Communications system for automatically establishing communication with a craft based upon the location of the craft

• US 20030156039A1
• Filed: 08/13/2002
• Published: 08/21/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/19/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Offshore Data Services, LLC
• Original Assignee: Offshore Data Services, LLC
• Inventors: Tester, Theodore Robert
• Application Number:
  US10/218,149
• Publication Number:
  US 20030156039A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/825.28
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

An automatic communications, tracking and reservation systems for automatically establishing a wireless communications link between a facility system and a craft system to facilitate the two-way transmission of messages and information, and to initiate a reservation transaction for storing the craft in order to greatly reduce the time involved with making a reservation and for minimizing the time lost due to an interrupted communications connection.

Claims

1. A craft communication apparatus for automatically communicating with a craft, the apparatus comprising:

a craft system;

a craft system database accessible by said craft system for storing information related to the craft;

a facility system;

a facility system database accessible by said facility system for storing information related to a facility;

a communication link for connecting said craft system to said facility system;

an algorithm transmitted by said craft system to said facility system, the algorithm including;

a unique identification code for identifying the craft;

a location of the craft;

a timestamp; and

a status code;

a set of determined geographical locations;

a facility signal transmitted by said facility system to said craft system subsequent to said facility system determining that the craft is within said set of determined geographical locations, for communicating messages to said craft system and for initiating a reservation transaction; and

a redundant sub-routine file to log the reservation transaction;

wherein if the connection between said craft system and said facility system is interrupted, upon reconnection, said redundant sub-routine file is automatically loaded onto said facility system such that the reservation transaction begins at a point in the transaction where the interruption occurred.

2. A craft communication apparatus for automatically communicating with a craft, the apparatus comprising:

a craft system;

a craft system database accessible by said craft system for storing information related to the craft;

a facility system;

a communication link for connecting said craft system to said facility system; and

an algorithm transmitted by said craft system to said facility system including a unique identification code for identifying the craft and a location of the craft.

3. The craft communication apparatus of claim 2 wherein said algorithm further comprises a timestamp.

4. The craft communication apparatus of claim 2 wherein said algorithm further comprises a status code.

5. The craft communication apparatus of claim 2 further comprising:

an additional facility system; and

a communications link for connecting said additional facility system to said facility system.

6. The craft communication apparatus of claim 5 further comprising an identification signal transmitted by said facility system to said additional facility system identifying the craft, subsequent to the facility system determining that the craft is within a set of determined geographical locations.

7. The craft communication apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a communication signal transmitted by said facility system to said craft system for initiating communication with said craft system.

8. The craft communication apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a communication link for connecting a third party to said facility system, and for sending a third party message to said craft system via said facility system.

9. The craft communication apparatus of claim 8 further comprising a notification/communication signal transmitted by said facility system to the third party for notifying the third party that the third party message has been delivered to said craft system and for delivering a craft message to the third party.

10. The craft communication apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a set of determined geographical locations.

11. The craft communication apparatus of claim 10 further comprising a reservation request signal transmitted by said facility system to said craft system subsequent to said facility system determining that the craft is within said set of determined geographical locations for initiating a reservation transaction.

12. The craft communication apparatus of claim 11 wherein the reservation transaction comprises a keypoint.

13. The craft communication apparatus of claim 2 wherein said communication link comprises a wireless Internet connection.

14. The craft communication apparatus of claim 13 wherein said wireless Internet connection comprises a Mobile Virtual Network.

15. The craft communication apparatus of claim 2 wherein the unique identification code comprises a registration number of the craft.

16. The craft communication apparatus of claim 2 wherein the unique identification code enables said facility system to determine the length, beam, and draft of the craft.

17. The craft communication apparatus of claim 2 wherein the location of the craft comprises a longitude and latitude of the craft.

18. The craft communication system of claim 2 wherein said craft system utilizes a video display as a user interface.

19. The craft communication apparatus of claim 2 wherein said craft system includes CCTV capability.

20. The craft communication apparatus of claim 2 wherein said craft system utilizes audio signals as a user interface.

21. The craft communication apparatus of claim 2 wherein said craft system includes speech recognition means enabling a user to utilize said craft system by issuing verbal instructions.

22. The craft communication apparatus of claim 2 further comprising message transmission means, to facilitate transmission of messages between said craft system and a third party, said message transmission means selected from the group consisting of:

Internet messaging, wireless and conventional telephones, e-mail, fax, e-fax, network messaging, direct wireless connections, and wireless and conventional CCTV.

23. The craft communication apparatus of claim 2 further comprising an electronic plan filed by a user of said craft system.

