116(1)-116(N) to perform one or more actions and/or change their operational states in response to events that are detected. In some embodiments, the vehicle hub 112 may include a software event handler that processes event data and generates commands for the connected body-worn devices. For example, the vehicle hub 112 may trigger a body camera of a law enforcement officer 102 to start a video recording when the vehicle hub 112 is notified by a gun sensor that the officer's gun is unholstered. In other embodiments, the vehicle hub 112 may alternatively or concurrently send and receive event data to a backend service of the NOC 108 for analysis by an event analysis service of the NOC 108. Since the backend service of the NOC 108 is capable of receiving event data from multiple body-worn and in-vehicle devices of multiple law enforcement officers, the event analysis service may trigger any device of any law enforcement officer to perform one or more actions and/or change their operational states based on the event data collected from a multitude of devices.

In some embodiments, the body-worn devices 104(1)-104(N), the in-vehicle devices 116(1)-116(N), and the vehicle hub 112, may send heartbeat signals to other connected devices that are in the same mesh network. Each of the heartbeat signals may encode information that includes device identification information, device type information, current battery level, current activity status, current network connectivity status, and/or so forth. Each connected device may send its heartbeat signals to the other connected devices in the mesh network on a periodic basis. Thus, a connected device of the multiple connected devices may determine based on the heartbeat signals whether a higher-level hub device with an active network connection to a backend service of the NOC 108 is available, i.e., communicatively connected to the connected device. For example, a higher-level hub device may become unavailable to the connected device when the hub device looses its active network connection due to weak or obstrcuted network connection signal, depletes its battery level to below a preconfigured threshold that forces it to shut down or enter into a sleep mode, suffers a device fault that interrupts its operation, and/or so forth.

A connected device may use a hub device hierarchy table stored in its memory to determine whether a higher-level hub device is available. The hub device hierarchy table of a connected device may contain a hierarchical list of higher-level hub devices that the connected device is to use to send sensor data to as long as the hub devices can be connected to by the connected device, and the higher-level hub devices have active network connections. The various hub devices may be listed in the hub device hierarchy table in the order of preference for providing a network connection to the backend service of the NOC. For example, the hub device hierarchy table for the body camera 104(N) may list the in-vehicle DVR, e.g., the vehicle hub 112, as the most preferred (highest level) hub device, the smartphone 104(3) as the second most preferred (second highest level) hub device, and/or so on and the so forth. In another example, the hub device hierarchy table for the smartphone 104(3) may list the in-vehicle DVR as the preferred (higher-level) hub device. The hub device hierarchy table for a connected device may also indicate whether the connected device can itself act as a hub device when no higher-level hub devices with active network connections are available. For example, the hub device hierarchy table for the body camera 104(N) may indicate that the body camera 104(N) is not to act as a hub device when no higher-level hub devices with active network connections are available. This is because the body camera 104(N) may lack the memory, processing, and/or network connectivity capabilities to act as a hub device, e.g., lack the ability to execute the hub software. In contrast, the hub device hierarchy table for the smartphone 104(3) may indicate that the smartphone 104(3) may act as a hub device when no higher-level hubs device with active network connections are available. This is because the smartphone 104(3) may have the necessary memory, processing, and/or network connectivity capabilities to act as a hub device by executing hub software.

Accordingly, if a higher-level hub device with an active network connection to the backend service of the NOC is available, i.e., communicatively connected to the connected device, the connected device may send any sensor data that the connected device detects to the higher-level hub device for analysis and/or further transmission to the backend service of the NOC. However, if the higher-level hub device is not available and the connected device is permitted to do so, the connected device may attempt to initiate an active network connection via a communication channel to the backend service of the NOC. For example, when the smartphone 104(3) determines from the heartbeat signals that it receives that the vehicle hub 112 no longer has an active network connection to the backend service, the smartphone 104(3) may attempt to initiate its own active network connection to the backend service.

