Automatic, self-triggering alarm processing system and method
First Claim
1. An alarm processing system for monitoring at least one sensor unit, each sensor unit providing an alarm signal upon occurrence of a corresponding predefined condition, said alarm processing system comprising:
- means for receiving an alarm signal generated by a sensor unit of the at least one sensor unit upon occurrence of the sensor unit'"'"'s corresponding predefined condition;
means for triggering powering of said alarm processing system upon receipt of said alarm signal, said means for triggering comprising means for automatically transitioning said alarm processing system from a dormant, unpowered state to an active, at least partially powered state, said means for automatically transitioning being responsive to receipt of said alarm signal;
a central processing unit for retrieving from a memory connected thereto a predefined alarm message in response to said alarm signal;
means for designating a selected telecommunications medium from at least two telecommunications medium coupled to said alarm processing system; and
means for automatically sending said predefined alarm message across said selected telecommunications medium.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Various embodiments of an automatic alarm and communications processing system/method are presented. The alarm processing system/method monitors at least one sensor unit which is designed to provide an alarm signal upon occurrence of a corresponding predefined condition. An alarm signal is received at a central unit and a predefined alarm message is retrieved from memory based thereon. A selected telecommunications medium is then designated from at least two telecommunications medium coupled to the alarm processing system, and the retrieved predefined alarm message is automatically sent over the selected telecommunications medium. Preferably, the alarm processing system is powered down until an alarm signal is received at the central unit. Upon receipt of the alarm signal, powering of the alarm processing system is triggered, and subsequent to transmission of a predefined alarm message, powering of the alarm processing system is automatically removed. A detachable external programmer couples to and powers the central unit for custom programming of response parameters.
74 Citations
33 Claims
-
1. An alarm processing system for monitoring at least one sensor unit, each sensor unit providing an alarm signal upon occurrence of a corresponding predefined condition, said alarm processing system comprising:
-
means for receiving an alarm signal generated by a sensor unit of the at least one sensor unit upon occurrence of the sensor unit'"'"'s corresponding predefined condition; means for triggering powering of said alarm processing system upon receipt of said alarm signal, said means for triggering comprising means for automatically transitioning said alarm processing system from a dormant, unpowered state to an active, at least partially powered state, said means for automatically transitioning being responsive to receipt of said alarm signal; a central processing unit for retrieving from a memory connected thereto a predefined alarm message in response to said alarm signal; means for designating a selected telecommunications medium from at least two telecommunications medium coupled to said alarm processing system; and means for automatically sending said predefined alarm message across said selected telecommunications medium. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. An alarm processing system for monitoring at least one sensor unit, each sensor unit providing an alarm signal upon occurrence of a corresponding predefined condition, said alarm processing system comprising:
-
means for receiving an alarm signal generated by a sensor unit of the at least one sensor unit upon occurrence of the sensor unit'"'"'s corresponding predefined condition; means for triggering powering of said alarm processing system upon receipt of said alarm signal; a central processing unit for retrieving from a memory connected thereto a predefined alarm message in response to said alarm signal; means for designating a selected telecommunications medium from at least two telecommunications medium coupled to said alarm processing system; means for automatically sending said predefined alarm message across said selected telecommunications medium; and wherein a first telecommunications medium of said at least two telecommunications medium comprises a conventional telephone line and wherein a second telecommunications medium of said at least two telecommunications medium comprises a cellular phone unit, and wherein said power supply means is electrically coupled to both said conventional telephone line and to said cellular phone unit and includes means for extracting power from either of said conventional telephone line and said cellular phone unit. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
-
-
18. A self-triggering, alarm processing system for monitoring at least one sensor unit, each sensor unit providing an alarm signal upon occurrence of a corresponding predefined condition, said alarm processing system being coupled to at least one telecommunications medium, said alarm processing system comprising:
-
