Abstract: A warning device having a close range wireless interface is provided. The warning device includes a body portion, top portion, a base portion, a microcontroller for controlling the device, a battery, at least one sensor for sensing at least one of a velocity, an enveloped acceleration and a temperature reading of the bearing, and at least one LED for displaying the health status of the bearing. The close range wireless interface includes an RFID tag having an integrated circuit, and a radio, an antenna for receiving and transmitting modulated and demodulated signals, and a digital bus connecting the microcontroller to the RFID tag. The microcontroller stores at least one of the sensed velocity, enveloped acceleration and the temperature values into a memory disposed within the RFID tag. The memory is a dual access memory that enables data transfer via the RFID radio or via the digital bus.

Abstract: A method of reading sensor values from or writing programming alarm and monitoring algorithm parameters into a warning device for monitoring a bearing having a close range wireless interface is disclosed. The method of reading or writing includes providing an RFID tag having an integrated circuit with memory, a radio for modulating and demodulating a radio-frequency signal, an antenna for receiving and transmitting the radio-frequency signal, and a digital bus mounted to a PCB, the digital bus connecting a microcontroller to the RFID tag. The steps of downloading the parameters into memory, accessing the parameters with the microcontroller and adapting the parameters according to the stored parameters are carried out during a write operation. The steps of uploading the stored sensor value from memory to the radio, and transmitting the sensor value with the radio via the antenna are carried out during the reading operation.