Subsequently, if the connected device is able to successfully establish an active network connection to the backend service, the connected device may then act as a hub device for routing communications between one or more other devices that are connected to the connected device and the backend service. In such a case, the connected device may send out heartbeat signals that indicate that the connected device is functioning as a hub device, such that the other devices may use the connected device for communication to the backend service. For example, having established the active network connection to the backend service, the smartphone 104(3) may act as a hub device to route data from a connected body camera, a connected gun sensor, a connected biometric monitor, and/or so forth to the backend service. In some instances, by acting as the hub device, the connected device may also analyze the data that are received from the one or more devices to determine whether at least one device is to be triggered to take one or more actions based on the data. For example, by acting as the hub device, the smartphone 104(3) may trigger a body camera of the law enforcement officer 102 to start a video recording when the smartphone 104(3) is notified by a gun sensor that the officer's gun is unholstered.

In some embodiments, each of the connected devices may be capable of switching between different operational states based on its battery level while sending out heartbeat signals to other connected devices. For example, a connected device may switch from an active state to a lower power energy-saving state to conserve its battery when the battery level of the connected device drops below a predetermined battery level threshold. (e.g., 10% battery life remaining). In another example, a connected device may shut off its geolocation, e.g., GPS function to conserve battery when the battery level falls below a predetermined battery level threshold. In an additional example, a connected device may turn off its network connection for uploading data and instead temporarily stores data that the device collects in a memory of the device when the battery level of the device drops below a predetermined battery level threshold. However, the devices may revert back to their operational states when their battery levels are no longer below their respective predetermined battery level thresholds, such as when the batteries of these devices are subsequently charged.

Further, such switching of operational state by the connected device may be overridden by a hub device or a backend service of the NOC 108 based on data provided by the connected device or another connected device. For example, the body camera 104(N) of the law enforcement officer 102 may switch from an active multimedia streaming state to a low-power sleep state that stops the streaming when the battery level of the body camera 104(N) is below a 10% battery level. However, when the vehicle hub 112 receives data that indicates a gun sensor 104(1) of the law enforcement officer 102 has detected that a gun of the law enforcement officer 102 is unholstered, the vehicle hub 112 may switch the body camera 104(N) back to the active multimedia streaming state despite the critically low battery level. In another example, an in-vehicle dashboard camera in the law enforcement vehicle 114 of the law enforcement officer 102 may switch from an active multimedia streaming state to a low-power sleep state that stops the streaming when the battery level of the in-vehicle dashboard camera is below a 4% battery level and the vehicle's engine is powered off. However, when the backend receives information from the smartphone of another law enforcement officer that such a law enforcement officer is responding to an incident that is within a predetermined distance of the location of the law enforcement vehicle 114, the backend service may send a command that directs the in-vehicle dashboard camera to switch back to the active multimedia streaming state.

Example User Device Components

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing various components of a user device that participates in the operational state management of user devices based on heartbeat signal information. The user device 200 may be equipped with one or more sensors 202, communication interfaces 204, an electrically conductive coupling port 206, a battery 208, memory 210, one or more processors 212, and device hardware 214. The sensors 202 may include a compass, an accelerometer, one or more pressure sensors, a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, an audio sensor, a video sensor, and/or so forth. The communication interfaces 204 may include short-range wireless transceivers (e.g., Bluetooth, UWB, Wi-Fi, and/or so forth) and long-range wireless transceivers (e.g., cellular, satellite, and/or so forth) that enable the user device 200 to wirelessly communicate with other devices. The electrically conductive coupling port 206 may be configured to accept an electrically conductive wired connector. The wired connector may be used by the user device 200 to receive power input to the user device 200 from an external source, output power from the user device 200 to an external load, as well as perform wired communication.

The memory 210 may be implemented using computer-readable media, such as computer storage media. Computer-readable media includes, at least, two types of computer-readable media, namely computer storage media and communications media. Computer storage media includes volatile and non-volatile, removable, and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transmission medium that can be used to store information for access by a computing device. In contrast, communication media may embody computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave, or other transmission mechanisms.

The device hardware 214 may include user interface hardware, such as physical buttons, a gesture recognition mechanism, or a voice activation mechanism. The device hardware 214 may further include signal converters, antennas, modems, hardware decoders and encoders, graphic processors, digital signal processors, microprocessors, power routing circuitry, a real-time clock (RTC) circuit, and/or so forth. The device hardware 214 may enable the user device 200 to exchange wired or wireless communication with other devices via the communication interfaces 204, as well as receive power or output power via the electrically conductive coupling port 206 based on software instructions.

