UnitedStatesPatent
Ottoetal.
[19]
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
US005870029A
[11][45]
PatentNumber:Date
of
Patent:
5,870,029
Feb.9,1999
[54]REMOTEMOBILEMONITORINGANDCOMMUNICATIONSYSTEM[75]Inventors:JamesC.Otto,IndianHarborBeach;BrianP.Holt,Melbourne;Arthur
L.
Stewart,MelbourneBch.,allofFla.[73]Assignee:HarrisCorporation,Melbourne,Fla.[21]Appl.No.:676,503[22]Filed:Jul.8,1996[51]Int.CI.
6
G08B5/22;G08B23/00[52]U.S.CI.340/825.36;340/825.31;340/825.49;340/573;379/38[58]FieldofSearch340/825.36,825.31,340/573,825.06,825.54,825.49,572,539,568,525;379/38[56]ReferencesCitedU.S.PATENTDOCUMENTS
4,918,4324/1990Pauleyetal.340/5735,369,69911/1994Pageetal.379/385,396,2273/1995Carroletal.340/825.31
PRIMARY
BASE
40
20
5,414,4325,461,3905,568,1195,627,5265,742,2335,751,2455/1995Pennyetal.342/35710/1995Hoshen340/825.4910/1996Schipperetal.340/825.375/1997Belcheretal.340/825.494/1998Hoffmanetal.340/5735/1998
J
ankyetal....340/993
PrimaryExaminer-Edwin
C.Holloway,
III
AssistantExaminer-Edward
Merz
Attorney,Agent,orFirm-Rogerst
Killeen[57]ABSTRACTAsystemandmethodformonitoringthelocationand/orpresenceofanobject/personwithinadesiredareaincludesamobilebasestation,acentralcontrolcenter,amobilesignalingdevicecarriedbythemonitoredobject/person,andageolocatingmeans.Themobilebasestationmaybetransportedtoanarbitrarysiteandretainsthemonitoredobject/personwithinadesiredarea.Thecentralcontrolcenterdeterminestheacceptabilityofthelocationofthemonitoredobject/personandmayraiseanalarmconditionwhenthemonitoredobject/personisnotwithinthedesiredarea.26Claims,1DrawingSheet
10
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Feb.9,1999
5,870,029
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REMOTEMOBILEMONITORINGANDCOMMUNICATIONSYSTEM
BACKGROUNDOF
THE
INVENTION
5,870,0292
Device(FMD)or,ifthefixedareahascommunicationdeadspots,viaarepeatertotheFMD.TheFMDthencommu-nicatestoacentral,fixedlocation,e.g.,bymodemandtelephoneline,tonotifythecentrallocationwhenthemonitoredindividualleavesorre-entersthemonitoredarea.Ifthemonitoredindividualleavesthefixedarea,thecentrallocationisnotawareoftheindividual'slocation.Thepresentinventionrelatesgenerallytosystemsfor
5
communicationwithandformonitoringthelocationsofmobile,remoteobjects,includingpeople.Moreparticularly,Disadvantageously,noprovisionismadeforthecentralthepresentinventionrelatestoasystemforlocatingandlocationtocommunicatewiththeindividualortheindi-communicatingwiththeobjects(includingpeople)without
10
vidualtocommunicatewiththecentrallocation.Suchburdeningthemonitoredobjectwithheavyorbulkycom-featuresarenecessaryifthesystemisbeingusedtomonitorandcommunicatewithanindividualwhoisunderprotectivecustodysuchthattheymustbeabletofreelymoveaboutwithoutcarryingheavy,bulkyequipmentandsuchthatthey
15
mustbeinreadycontactwithcentralmonitoringsitetotransmitorreceiveapanicsignal.U.S.Pat.No.5,461,390toHoshenfora"LocatorDeviceUsefulforHouseArrestandStalkerDetection"illustratesapriorartefforttoprovideintermittentmobilemonitoringof
20
anindividualbyperiodicallycontactinganddeterminingtheOtherpriorartprisonermonitoringsystemsattempttolocationofalocatordeviceattachedtotheindividualintheaccommodatetheoffendersentencedtoremainprincipallywithinoneareabutisallowedtotraveltoasecondareaduringlimitedtimes,e.g.,theoffendermustremainatherhomeexceptduringworkinghourswhenshemaytraveltoherplaceofbusiness.However,thesesystemsarenotabletocontinuouslymonitortheoffenderandhavelimitedmonitoringareasordistances.Anothertypeproblemexistsregardingtheneedtoquicklyrecoverstolenvehicles.Certaintypevehiclesorassets,knownasfavoritetargetsofcarthiefs,mayhaveinstalledvehicletrackingsystems.Thesevehicletrackingsystems,poweredbythevehicle'sbatteryandnotundulylimitedinsizeortransmissionpowercapability,allowauthoritiestotrackthelocationofthevehicleoveranextendedrangeandforanextendedperiodoftime.Suchsystems,however,donotnotifytheownerthatthevehiclehasbeenstolenandthevehicleisoftentransportedoutofthesearchableareaordisassembledbeforethetheftisdiscoveredandtherecoverysystemactivated.Aneedisthereforepresenttopromptly
