TRACKING AND ACCOUNTABILITY DEVICE AND SYSTEM

• US 20180206099A1
• Filed: 11/29/2017
• Published: 07/19/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/17/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: 3AM Innovations LLC
• Original Assignee: 3AM Innovations LLC
• Inventors: O'Connor, Patrick, Samuels, Robert
• Granted Patent: US 10,511,951 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/1654 with electromagnetic compass
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/206 specially adapted for indoor navigation
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 1/026 arrangements for monitoring a plurality of temperatures, e.g. by multiplexing
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 2213/00 Temperature mapping
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/17 Emergency applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/42 Determining position
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/49 whereby the further system is an inertial position system, e.g. loosely-coupled
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0717 the sensor being capable of sensing environmental conditions such as temperature history or pressure
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0723 the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72421 with automatic activation of emergency service functions, e.g. upon sensing an alarm
• 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 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A tracking and accountability system and apparatus is provided and comprises a command unit and processing unit coupled to a wireless communication network, a first tracking device having a first mobile transceiver in communication with the wireless communication network and coupled to a first set of identification data of a first individual and being operative to transmit signals representing the first individual'"'"'s location over the wireless communication network to the processing unit, and a second tracking device having a second mobile transceiver and coupled to a second set of identification data of a second individual and being operative to transmit signals representing the second individual'"'"'s location (i) to the processing unit over the wireless communication network if the second tracking device is within a first distance; and (ii) to the first tracking device if the second tracking device is within the first distance to the first tracking device.

Claims

1. A communication system comprising:

a command unit coupled to a wireless communication network;

a processing unit coupled to the wireless communication network;

a first personal tracking unit (PTU) having a first mobile transceiver in communication with the wireless communication network, the first PTU coupled to a device having a first set of user identification data of a first individual, the first PTU being operative to transmit signals representing the first individual'"'"'s location over the wireless communication network to the processing unit; and

a second PTU having a second mobile transceiver, the second PTU coupled to a second set of user identification data of a second individual and being operative to transmit signals representing the second individual'"'"'s location (i) to the processing unit over the wireless communication network if the second PTU is within a first distance; and

(ii) to the first PTU if the second PTU is within the first distance to the first PTU.

2. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication network is an ad hoc network utilizing an ultra-wideband network, and wherein the first mobile transceiver is operative to receive a plurality of signals over the ultra-wideband network from a plurality of mobile transceivers that are positioned within the first distance from the first mobile transceiver and beyond the first distance from the command unit, wherein the first mobile transceiver transmits the plurality of signals to the command unit.

3. The communication system of claim 1, wherein a plurality of mobile transceivers within the first distance to each other are operative to receive and transmit a plurality of signals to and from each other, and wherein the plurality of mobile transceivers within the first distance to the command unit will transmit the plurality of signals to the command unit.

4. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the first distance is approximately 300 feet.

5. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the first mobile further comprising a second communication network between the processing unit and the command unit, wherein location data is transmitted over the first communication network and wherein functional performance data is transmitted over the second communication network.

6. The communication system of claim 1, wherein each PTU further comprises an inertial measurement unit for measuring acceleration and angular velocity and a processer, wherein the processer processes the acceleration and angular velocity of the respective individual with a first navigational algorithm to determine a first set of relative position, velocity, and altitude data of the respective individual.

7. The communication system of claim 6, wherein each PTU further comprises a location sensor for generating a set of location data, wherein the set of location data and the first set of relative position, velocity, and altitude data of the respective individual are combined with a statistical filter to provide an estimated relative position, velocity and altitude of the respective individual.

8. The communication system of claim 7, wherein the first and second PTUs each further comprise an RFID tag, wherein each RFID tag provides a set of user identification data to the processing unit.

9. The communication system of claim 8, wherein the location sensor is a radio location sensor.

10. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the signals transmitted from the first and second mobile transceivers also represent one or more of the first and second individual'"'"'s biometrics, respectively.

11. The communication system of claim 1, wherein each PTU further comprises an ambient temperature sensor, and wherein the signals transmitted from each of the PTUs to the processing unit also represent the ambient temperature of the location of the respective individuals.

12. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the first set of user identification data of the first individual is stored in a storage device and wherein the first set of user identification data is detected by the first PTU and transmitted to the processing unit.

13. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the first PTU includes a unique identification number and wherein the first set of user identification data of the first individual and the unique identification number of the first PTU are transmitted to the processing unit.

14. The communication system of claim 12, wherein the first set of user identification data is stored in a wearable holder capable of receiving the first PTU.

15. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the first PTU further comprises at least two of a GPS, an IMU, a magnetometer, and a radio location sensor, and wherein a location estimate of the first PTU is determined based on the information obtained from at least two of the GPS, IMU, magnetometer, and GPS.

16. The communication system of claim 15, further comprising an Earth Magnetic Field (EMF) map, wherein the location estimate is used to select a portion of the EMF map.

17. The communication system of claim 16, wherein the magnetometer measures EMF vectors and wherein the processing unit compares the EMF vectors to a portion of the EMF map to determines a location of the first individual.

18. The communication system of claim 15, wherein the PTU includes a display mounted to the wrist of the first individual.

19. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the first PTU includes the processing unit and wherein the second PTU includes another processing unit.

20. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the processing unit couples a plurality of location data points received from the PTUs within a structure to generate a map of the structure.

21. The communication system of claim 20, wherein a portion of the map of the structure is transmitted from the processing unit to the PTU within that portion.

22. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the processing unit couples a plurality of location data points received from the PTUs with a preexisting structure map to generate a map having the locations of each PTU.

23. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the PTU receives from the processing unit an egress map by a reverse data push of the locations of the individual.

24. A method of determining a location of an individual in a building comprising the steps of:

coupling a first personal tracking unit (PTU) having a unique identification number to a first set of user identification data of a first individual stored on a separate device;

transmitted the unique identification number of the first PTU and the first set of user identification data of a first individual to a processing unit;

performing location measurements by at least one of an IMU and a radio location sensor located in the first PTU;

transmitting the location measures to the processing unit;

determining a location estimate of the first individual based on the location measurements received by the processing unit;

accessing a Earth'"'"'s Magnetic Field (EMF) map;

selecting a portion of an Earth'"'"'s Magnetic Field (EMF) map based on the location estimate;

performing EMF measurements by a positioning device located in the first PTU;

comparing the EMF measurements to the selected portion of the EMF map; and

determining the location of the individual.

25. A method of claim 24 further comprising:

displaying the determined location of the individual on at least one of a portable computer and a display on the first PTU.