Passive container tracking device, system, and method
First Claim
1. A receiving station for tracking a shipping container, comprising:
- a control system coupled to a database;
a communication interface coupled to the control system, wherein the control system is adapted to receive shipping container tracking messages over a communication network via the communication interface;
wherein the control system is adapted to;
receive an itinerary for a shipping container having an identification indicia;
store the itinerary of shipping containers in the database associated with the shipping container'"'"'s identification indicia;
receive shipping container tracking messages comprising identification indicia of shipping containers over the communication network;
store the shipping container tracking messages in the database according to their respective identification indicia;
search through the database to determine when a shipping container tracking message was last received over the communication network for each of the shipping containers according to their identification indicia; and
determine if a shipping container is lost based on whether the shipping container tracking message for a shipping container was received according to the stored itinerary for the shipping container.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A passive identification system for shipping containers. The shipping containers contain passive identification devices that are interrogated by separate on-board location trackers (OBLT) located in places where shipping containers are expected to pass in proximity to during the shipping and transport process. The OBLTs contain an active transmitter and GPS device. After the OBLT interrogates the passive identification device on a shipping container, the OBLT generates a geo-word comprised of the container identification, the GPS location of the OBLT, and a time stamp, and transmits the geo-word to a receiving station for tracking and/or security purposes. The receiving station has manifest information regarding the shipping containers stored in memory. In this manner, the receiving station can compare the geo-word to the expected shipping locations and expected times for the shipping container to determine if the shipping container is lost, misplaced, or off-schedule.
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Citations
46 Claims
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1. A receiving station for tracking a shipping container, comprising:
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a control system coupled to a database; a communication interface coupled to the control system, wherein the control system is adapted to receive shipping container tracking messages over a communication network via the communication interface; wherein the control system is adapted to; receive an itinerary for a shipping container having an identification indicia; store the itinerary of shipping containers in the database associated with the shipping container'"'"'s identification indicia; receive shipping container tracking messages comprising identification indicia of shipping containers over the communication network; store the shipping container tracking messages in the database according to their respective identification indicia; search through the database to determine when a shipping container tracking message was last received over the communication network for each of the shipping containers according to their identification indicia; and determine if a shipping container is lost based on whether the shipping container tracking message for a shipping container was received according to the stored itinerary for the shipping container. - 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)
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24. A method of tracking a shipping container, comprising the steps of:
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receiving an itinerary for a shipping container having an identification indicia; storing the itinerary of shipping containers in a database associated with the shipping container'"'"'s identification indicia; receiving shipping container tracking messages comprising identification indicia of shipping containers over a communication network; storing the shipping container tracking messages in the database according to their respective identification indicia; searching through the database to determine when a shipping container tracking message was last received over the communication network for each of the shipping containers according to their identification indicia; and determining if a shipping container is lost based on whether the shipping container tracking message for a shipping container was received according to the stored itinerary for the shipping container. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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Specification