System and a method for entity tracking

• US 10,368,203 B1
• Filed: 05/16/2018
• Issued: 07/30/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cognizant Technology Solutions India Private Limited (Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Cognizant Technology Solutions India Private Limited (Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.)
• Inventors: Vangipuram, Ranga
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Khai M
• Application Number:
  US15/980,934
• Publication Number:
  US 20190253841A1
• Time in Patent Office: 440 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/35 for the management of goods or merchandise
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 for collecting sensor information

Abstract

A system and method for monitoring and tracking entities in one or more transit points is provided. The present invention provides for receiving one or more types of signaling functions associated with an entity in response to a code generated by a transmitter device. The code comprises a unique transmitter ID associated with a unique entity ID. Further, the invention provides for ascertaining validity of at least one type of signaling function and generating a time stamped record of at least one type of signaling function. Further, the invention provides for processing the code with tracking data to generate an event message. The tracking data comprises at least location of the entity along with other parameters associated with the entity. Further, the invention provides for extracting the unique entity ID and tracking data associated with the entity from the event message, and generating a tracking file.

Claims

1. A tracking device for tracking one or more entities positioned at any location or moving through one or more transit points, the tracking device interfacing with one or more sources associated with the entity, the tracking device comprising:

a memory storing program instructions;

a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in the memory; and

a data acquisition and message generation engine in communication with the processor and configured to;

receive one or more types of signaling functions associated with the entity from one or more sources in response to a code generated by an action performed on a transmitter device associated with the entity, wherein the code comprises a transmitter ID associated with an entity ID of the entity;

evaluate time difference between the time of receiving the code and time of occurrence of the at least one type of signaling functions in respect to a predetermined time difference, wherein computing the time of occurrence of the at least one type of signaling function comprises;

retrieving time of occurrence of the at least one signaling function from a first record of the signaling function;

retrieving time of occurrence of the at least one signaling function from a second record of the signaling function;

mapping the first record of the at least one signaling function with the second record of the at least one signaling function; and

computing exact time of occurrence of the at least one signaling function by comparing the time of occurrences retrieved from the first and the second records based on a predetermined time lag;

generate a timestamped record of at least one type of signaling function in response to the results of the evaluation; and

generate an event message for creating a tracking file by processing the received code with tracking data, wherein the tracking data comprises one or more parameters associated with the entity and tracking device.

2. The tracking device as claimed in claim 1, wherein generating the time stamped record of at least one type of signaling function comprises computing the time of occurrence of the at least one type of signaling function and ascertaining validity of said signaling functions based on the evaluated time difference.

3. The tracking device as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or more sources associated with the entity include audio signal generator and light signal generator.

4. The tracking device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the types of signaling functions associated with the entity include audio signals and lighting signals.

5. The tracking device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more parameters associated with the entity include entity location, type of signaling function, timestamped record of signaling function and pattern of signaling function.

6. The tracking device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the one or more parameters associated with the tracking device include tracking device ID and tracking device location.

7. The tracking device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the event message comprises received code, time of receiving the code, tracking device ID, tracking device location, entity location, type of signaling function, timestamped record of signaling function and pattern of signaling function.

8. The tracking device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tracking device is configured to determine the entity location based on the location of the tracking device, wherein location of the tracking device is representative of location of the entity and one or more types of signaling functions associated with the entity.

9. The tracking device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tracking device is configured to determine the entity location based on the location of the signaling function, the signaling function being a lighting signal, determining the location of the entity comprises:

retrieving location of the tracking device;

capturing the coordinates of the lighting signals by analysing a video record of the lighting signal based on the location of the tracking device, said video record retrieved via a video surveillance device deployed at the transit point;

analysing the layout of the transit point via the video surveillance device; and

determining the exact slot number for the co-ordinates by mapping the coordinates of the lighting signals with the slot number, wherein the slot number is representative of the exact location of the entity.

10. The tracking device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tracking device interfaces with a monitoring subsystem to create a tracking file, said tracking device transmits the event message to the monitoring subsystem, wherein the transmitter ID is extracted from the received event message and validity of the transmitter ID is ascertained based on a first set of rules, wherein further, a notification to a user terminal device is sent and a record of the event is created if the transmitter ID is invalid;

an entity ID associated with the transmitter ID is determined based on a second set of rules if the transmitter ID is valid; and

a tracking file is created for each event message to track the entity based on the entity ID.

