Object area network
First Claim
1. A monitoring and tracking system for an object comprising:
- an object area network comprising a plurality of object area network elements each having an inter-element communication unit adapted to facilitate inter-element communication between said object area network elements;
at least one of said object area network elements having at least one sensing unit to obtain data related to the object;
a wireless communications unit coupled to at least one of said object area network elements and being adapted to facilitate communications between said object area network and at least one base station;
wherein said object area network elements are coupled by inter-element communication to form an object area network whereby information may be shared between said object area network elements, and wherein the information may be communicated between said object area network and said at least one base station via said wireless communication unit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A monitoring and tracking system for monitoring and tracking an object may have a plurality of object area network elements. Each of the object area network elements may have a wireless communications unit and a GPS unit, wherein the GPS units are designed to facilitate the calculation of position data for each of the plurality of object area network elements. The wireless communications units may be designed to facilitate communications between the plurality of object area network elements and at least one base station. Each of the plurality of object area network elements may further have a sensor unit, the sensor units each having at least one temperature sensing unit for obtaining temperature data and at least one pressure sensing unit for obtaining pressure data. The object area network elements may be designed to communicate the temperature data, the pressure data, and the position data to the base station. The plurality of object area network elements may also be designed to communicate with each other to form an object area network.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A monitoring and tracking system for an object comprising:
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an object area network comprising a plurality of object area network elements each having an inter-element communication unit adapted to facilitate inter-element communication between said object area network elements;
at least one of said object area network elements having at least one sensing unit to obtain data related to the object;
a wireless communications unit coupled to at least one of said object area network elements and being adapted to facilitate communications between said object area network and at least one base station;
wherein said object area network elements are coupled by inter-element communication to form an object area network whereby information may be shared between said object area network elements, and wherein the information may be communicated between said object area network and said at least one base station via said wireless communication unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for monitoring and tracking an object, said method comprising the steps of:
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obtaining biometric data from at least one sensing unit coupled to at least one of a plurality of object area network elements disposed proximate the object;
communicating element data between said plurality of object area network elements to insure that all object area network elements are present and said biometric data is within a predetermined range; and
communicating network data between said plurality of object area network elements and a base station by a wireless communication unit. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. An object area network, comprising:
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a plurality of object area network element means, each having inter-element communication means such that information may be shared between said two or more of said plurality of object area network means;
wherein, (i) at least one of said plurality of object area network means has means for sensing data related to the object;
(ii) at least one of said plurality of object area network means has wireless communication means for communicating between said object area network and at least one base station; and
said two or more of said plurality of object area network element means communicate with each other as part of said object area network. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification