METHOD AND SYSTEM TO MONITOR AND CONTROL DEVICES UTILIZING WIRELESS MEDIA

• US 20110065458A1
• Filed: 11/17/2010
• Published: 03/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WirelessWERX IP LLC (Pueblo Nuevo LLC)
• Original Assignee: Wirelesswerx International, Inc.
• Inventors: Staton, Houston, Ashley, James SR., Ashley, James JR., Mooney, Patrick
• Granted Patent: US 8,290,515 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.6
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/00 Arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless electrical link
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/42 Transmitting or receiving remote control signals via a network
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/51 Remote controlling of devices based on replies, status thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/93 Remote control using other portable devices, e.g. mobile phone, PDA, laptop
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A method and system of selectively communicating with one or more devices within pre-defined geographical zones is disclosed. A plurality of geographical zones is defined, each zone being defined by latitude and longitude attributes. A plurality of devices is associated with each geographical zone with which a portable device can communicate, the portable device having data representative of the plurality of geographical zones. The portable device also has a ground positioning unit receiver to obtain geographical coordinates of the portable device. If the portable device determines that its location is within one of the plurality of geographical zones, the portable device communicates with the devices in associated with the geographical zone.

Claims

1. A method of selectively communicating with devices within defined geographical zones, comprising:

defining a plurality of geographical zones, each zone being defined by predetermined attributes;

associating at least one device within each geographical zone with which a portable device can communicate, the association being exclusive of other geographical zones;

providing the portable device with a ground positioning unit receiver;

loading data representative of the plurality of geographical zones to the portable device;

obtaining geographical coordinates of the portable device from the ground positioning unit receiver;

determining the location of the portable device in relation to at least one of the plurality of geographical zones; and

enabling communication with the at least one device associated to the at least one geographical zone when the portable device determines it is within the at least one geographical zone;

programming the portable device to determine the occurrence of certain conditions in the at least one geographical zone that the portable device is located within the geographical zone, and there being no communication about conditions when the device is in other geographical zones and the communication being limited to communication about conditions in a single geographical zone,

wherein the portable device is programmed to determine the occurrence of different conditions dependent on the at least one geographical zone; and

reporting the occurrence of the certain conditions.

5. The method of claim 1, including:

permitting the at least one device to transmit a signal to the portable device indicating the occurrence of an event;

permitting a microprocessor in the portable device to execute a preconfigured operation if the microprocessor in the portable device determines that the event occurred triggers the execution of the preconfigured operation;

wherein the portable device is programmed to determine if certain conditions have occurred in the geographical zone, and when a condition occurs the portable device reports the occurrence to a control center or to a second portable device; and

wherein each geographical zone is depicted as a pixilated computer image created by performing the steps of;

(a) allowing a user to identify a geometrical area in a computer map using two coordinate attributes;

(b) dividing the identified geometrical area into a grid;

wherein the grid is divided into a number of sections so as to achieve a high enough resolution to be able to correctly delineate the geographical zone.

(c) allowing the user to select at least one section from within the grid in order to define the geographical zone; and

(d) associating the at least one section to a pixel in a pixilated computer image such that the pixels selected by the user in the identified geometrical area are identified as being in the geographical zone.

2. A method of selectively communicating with devices within defined geographical zones, comprising:

defining a plurality of geographical zones, each zone being defined by predetermined attributes;

associating at least one device within each geographical zone with which a portable device can communicate, the association being exclusive of other geographical zones;

providing the portable device with a ground positioning unit receiver;

loading data representative of the plurality of geographical zones to the portable device;

obtaining geographical coordinates of the portable device from the ground positioning unit receiver;

determining the location of the portable device in relation to at least one of the plurality of geographical zones;

enabling communication with the at least one device associated to the at least one geographical zone when the portable device determines it is within the at least one geographical zone,

wherein the portable device creates a further representation of the geographical zone using the plurality of coordinates by performing the steps of;

(a) mapping the coordinates on a pixilated image so as to assign one pixel to each coordinate of the plurality of coordinates,

wherein the distance between each assigned pixel is configurable,

(b) connecting the plurality of assigned pixels with lines forming a contiguous and connected line that encloses an area in the pixilated image, and

(c) activating the pixels that lie on the lines in order to form a contiguous array of pixels that enclose a shape in the pixilated image;

programming the portable device to determine the occurrence of certain conditions in the at least one geographical zone that the portable device is located within the geographical zone, and there being no communication about conditions when the device is in other geographical zones and the communication being limited to communication about conditions in a single geographical zone;

wherein the portable device is programmed to determine the occurrence of different conditions dependent on the at least one geographical zone; and

reporting the occurrence of the certain conditions.

3. A method of selectively communicating with devices within defined geographical zones, comprising:

defining a plurality of geographical zones, each zone being defined by predetermined attributes;

associating at least one device within each geographical zone with which a portable device can communicate, the association being exclusive of other geographical zones;

providing the portable device with a ground positioning unit receiver;

loading data representative of the plurality of geographical zones to the portable device;

obtaining geographical coordinates of the portable device from the ground positioning unit receiver;

determining the location of the portable device in relation to at least one of the plurality of geographical zones;

enabling communication with the at least one device associated to the at least one geographical zone when the portable device determines it is within the at least one geographical zone,

wherein data representative of each geographical zone is a pixilated image;

programming the portable device to determine the occurrence of certain conditions in the at least one geographical zone that the portable device is located within the geographical zone, and there being no communication about conditions when the device is in other geographical zones and the communication being limited to communication about conditions in a single geographical zone;

wherein the portable device is programmed to determine the occurrence of different conditions dependent on the at least one geographical zone; and

reporting the occurrence of the certain conditions.

4. A method of selectively communicating with devices within defined geographical zones, comprising:

defining a plurality of geographical zones, each zone being defined by predetermined attributes;

associating at least one device within each geographical zone with which a portable device can communicate the association being exclusive of other geographical zones;

providing the portable device with a ground positioning unit receiver;

loading data representative of the plurality of geographical zones to the portable device;

obtaining geographical coordinates of the portable device from the ground positioning unit receiver;

determining the location of the portable device in relation to at least one of the plurality of geographical zones; and

enabling communication with the at least one device associated to the at least one geographical zone when the portable device determines it is within the at least one geographical zone;

programming the portable device to determine the occurrence of certain conditions in the at least one geographical zone that the portable device is located within the geographical zone, and there being no communication about conditions when the device is in other geographical zones and the communication being limited to communication about conditions in a single geographical zone;

wherein the portable device is programmed to determine the occurrence of different conditions dependent on different multiple geographical zones,

determining the location of the portable device in relation to at least a second of the multiple of geographical zones; and

enabling communication with the at least one device associated to the at least second geographical zone when the portable device determines it is within the at least second geographical zone;

programming the portable device to determine the occurrence of certain conditions in the at least second geographical zone that the portable device is located within, and

reporting the occurrence of the certain conditions in a respective different geographical zone.

6. A method to define a geographical zone utilized to regulate an entity having a transponder, comprising:

allocating a plurality of waypoints, each waypoint in the plurality of waypoints being defined by a geographical coordinate and a radius; and

loading the plurality of waypoints onto the transponder.