Method And System Of Electronic Monitoring
GPS data can be transmitted from a portable electronic device to a central database using either a cellular network or a satellite RF network. Multiple embodiments are capable of executing tools and techniques that automatically determine the network appropriate for given conditions, maximize GPS data transmission coverage, and minimize cost. Using the described technology, it is possible to detect, differentiate between, and utilize networks according to circumstance.
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This document is a continuation from patent cooperation treaty application PCT/US12/71513, filed on Dec. 21, 2012, which application claimed the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/579,092, filed on Dec. 22, 2011. Both of those applications have the same title and inventors as the present document, and the disclosures of both of those applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
BACKGROUND1. Field
This invention relates generally to the field of electronic monitoring, and more specifically to the transmission of Global Positioning System (GPS) data, or other location data, over a closed network using a portable electronic device.
2. Related Art
Current systems that track the geographical location of portable electronic devices make extensive use of cellular networks. These networks often include Global Systems of Mobile communication (GSM)/General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) networks and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks.
However, there are many limitations to the extent of tracking that these networks can execute. For example, cellular networks can only operate within range of cell towers, and can encounter “dead zones” in which a signal fails to transmit. In such cases, the monitoring party may not receive important tracking data unless, and until, the individual being tracked reenters an area with an available cellular network. This lack of tracking data is extremely problematic with regard to monitoring the location of individuals within the criminal justice system and can pose substantial risks to public safety. For example, data often cannot be transmitted about the location of individuals assigned a body-worn transmitter as a result of not being in an area with an available cellular network or not being near an external transmitting device.
SUMMARYThe technology disclosed herein can be used to implement machines, methods and articles of manufacture which can address one or more of deficiencies in the technology currently used in the art. For example, aspects of the technology disclosed herein can be used to implement a system comprising a housing holding a set of components, wherein the set of components may comprise a location data collector, a plurality of radio transceivers, a storage device, a processor a power supply and a set of memory locations. In such a system, the plurality of radio transceivers may comprise a cellular transceiver and a satellite transceiver. The power supply may be configured to supply power to the location data collector, the plurality of radio transceivers and the processor. The set of memory locations could store data operable to configure the processor to perform a set of tasks. Such a set of tasks could comprise automatically switching between communicating with a remote device via the cellular transceiver and the satellite transceiver based on availability of a cellular network via the cellular transceiver and availability of a satellite network via the satellite transceiver. The set of tasks could also comprise sending location data collected by the location data collector to the remote device.
Other embodiments of the disclosed technology are also possible, will be immediately apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, and could be made and used by those of ordinary skill in the art without undue experimentation in light of the disclosure set forth herein. Accordingly, the discussion of systems which could be implemented using aspects of the disclosed technology should be understood as being illustrative only, and should not be treated as limiting on the protection accorded by this document or any related document.
The drawings and detailed descriptions which follow are intended to be illustrative and are not intended to imply limitations on the scope of potential implementations of the disclosure set forth herein.
The inventor's technology can be used to enable Global Positioning System (GPS) data to be sent to a remote central database regardless of cellular network availability. As a result, the inventor's technology can be used to allow for more complete and continuous location tracking coverage than would otherwise be available. This location tracking can be performed using an adaptable, physical electronic apparatus equipped with a GPS receiver, a cellular network transceiver, a satellite RF transceiver and a Bluetooth™ (hereinafter “Bluetooth”) transceiver. Embodiments of the present invention may also contain a mechanism that allows for additional technologies, i.e. GPS data transmitting technologies beyond the aforementioned networks, to be incorporated as the field advances.
As described herein, various embodiments of the invention use a cellular network and a satellite RF network, alternately, to transmit GPS data back to a central database. Those skilled in the art will recognize that when transmitting via a cellular network there may be physical restrictions as to the extent of coverage. In such an occurrence (e.g. a cellular network is unavailable), systems implemented using the disclosed technology may detect the lack of an available cellular network and automatically switch over to use a satellite RF network to transmit GPS data in lieu of a cellular network. Satellite RF networks can be used to provide availability beyond what is provided by cellular networks because satellite RF networks are not limited to physical towers, and instead operate from space, providing availability in cases where cellular networks may not be accessible. Embodiments of the invention can utilize networks according to circumstance, and execute tools and techniques to determine which network is appropriate to maximize GPS data transmission (coverage) and minimize cost.
The embodiments described within this specification are to be understood as illustrative and exemplary of potential steps, structures, features, and aspects which could be included in embodiments of the disclosed technology and should not be treated as limiting the scope of the invention.
In addition to, or as an alternative to, providing notification when two devices come close enough to establish a connection, it is also possible that implementations following
It is also possible that devices such as shown in
Alternative implementations which operate with only a single device [10] are also possible. For example, in an implementation following
Turning to
Turning to
-
- a. Sending an alert to the device the offender is carrying informing him/her that he/she is violating the exclusion zone [3005];
- b. Sending an alert to the device the victim is carrying, which may constitute a vibration of the device, or an audible alert (though it should be understood that, in some embodiments, audible alerts may be disabled since such an alert could give the approaching offender information as to the location of the victim);
- c. Presenting a map on the device the victim is carrying, such as a map of the type shown in
FIG. 5 , showing the present location of the victim [3006], the exclusion zone [3005] and points or other data showing the movement of the offender [3007a-d].
