Vehicle tracking, communication and fleet management system
First Claim
1. A vehicle fleet management information system for fleet asset management by enabling identification of location and direction of movement, if any, of each vehicle in said fleet in real-time and to automatically communicate directly therewith for reporting of vehicle location, direction and status of predetermined events in which the vehicle may become engaged, said system comprising:
- apparatus for broadcasting information to vehicles in the fleet over a communications network in which each vehicle is a participant, with precise time synchronization of the broadcast information according to timing employed in a navigation system for said fleet relative to a stable reference point, apparatus in each vehicle for detecting predetermined events of interest and reporting information concerning vehicle location and said detected events to a fleet management office over said communications network, and said broadcast apparatus including apparatus for assigning each vehicle in the fleet a unique time slot to transmit its reporting information without substantially interfering with transmissions from other vehicles in their own respective time slots.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle fleet management information system for identification of location and direction of movement of each vehicle in the fleet in real-time and automatic communication directly with management offices to report its location and heading, and status of predetermined events in which the vehicle may be engaged. Each fleet vehicle is assigned a unique time slot to transmit its reporting information over a communications network without substantially interfering with transmissions from other vehicles in their own respective time slots. Precise time synchronization is provided by a timing control PLL which provides timing corrections as necessary from GPS based time reference. The network includes a dual band full-duplex interface with TDMA on one-half of the interface and broadcast on the other half. Additionally, time processing units of microprocessors in components throughout the network perform precise clock synchronization. A protocol is established for entry by vehicle transmitters into the network in the assigned time slots for periodic transmission of messages, and space diversity is performed on messages received from the vehicle transmitters to avoid data corruption. Different periodic transmission intervals are provided for different vehicles in the network by dynamically allocating the slots for various update rates. And auxiliary reporting slots are provided to allow prompt reporting of important data by the respective vehicle transmitters independent of slower periodic transmission intervals. Baseband filtering of data reduces the occupied bandwidth of the transmission channel, and includes removal of synchronization data to minimize overhead of non-information bearing data. Certain repeated events in which the vehicle is operated according to basic usage and specific usage for its industry are sensed, detected or measured and automatically reported to management offices.
487 Citations
65 Claims
-
1. A vehicle fleet management information system for fleet asset management by enabling identification of location and direction of movement, if any, of each vehicle in said fleet in real-time and to automatically communicate directly therewith for reporting of vehicle location, direction and status of predetermined events in which the vehicle may become engaged, said system comprising:
-
apparatus for broadcasting information to vehicles in the fleet over a communications network in which each vehicle is a participant, with precise time synchronization of the broadcast information according to timing employed in a navigation system for said fleet relative to a stable reference point, apparatus in each vehicle for detecting predetermined events of interest and reporting information concerning vehicle location and said detected events to a fleet management office over said communications network, and said broadcast apparatus including apparatus for assigning each vehicle in the fleet a unique time slot to transmit its reporting information without substantially interfering with transmissions from other vehicles in their own respective time slots. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A management information system for a multiplicity of movable, information communicating assets whether stationary or undergoing movement, to identify the location of each asset in real-time and to communicate therewith, said system comprising:
-
apparatus for transmitting information to each of said assets via a communications network in which each of said assets is a participant, apparatus for receiving information transmitted by each of said assets via said communications network, apparatus for detecting the location of each asset relative to an arbitrary stable reference point in a navigation system, apparatus for precise time synchronization of information transmitted to each of said assets with timing information derived from said navigation system, and apparatus for assigning each of said assets a unique time slot in which to transmit information to said receiving apparatus over said communications network without substantially interfering with information transmissions by others of said assets in their respective time slots.
-
-
15. A time division multiple access (TDMA) wireless network for real time reporting of fleet vehicle locations and other information in data packets in respective assigned time slots to a central data processing location on a UHF band, with a minimum of gaps between reporting transmissions, said network comprising
means for precise time synchronization of all elements of said TDMA wireless network, including wireless phase lock loop (PLL) timing control loop means for distributing a single, remote global positioning satellite GPS based time reference throughout said network.
-
21. A fleet management system for tracking the locations and paths of vehicles at rest and in transit for management of dispatch and operation of said vehicles, comprising:
-
a radio frequency network, a plurality of geographically disparate network hubs for communication with fleet management offices and said vehicles over said network, a tracking computer on each of said vehicles for developing and transmitting navigation and status messages to at least one of said network hubs for communication to a fleet management office responsible for the respective transmitting vehicle, apparatus for establishing a protocol for entry by said tracking computers into the network in assigned time slots for periodic transmission of messages by the respective tracking computers, and apparatus for providing space diversity of the messages received by said network hubs from said tracking computers to avoid corruption of messages received from a single tracking computer at more than one of said network hubs. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A fleet management system for tracking the locations and paths of vehicles at rest and in transit for management of dispatch and operation of said vehicles, comprising:
-
a wireless network, apparatus for modulating broadcasts transmitted on said network with message data including a synchronization pattern, a plurality of geographically disparate network hubs for communication with fleet management offices and said vehicles over said network, a tracking computer on each of said vehicles for developing and transmitting navigation and status messages to at least one of said network hubs for communication to a fleet management office responsible for the respective transmitting vehicle, and apparatus for synchronizing the timing of said tracking computers with each other and with said network hubs by aligning respective internal clocks thereof to said synchronization pattern pulses in received broadcasts of data on said network, said synchronizing apparatus including a timing control for correcting drifts in the timing to maintain synchronization between said tracking computers and said network hubs. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
-
-
37. An article management system for tracking the locations of articles at rest and in transit for maintaining a desired flow of said articles, said system providing bandwidth efficient wireless transceiver operation and comprising:
-
a plurality of data transmitters and a plurality of data receivers for communication via a wireless network with respect to location of said articles, means in each of said transmitters for filtering baseband data to reduce the occupied bandwidth of the channel on which data is transmitted, including removal of synchronization data to minimize overhead of non-information bearing data, said baseband filter being implemented by a digital microcontroller that replaces an original square wave data stream of said baseband data with deterministic transitions that reduce harmonic content and maintain bit widths, regardless of data input frequency. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
-
-
50. A fleet management system for tracking the locations of vehicles in the fleet and determining the status of events related to the usage or function of the vehicles, comprising:
-
navigation apparatus on each vehicle for detecting the location of the vehicle relative to a predetermined reference point, a tracking computer on each of said vehicles for receiving inputs indicative of the location of the vehicle and transmitting navigation and status messages to a fleet management office responsible for the respective transmitting vehicle, at least one non-human sensor on each vehicle for detecting one of said events and supplying an input indicative of the detected event to said tracking computer, and said tracking computer including apparatus for automatic reporting of the detected events to said fleet management office. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
-
- 63. A fleet management system for a fleet of vehicles, comprising transceivers on said vehicles and in geographically disparate hubs for communication between a fleet management office and said vehicles, a network for said communication, and a central processing unit in each of said transceivers comprising a microprocessor with a time processing unit for performing precise clock synchronization of said transceivers throughout said network.
Specification