40
notifythevehicleownerthatthevehiclehasbeenstolen.municationsequipment.Priorartsystemsillustratethevariousneedsforthepresentinventionandthatthoseeffortsonlypartiallymeettheseneeds.Forexample,housearrestsystemscontinuouslymonitorpersonssentencedtoremainwithinadefined,restrictedareatoassuretheydoinfactremainwithinthepermittedarea.Thesesystemsoffercontinuousoversightbutsufferfrombeingabletomonitortheoffenderonlyatasinglefixedlocation,e.g.,hishome.Inasimilarfashion,anautomatednotificationsystemisneededtonotifytheproperauthoritieswhenanassethasbeenmovedfromagivenlocation.Forexample,inbanksitisknowntohideasmallexplosivedevicecoupledwithapermanentdyewithinoneormorebundlesofcurrency.Whenthedye-carryingbundleisremovedfromthebank,asignalisprovidedtotheexplosivedevicecausingittodetonate,spewingthedyeuponthecurrencyandpersonsnearby.Oneproblemwithsuchdevicesisthefactthatinnocentpassers-bymaybeinjuredbytheimpactfromtheexplosionandthefactthatthethiefmaybecomemoreviolentinresponsetotheexplosion.Accordingly,itisdesireabletouseaproximitylocatingdevicewithinsuchcurrencybundles.Thepassageoftheproximitydeviceoutsidetherangeofabaseunitcouldbemadetocauseanalarmtobesignaledattheappropriateauthoritiesand,ifdesired,toinitiategeolocatingthelocatingdevicewithinthecurrencybundle,allwithoutalertingthethieforcausingexplosionsinthevicinityofpotentiallyinnocentpersons.U.S.Pat.No.4,918,432toPauley,etal.fora"HouseArrestMonitoringSystem"illustratesapriorartsystemwhereinthemonitoredindividual'smovementislimitedtoasinglefixedarea.Pauley,etal.disclosesasystemcom-prisingansmalltransmitterintheformofanidentificationtagwhichiswornbythemonitoredindividualandwhichtransmitsaperiodicsignaldirectlytoaFieldMonitoringformofasmalltransceiverstrappedtotheindividual'sleg.Thecentrallocationinitiatesamonitoringcyclebytrans-mittingapollingsignal,viaawireless,e.g.,cellular,system
25
tothelocator.Uponreceiptofthepollingsignal,thelocatorqueriesapositioningsystemtoascertainitscurrentlocationandtransmitsthelocationbacktothecentralcomputer.Thecentralcomputerthencompletesthemonitoringcyclebycomparingtheindividual'slocationagainstdatabaserecords
30
todetermineiftheindividualiswithinanauthorizedloca-tion.Whilethissystemoffersadegreeofmobilityforthemonitoredindividual,requirementstokeepthelocatordevicesmallandlightweight,mandatecompromisesintransmissiondistancesandfrequencywithwhichthelocator
35
canbepolled.Therefore,continuousmonitoringbythecentrallocationandcommunicationsatgreaterdistancesfromthewirelesstransmissionpointsbetweenthecentrallocationandthelocatordevicearenotpossible.SUMMARYOFIREINVENTIONAccordingly,itisanobjectofthepresentinventiontoobviatemanyoftheproblemsandlimitationsofthepriorart.
It
isanotherobjectofthepresentinventiontoprovideanovelmonitoringandcommunicationsystemwherebya
45
primarybaselocationmaycontinuouslymonitoraremote,mobileindividual,affixedwithapersonaltransceiver,throughindicationsthattheindividualiswithinadefinedareaaroundamobilebutdeterminablelocationbysupple-mentingtheprimarybaselocationwithatransportable,
50
remotebaseoperablymaintainingcommunicationsbetweenboththeprimarybaselocationandthemobileindividual.
It
isanotherobjectofthepresentinventiontoprovideanovelmonitoringandcommunicationsystemwherebyafixedbaselocation'scontinuousmonitoringaremote,
55
mobileindividualisenhancedbythefixedbaselocationselectivelyvaryingthesizeofthedefinedareawithinwhichthemobileindividualismonitored.
It
isyetanotherobjectofthepresentinventiontoprovideanovelmonitoringandcommunicationsystemutilizinga
60
principalbaseoperativelyincontactwithamobileindi-vidualthrougharemote,transportablebasetransmittingtotheprincipalbaseinformationconcerninglocationandprox-imityofthemobileindividual,thedegreeofproximityselectivelyadjustableatthetransportablebaseorbythe
65
mobileindividual.
It
isstillanotherobjectofthepresentinventiontoprovideanovelmonitoringandcommunicationsystemwhereina
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