11. A method for tracking an entity positioned at any location or moving through one or more transit points, said method comprising:

receiving, by a first processor, one or more types of signaling functions associated with the entity from one or more sources in response to a code generated by an action performed on a transmitter device associated with the entity, wherein the code comprises a transmitter ID associated with an entity ID of the entity;

evaluating, by the first processor, time difference between the time of receiving the code and time of occurrence of at least one type of signaling function in respect to a predetermined time difference, wherein computing the time of occurrence of the at least one type of signaling function comprises;

retrieving the time of occurrence of the at least one signaling function from a first record of the signaling function;

retrieving the time of occurrence of the at least one signaling function from a second record of the signaling function;

mapping the first record of the at least one signaling function with the second record of the at least one signaling function; and

computing exact time of occurrence of the at least one signaling function by comparing the time of occurrences retrieved from the first and the second records based on a predetermined time lag;

generating, by the first processor, a timestamped record of at least one type of signaling functions in response to the results of the evaluation; and

generating, by the first processor, an event message for creating a tracking file by processing the received code with tracking data, wherein the tracking data comprises one or more parameters associated with the entity and tracking device.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein generating the time stamped record of at least one type of signaling function comprises computing the time of occurrence of the at least one type of signaling function and ascertaining validity of said signaling functions based on the evaluated time difference.

13. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein one or more sources associated with the entity include audio signal generator and light signal generator.

14. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the types of signaling functions associated with the entity include audio signals and lighting signals.

15. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the one or more parameters associated with the entity include entity location, type of signaling function, timestamped record of signaling function and pattern of signaling function.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the one or more parameters associated with the tracking device include tracking device ID and tracking device location.

17. The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the event message comprises received code, time of receiving the code, tracking device ID, tracking device location, entity location, type of signaling function, timestamped record of signaling function and pattern of signaling function.

18. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein entity location is determined based on the location of the tracking device, wherein location of the tracking device is representative of location of the entity and one or more types of signaling functions associated with the entity.

19. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the entity location is determined based on the location of the signaling function, the signaling function being a lighting signal, determining the location of the entity comprises:

retrieving location of the tracking device;

capturing the coordinates of the lighting signals by analysing a video record of the lighting signal based on the location of the tracking device, said video record retrieved via a video surveillance device deployed at the transit point;

analysing the layout of the transit point via the video surveillance device; and

determining the exact slot number for the co-ordinates by mapping the coordinates of the lighting signals with the slot number, wherein the slot number is representative of the exact location of the entity.

20. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein creating the tracking file includes,

extracting, by a second processor, the transmitter ID from the received event message and ascertaining the validity of the transmitter ID based on a first set of rules, wherein further, a notification to a user terminal device is sent and a record of the event is created if the transmitter ID is invalid;

determining, by the second processor, an entity ID associated with the transmitter ID based on a second set of rules if the transmitter ID is valid; and

creating, by the second processor, a tracking file for each event message to track the entity based on the entity ID.

21. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the tracking file includes tracking device ID, entity location, type of signaling function, event type, event time and entity ID associated with the entity.

22. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the first set of rules comprises ascertaining the validity of the extracted transmitter ID from a list of activated transmitter ID'"'"'s maintained in a tracking log database.

23. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the second set of rules comprises mapping the extracted transmitter ID with the associated entity ID from a transmitter_entity knowledge base to determine the entity ID.

24. A computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable program code stored thereon, the computer-readable program code comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to;

receive one or more types of signaling functions associated with the entity from one or more sources in response to a code generated by an action performed on a transmitter device associated with the entity, wherein the code comprises a transmitter ID associated with an entity ID of the entity;

evaluate time difference between the time of receiving the code and time of occurrence of the at least one type of signaling functions in respect to a predetermined time difference, wherein computing the time of occurrence of the at least one type of signaling function comprises;

retrieving the time of occurrence of the at least one signaling function from a first record of the signaling function;

retrieving the time of occurrence of the at least one signaling function from a second record of the signaling function;

mapping the first record of the at least one signaling function with the second record of the at least one signaling function; and

computing exact time of occurrence of the at least one signaling function by comparing the time of occurrences retrieved from the first and the second records based on a predetermined time lag;

generate a timestamped record of at least one type of signaling function in response to the results of the evaluation; and

generate an event message for creating a tracking file by processing the received code with tracking data, wherein the tracking data comprises one or more parameters associated with the entity and tracking device.