Remote data access

• US 20030085163A1
• Filed: 10/01/2002
• Published: 05/08/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: L-3 Communications Security and Detection Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: L-3 Communications Security and Detection Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Hurd, Paul J., Abraham, Richard J., Lee, Bruce S., Chan, Chin F., Park, Junghyun, McClelland, Keith M.
• Application Number:
  US10/262,550
• Publication Number:
  US 20030085163A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 209/589
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 1/366 Check-in counters
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 1/368 Arrangements or installations for routing, distributing or loading baggage
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 5/271 using a network, e.g. a remote expert, accessing remote data or the like
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/26 Government or public services business processes related to the transportation industry G06Q50/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

The application discloses a system and methods for remote access and analysis of data collected about items under inspection. The system includes a data collection station, that may include an X-ray scanner, that scans the items under inspection to obtain data about the items. The data is transmitted to one or more remote expert stations, where a remote expert analyzes the data to determine whether the item contains a potential threat, such as, for example, explosives or other contraband.

Claims

1. A method for remotely analyzing an item under inspection, the method comprising acts of:

collecting data about an item under inspection at a data collection location;

transmitting the data to a remote location via a communication channel;

analyzing the data at the remote location to determine a presence of a suspect object and provide a screening result; and

transmitting the screening result to the data collection location.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the act of collecting data includes X-ray scanning the item under inspection to obtain X-ray data about the item under inspection.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, further including an act of pre-screening the data prior to transmitting the data to the remote location to determine whether the item under inspection includes a suspect article.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the act of transmitting the data includes transmitting the data only when the item under inspection includes a suspect article.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the act of transmitting the screening result to the data collection location includes establishing a telephone link between the remote location and the data collection location.

6. A remote screening system comprising:

a data collection station that scans an item under inspection to obtain data about the item under inspection;

a remote expert station adapted to analyze the data about the item under inspection to provide a screening result for the item under inspection;

a communication channel that couples the data collection station to the remote expert station;

wherein the data about the item under inspection is transmitted between the data collection station and the remote expert station via the communication channel.

7. The remote screening system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the data collection station includes an X-ray scanner that scans the item under inspection to obtain X-ray data about the item under inspection.

8. The remote screening system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the screening result is transmitted from the remote expert station to the data collection station via the communication channel.

9. The remote screening system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the remote expert station includes computing equipment adapted to run a threat detection algorithm that analyzes the data about the item under inspection to provide the screening result.

10. The remote screening system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the data collection station includes computing equipment adapted to analyze the data about the item under inspection to provide a pre-screening result for the item under inspection.

11. The remote screening system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the data about the item under inspection is transmitted to the remote expert station only when the pre-screening result indicates that the item contains a suspect article.

12. The remote screening system as claimed in claim 6, further comprising a server coupled to the communication channel, and wherein the data about the item under inspection is transmitted to the server which then transmits the data to the remote expert station.

13. The remote screening system as claimed in claim 12, wherein a plurality of remote expert stations are coupled to the server, and wherein the server selects to which one of the plurality of remote expert stations to send the data based on predetermined criteria.

14. The remote screening system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the predetermined criteria include availability of the remote expert stations.