Cluster tracking for iot asset tracking in an internet of things

A computerized method for electing an asset tracker to communicate the location of each asset tracker in a cluster of asset trackers comprising:

• detecting an n-number of asset trackers within a low power radio range and form a cluster of these asset trackers;
• polling the n-number of asset trackers for one or more attributes of each asset tracker;
• based on an optimization of the one or more attributes of each asset tracker, electing an asset tracker to collect all the asset tracking and location data from the other asset trackers in the n-number of asset trackers;
• communicating the collecting of all the asset tracking and location data to a remote server system;
• and assuring that only one asset tracker obtains the location of the group, or any other sensor variable that is known to be very similar among them, preventing the other members of the cluster from having to acquire their location too, therefore saving battery power.

A computerized method for implementing cluster tracking among a set of tracking devices comprising:

• implementing a discovery mechanism, wherein a tracker device sends data and activates a low-rate beaconing mechanism on a low power radio, wherein the low-rate beaconing mechanism provides a quality of service metric for each communications radio that is supported, and wherein the wherein the low-rate beaconing mechanism is included in the asset trackers of mobile asset with a plurality of asset trackers;
• with another asset tracker, using a clustering service to listen for these the low-rate beaconing mechanism for specified period of time;
• wherein once a specified number of beacons are received, selecting the low-rate beaconing mechanism beacon with the best quality of service for requesting retransmission of a set of data;
• and establishing a connection by either requesting a connection directly or answering a next beacon within a specific period of time.