Apparatus, system and method for monitoring a location of a portable device
First Claim
1. A position monitoring device configured to determine if a global position of a monitored device is within a criteria region defined within a global position coordinate system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A location monitoring apparatus, system and method efficiently monitors the position of a monitored device relative to the monitoring user and to a defined reference region, area, or location. The monitoring device simultaneously presents to a user the relative locations of, and directions to, a plurality of monitored devices. The monitored devices may be worn on the wrists of persons that the user wishes to monitor. The user is notified by an alarm when an alert criteria is met for one or more of the monitored devices, where the alert criteria may be based on the positional relationship of the monitored device relative to the monitoring device, the reference region or both.
58 Citations
63 Claims
- 1. A position monitoring device configured to determine if a global position of a monitored device is within a criteria region defined within a global position coordinate system.
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19. A position monitoring device comprising:
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a wireless receiver for receiving, through a wireless channel, a monitored device global position from a monitored device;
a memory for storing a criteria region defined within a global position coordinate system; and
a controller for determining if the monitoring device global position is within the criteria region. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A position monitoring device comprising:
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a wireless receiver for receiving, through a wireless channel, a monitored device global position from a monitored device;
a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver for providing a monitoring device global position of the monitoring device;
an input device responsive to a user to provide a series of definition points;
a memory for storing the criteria region having a perimeter comprising a series of line segments connecting the definition points within a global position coordinate system;
a controller for determining if the monitoring device global position is within the criteria region; and
an output device for conveying to the user a relationship between the criteria region and the monitored device global position. - View Dependent Claims (35)
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36. A position monitoring system comprising:
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a monitored device for wirelessly transmitting a monitored device global position based on global positioning satellite (GPS) signals; and
a monitoring device for determining based on the monitored device global position received from the monitored device, if the monitored device is within a criteria region.
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37. A method for monitoring a position of a monitored device, the method comprising:
determining if a relationship between a monitored device global position of a monitored device and a criteria region defined within a global position coordinate system is defined by an alert criteria.
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38. A method performed by a monitoring device for monitoring a position of at least one monitored device, the method comprising:
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receiving a monitored device global position from a monitored device through a wireless channel;
establishing a monitoring device global position based on signals received from a global position satellite (GPS) system;
retrieving from memory a criteria region defined within a global position coordinate system;
determining if a positional relationship between the monitored device global position and the criteria region meets an alert criteria;
providing an alarm to a user of the monitoring device if the relationship meets the alert criteria. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A method performed by a monitoring device for monitoring a position of at least one monitored device, the method comprising:
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receiving a monitored device global position from a monitored device through a wireless channel;
establishing a monitoring device global position based on signals received from a global position satellite (GPS) system;
retrieving from memory a criteria region defined within a global position coordinate system;
determining if the monitored device global position is within the criteria region;
determining if a distance between the monitoring device global position and the monitored device global position is greater than a maximum distance threshold;
providing an alarm to a user of the monitoring device if;
the distance is greater that the maximum and the monitored device is outside the criteria region.
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45. A monitoring device comprising:
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a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver providing a monitoring device global position;
a compass for providing a global reference direction;
a controller for determining, based on an orientation of the monitoring device to the global reference direction, a plurality of tracking indicators indicating a plurality of tracking directions from the monitoring device global position to each of a plurality of monitored device global positions; and
a visual display for simultaneously providing the plurality of tracking indicators to the user as a plurality of visual indicators indicating the tracking directions. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48)
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49. A portable monitoring device for tracking a plurality of portable monitored devices, the monitoring device comprising:
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a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver providing a monitoring device global position;
a compass for providing a global reference direction;
a controller for providing a plurality of tracking direction indicators indicating a plurality of tracking directions from the monitoring device global position to the plurality of monitored device global positions by determining each tracking direction based on a relative position between the monitoring device global position and each monitored device global position, determining an offset angle between a monitoring device orientation direction and the global reference direction and applying the offset angle to each tracking direction to provide each tracking indicator; and
a visual display for simultaneously displaying a plurality of visual tracking indicators based on the tracking direction indicators, the visual tracking indicators indicating the tracking directions. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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55. A method for monitoring a global position of a plurality of monitored devices relative to a monitoring device global position, the method comprising:
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calculating a monitoring device global position of a monitoring device;
receiving a plurality monitored device global positions through a wireless channel;
retrieving from a compass, a global reference direction;
determining, based on an orientation of the monitoring device to the global reference direction, a plurality of tracking indicators indicating a plurality of tracking directions from the monitoring device global position to each of a plurality of monitored device global positions; and
simultaneously displaying the plurality of tracking indicators to a user as a plurality of visual indicators indicating the tracking directions. - View Dependent Claims (56, 57)
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58. A method for tracking a plurality of portable monitored devices, the method comprising:
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retrieving a monitoring device global position from a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver;
accepting, from a compass, a signal indicating a global reference direction;
providing a plurality of tracking direction indicators indicating a plurality of tracking directions from the monitoring device global position to the plurality of monitored device global positions by determining each tracking direction based on a relative position between the monitoring device global position and each monitored device global position;
determining an offset angle between a monitoring device orientation direction and the global reference direction;
applying the offset angle to each tracking direction to provide each tracking indicator; and
simultaneously displaying a plurality of visual tracking indicators based on the tracking direction indicators, the visual tracking indicators indicating the tracking directions. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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Specification