Designing a Smartphone Application for Identification of Network Devices

Sammanfattning: Today, an increasing amount of physical devices are obtaining Internet connectivity for more efficient management and device communication. In home environments, users may manage devices by providing them descriptive names such as "living room speaker". For a limited set of devices such a solution is often sufficient. However, in a case where one wants to individually manage a very high number of devices one must keep track of individual device identification numbers. Obtaining this information may be challenging and time consuming if the devices are installed in inaccessible places. This is a present issue for Axis Communications which offers network audio systems for enterprise customers where devices are often mounted in ceilings before they’re identified and configured. In this thesis, the authors have investigated novel solutions for network device identification in regards to both different user prerequisites as well as to limitations in different technologies. Two smartphone application concepts with the purpose to perform identification have been proposed by the authors, of which one has been implemented. The implemented solution consists of an iPhone application prototype communicating with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons, which would have to be incorporated in the physical speakers. One of the main advantages of the BLE beacon solution is that speakers do not require power in order to be identified. Usability tests were held with the implemented prototype, in which the application was considered intuitive and easy to use. However issues with technical accuracy remain to be solved before the solution could be launched on the market. Furthermore, due to insufficient access to the actual target group and to real case environments, the usability of the application has to be further investigated.