Portable security alarm device

• US 10,096,232 B1
• Filed: 10/26/2017
• Issued: 10/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: USA Innovations Inc.
• Original Assignee: USA Innovations Inc.
• Inventors: Basu, Shubhankar, Mansen, Samuel Alec
• Primary Examiner(s): MCCORMACK, THOMAS S
• Application Number:
  US15/795,149
• Time in Patent Office: 348 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1427 with transmitter-receiver for distance detection
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 15/004 using portable personal devices hand-held or body-worn self-defence devices using repellent gases or chemicals F41H9/10
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0202 Child monitoring systems using a transmitter-receiver system carried by the parent and the child
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0261 System arrangements wherein the object is to detect trespassing over a fixed physical boundary, e.g. the end of a garden
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/001 Alarm cancelling procedures or alarm forwarding decisions, e.g. based on absence of alarm confirmation
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/009 Signalling of the alarm condition to a substation whose identity is signalled to a central station, e.g. relaying alarm signals in order to extend communication range
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/08 using communication transmission lines G08B13/19658, G08B21/0286, G08B25/016 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/12 Checking intermittently signalling or alarm systems
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/181 due to failing power supply
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 3/10 using electric transmission; using electromagnetic transmission

Abstract

A portable security alarm device includes a subscriber identification module (SIM) card operable to store an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and a related key that together identify the PSAD to a mobile telephone carrier, a cellular antenna, a GPS antenna and a GPS receiver communicatively coupled to the GPS antenna, a battery coupled to a sense circuit and operable to power the PSAD, a quick release switch operable to provide a signal indicating an occurrence of a one-stroke activation of the quick release switch by a user, an alarm operable to provide a loud warning sound, and a microcontroller including one or more processors and memory, where the microcontroller is operatively coupled to hardware components of the device, and where the microcontroller is configured with an operating system and software components, the software components including software configured to control the hardware components of the PSAD and perform operations.

Claims

1. A portable security alarm device (PSAD) comprising:

a subscriber identification module (SIM) card operable to store an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and a related key that together identify the PSAD to a mobile telephone carrier;

a cellular antenna;

a GPS antenna and a GPS receiver communicatively coupled to the GPS antenna;

a battery coupled to a sense circuit and operable to power the PSAD;

a quick release switch operable to provide a signal indicating an occurrence of a one-stroke activation of the quick release switch by a user;

an alarm operable to provide a loud warning sound; and

a microcontroller including one or more processors and memory, wherein the microcontroller is operatively coupled to hardware components of the device, and wherein the microcontroller is configured with an operating system and software components, the software components including software configured to control the hardware components of the PSAD and perform operations comprising;

communicating with the mobile telephone carrier to determine a cellular location of the PSAD;

receiving GPS location information from GPS satellites to determine a GPS location of the PSAD, the GPS location being a higher precision location than the cellular location;

maintaining state information as to a current state of the PSAD, the current state being one of a plurality of states comprising an inactive state and an alarm state, the initial and default state of the PSAD being the inactive state;

maintaining the PSAD in ultra-low power consumption while the PSAD is in the inactive state;

receiving from the quick release switch an indication indicating that the quick release switch has been activated and in response change the state of the PSAD to the alarm state and provide normal power to all of the PSAD;

maintaining ultra-low power consumption of the battery during the inactive state and switching to normal power during the alarm state;

providing an alarm notification to an alarm monitoring center, the alarm notification including information identifying the PSAD;

providing a cellular location notification to the alarm monitoring center, the cellular location notification including information identifying a current cellular location of the PSAD;

providing a GPS location notification to the alarm monitoring center, the GPS location notification including information identifying a current GPS location of the PSAD;

causing the PSAD to enter the inactive state if the user cancels the alarm within the delay period; and

causing the PSAD to send, in one or more messages to the alarm monitoring center, an alarm notification that includes information identifying the PSAD and a current alarm instance, a cellular location notification, and a GPS location notification, when the current cellular location and the current GPS location are available, respectively.

2. The PSAD of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

providing a delay period for the user to cancel the alarm;

determining that the user has not canceled the alarm during the delay period; and

causing the PSAD to send a message to the alarm monitoring center after the delay period, the message indicating that the user has not canceled the alarm.