The processors 212 and the memory 210 of the user device 200 may implement an event data module 216, an authentication module 218, a communication control module 222, a heartbeat signal module 224, a hub software module 226, and a device state module 228. These modules may include routines, program instructions, objects, and/or data structures that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The memory 210 may further store software (e.g., drivers, applications, firmware, etc.) that support various functionalities of the user device 200, such as software that are executed by the processors 212 to support the establishment of wired and wireless communication links. The memory 210 may also provide a data store 230 that is capable of storing event data. The event data may include sensor data captured by the sensors 202, associated metadata for the sensor data, and/or so forth. In some embodiments, an operating system may also be implemented via the one or more processors 212 and the memory 210 to perform various functions, as well as provide an execution environment that supports the executions of applications and modules.

The event data module 216 may send event data that includes event notifications of detected events and/or sensor data associated with the events to a hub device. The event data module 216 may send the event data to the hub device via available wired communication or alternatively via short-range wireless communication. In turn, the event data module 216 may receive commands for the user device 200 to perform specific actions. For example, such actions may include activating or deactivating one or more specific sensors, built-in functions, software applications, hardware components, and/or so forth of the user device 200.

The authentication module 218 may handle the authentication of the user device 200 with other user devices and hub devices so that the user device 200 may exchange wireless communication with such devices. In order to establish a wireless communication link with a device, the authentication module 218 may use a device authentication credential (e.g., a device identifier, a secret code, a key, a digital certificate, and/or so forth) to authenticate the user device 200 to the device.

The communication control module 222 may switch the user device 200 between using the short-range wireless transceiver and the electrically conductive coupling port 206 to exchange communications with the other devices. The communication control module 222 may use the authentication module 218 to perform authentication in order to establish a short-range wireless communication link with another device. In some embodiments, the communication control module 222 may automatically terminate a short-range wireless communication link that is established with a device when a wired connection is established with the same device via the electrically conductive coupling port 206. For example, the communication control module 222 may detect that the user device 200 is connected to another device via a wired connector by a detected change in one or more electrical properties (e.g., voltage, resistance, and/or current) at the electrically conductive coupling port 206. As a result, the communication control module 222 may terminate the short-range wireless communication link by powering off the short-range wireless transceiver.

In other embodiments, the communication control module 222 may further use a wired communication protocol (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) protocol, TCP/IP, or some other wired communication protocol) to establish a wired communication link with a device over the wired connection. In some instances, the communication control module 222 may wait for a device to initiate the establishment of the wired communication link using the wired communication protocol. However, in other instances, the communication control module 222 may initiate the establishment of the wired communication link with the device using the wired communication protocol. Once the wired communication link is established, the communication control module 222 may terminate the short-range wireless communication link by powering off the short-range wireless transceiver.

Conversely, when the communication control module 222 detects that the wired connection between the user device 200 and another device is terminated, the communication control module 222 may power on the short-range wireless transceiver. For example, the one or more electrical properties at the electrically conductive coupling port 206 may indicate to the communication control module 222 that the wired connection is severed. The powering on of the short-range wireless transceiver may enable the user device 200 to reestablish a short-range wireless communication link with the device.

The heartbeat signal module 224 may send heartbeat signals to one or more devices that are connected to the user device 220 via wired or wireless connections. Each of the heartbeat signals may include data such as device identification information, device type information, current battery level, current activity status, current network connectivity status, and/or so forth. The current activity status may indicate whether the device is in active mode, an energy-saving sleep mode, hub device mode, and/or some other mode. The current network connectivity status may indicate the network connections that the device has to other devices and networks, the type of network connectivity for each network connection (e.g., wireless, wired, etc.), and the connectivity status for each network connection (e.g., active, terminated, attempting to establish or re-established, and/or so forth). The heartbeat signal module 224 may send the heartbeat signals to the one or more connected devices on a periodic basis. Alternatively, or concurrently, the heartbeat signal module 224 may also send heartbeat signals in response to requests from other connected devices.

