Method and apparatus for commissioning a sensor

A communication unit configured for commissioning a sensor, the communication unit comprising:

• a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with a system controller;
• a scanner;
• a processor;
• and
• memory operatively connected to the processor, the memory comprising executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
• scan, via the scanner, a sensor-identifying feature of the sensor to provide sensor-identifying data;
• send, via the wireless transceiver to the system controller, the sensor-identifying data;
• receive, via the wireless transceiver from the system controller, one or more contextual prompts regarding a sensed object to which the sensor is operatively connected, wherein the sensed object is an object having one or more parameters that are subject to being sensed by the sensor and wherein the contextual prompts solicit information regarding the context in which the sensor will be operating and that permit association of the sensed object with the sensor;
• send, via the wireless transceiver to the system controller, sensed object context information in response to the contextual prompts;
• and
• receive, via the wireless transceiver from the system controller, confirmation of commissioning of the sensor.

A method for commissioning a sensor via a system controller, the method comprising:

• receiving, by the system controller from a communication unit, sensor-identifying data obtained by the communication unit by scanning a sensor-identifying feature of the sensor;
• sending, by the system controller to the communication unit, one or more contextual prompts regarding a sensed object to which the sensor is operatively connected, wherein the sensed object is an object having one or more parameters that are subject to being sensed by the sensor and wherein the contextual prompts solicit information regarding the context in which the sensor will be operating and that permit association of the sensed object with the sensor;
• receiving, by the system controller from the communication unit, sensed object context information in response to the contextual prompts;
• storing, by the system controller, the sensor-identifying data in association with the sensed object information;
• and
• sending, by the system to controller to the communication unit, confirmation of commissioning of the sensor.

A system controller configured for commissioning a sensor, the system controller comprising:

• a communication interface configured to communicate with a communication unit;
• a processor;
• and
• memory operatively connected to the processor, the memory comprising executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
• receive, via the communication interface from the communication unit, sensor-identifying data obtained by the communication unit by scanning a sensor-identifying feature of the sensor;
• send, via the communication interface to the communication unit, one or more contextual prompts regarding a sensed object to which the sensor is operatively connected, wherein the sensed object is an object having one or more parameters that are subject to being sensed by the sensor and wherein the contextual prompts solicit information regarding the context in which the sensor will be operating and that permit association of the sensed object with the sensor;
• receive, via the communication interface from the communication unit, sensed object context information in response to the contextual prompts;
• store the sensor-identifying data in association with the sensed object context information;
• and
• send, via the communication interface to the communication unit, confirmation of commissioning of the sensor.