24. The craft communication apparatus of claim 23 wherein said electronic plan comprises a waypoint at which a notification message is sent to a third party.

25. The craft communication apparatus of claim 24 wherein the notification message indicates the location of the craft.

26. The craft communication apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a metering means for charging a user account.

27. The craft communication system of claim 26 wherein said metering means comprises a timestamp.

28. The craft communication apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a voyage record file for logging communications between said craft system and said facility system.

29. A craft communication apparatus for automatically communicating with a craft, the apparatus comprising:

a craft system;

a location system, for identifying a position of the craft;

a facility system;

a facility system database accessible by said facility system for storing information related to a facility;

a communication link for connecting said craft system to said facility system;

a set of determined geographical locations;

a reservation request signal transmitted by said facility system to said craft system subsequent to said facility system determining that the craft is within said set of determined geographical locations for initiating a reservation transaction; and

a redundant sub-routine file to log the reservation transaction;

wherein if the connection between said craft system and said facility system is interrupted, upon reconnection, said redundant subroutine file is automatically loaded onto said facility system such that the reservation transaction begins at a point in the transaction where the interruption occurred.

30. The craft communication apparatus of claim 29 further comprising:

an additional facility system; and

a communications link for connecting said additional facility system to said facility system.

31. The craft communication apparatus of claim 29 wherein said communications link further enables a third party to communicate with said craft system via said facility system.

32. The craft communication apparatus of claim 31 further comprising a notification/communication signal transmitted by said facility system to the third party for notifying the third party that the third party message has been delivered to the craft system and for delivering a craft message to the third party.

33. The craft communication system of claim 29 wherein the reservation request transaction comprises a keypoint.

34. The craft communication system of claim 33 wherein said redundant sub-routine file comprises a log of keypoint transactions completed by a user.

35. The craft communication system of claim 29 wherein said redundant sub-routine file is stored on said craft system database.

36. The craft communication system of claim 29 wherein said communication link comprises a wireless Internet connection.

37. The craft communication system of claim 36 wherein said wireless Internet connection is a Mobile Virtual Network.

38. The craft communication system of claim 29 further comprising message transmission means, to facilitate transmission of messages between said craft system and a third party, said message transmission means selected from the group consisting of:

Internet messaging, wireless and conventional telephones, e-mail, fax, e-fax, network messaging, direct wireless connections, and wireless and conventional CCTV.

39. A method for automatically communicating with a craft comprising the steps of:

determining the position of the craft;

determining if the craft is within a set of determined geographical locations;

establishing a communications connection and transmitting messages between a craft system and a facility system upon determining that the craft is within the set of determined geographical locations; and

logging the communications in a voyage record file.

40. The method of claim 39 further comprising the steps of:

initiating a reservation transaction between the craft system and the facility system; and

logging the reservation transaction in a redundant sub-routine file;

wherein if the connection between the craft system and the facility system is interrupted, upon reconnection, the redundant subroutine file is automatically loaded onto the facility system such that the reservation transaction begins at a point in the transaction where the interruption occurred.

41. A method for automatically communicating with and determining the position of a craft comprising the steps of:

determining the position of the craft;

uniquely identifying the craft by means of a unique identification code;

establishing a set of determined geographical locations;

determining if the craft is within the set of determined geographical locations;

establishing a communications connection between the craft and a facility system subsequent to determining that the craft is within the set of determined geographical locations; and

transmitting messages between the craft and the facility system wherein the unique identification code is utilized to transmit craft-specific messages to and from the craft.

42. The method of claim 41 wherein the communications connection between the craft and the facility system facilitates transmission of third party messages to and from the craft via the facility system.

43. A craft communication apparatus for automatically communicating with a craft, the apparatus comprising:

a craft system;

a craft system database accessible by said craft system for storing information related to the craft;

a location system, for identifying the position of the craft;

a facility system;

a facility system database accessible by said facility system for storing information related to a facility;

a communication link for connecting said craft system to said facility system;

a set of determined geographical locations; and

a facility signal transmitted by said facility system to said craft system subsequent to determining that the craft is within said set of determined geographical locations, for initiating the transmission of two-way messages between said craft system and said facility system.

44. A craft communication apparatus for automatically communicating with a craft, the apparatus comprising:

a craft system;

a craft system database accessible by said craft system for storing information related to the craft;

a location system, for identifying the position of the craft;

a facility system;

a facility system database accessible by said facility system for storing information related to a facility;

a communication link for connecting said craft system to said facility system;

a set of determined geographical locations;

a position means for determining if the craft is within said set of determined geographical locations; and

an identification means for uniquely identifying the craft.