The hub software module 226 may receive the heartbeat signals from other connected user devices. Accordingly, the hub software module 226 may determine based on the heartbeat signals whether a higher-level hub device with an active network connection to a backend service of the NOC 108 is available based on a hub device hierarchy table stored in the data store 230. The hub device hierarchy may also indicate whether the user device 200 can itself act as a hub device when no higher-level hub devices with active network connections are available. Accordingly, if the higher-level hub device is available, i.e., communicatively connected to the user device 200, the hub software module 226 may send any sensor data that the connected device detects to the higher-level hub device for analysis and/or further transmission to the backend service of the NOC. However, if the higher-level hub device is not available and the user device 200 is permitted to do so, the hub software module 226 may attempt to initiate an active network connection via a communication channel to the backend service of the NOC. Subsequently, if the hub software module 226 is able to successfully establish an active network connection to the backend service, the user device 200 may then act as a hub device for routing communications between one or more other devices that are connected to the connected device and the backend service. In such a case, the hub software module 226 may direct the heartbeat signal module 224 to send out heartbeat signals that indicate that the user device 200 is functioning as a hub device, such that the other devices may use the connected device for communication to the backend service. In some instances, the hub device may send the heartbeat signals of the connected device to the backend service such that the information in the heartbeat signals may be analyzed by the backend service for triggering actions.

The indication that the user device 200 is functioning as a hub device may prompt other user devices connected to the user device 200 to send their sensor data to the user device 200. Furthermore, when the hub software module 226 detects heartbeat signals that indicate a higher-level hub device with an active network connection to the backend service has reappeared, the hub software module 226 may terminate its network connection with the backend service. Subsequently, the hub software module 226 may terminate the sending of heartbeat signals indicating that the user device 200 is functioning as a hub device. Likewise, if the hub software module 226 determines that the user device 200 has lost its active connection to the backend service, the hub software module 226 may revert the user device 200 to being a non-hub device and terminate the sending of heartbeat signals indicating that the user device 200 is functioning as a hub device.

The hub software module 226 may also include data analysis algorithms that analyze the data received from other user devices. The data analysis algorithms may be active when the user device 200 is playing the role of a hub device. Accordingly, the hub software module 226 may trigger a user device to perform an action based on event data received from the connected device or one or more other connected user devices. For example, such actions may include activating or deactivating one or more specific sensors, built-in functions, software applications, hardware components, and/or so forth of a user device.

The device state module 228 may switch the user device 200 between various operational states based on a battery level of the user device 200. For example, the device state module 228 may switch the user device 200 from an active state to a lower power energy saving state to conserve its battery when the battery level of the user device 200 drops below a predetermined battery level threshold. (e.g., 10% battery life remaining). However, such switching by the device state module 228 may be overridden by a hub device or a backend service of NOC based on data provided by the connected device or another connected device. For example, the device state module 228 may receive commands that direct the device state module 228 to switch the user device 200 to different device operational states.

Example Backend Service Components

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing various components of a computing device in a network operation center (NOC) that communicates with multiple connected devices to manage the operational state of the user devices. The servers 110 may provide a communication interface 302, one or more processors 304, memory 306, and hardware 308. The communication interface 302 may include wireless and/or wired communication components that enable the devices to transmit data to and receive data from other networked devices. The hardware 308 may include additional hardware interface, data communication, or data storage hardware. For example, the hardware interfaces may include a data output device (e.g., visual display, audio speakers), and one or more data input devices. The data input devices may include, but are not limited to, combinations of one or more of keypads, keyboards, mouse devices, touch screens that accept gestures, microphones, voice or speech recognition devices, and any other suitable devices.

The memory 306 may be implemented using computer-readable media, such as computer storage media. Computer-readable media includes, at least, two types of computer-readable media, namely computer storage media and communications media. Computer storage media includes volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD), high-definition multimedia/data storage disks, or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transmission medium that can be used to store information for access by a computing device. In contrast, communication media may embody computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave, or other transmission mechanisms.

