Fast response system for a fleet of vehicles
First Claim
1. A method for directing a vehicle drawn from a plurality of vehicles to respond to a call for assistance received at a central station that communicates with these vehicles, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a central processing station, which receives calls for assistance, with a transceiver that transmits and receives radio wave signals at a first selected frequency;
providing each of a selected set of N vehicles (N≧
2) with a communications unit that comprises;
location determination means for receiving radio wave location determination signals at a second selected frequency and for processing these location determination signals to determine the present location coordinates of the location determination means at each of a sequence of consecutive times that are on average no more than five seconds apart;
transceiver means for transmitting radio wave signals to, and receiving radio wave signals from, the central station transceiver at the first selected frequency; and
an interface and transceiver controller, connected to the location determination means and the transceiver means and for controlling the transceiver means, that allows communication of information between the location determination means and the transceiver controller, that processes the radio wave signals received from the central station, that determines what signal the transceiver means should transmit in response to the radio wave signals received from the central station, and that determines the present status of the vehicle associated with the communications unit;
causing the central station to obtain information on the present location and present status of each vehicle at a sequence of consecutive times from the communications unit associated with each vehicle;
when the central station receives a call for assistance and the location of the caller for that assistance, causing the central station to transmit to the vehicles an assistance message containing this location and available information concerning the assistance required;
causing the communications unit for each vehicle that is available to respond to a call for assistance to determine its distance d from the location specified in the assistance message, and if the distance d is no greater than a selected distance D, causing the vehicle communications unit to reply to the assistance message by transmitting the vehicle status and information allowing determination of the distance d to the central station; and
causing the central station to select one or more of the set of N vehicles to respond to the call for assistance and to notify each selected vehicle of its selection to respond to the call for assistance.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for directing a vehicle from a fleet of N vehicles, numbered n=1, 2, . . . , N(N≧2), to respond to a call for assistance received at a central processing station that communicates with a communications unit on each of these vehicles. The central station receives information by radio wave signals on the present location and present status of each vehicle on patrol at a sequence of times. Optionally, the vehicles may be divided into mutually exclusive groups, with each group reporting its location and status at separate times with different frequencies of reporting. An information response interval for a group includes a number of time slots, with each time slot allocated to a vehicle in the group so that no slot is empty. When the central station receives a call for assistance, an assistance message is transmitted to the fleet, specifying the site at which assistance is needed and any available information on the nature of the assistance required. Each available vehicle receives the assistance message and determines its distance d(n) from the assistance site. Each available vehicle whose distance d(n) is no greater than a selected distance D replies to the assistance message by transmitting its status and distance d(n) to the central station with a time delay that is proportional to d(n). Vehicle selection may be based upon first-to-reply and/or upon any specialized equipment or personnel training needed to respond. Vehicle location may be determined by GPS, GLONASS, Loran, or any other suitable location determination system.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A method for directing a vehicle drawn from a plurality of vehicles to respond to a call for assistance received at a central station that communicates with these vehicles, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a central processing station, which receives calls for assistance, with a transceiver that transmits and receives radio wave signals at a first selected frequency; providing each of a selected set of N vehicles (N≧
2) with a communications unit that comprises;location determination means for receiving radio wave location determination signals at a second selected frequency and for processing these location determination signals to determine the present location coordinates of the location determination means at each of a sequence of consecutive times that are on average no more than five seconds apart; transceiver means for transmitting radio wave signals to, and receiving radio wave signals from, the central station transceiver at the first selected frequency; and an interface and transceiver controller, connected to the location determination means and the transceiver means and for controlling the transceiver means, that allows communication of information between the location determination means and the transceiver controller, that processes the radio wave signals received from the central station, that determines what signal the transceiver means should transmit in response to the radio wave signals received from the central station, and that determines the present status of the vehicle associated with the communications unit; causing the central station to obtain information on the present location and present status of each vehicle at a sequence of consecutive times from the communications unit associated with each vehicle; when the central station receives a call for assistance and the location of the caller for that assistance, causing the central station to transmit to the vehicles an assistance message containing this location and available information concerning the assistance required; causing the communications unit for each vehicle that is available to respond to a call for assistance to determine its distance d from the location specified in the assistance message, and if the distance d is no greater than a selected distance D, causing the vehicle communications unit to reply to the assistance message by transmitting the vehicle status and information allowing determination of the distance d to the central station; and causing the central station to select one or more of the set of N vehicles to respond to the call for assistance and to notify each selected vehicle of its selection to respond to the call for assistance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. Apparatus for directing a vehicle drawn from a plurality of vehicles to respond to a call for assistance received at a central station that communicates with these vehicles, the apparatus comprising:
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a central processing station, which receives calls for assistance, having a transceiver that transmits radio wave signals to and receives radio wave signals from each of a selected set of N vehicles (N≧
2) at a first selected frequency, where the central station obtains information on the present location and present status of each of the set of N vehicles at a sequence of consecutive times;a vehicle communications unit that is provided on each of the set of N vehicles, the communications unit comprising; location determination means for receiving radio wave location determination signals at a second selected frequency and for processing these location determination signals to determine the present location coordinates of the location determination means at each of a sequence of consecutive times that are on average no more than five seconds apart; transceiver means for transmitting radio wave signals to, and receiving radio wave signals from, the central station transceiver at the first selected frequency; and an interface and transceiver controller, connected to the location determination means and the transceiver means and for controlling the transceiver means, that allows communication of information between the location determination means and the transceiver controller, that processes a radio wave signal received from the central station, that determines what signal the transceiver means should transmit in response to a radio wave signal received from the central station, and that determines the present status of the vehicle associated with the communications unit; where the central station and the vehicle communications units communicate with each other so that when the central station receives a call for assistance and the location of the caller for that assistance, the central station transmits to the group of N vehicles an assistance message containing this location and available information concerning the assistance required; each of the set of N vehicles that is available to respond to a call for assistance, determines its distance d from the location specified in the assistance message, and if the distance d is no greater than a selected distance D, the vehicle communications unit associated with this vehicle replies to the assistance message by transmitting the vehicle status and information allowing determination of the distance d to the central station; and the central station selects one or more of the set of N vehicles to respond to the call for assistance and notifies each selected vehicle of its selection to respond to the call for assistance. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification