Mobile transceiver having route monitoring and method of operation

• US 10,149,269 B2
• Filed: 08/08/2016
• Issued: 12/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Mulaosmanovic, Jasmin, Lombardi, Robert Joseph, Berriz, Sergio Javier, Wells, Brian Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Appiah, Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mastrodonato, Margaret G
• Application Number:
  US15/231,017
• Publication Number:
  US 20180041983A1
• Time in Patent Office: 848 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3415 Dynamic re-routing, e.g. recalculating the route when the user deviates from calculated route or after detecting real-time traffic data or accidents
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 11/02 using radio waves G01S19/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/13 Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0027 of actual mobile position, i.e. position determined on mobile
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02521 using a radio-map
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0294 Trajectory determination or predictive filtering, e.g. target tracking or Kalman filtering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096816 where the complete route is transmitted to the vehicle at once
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096838 where the user preferences are taken into account or the user selects one route out of a plurality
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A mobile transceiver for asset tracking having route monitoring and method of operation are provided. In one aspect, the method comprises: determining a location of the mobile transceiver using the satellite receiver; determining whether the determined location deviates from a planned route; and sending an alert to an asset tracking service when the determined location deviates from the planned route.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring a route of a mobile transceiver, comprising:

determining by the mobile transceiver a location of the mobile transceiver using a satellite receiver;

determining by the mobile transceiver whether the determined location deviates from a planned route comprising;

determining whether the determined location is within a threshold distance of a waypoint of a travel itinerary defining the planned route, the travel itinerary comprising a plurality of waypoints including an origin, a destination, and a plurality of intermediate waypoints between the origin and the destination,

wherein the travel itinerary specifies a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) coordinate for each of the waypoints in the travel itinerary,

wherein the mobile transceiver determines that the determined location does not deviate from the planned route when the determined location is within the threshold distance, and wherein the mobile transceiver determines that the determined location deviates from the planned route when the determined location is outside of the threshold distance; and

when the determined location is not within the threshold distance of a waypoint of the travel itinerary, determining, based on the determined location, whether the mobile transceiver is progressing towards the destination defined by the travel itinerary,

wherein the mobile transceiver determines that the determined location does not deviate from the planned route when the mobile transceiver is progressing towards the destination, and wherein the mobile transceiver determines that the determined location deviates from the planned route when the mobile transceiver is not progressing towards the destination;

sending an alert from the mobile transceiver to an asset tracking service in response to determining that the determined location deviates from the planned route, wherein the alert comprises an electronic message comprising information regarding the determined deviations from the planned route and the determined location.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the determined location is within the threshold distance comprising comparing the GNSS coordinate of the determined location to the GNSS coordinates in the travel itinerary.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining, based on the determined location, whether the mobile transceiver is progressing towards a destination comprises:

calculating a heading of the mobile transceiver using GNSS coordinates obtained using the satellite receiver over a threshold duration;

calculating a planned heading using a plurality of GNSS coordinates specified in the travel itinerary closest to the determined location;

wherein the mobile transceiver determines that the mobile transceiver is progressing towards the destination when the calculated heading of the mobile transceiver is within a threshold deviation of the planned heading, and wherein the mobile transceiver determines that the mobile transceiver is not progressing towards the destination when the calculated heading of the mobile transceiver is not within a threshold deviation of the planned heading.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining, based on the determined location, whether the mobile transceiver is progressing towards a destination comprises:

calculating a heading of the mobile transceiver using an electronic compass over a threshold duration;

calculating a planned heading using a plurality of GNSS coordinates specified in the travel itinerary closest to the determined location;

wherein the mobile transceiver determines that the mobile transceiver is progressing towards the destination when the calculated heading of the mobile transceiver is within a threshold deviation of the planned heading, and wherein the mobile transceiver determines that the mobile transceiver is not progressing towards the destination when the calculated heading of the mobile transceiver is not within a threshold deviation of the planned heading.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a priority of each deviation from the planned route; and

storing the determined priority in memory.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the priority of each deviation is determined to be either a low priority or high priority,

wherein a deviation from the planned route is determined to be low priority when the mobile transceiver is not within a first threshold distance of the route defined by a travel itinerary but is within a second threshold distance of the route defined by the travel itinerary, the second threshold distance being larger than the first threshold distance;

wherein a deviation from the planned route is determined to be high priority when the mobile transceiver is not within the first threshold distance or the second threshold distance.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the priority of each deviation is determined to be either a low priority or high priority,

wherein a deviation from the planned route is determined to be low priority when the mobile transceiver is determined to be progressing towards its destination;

