SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRACKING PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT
First Claim
1. A system for tracking personnel and equipment in a hazardous environment comprising:
- a tracking tag for being attached to one of a person and a piece of equipment in the hazardous environment, the tracking tag being intrinsically safe and periodically transmitting a radio signal containing a unique tracking tag identification code identifying the tracking tag;
an intrinsically safe reader system including a hub cable driver and a plurality of intrinsically safe antennas, the hub cable driver and the plurality of intrinsically safe antennas connected by communication cables;
the hub cable driver configured to provide intrinsically safe power to and communication with said plurality of intrinsically safe antennas over said communication cables;
the plurality of intrinsically safe antennas located at known positions in the hazardous environment in a redundant connective infrastructure topology that is self-healing, each intrinsically safe antenna configured to;
receive the radio signal from said tracking tag; and
transmit a data signal to the hub cable driver over said communication cables, the data signal containing an antenna identification code identifying the antenna and a tracking tag identification code identifying the tracking tag;
wherein the system is capable of continuing to operate in an explosive environment due to the intrinsically safe nature of the intrinsically safe tracking tag, the plurality of intrinsically safe antennas, and the intrinsically safe power and communication from the hub cable driver; and
wherein the redundant connective infrastructure topology enables the system to continue to operate despite a communication disruption at a location along the redundant connective infrastructure topology.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for tracking personnel and equipment in hazardous environments in pre or post-accident situations includes an intrinsically safe tracking tag and an intrinsically safe reader system. The intrinsically safe tracking tag transmits identification and status information to the intrinsically safe reader system, which includes a plurality of intrinsically safe antennas and a hub cable driver. In one embodiment, antennas are located at known positions in the hazardous environment and connected via a redundant, wired-mesh topology. The wired-mesh topology also allows more flexible antenna placement than line-of-sight wireless-mesh systems. The hub cable driver provides intrinsically safe power to and communication with the antennas using communication cables, receives data signals from the antennas, and transmits the data signals to a server. The server stores the data signals in a storage device and is connected to a workstation. The workstation retrieves the stored data to track persons or equipment.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A system for tracking personnel and equipment in a hazardous environment comprising:
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a tracking tag for being attached to one of a person and a piece of equipment in the hazardous environment, the tracking tag being intrinsically safe and periodically transmitting a radio signal containing a unique tracking tag identification code identifying the tracking tag; an intrinsically safe reader system including a hub cable driver and a plurality of intrinsically safe antennas, the hub cable driver and the plurality of intrinsically safe antennas connected by communication cables; the hub cable driver configured to provide intrinsically safe power to and communication with said plurality of intrinsically safe antennas over said communication cables; the plurality of intrinsically safe antennas located at known positions in the hazardous environment in a redundant connective infrastructure topology that is self-healing, each intrinsically safe antenna configured to; receive the radio signal from said tracking tag; and transmit a data signal to the hub cable driver over said communication cables, the data signal containing an antenna identification code identifying the antenna and a tracking tag identification code identifying the tracking tag; wherein the system is capable of continuing to operate in an explosive environment due to the intrinsically safe nature of the intrinsically safe tracking tag, the plurality of intrinsically safe antennas, and the intrinsically safe power and communication from the hub cable driver; and wherein the redundant connective infrastructure topology enables the system to continue to operate despite a communication disruption at a location along the redundant connective infrastructure topology. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for tracking personnel and equipment in a hazardous environment, comprising:
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a plurality of tracking tags, each tracking tag for periodically transmitting a radio message containing a unique tracking tag ID, each tracking tag for being attached to a different person or piece of equipment present in the hazardous environment, each tracking tag being intrinsically safe; an intrinsically safe reader system including a hub cable driver and a plurality of intrinsically safe antennas connected to the hub cable driver and to each other by communication cables in a redundant connective infrastructure topology, each antenna being located at a known position in said hazardous environment for receiving radio messages from nearby tracking tags, determining a signal strength value of each received radio message, sending a tag data message for each received radio message to the hub cable driver, each tag data message including the received radio message, an antenna ID of the receiving antenna, and the signal strength value; a server database; and a server including; a server module for receiving tag data messages from said hub cable driver, determining a location of each tracking tag by determining the antenna receiving the radio message having a highest signal strength value; a manager module for maintaining a live tag data table in said server database, the live tag data table containing current location data for each tracking tag; and a view module for generating a display of a current location of each tracking tag on a map of at least a portion of the hazardous environment, and for generating selected displays of data for each tracking tag. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification