Methods, location circuits and computer program products for automated location and monitoring of mobile devices

• US 20060066450A1
• Filed: 04/18/2005
• Published: 03/30/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TeleTracking Technologies Incorporated
• Original Assignee: RadarFind Corporation (TeleTracking Technologies Incorporated)
• Inventors: Jackson, Stephen S.
• Granted Patent: US 7,528,716 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/539.130
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/002 for traffic control, mobile tracking, guidance, surveillance or anti-collision
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds

Abstract

Methods are provided for providing location information associated with a mobile device. A request for presence information is transmitted from a location circuit to an identification circuit associated with the mobile device. The presence information is associated with the mobile device. The requested presence information is received at the location circuit responsive to the transmitted request. Related location circuits and computer program products are also provided.

Claims

1. A method for providing location information associated with a mobile device, comprising:

transmitting, from a location circuit, a request for presence information associated with the mobile device to an identification circuit associated with the mobile device; and

receiving the requested presence information at the location circuit responsive to the transmitted request.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from a server, at the location circuit a request for the received presence information; and

transmitting the received presence information from the location circuit to the server responsive the received request for the received presence information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein receiving a request for the received presence information is preceded by storing the received presence information and wherein transmitting further comprises transmitting the stored presence information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein storing comprises:

storing the received requested presence information in a first in first out (FIFO) buffer; and

affixing a time stamp to the stored presence information.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein transmitting further comprises transmitting a name of the location circuit, a temperature around the location circuit and a current time.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting an alert signal if the identification circuit is removed from within a certain proximity of the location circuit.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the alert signal comprises an audible signal, a visual signal or a combination an audible and a visual signal.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving further comprises:

receiving, from a plurality of identification circuits, the requested presence information at the location circuit responsive to the transmitted request; and

determining a relevant identification circuit from among the plurality of identification circuits based on strengths of signals received from the plurality of identification circuits.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein receiving a request for the received presence information comprises receiving a request over an existing power line and wherein transmitting the received presence information comprises transmitting the requested presence information over the existing power line.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising repeating transmitting multiple times so as to allow receipt at the identification circuit when the identification circuit is awake.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting comprises transmitting using auto-synchronous on/off keying (OOK) and wherein receiving comprises receiving using frequency shift keying.

12. A location circuit associated with a mobile device, comprising:

a transmitter configured to transmit a request for presence information associated with the mobile device to an identification circuit associated with the mobile device; and

a receiver configured to receive the requested presence information responsive to the transmitted request.

13. The location circuit of claim 12, wherein the location circuit is configured to be integrated with existing power outlets.

14. The location circuit of claim 12, wherein the location circuit comprises a layer two processor.

15. The location circuit of claim 12, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive, from a server, a request for the received presence information and wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit the received presence information to the server responsive the received request for the received presence information.

16. The location circuit of claim 15, further comprising a memory configured to store the received requested presence information and wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit the stored presence information.

17. The location circuit of claim 16, wherein the memory comprises a first in first out (FIFO) buffer and wherein the FIFO buffer is further configured to affix a time stamp to the stored presence information.

18. The location circuit of claim 16, wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit a name of the location circuit, a temperature around the location circuit and a current time.

19. The location circuit of claim 12, further comprising a visible light source that is configured to provide an alert signal if the identification circuit is removed from within a certain proximity of the location circuit.

20. The location circuit of claim 12, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive, from a plurality of identification circuits, the requested presence information responsive to the transmitted request and determine a relevant identification circuit from among the plurality of identification circuits based on strengths of signals received from the plurality of identification circuits.

21. The location circuit of claim 12, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive the request over an existing power line and wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit the requested presence information over the existing power line.

22. The location circuit of claim 12, wherein the transmitter is further configured to repeatedly transmit the request multiple times so as to allow receipt at the identification circuit when the identification circuit is awake.

23. A computer program product providing location information associated with a mobile device, comprising:

a computer readable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable medium comprising;

computer readable program code configured to transmit, from a location circuit, a request for presence information associated with the mobile device to an identification circuit associated with the mobile device; and

computer readable program code configured to receive the requested presence information at the location circuit responsive to the transmitted request.

24. The computer program product of claim 23, further comprising:

computer readable program code configured to receive, from a server, at the location circuit a request for the received presence information; and

computer readable program code configured to transmit the received presence information from the location circuit to the server responsive the received request for the received presence information.

25. The computer program product of claim 24, further comprising computer readable program code configured to store the received presence information and wherein the computer readable program code configured to transmit further comprises computer readable program code configured to transmit the stored presence information.

26. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein the computer readable program code configured to store comprises:

computer readable program code configured to store the received presence information in a first in first out (FIFO) buffer; and

computer readable program code configured to affix a time stamp to the stored presence information.

27. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein the computer readable program code configured to transmit further comprises computer readable program configured to transmit a name of the location circuit, a temperature around the location circuit and a current time.

28. The computer program product of claim 23, further comprising computer readable program code configured to transmit an alert signal if the identification circuit is removed from within a certain proximity of the location circuit.

29. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein the signal comprises an audio signal, a visual signal or a combination of an audio signal and a visual signal.

30. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the computer readable program code configured to receive further comprises:

computer readable program code configured to receive, from a plurality of identification circuits, the requested presence information at the location circuit responsive to the transmitted request; and

computer readable program code configured to determine a relevant identification circuit from among the plurality of identification circuits based on strengths of a signal received from the plurality of identification circuits.

31. The computer program product of claim 24, wherein the computer readable program code configured to receive a request for the received presence information comprises computer readable program code configured to receive a request over an existing power line and wherein the computer readable program code configured to transmit the received presence information further comprises computer readable program code configured to transmit the received presence information over the existing power line.

32. The computer program product of claim 23, further comprising computer readable program code configured to repeatedly transmit the request multiple times so as to allow receipt at the identification circuit when the identification circuit is awake.