Communication tool and UWB-equipped patient devices

A portable tool for communicating with at least one of a patient support apparatus or locator unit mounted at a fixed location within a healthcare facility, the tool comprising:

• a housing;
• a transceiver for communicating with a computer;
• a first ultra-wideband (UWB) transceiver adapted to communicate with a second UWB transceiver;
• and
• a controller adapted to perform the following:
• (a) use the first UWB transceiver to obtain an identifier from the second UWB transceiver;
• (b) determine whether the second UWB transceiver is onboard the patient support apparatus or onboard the locator unit based on the identifier;
• (c) determine a model of the patient support apparatus or locator unit from the identifier;
• and
• (d) forward data indicating the model and whether the second UWB transceiver is onboard the patient support apparatus or onboard the locator unit to the transceiver for display on the computer.

A portable tool for communicating a software update to a device, the tool comprising:

• a housing;
• a first ultra-wideband (UWB) transceiver adapted to communicate with a second UWB transceiver positioned on the device;
• a software update control adapted to send updated software to the device when activated by a user;
• and
• a controller adapted to perform the following:
• (a) transmit a first query from the first UWB transceiver to the second UWB transceiver requesting a software identifier indicating a current version of software on the device;
• (b) determine a distance between the first UWB transceiver and the second UWB transceiver;
• (c) enable the software update control if the distance between the first UWB transceiver and the second UWB transceiver is less than a threshold;
• and
• (d) disable the software update control if the distance between the first UWB transceiver and the second UWB transceiver is more than the threshold.