transmit the scan signal to the first device, 
 receive the device name, which includes the user identifier and the response, of the first communication circuitry of the first device via the second communication circuitry and the short-range wireless protocol in response to the first device receiving the scan signal and transmitting the device name to the second device, and 
 store, in memory circuitry of the second device, the user identifier and the response in a log to record the response of the user. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The system according to  1 , further comprising:
 a plurality of slave devices, each of the slave devices including the first communication circuitry and the first control circuitry of the first device, wherein   the second device is a master device that executes an inquiry scan that receives the user identifier and the response of each of the slave devices in response to executing the inquiry scan, and   the second device records, in the memory circuitry of the second device, a response log to record the responses and user identifiers of users of the slave devices based on received user identifiers, responses, and a time at which each of the device names is received.   
     
     
         3 . The system according to  2 , wherein the second control circuitry of the second device is configured to:
 display, on a display of the second device, a graphical user interface for a user of the second device to log into the second device to activate the inquiry scan and to access registration records that include a list of expected users that are expected to be detected via the inquiry scan,   compare the received user identifiers with the list of expected users,   generate a status of the expected users in responding to the inquiry, and   record, in the memory of the second device, the status of the expected users in the log.   
     
     
         4 . The system according to  3 , wherein the second control circuitry of the second device is configured to display, on the display of the second device, a chart illustrating the status of the expected users. 
     
     
         5 . The system according to  3 , wherein the second control circuitry of the second device is configured to display, on the display of the second device, a graphical user interface for the user of the second device to manually edit the log. 
     
     
         6 . The system according to  1 , wherein the short-range wireless protocol is a Bluetooth protocol. 
     
     
         7 . The system according to  1 , wherein no network is established between the first and second devices via the short-range wireless protocol. 
     
     
         8 . The system according to  1 , wherein the second device transmits the inquiry to the first device via the short-range wireless protocol so that the inquiry is displayed to a user of the first device. 
     
     
         9 . The system according to  1 , wherein the second device requests the device name from the first device based on a manual request by a user of the second device. 
     
     
         10 . The system according to  1 , wherein each of the first and second control circuitry is configured to download and execute an application and authenticate usage of the application, such that each of the first and second control circuitry is not authorized or able to communicate with each other via the short-range communication protocol to perform a scan process until authentication has been performed. 
     
     
         11 . The system according to  1 , wherein:
 the device name for the first communication circuitry is preset to a device-specific identifier; and   the first control circuitry is configured to set the device name for the first communication circuitry by replacing the device-specific identifier with the user identifier and the response.   
     
     
         12 . The system according to  11 , wherein the user identifier is a student identification number or an email address. 
     
     
         13 . The system according to  1 , wherein the second control circuitry is configured to activate the second communication circuitry to transmit the scan signal to the first device every 30 seconds. 
     
     
         14 . The system according to  1 , wherein the first control circuitry is configured to set a status of idle and to set a status of available, such that the status of idle results in the first control circuitry not transmitting the user identifier and the response to the second device, and such that the status of available results in the first control circuitry transmitting the user identifier and the response to the second device as the device name. 
     
     
         15 . The system according to  1 , wherein the first and second devices are smartphones or tablets. 
     
     
         16 . The system according to  1 , wherein the second control circuitry of the second device is configured to:
 access a registration database of a course;   download registration records for the course from a remote server;   display a list of students enrolled in the course; and   display the list of students enrolled in the course together with an indication correlating the user identifier received form the first device with a student listed in the list of students enrolled in the course together with the response from the respective user.   
     
     
         17 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the short-range wireless protocol is a protocol that utilizes communication circuitry based on: near-field communication (NFC), WiFi, infrared communications, ultrasonic signal generators, or radio-frequency identification (RFID) circuits. 
     
     
         18 . A slave device comprising:
 communication circuitry configured to communicate with a master device by a short-range wireless protocol; and   control circuitry configured to:   activate the communication circuitry so that the communication circuitry is detectable by the master device via the short-range wireless protocol,   set a device name for the communication circuitry to a user identifier that is specific to a user of the slave device and a response to an inquiry,   receive a scan signal from the master device via the communication circuitry and the short-range wireless protocol, and   transmit the device name, which includes the user identifier and the response, to the second device via the communication circuitry and the short-range wireless protocol in response to receiving the scan signal.   
     
     
         19 . A method, comprising:
 activating first communication circuitry of a first device so that the first communication circuitry is detectable by a second device via a short-range wireless protocol;   setting a device name for the first communication circuitry to a user identifier that is specific to a user of the first device and a response to an inquiry;   activating second communication circuitry of the second device and transmitting a scan signal from the second communication circuitry to the first device via the short-range wireless protocol;   receiving the scan signal from the second device at the first communication circuitry via the short-range wireless protocol;   transmitting the device name, which includes the user identifier and the response, from the first communication circuitry to the second device via the short-range wireless protocol in response to the receiving the scan signal;   receiving the user identifier of the first communication circuitry of the first device and the response at the second communication circuitry via the short-range wireless protocol in response to the first device receiving the scan signal and transmitting the user identifier and the response to the second device; and   storing, in memory circuitry of the second device, the user identifier and the response in a log to record a presence of the user of the first device within a range between the first and second devices of the short-range wireless protocol.   
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium including executable instructions, which when executed by circuitry, causes the circuitry to execute the method according to  claim 19 .