Mobile object locator
First Claim
1. A method for locating or tracking a mobile object, comprising the steps of:
- attaching a mobile communications unit having at least one antenna coupled thereto to the mobile object;
accessing transmissions of a GPS system from the mobile communications unit to obtain location coordinates of the mobile communications unit, communicating the location coordinates from the mobile communication unit via a wireless link to a base station; and
outputting the location coordinates in human readable form.
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Accused Products
Abstract
There is disclosed a method and apparatus for an object locator system (10) for requesting and obtaining information about the location of a mobile object, having attached thereon a lightweight object locator (42), operable in a region served by a two-way paging system (12) and a global positioning satellite system (50). The object locator (42) may be selectively activated to conserve power or enabled to respond only when beyond or within a boundary. Further, the object locator system (10) may provide the location information in several forms including rectangular or polar coordinates referred to a base station (18) or origin, position on a map display, etc.
In alternate embodiments the two-way paging system (12) may be substituted by a direct wireless link or a satellite relay communications link; the location information may be translated into human readable form either before or after transmission from the object locator; the location information may be presented at an output as selectable text; spoken message or graphic display including a map; the location information may have associated therewith other information such as time the location was determined, the status of the object locator, the condition of the battery, position of the object locator relative to a boundary or electronic fence or to indicate an alarm condition; or the location information may be accessed or delivered by dial-up or automatic means.
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Citations
53 Claims
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1. A method for locating or tracking a mobile object, comprising the steps of:
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attaching a mobile communications unit having at least one antenna coupled thereto to the mobile object;
accessing transmissions of a GPS system from the mobile communications unit to obtain location coordinates of the mobile communications unit, communicating the location coordinates from the mobile communication unit via a wireless link to a base station; and
outputting the location coordinates in human readable form. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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Specification