The invention having been described in the foregoing, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many variations and/or changes can be made therein without departing from the nature and spirit of the invention, and all such changes and/or variations are intended to be included within the scope of the invention. For example, while the above discussion of
When used in the claims, the phrase “GPS data” should be understood to refer to an identifiable unit of information received from a Global Position System satellite orbiting the earth.
When used in the claims, a statement that something is “based on” something else should be understood to mean that something is determined at least in part by the thing that it is indicated as being “based on.” When something is completely determined by a thing, it will be described as being “based EXCLUSIVELY on” the thing.
When used in the claims, or within any part of this document, the phrase “central database” should be understood to refer to a physical or virtual location to store data either in a physical or virtual data storage device that can be accessed via devices on a network to either add to, or retrieve from, data for a specific purpose.
When used in the claims, or within any part of this document, the term “processor” should be understood to refer to a device or group of devices capable of performing one or more logical and/or physical operations on data to produce a result. A processor may include, for example, a single-core or muli-core microcontroller or microcomputer, configured as an embedded processor or as a part of a portable electronic device.
Claims
1-12. (canceled)
13. A tracking device for real-time location tracking, the device comprising:
- a housing configured to be carried by a user, the housing holding: a global positioning system device (GPS) configured to collect geographic tracking device location data that delineates a physical location of the tracking device; a cellular transceiver; a satellite transceiver; a storage device configured to store the tracking device location data collected by the global positioning system device; a processor configured to: cause the cellular transceiver to establish a connection with a remote unit via a cellular network; and send the tracking device location data to the remote unit via the cellular transceiver; detect when the cellular network is unavailable; cause the satellite transceiver to establish a connection with the remote unit when the processor detects that the cellular network is unavailable; and send the tracking device location data to the remote unit via the satellite transceiver.
14. The device of claim 13 wherein the housing is an ankle monitor housing, the housing further comprising:
- a compartment for storage of a power source for the device.
15. The device of claim 13 further comprising:
- a peer to peer transceiver;
- with the processor further configured to: connect the peer to peer transceiver to a specified, paired peer to peer transceiver; and communicate the tracking device location data to the specified, paired peer to peer transceiver.
16. The device of claim 15 wherein the peer to peer transceiver and the specified, paired peer to peer transceiver are Bluetooth transceivers.
17. The device of claim 15 wherein the tracking device location data sent to the remote unit includes geographic location data and time data corresponding to times at the geographic locations, and the processor in the tracking device is further configured to:
- receive geographic location data and time data that specifies a geographic location of the specified, paired peer to peer transceiver;
- retrieve data corresponding to an exclusion zone for maintaining of a spatial, geographic separation of the tracking device from the specified, paired peer to peer transceiver; and
- determine from the received geographic data and time data of the specified peer to peer transceiver, the tracking device location and time data, and the retrieved data on the exclusion zone whether the tracking device is within the exclusion zone.
18. The device of claim 17 wherein when the processor in the tracking device determines that the tracking device is within the exclusion zone, the processor generates an alert.
19. The device of claim 18 wherein the processor causes the generated alert to be sent to the specified paired peer to peer device.
20. The device of claim 18 wherein the processor causes the generated alert to be rendered by the tracking device.
21. The device of claim 13 wherein the device further comprises a peer to peer transceiver, and the processor in the device is further configured to:
- attempt to establish a connection by the peer to peer transceiver with the specified, paired peer transceiver when neither the cellular network nor another cellular network nor a satellite network are connected, and when the peer to peer connection is established,
- send data to the specified, paired peer transceiver that specifies a geographic location of the tracking device.
22. A method comprising:
- collecting by a portable electronic tracking device carried by a user, location data that specifies location of the tracking device;
- storing the collected location data in a storage device on the tracking device;
- establishing a connection by a cellular transmitting device with a remote unit via an available cellular network;
- periodically transmitting the location data to a central database over the cellular network;
- detecting when the cellular network or another cellular network is unavailable;
- establishing a connection by a satellite transmitting device with an available satellite network when the cellular network and another cellular network are unavailable; and
- automatically transmitting the location data in the storage device to the central database via the satellite network when the cellular network and another cellular network is not available.
23. The method of claim 22 further comprising:
- sending by a peer to peer transceiver in the tracking device, the location data to a paired, peer to peer transceiver.
24. The method of claim 23 further comprising:
- receiving data that specifies a location of the paired, peer to peer transceiver;
- retrieving data corresponding to an exclusion zone for separation of the tracking device from the paired, peer to peer transceiver; and
- determining whether the tracking device is within the exclusion zone.