3. The PSAD of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a false alarm check trigger from the alarm monitoring center;

autonomously providing, without user intervention, a confirmation of the alarm state;

upon receiving a false alarm input to the PSAD, confirming a false alarm, transitioning the state of the PSAD to the inactive state, canceling additional alarm-related notifications, and sending, to the alarm monitoring center, a message indicating that the alarm is false;

upon receiving no user interrupt within a time period, providing a notification to the alarm monitoring center indicating a true alarm;

upon receiving a duress input, providing a notification to the alarm monitoring center indicating a true alarm and that the user has entered the deceptive continue interrupt input under duress; and

determining and sending GPS location coordinates at fixed intervals indicating the current location of the PSAD.

4. The PSAD of claim 1, further comprising:

a keypad communicatively coupled to the microcontroller and operable to receive user input;

wherein the operations further comprise;

receiving a PIN input on the keypad;

determining that the PIN input matches a secret PIN stored on the PSAD and as a consequence transitioning the PSAD to the inactive state; and

determining that the PIN input matches a secret duress PIN and as a consequence determining that the PSAD should remain in the alarm state and the alarm should be silenced.

5. The PSAD of claim 4, wherein the operations further comprise providing an alarm cancellation notification.

6. The PSAD of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

disconnecting the battery from the battery-powered components of the PSAD, except the sense circuit, while the PSAD is in the inactive state.

7. The PSAD of claim 1, wherein the alarm notification, the cellular location notification, and the GPS location notification are provided in the form of one or more text messages, data messages, or voice messages to the alarm monitoring center.

8. The PSAD of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

performing a battery test prior to transitioning the PSAD into the alarm state; and

canceling the transitioning if the battery test indicates that the battery has a charge below a pre-defined threshold.

9. The PSAD of claim 1, wherein both the cellular antenna and the GPS receiver boot up simultaneously upon receipt of the battery voltage.

10. The PSAD of claim 1, wherein the mobile telephone carrier is an LTE (Long Term Evolution) cellular carrier.

11. The PSAD of claim 1, further comprising one or more processors operable to execute the software components and instructions of the PSAD, and wherein the software components include:

a main application operable to invoke, using a broker, other applications comprising;

a device registration and provisioning component operable to communicate, using a web application, with a web-based device registration service to complete registration of the PSAD, wherein information used during the registration includes at least a device identifier of the PSAD, a name of the user, a contact phone number of the user, and contact information for one or more other contacts of the user;

a cellular component that includes instructions for communicating with the mobile telephone carrier and determining the cellular location of the PSAD;

a GPS monitor that includes instructions for performing actions of the GPS receiver and determining the GPS location;

a sense system component that includes instructions for performing actions of the sense circuit; and

a communication component that includes instructions for communicating with the alarm monitoring center.

12. The PSAD of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a user input requesting a network test of cellular and GPS functionality of the PSAD;

providing normal power to network test components of the PSAD;

transitioning the PSAD to a powered-up inactive state;

initiating the network test including a GPS test and a cellular test;

providing an indication of an outcome of the network test to the user; and

transitioning the PSAD to the inactive state.

13. The PSAD of claim 9, wherein:

the PSAD further comprises a network test button and the user input requesting the network test is a pressing of the network test button for a predetermined period, or

the PSAD further comprises a keypad user interface and the user input requesting the network test is an input on the keypad user interface.

15. The PSAD of claim 1, further comprising a housing covering components of the PSAD while exposing the quick release switch.

16. The PSAD of claim 1, further comprising a battery low indicator connected to the battery and operable to:

determine a current charge of the battery; and

indicate, using LEDs of different colors, whether the battery is sufficiently charged or in need of a charge.

17. The PSAD of claim 1, further comprising a flash memory operable to be written to over a universal serial bus (USB) or similar interface.

18. The PSAD of claim 1, further comprising a power management component that is controlled autonomously by a power management application residing on the microcontroller, wherein the power management component is managed through handshaking between the sense circuit, user interrupts, and acknowledgement or enable signals that determine when a specific action is completed that necessitates the PSAD to be transitioned to the inactive state.

19. The PSAD of claim 1, wherein operations of the microcontroller are performed without requiring a secondary device to respond to an alarm.

20. The PSAD of claim 1, wherein the PSAD is not in a continuous on state, enabling privacy protection and postposing transmission of data until a trigger is received to activate the PSAD.

14. The PSAD of 9, wherein the outcome of the network test is provided using a display, LEDs of different colors, or both.