Patent Application
20130268418
Many employers use time and attendance devices to track employee work time and attendance. Such time and attendance devices may range in complexity from simple punch clocks to more advanced devices equipped with biometric sensors or card swipes to enable more secure employee clock in and verification.
Depending on the nature of an employer's business, an employer may simply need to purchase and implement a single time and attendance device at one employment location. However, some employers need to purchase and implement many time and attendance devices at many different employment locations, some of which may not be staffed by a manager and/or information technology (IT) specialist.
Methods and apparatus for wireless communication of time and attendance information are disclosed. A time and attendance device may include a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The receiving unit may be configured to receive identification information that identifies at least one user of the time and attendance device. The transmitting unit may be configured to transmit the received identification information to an external server over the wireless network. Related time information that indicates a time at which the receiving unit received the identification information may be captured and also transmitted to the external server.
In an embodiment, the transmitting unit may be further configured to transmit location information to the external server over the wireless network in response to the receiving unit receiving the identification information. The location information may identify a location of the time and attendance device at the time the identification information was received. A global positioning unit may provide the location information to the transmitting unit.
A more detailed understanding may be had from the following description, given by way of example in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
For employers that operate more than one work site, for example, ease of setup of time and attendance devices may be of concern. This may be especially true for employers that operate work sites that do not include a full staff (e.g., one or more work sites do not have a full time manager and/or IT personnel). Employee verification may also be of concern for these employers. For example, if an employee works at a location that does not have a full time manager, it may be easy for the employee to have a friend clock in for him or her or to log in from a different location. Such an employee may never actually show up to work at the site that he or she is scheduled to work at, and may nevertheless be paid for work he or she never completed.
Methods and apparatus described herein may provide for a time and attendance device that is easy to set up at a remote location and may wirelessly transmit time and attendance data to a remote database where time and attendance data for employees working at multiple different work sites may be stored. Methods and apparatus described herein may also include wireless transmission of location data with the time and attendance data, for example, to verify that the employee clocked in to the time and attendance device at the work location. In an embodiment, the time and attendance device may include a global positioning (GPS) device that may provide the location of the device at the time of clock in.
The time and attendance devices 108, 110 and 112 may be any type of wireless device that is configured to receive time and attendance information and wireless transmit information. By way of example, the time and attendance devices 108, 110 and 112 may include one or more of a clock-in terminal with wireless capability, a cellular telephone, a personal computer (PC) and a personal data assistant (PDA). The time and attendance devices 108, 110 and 112 may be pre-configured to always be connected to the wireless network 118 and may be pre-configured to send time and attendance information to a pre-configured IP address (e.g., the IP address of a server operating the time and attendance database 122).
In the example illustrated in
The processing unit 210 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and the like. The processing unit 210 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input/output processing, and/or any other functionality that may enable the time and attendance device 200 to operate in a wireless environment. The processing unit 210 may be coupled to the transceiver 204, which may be coupled to the transmit/receive element 202.
The transceiver 204 may be configured to modulate the signals that are to be transmitted by the transmit/receive unit 202 and demodulate the signals that are received by the transmit/receive unit 202. The time and attendance device 200 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 204 may include multiple transceivers for enabling the time and attendance device 200 to communicate via multiple radio access technologies (RATs), such as universal terrestrial radio access (UTRA) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, for example.
The transmit/receive element 202 may be configured to transmit signals to, and/or receive signals from, an interface element (e.g., 114 and 116) over an air interface. In an embodiment, the transmit/receive element 202 may be an antenna configured to transmit and/or receive radio frequency (RF) signals. In another embodiment, the transmit/receive element 202 may be an emitter/detector configured to transmit and/or receive infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), or visible light signals, for example. In another embodiment, the transmit/receive element 202 may be configured to transmit and receive both RF and light signals. The transmit/receive element 202 may be configured to transmit and/or receive any combination of wireless signals.
The processing unit 210 may be coupled to, and may receive user input from, the user interface 208 and/or the display unit 212 (which may be, in an embodiment, a touch screen). The processing unit 210, the user interface 208 and/or the display unit 212 may be configured to capture time information associated with the receipt of identification information of a user.
The processing unit 210 may also output user data to the user interface 208 and/or the display unit 212. Additionally, the processing unit 210 may access information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory, such as the memory unit 216. The memory unit 216 may include one or more memory devices (e.g., a non-removable memory, a removable memory or a combination thereof). Examples of non-removable memory may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, etc. The processing unit 210 may also access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the time and attendance device 200, such as on a server (e.g., a server on the managed network 120 operating the time and attendance database 122 illustrated in
The processing unit 210 may receive power from the power source 206 and may be configured to distribute and/or control power to other components in the time and attendance device 200. The power source 206 may be any suitable device for powering the time and attendance device 200 (e.g., one or more batteries, solar cells, etc.).
The user interface 208 may be any type of user interface configured to receive time and attendance information from a user. For example, the user interface 208 may include one or more of a card reader, a key pad, an iris scanner, a fingerprint reader, etc. A plurality of types of user interface may be required to aid in the prevention of erroneous attendance information being entered.
In an embodiment, the processing unit 210 is coupled to a GPS unit 214, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the time and attendance device. In addition, or in lieu of, receiving location information from a GPS unit 214, the processing unit 210 may be configured to receive location information over the air interface from an interface unit (e.g., base stations 114 and 116) and/or determine its location based on the timing of signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. Generally, the transmitting unit may be configured to transmit received identification information and related time information in a transmission that enables an external server to identify a location of the time and attendance device at the time the identification information was received.
In other embodiments (not illustrated in
In an embodiment, the time and attendance device 200 illustrated in
In another embodiment, the time information may not be transmitted by the time and attendance device but may be determined by the managed network 120 and stored in the external database. In one example, the time may be determined by the network based on the time of receipt of the identification information.
In an embodiment, the processing unit 210 may obtain location information (e.g., from the GPS unit 214 or the base stations 114 and 116) identifying the location of the time and attendance device 200 at the time that user information was entered. The transmit/receive unit 202 may transmit the location information to the external server over the wireless network 118.
As described briefly above, the time and attendance device 210 may be pre-configured to always be connected to the wireless network and to transmit data to a pre-configured IP address (e.g., the IP address of a server operating the time and attendance database 122), for example, at the time of manufacturer. If the time and attendance device includes a SIM card, the SIM card may be activated before receipt by the employer. Accordingly, when the employer receives the time and attendance device, the employer need only power the device on. The device may be pre-configured to establish communication with the wireless network 118 and to transmit specific data (e.g., one or more of user identification information, time information and location information) to the desired external server over the wireless network 118. This may avoid the need for setup of the time and attendance device at a remote site by an IT professional.
Although features and elements are described above in particular combinations, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with the other features and elements. In addition, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include electronic signals (transmitted over wired or wireless connections) and computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a register, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks, and digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a time and attendance device, base station, radio network controller (RNC), or any host computer.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/620,068 filed Apr. 4, 2012, which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61620068 | Apr 2012 | US |
