BEACON DETECTION SYSTEM FOR LOCATING MISSING PERSONS

• US 20180082560A1
• Filed: 09/19/2017
• Published: 03/22/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vector Flight LLC
• Original Assignee: Vector Flight LLC
• Inventors: Gillum, Eliot, Lau, Kevin Ho Wing
• Granted Patent: US 10,366,592 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 47/08 Arrangements of cameras
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/104 using satellite radio beacon positioning systems, e.g. GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/17 Emergency applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/51 Relative positioning
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/06 Emergency
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0036 of measured values, i.e. measurement on mobile and position calculation on base station
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0081 Transmission between base stations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0231 Emergency, distress or locator beacons
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0249 Determining position using measurements made by a non-stationary device other than the device whose position is being determined
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0295 Proximity-based methods, e.g. position inferred from reception of particular signals
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0272 System arrangements wherein the object is to detect exact location of child or item using triangulation other than GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0275 Electronic Article Surveillance [EAS] tag technology used for parent or child unit, e.g. same transmission technology, magnetic tag, RF tag, RFID

Abstract

A beacon detection system which can locate a missing search subject includes: a beacon signal receiver; a location position detector; and a beacon detector. The detector is configured to detect a location of a broadcasting beacon signal associated with a personal device of a search subject within search data covering a geographic search area derived from a search for the search subject, the search data gathered by the beacon signal receiver and location position detector. A computer implemented method of determining a location of a search subject is also provided. The method determines at least a possible connection request from Wi-Fi signals in search data gathered by a Wi-Fi radio covering a geographic search area for a search subject and associated location information to locate the search subject.

Claims

1. A beacon detection system configured to locate a missing search subject, comprising:

a beacon signal receiver;

a location position detector; and

a beacon detector configured to detect a location of a broadcasting beacon signal associated with a personal device of a search subject within search data covering a geographic search area derived from a search for the search subject, the search data gathered by the beacon signal receiver and location position detector.

2. The beacon detection system of claim 1 wherein the beacon signal receiver is a Wi-Fi radio and the broadcasting beacon signal is a Wi-Fi signal from the personal device.

3. The beacon detection system of claim 2 wherein the Wi-Fi signal carries position information and data from the personal device to the beacon detection system.

4. The beacon detection system of claim 3 wherein the SSID is a unique SSID associated with the personal device.

5. The beacon detection system of claim 3 wherein the SSID is an SSID of a third party or a search subject'"'"'s personal or business SSID.

6. The beacon detection system of claim 2 wherein the detector is configured to determine the signal strength of the beacon signal and determine from the signal strength a possible direction for the search subject.

7. The beacon detection system of claim 1 wherein the beacon signal receiver is an RFID radio and the broadcasting beacon signal is an RFID tag.

8. The beacon detection system of claim 1 wherein the system is as provided on an unmanned aerial vehicle.

9. The beacon detection system of claim 1 further including a processor, storage memory and code instructing the processor to detect the broadcasting beacon signal from the data which is stored in the storage memory.

10. The beacon detection system of claim 1 wherein the beacon signal receiver, location position detector;

and beacon detector are provided in a single housing.

11. A search system configured to operate on a search vehicle, comprising:

a Wi-Fi radio capable of broadcasting one or more SSIDs and receiving connection requests for the one or more SSIDs;

a location position detector; and

a beacon detector responsive to the signal receiver, the beacon detector configured to detect at least a location of a Wi-Fi connection attempt to the one or more SSIDs within search data covering a geographic search area derived from a search for a search subject and gathered by the Wi-Fi radio and location position detector, the connection attempt made by a mobile device associated with the search subject.

12. The beacon detection system of claim 11 wherein the connection request is made to one of a plurality of SSIDs broadcast by the Wi-Fi radio of the search system.

13. The beacon detection system of claim 12 wherein at least one of the plurality of SSIDs is an SSID of a third party or a search subject'"'"'s personal or business SSID.

14. The beacon detection system of claim 11 wherein the connection request is made to a unique SSID associated with the personal device.

15. The beacon detection system of claim 11 wherein the detector is configured to determine the signal strength of the beacon signal and determine from the signal strength a possible location for the search subject.

16. The beacon detection system of claim 11 wherein the system is contained in a housing provided on an unmanned aerial vehicle.

17. A computer implemented method of determining a location of a search subject, comprising:

accessing search data comprising broadcast Wi-Fi signals and associated geographic location coordinates resulting from a covering a geographic search area for a search subject which is gathered by a Wi-Fi radio capable of broadcasting one or more SSIDs and receiving connection requests for the one or more SSIDs and a location position detector;

determining at least a possible connection request from the beacon signals, the connection request associated with a mobile device associated with a search subject; and

filtering the data to determine whether the connection request is from the mobile device associated with the search subject; and

outputting search information to a search agent, the search information including a location of at least the connection request.

18. The computer implemented method of claim 17 wherein a search identifier application is provided on the mobile device, and the computer implemented method further includes:

detecting one or more unique identifiers for the personal device in the search data including one or more of;

a MAC address associated with the mobile device;

a unique SSID associated with the device;

a device identifier associated with a DHCP lease request

19. The computer implemented method of claim 17 further including receiving a registration of the mobile device from the search subject and storing data associating the mobile device and the search subject in a registry for use in the determining step.

20. The computer implemented method of claim 17 further including associating the MAC address to a manufacturer to present detected signals associated with the mobile device.