25. The method of claim 22 wherein when neither cellular nor satellite networks are available,
- attempting to establish a connection by a Bluetooth transceiver on the tracking device with a specified, paired peer to peer Bluetooth transceiver in a second different electronic device; and when established,
- sending data that specifies a location of the tracking device to the paired peer to peer Bluetooth transceiver.
26. A system comprising:
- a first portable device configured to be carried by a user for location tracking of the user, the device comprising: a first housing configured to be carried by a user, the first housing holding: a first global positioning system device (GPS) configured to collect geographic location data that delineates a physical location of the first portable device; a cellular transceiver; a satellite transceiver; a peer to peer transceiver; a storage device configured to store location data collected by the global positioning system device; a first processor configured to: cause the cellular transceiver to establish a connection with a remote unit via an available cellular network; automatically send location data to the remote unit via the available cellular transceiver; cause the satellite transceiver to establish a connection with the remote unit when no cellular network is available; automatically send the location data to the remote unit via the satellite transceiver; cause the peer to peer transceiver to establish a connection with a paired, peer to peer transceiver; and send the location data to the paired peer to peer transceiver;
- a second device that includes the paired peer to peer transceiver, the second device further including: a second global positioning system device (GPS) configured to collect location data that delineates a location of the second device; a second processor configured to: receive the location data collected by the first device; and wherein the system is configured to: generate an alert to notify a user of the second device on the relative geographic locations of the first portable device and the second device.
27. The system of claim 26, wherein the remote unit includes a central database to receive and store the geographic location data collected by the global positioning system device of the first portable device, sent via the cellular transceiver or the satellite transceiver.
28. The system of claim 26, wherein the remote unit is configured to:
- determine whether the first portable device is within an established exclusion zone;
- send the alert to the second device when the first portable device is within the established exclusion zone.
29. The system of claim 26, wherein the remote unit is configured to:
- cause the second device of the second user to display a map showing detailed information on the relative locations of the first portable device and second device.
30. The system of claim 26, wherein at least one of the first and second devices is configured to:
- determine whether the first portable device is within an established exclusion zone;
- generate the alert to notify the user of the second device when the first portable device is within the established exclusion zone.
31. A method comprises:
- collecting location data from a first portable electronic device configured to be carried by a user;
- storing the collected location data in a storage device on the first portable electronic device;
- causing a cellular transceiver to establish a connection with a remote unit via an available cellular network;
- automatically sending location data to the remote unit for the cellular transceiver to automatically communicate with a remote unit;
- causing the satellite transceiver to establish a connection with the remote unit when the cellular network or another cellular network is unavailable;
- automatically send the location data to the remote unit via the satellite transceiver;
- sending the location data stored in the storage device from a first Bluetooth transceiver in the first portable device to a second, paired Bluetooth transceiver device in a second, different device;
- receiving by at least a first one of the first and second devices locational data of the other one of the first and second devices; and
- determining by a processor in the at least first one of the first and second devices relative positions of the first and second Bluetooth transceiver devices.
32. The method of claim 31, wherein the remote unit is a central database to receive and store the location data collected by the global positioning system device, sent via the cellular transceiver or the satellite transceiver.
33. The method of claim 31, further comprising:
- determining whether the first portable electronic device is within an established exclusion zone;
- sending an alert to the second portable electronic device.
34. The method of claim 33, further comprising:
- causing the second portable, electronic device to display a map showing detailed information on relative locations of the first portable, electronic device and the second portable, electronic device.
35. The method of claim 33, further comprising:
- causing the second portable, electronic device to alert a user according to changes in relative locations of the first portable, electronic device and the second portable, electronic device.
36. A monitoring device for real-time location monitoring, the device comprising:
- a housing, the housing holding: a global positioning system device (GPS) configured to collect location data that delineates a location of the monitoring device; a peer to peer transceiver configured to establish a peer to peer connection with a specified, paired peer to peer transceiver; a storage device configured to store location data collected by the global positioning system device; a processor configured to: receive location data collected by the global positioning system device; receive location data collected by a second, different global positioning system device from a tracking device, the data received, over the peer to peer connection established between the peer to peer transceiver and the specified, paired peer to peer transceiver; retrieve data corresponding to an exclusion zone for separation of the monitoring device from the tracking device; determine from the location data from the monitoring device, the location data from the tracking device and the exclusion zone data whether the tracking device has entered the exclusion zone; and generate an alert to signal a user of the monitoring device that the tracking device has entered the exclusion zone.
37. The device of claim 36 wherein the housing is a smartphone housing and the monitoring device includes a smartphone.
38. The device of claim 36 wherein the processor is further configured to:
- display a map showing detailed information on the relative locations of the monitoring and tracking devices.
39. The device of claim 36 wherein the processor causes the device to generate an audible alert or a vibratory alert.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 14, 2014
Publication Date: Jul 31, 2014
Applicant: EARTHSWEEP, LLC (Cincinnati, OH)
Inventors: Brian C. Poe (Lexington, KY), Michael P. Miller (Lexington, KY), Bryon Sturgill (Lexington, KY)
Application Number: 14/210,755
International Classification: H04W 4/02 (20060101); G08B 21/18 (20060101);