wherein a deviation from the planned route is determined to be high priority when the mobile transceiver is determined to be not progressing towards its destination.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the information about deviations included in the alert includes one or more of an amount of each detected deviation from the planned route and an indication of whether the mobile transceiver is progressing towards a destination.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the information about deviations included in the alert includes a priority ranking of the alert.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising

calculating a speed of travel;

and

calculating an estimated delay in an estimated time of arrival (ETA) at the destination based on the calculated speed and the amount of the determined deviation from the planned route;

storing the estimated delay in the ETA in memory;

wherein the alert includes the estimated delay in the ETA.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the speed of travel is calculated using location data obtained from the satellite receiver.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the speed of travel is calculated using location data stored in an asset tracking log.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending comprises:

activating a cellular transceiver from a low power mode;

sending the alert to the asset tracking service using the cellular transceiver.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

calculating a speed of travel using location data obtained from the satellite receiver or an asset tracking log;

identifying one or more subsequent waypoints in a travel itinerary defining the planned route;

determining one or more estimated time of arrivals (ETAs) at the one or more subsequent waypoints based on the calculated speed;

setting one or more alarms to be triggered at the one or more ETAs.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the one or more alarms are time-based or date-based alarms.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the asset tracking service sends the electronic message to one or more designated addresses in response to receiving the alert when the alert is a high priority alert.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending by the asset tracking service an electronic message to one or more designated addresses in response to receiving the alert, wherein the electronic message comprises information regarding the determined deviations from the planned route and the determined location.

18. A mobile transceiver, comprising:

a processor;

a satellite receiver coupled to the processor; and

a cellular transceiver coupled to the processor;

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the mobile transceiver to;

determine by the mobile transceiver a location of the mobile transceiver using the satellite receiver;

determine by the mobile transceiver whether the determined location deviates from a planned route by;

determining whether the determined location is within a threshold distance of a waypoint of a travel itinerary defining the planned route, the travel itinerary comprising a plurality of waypoints including an origin, a destination, and a plurality of intermediate waypoints between the origin and the destination,

wherein the travel itinerary specifies a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) coordinate for each of the waypoints in the travel itinerary,

wherein the mobile transceiver determines that the determined location does not deviate from the planned route when the determined location is within the threshold distance, and wherein the mobile transceiver determines that the determined location deviates from the planned route when the determined location is outside of the threshold distance; and

when the determined location is not within the threshold distance of a waypoint of the travel itinerary, determining, based on the determined location, whether the mobile transceiver is progressing towards the destination defined by the travel itinerary,

wherein the mobile transceiver determines that the determined location does not deviate from the planned route when the mobile transceiver is progressing towards the destination, and wherein the mobile transceiver determines that the determined location deviates from the planned route when the mobile transceiver is not progressing towards the destination;

send an alert from the mobile transceiver to an asset tracking service in response to determining that the determined location deviates from the planned route, wherein the alert comprises an electronic message comprising information regarding the determined deviations from the planned route and the determined location.

19. A non-transitory machine readable medium having tangibly stored thereon executable instructions for execution by a processor of a mobile transceiver, the mobile transceiver comprising a memory, a satellite receiver, and a cellular transceiver each coupled to the processor, wherein the executable instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the mobile transceiver to:

determine by the mobile transceiver a location of the mobile transceiver using the satellite receiver;

determine by the mobile transceiver whether the determined location deviates from a planned route by;

determining whether the determined location is within a threshold distance of a waypoint of a travel itinerary defining the planned route, the travel itinerary comprising a plurality of waypoints including an origin, a destination, and a plurality of intermediate waypoints between the origin and the destination,

wherein the travel itinerary specifies a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) coordinate for each of the waypoints in the travel itinerary,

wherein the mobile transceiver determines that the determined location does not deviate from the planned route when the determined location is within the threshold distance, and wherein the mobile transceiver determines that the determined location deviates from the planned route when the determined location is outside of the threshold distance; and

when the determined location is not within the threshold distance of a waypoint of the travel itinerary, determining, based on the determined location, whether the mobile transceiver is progressing towards the destination defined by the travel itinerary,

wherein the mobile transceiver determines determined that the determined location does not deviate from the planned route when the mobile transceiver is progressing towards the destination, and wherein the mobile transceiver determines that the determined location deviates from the planned route when the mobile transceiver is not progressing towards the destination;

send an alert from the mobile transceiver to an asset tracking service in response to determining that the determined location deviates from the planned route, wherein the alert comprises an electronic message comprising information regarding the determined deviations from the planned route and the determined location.