Support request processing system using GPS data for locating a person requesting a support

• US 20010009407A1
• Filed: 01/25/2001
• Published: 07/26/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Electric Works Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Asahi Matsushita Electric Works Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Honda, Kazuhiro, Oya, Akira, Mise, Toshiro, Takehara, Kiyotaka
• Granted Patent: US 6,614,394 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/357.09
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/022 Means for monitoring or calibrating
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/17 Emergency applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/006 for emergency situations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/008 using a mobile telephone network
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0036 of measured values, i.e. measurement on mobile and position calculation on base station
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12

Abstract

A system using GPS data for locating a person requesting a support. The system includes a mobile terminal carried by a person to acquire the GPS data from GPS satellites and transmits the same upon a request by the person to a message center where the GPS data is processed to calculate the person(s position. The mobile terminal simply acquires the GPS data which is invalid for calculation of the position if the request is made where the GPS satellite is not available. For successfully locating the person'"'"'s position, the mobile terminal acquires the GPS data regularly at different times in accordance with a time schedule and stores the time-series sets of the GPS data which are transmitted together with a current GPS data acquired in response to the support request, thereby giving the latest available position of the person if the current GPS data is found invalid.

Claims

1. A support request processing system using GPS data for locating a person requesting a support, said system comprising:

a mobile terminal adapted to be carried by a person and having an identification (ID) code, said mobile terminal comprising;

a GPS receiver capable of acquiring the GPS data from GPS satellites;

a radio transmitter capable of transmitting said GPS data to a radio communication network; and

a request key which, upon being activated, provides a support-request signal which activates said GPS receiver to acquire current GPS data and activates said radio transmitter to transmit said current GPS data together with said support-request signal and said ID code to said radio communication network;

a message center having a table storing a relation between said ID code and personal information about the person carrying said mobile terminal, said message center receiving said GPS data, said support-request signal, and said ID code from said mobile terminal through said radio communication network so as to calculate a position of said mobile terminal from said GPS data, and to relate thus calculated position to the personal information with reference to said table,

said message center having an alarm means which gives a support-request message including said personal information and the related position of the mobile terminal for prompting a suitable support action,

wherein said mobile terminal has a fail-safe recording means which acquires the GPS data from said GPS satellites at different times in accordance with a predetermined time schedule and store plural time-series sets of thus acquired GPS data, and

said fail-safe recording means being linked to said radio transmitter so that the time-series sets of the GPS data are transmitted together with said current GPS data to said message center in response to said support-request signal.

2. The system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein

said mobile terminal has a start key which activates said fail-safe recording means to store said time-series sets of said GPS data.

3. The system as set forth in

claim 1

, including:

a charger which is coupled to said mobile terminal to charge a rechargeable battery incorporated in said mobile terminal to energize the same,

said mobile terminal having a detector which detects a disconnection of said mobile terminal from said charger and provides a start signal upon detection of the disconnection, said start signal activating said fail-safe recording means to store said time-series sets of said GPS data.

4. The system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein

said radio transmitter is capable of receiving a start signal from said message center through said radio communication network, said start signal activating said fail-safe recording means to store the plural sets of said GPS data.

5. The system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein

said mobile terminal is arranged to transmit said time-series sets of the GPS data to said message center set by set to give one set of the GPS data at one time in descending time sequence,

said message center comprising:

a check means which checks the GPS data whether or not the GPS data is valid for calculation of the position of said mobile terminal, and gives a stop signal as soon as the GPS data is found to be valid, said stop signal being transmitted to said mobile terminal through said radio communication network so as to stop transmitting the remaining sets of the GPS data.

6. The system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein

said message center provides a follow-up request signal after a predetermined time from a first catch of calculating the position of said mobile terminal in reply to said support-request signal, said follow-up request signal being transmitted to said mobile terminal through said radio communication network,

said mobile terminal acting, in response to said follow-up signal, to cause said GPS receiver to acquire fresh GPS data, and to activate said radio transmitter to transmit the fresh GPS data to said message center for updating the position of the mobile terminal.

7. The system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein

said mobile terminal has a follow-up means which makes a process of acquiring a fresh GPS data from said GPS satellite and transmitting the same to said message center periodically at a predetermined time interval after said mobile terminal transmits the time-series sets of said GPS data in response to said support-request signal.

8. The system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein

said mobile terminal including a fade-out detecting means which detects whether said mobile terminal is moving closer to the border of an effective communication area with said message center based upon a received field intensity of a radio signal transmitted from a base station for said radio communication network, and generates a fade-out warning signal when said mobile terminal approaches the border of the effective communication area,

said mobile terminal acting, in response to said fade-out warning signal, to cause said GPS receiver to acquire a border GPS data indicative of a location near the border of said effective communication area, and to activate said radio transmitter to transmit the border GPS data and the fade-out warning signal together with the said ID code to said message center so that the message center can acknowledge the position of the mobile terminal in relation to the personal information about the person carrying said mobile terminal, and

said message center having a storing means which, in response to said fade-out warning signal, stores the calculated position in relation to the corresponding personal information and with a tag of indicating the presence of fade-out warning signal.

9. The system as set forth in

claim 8

, wherein

said fade-out detecting means detects whether said mobile terminal is moving closer to the border of the effective communication area each time said mobile terminal receives the radio signal from said base station.

10. The system as set forth in

claim 8

, wherein

said fade-out detecting means detects whether said mobile terminal is moving closer to the border of the effective communication area by analyzing the received field intensities of the radio signals consecutively received at said mobile terminal.

11. The system asset forth in

claim 8

, wherein

said mobile terminal has a revoke means which prohibits said radio transmitter from transmitting a fresh border GPS data in response to a further fade-out warning signal until an elapse of a predetermined time after the border GPS data is transmitted in response to the previous fade-out warning signal.

12. The system as set forth in

claim 1

, wherein

said mobile terminal including a fade-in detecting means which detects whether said mobile terminal reenters an effective communication area with said message center based upon a received field intensity of a radio signal transmitted from a base station of said radio communication network, and generates a fade-in notice signal when said mobile terminal reenters the effective communication area,

said mobile terminal acting, in response to said fade-in notice signal, to cause said GPS receiver to acquire a border GPS data indicative of a location near the border of said communication area, and to activate said radio transmitter to transmit the border GPS data and the fade-in notice signal together with the said ID code to said message center so that the message center can acknowledge the position of the mobile terminal in relation to the personal information about the person carrying said mobile terminal, and

said message center having a storing means which, in response to said fade-in notice signal, stores the calculated position in relation to the corresponding personal information and with a tag of indicating the presence of fade-in notice signal.

13. The system as set forth in

claim 12

, wherein

said fade-in detecting means detects whether said mobile terminal reenters the effective communication area each time said mobile terminal receives the radio signal from said base station.

14. The system as set forth in

claim 12

, wherein

said fade-in detecting means detects whether said mobile terminal reenters the effective communication area by analyzing the received field intensities of the radio signals consecutively received at said mobile terminal.

15. The system as set forth in

claim 12

, wherein

said mobile terminal has a revoke means which prohibits said radio transmitter from transmitting a fresh border GPS data in response to a further fade-in notice signal until an elapse of a predetermined time after the border GPS data is transmitted in response to the previous fade-in notice signal.