The processors 304 and the memory 306 of the servers 110 may implement an operating system 310. In turn, the operating system 310 may provide an execution environment for a NOC application 312 that provides backend services. The operating system 310 may include components that enable the servers 110 to receive and transmit data via various interfaces (e.g., user controls, communication interface, and/or memory input/output devices), as well as process data using the processors 304 to generate output. The operating system 310 may include a presentation component that presents the output (e.g., display the data on an electronic display, store the data in memory, transmit the data to another electronic device, etc.). Additionally, the operating system 310 may include other components that perform various additional functions generally associated with an operating system.

The NOC application 312 may include routines, program instructions, objects, and/or data structures that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The memory 306 may also include a data store 314 that is used by the NOC application 312.

The NOC application 312 on the servers 110 may receive sensor data collected by sensors of user devices and determine whether to trigger user devices to perform actions based on the sensor data. In various embodiments, the NOC application 312 may use a trained ML model to process the received sensor data to determine whether an event that warrants the trigger of user device actions occurred. The ML model may be trained via a model training algorithm. The model training algorithm may implement a training data input phase, a feature engineering phase, and a model generation phase. In the training data input phase, the model training algorithm may receive training datasets. For example, the NOC application 312 may use training datasets that include a combination of sensor data that includes protective equipment sensor data, incident report data, police dispatch, injury reports, and/or so forth. During the feature engineering phase, the model training algorithm may pinpoint features in the training data. Accordingly, feature engineering may be used by the model training algorithm to figure out the significant properties and relationships of the input datasets that aid a machine learning model to distinguish between different classes of data. During the model generation phase, the model training algorithm may select an initial type of machine learning algorithm to train a machine learning model using the training data. Following the application of a selected machine learning algorithm to the training data, the model training algorithm may determine a training error measurement of the machine learning model. If the training error measurement exceeds a training error threshold, the model training algorithm may use a rule engine to select a different type of machine learning algorithm based on a magnitude of the training error measurement. The different types of machine learning algorithms may include a Bayesian algorithm, a decision tree algorithm, a support vector machine (SVM) algorithm, an ensemble of trees algorithm (e.g., random forests and gradient-boosted trees), an artificial neural network, and/or so forth. The training process is generally repeated until the training results fall below the training error threshold, and the trained machine learning model is generated.

Alternatively, or concurrently, the NOC application 312 may analyze the sensor data in conjunction with additional data to determine whether user device actions are to be triggered for events that occurred. The NOC application 312 may use the additional data in the analysis based on a configuration setting inputted by an administrator at the NOC 108. For example, the additional data may comprise information included in the heartbeat signals of various devices, incident reports of incidents that occurred within a predetermined time interval of a current time that the emergency situation occurred in a predetermined area that includes a geolocation of the law enforcement officer, such as an armed suspect on the loose, a riot in progress, a traffic accident occurred, a wildfire is burning in the area, etc.

Accordingly, the NOC application 312 may initiate one or more actions in response to a set of event data or a determination that a specific event occurred. For example, the actions may include triggering the body camera of the law enforcement officer to start a video recording, triggering a smartphone carried by the law enforcement officer to start recording a video when the battery level of the body camera carried by the law enforcement officer drops below a predetermined threshold, sending automatic requests for emergency situation assistance to nearby body-worn hubs or ground vehicles of other law enforcement officers that are within a predetermined distance of the geolocation of the law enforcement officer. Other actions may include triggering the body camera of the law enforcement officer to start a video recording, sending automatic requests for emergency situation assistance to nearby body-worn hubs or ground vehicles of other law enforcement officers that are within a predetermined distance of the geolocation of the law enforcement officer, and/or so forth. Additional actions may include sending commands to user devices of a law enforcement officer that causes the user devices to change their operational states. For example, an in-vehicle camera in a vehicle of a law enforcement officer may switch from an active multimedia streaming state to a low-power sleep state when the battery level of the in-vehicle camera is below a 4% battery level and the particular vehicle's engine is powered off. However, when the NOC application 312 receives information from the smartphone of another law enforcement officer that the other law enforcement officer is responding to an incident that is within a predetermined distance of the location of the particular vehicle, the backend service may send a command that directs the in-vehicle camera to switch back to the active multimedia streaming state.