Stolen vehicle recovery system
First Claim
1. A stolen vehicle recovery system for enabling prompt monitoring of unauthorized use of a vehicle, said system comprisinga vehicle transceiver means disposed on said vehicle, said vehicle transceiver means comprisingmeans for transmitting a pulsed signal of length T1 seconds every T2 seconds, said transmitted pulsed signal being modulated by a data stream comprising a unique identity code associated with said vehicle, said vehicle transceiver means further comprisingowner verification means, said owner verification means comprisingauthorization sensor means, for providing a sensor input signal from a user of said vehicle;
- deactivation means for providing an authorization signal in response to a predetermined sensor input signal;
means for automatically initiating transmission of said pulsed signal by said transmitting means when said authorization signal is not provided by said deactivation means within a predetermined authorization interval;
scanning receiver means for receiving said transmitted pulsed signal and decoding said received signal for providing a decoded signal;
control processor means for receiving said decoded signal for providing a control signal in response thereto;
direction finding receiver means comprising remotely located direction finding receiver means spaced apart in a pattern for enabling triangulation detection of a dynamic position of said vehicle in a detection area from said transmitted pulsed signal, said direction finding receiver means comprising means for measuring the bearing, signal strength and time variation of said bearing associated with said detected vehicle identity code for providing said measured data to said control processor means,said control processor means comprisingmeans for verifying said identity code and providing a vehicle positional information signal comprising said measured bearing and signal strength data; and
means disposed at a central station and linked to said control processor means for producing a displayable digitized street or terrain map of said detection area with said detected vehicle position being dynamically displayed thereon in a digitized map presentation, said digitized map presentation being updateable as said vehicle positional information varies, said control processor means further comprisingmeans for interrogating said direction finding receiver means and verifying said vehicle identity code until said alarm condition is removed.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A stolen vehicle recovery system (20) in which a vehicle transceiver (30) is disposed on each vehicle (28) for cyclically transmitting a pulsed signal which is modulated by a data stream comprising a verification code, a unique identity code associated with the vehicle (28), and a code which corresponds to whether the detected vehicle (28) is moving or stationary. The vehicle transceiver (30) is automatically activated if a proper authorization signal is not provided to the transceiver (30) by a verification unit. A scanning receiver (42) decodes the pulsed signal and provides the information to a control processor (40) which, in turn, sets remote direction finding receivers (44, 46, 48), set up in a triangulation antenna array, to the appropriate channel. The D.F. receivers (44, 46, 48) measure the bearing, signal strength and time variation, as well as the vehicle identity code, and pass it back to the control processor (40) which, after verification of the identity code, passes this positional information on to a mapping and display computer (50) at the central station (22) which, thereafter, provides a digitized street or terrain map display with the vehicle position and identity code being dynamically displayed thereon. The map may be zoomed through a hierarchical geographical display. The system (20) may be used with multiple vehicles in the same detection area with the channel being divided into a plurality of sub-channels and a composite map display dynamically showing all stolen vehicles (28) in the detection area. Mobile tracking (110, 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 122) may al be used. In addition, the transceiver (30) can be remotely activated or deactivated, and overlapping detection areas can be provided to cover a larger area. When the transceiver (30) is initially activated, the verification code is set to an unverified state and is changed to a verified state, after confirmation of stolen status, by a command sent from the command transmitter (52).
-
Citations
43 Claims
-
1. A stolen vehicle recovery system for enabling prompt monitoring of unauthorized use of a vehicle, said system comprising
a vehicle transceiver means disposed on said vehicle, said vehicle transceiver means comprising means for transmitting a pulsed signal of length T1 seconds every T2 seconds, said transmitted pulsed signal being modulated by a data stream comprising a unique identity code associated with said vehicle, said vehicle transceiver means further comprising owner verification means, said owner verification means comprising authorization sensor means, for providing a sensor input signal from a user of said vehicle; -
deactivation means for providing an authorization signal in response to a predetermined sensor input signal; means for automatically initiating transmission of said pulsed signal by said transmitting means when said authorization signal is not provided by said deactivation means within a predetermined authorization interval; scanning receiver means for receiving said transmitted pulsed signal and decoding said received signal for providing a decoded signal; control processor means for receiving said decoded signal for providing a control signal in response thereto; direction finding receiver means comprising remotely located direction finding receiver means spaced apart in a pattern for enabling triangulation detection of a dynamic position of said vehicle in a detection area from said transmitted pulsed signal, said direction finding receiver means comprising means for measuring the bearing, signal strength and time variation of said bearing associated with said detected vehicle identity code for providing said measured data to said control processor means, said control processor means comprising means for verifying said identity code and providing a vehicle positional information signal comprising said measured bearing and signal strength data; and means disposed at a central station and linked to said control processor means for producing a displayable digitized street or terrain map of said detection area with said detected vehicle position being dynamically displayed thereon in a digitized map presentation, said digitized map presentation being updateable as said vehicle positional information varies, said control processor means further comprising means for interrogating said direction finding receiver means and verifying said vehicle identity code until said alarm condition is removed. - 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, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
-
Specification