means for receiving an alarm signal generated by a sensor unit of the at least one sensor unit upon occurrence of the sensor unit'"'"'s corresponding predefined condition; power means for powering said alarm processing system; means for triggering said power means upon receipt of said alarm signal; and wherein said power means includes means for deriving power from said at least one telecommunications medium to drive said alarm processing system upon triggering by said means for triggering. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
-
-
21. A self-triggering, alarm processing system for monitoring at least one sensor unit, each sensor unit providing an alarm signal upon occurrence of a corresponding predefined condition, said alarm processing system being coupled to at least one telecommunications medium, said alarm processing system comprising:
-
means for receiving an alarm signal generated by a sensor unit of the at least one sensor unit upon occurrence of the sensor unit'"'"'s corresponding predefined condition; power means for powering said alarm processing system; means for triggering said power means upon receipt of said alarm signal; wherein said power means includes means for deriving power from said at least one telecommunications medium to drive said alarm processing system upon triggering by said means for triggering; and wherein a first telecommunications medium of said at least one telecommunications medium comprises a conventional telephone line and a second telecommunications medium of said at least one telecommunications medium comprises a cellular phone unit, and wherein said power means includes means for automatically selecting between and deriving power from one of said conventional telephone line and said cellular phone unit to drive said alarm processing system upon triggering by said means for triggering.
-
-
22. A self-triggering, alarm processing system for monitoring at least one sensor unit, each sensor unit providing an alarm signal upon occurrence of a corresponding predefined condition, said alarm processing system being coupled to at least one telecommunications medium, said alarm processing system comprising:
-
means for receiving an alarm signal generated by a sensor unit of the at least one sensor unit upon occurrence of the sensor unit'"'"'s corresponding predefined condition; power means for powering said alarm processing system; means for triggering said power means upon receipt of said alarm signal; wherein said power means includes means for deriving power from said at least one telecommunications medium to drive said alarm processing system upon triggering by said means for triggering; and further comprising an external power supply input coupled to the alarm processing system, and wherein said power means includes means for selecting between deriving power from said at least one telecommunications medium or said external power supply input.
-
-
23. In an alarm processing system, an automated method for monitoring and responding to at least one sensor unit, each sensor unit providing an alarm signal upon occurrence of a corresponding predefined condition, said automated method comprising the steps of:
-
(a) receiving an alarm signal generated by a sensor unit of the at least one sensor unit upon occurrence of the sensor unit'"'"'s corresponding predefined condition; (b) automatically triggering powering of said alarm processing system upon receipt of said alarm signal, said automatically triggering comprising automatically transitioning said alarm processing system from a dormant, unpowered state to an active, at least partially powered state, said automatically transitioning being responsive to receipt of said alarm signal; (c) retrieving a predefined alarm message stored in memory within said alarm processing system in response to said alarm signal; (d) designating a selected telecommunications medium from at least two telecommunications medium coupled to the alarm processing system; and (e) automatically sending the predefined alarm message across the selected telecommunications medium. - View Dependent Claims (24)
-
-
25. In an alarm processing system, an automated method for monitoring and responding to at least one sensor unit, each sensor unit providing an alarm signal upon occurrence of a corresponding predefined condition, said automated method comprising the steps of:
-
(a) receiving an alarm signal generated by a sensor unit of the at least one sensor unit upon occurrence of the sensor unit'"'"'s corresponding predefined condition; (b) automatically triggering powering of said alarm processing system upon receipt of said alarm signal; (c) retrieving a predefined alarm message stored in memory within said alarm processing system in response to said alarm signal; (d) designating a selected telecommunications medium from at least two telecommunications medium coupled to the alarm processing system; (e) automatically sending the predefined alarm message across the selected telecommunications medium; and wherein said automatically triggering powering step (b) includes automatically selecting a power source from multiple power sources coupled to drive said alarm processing system, said multiple power sources including said at least two telecommunications medium and an external power supply. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
-
-
28. In an alarm processing system, an automated method for monitoring at least one sensor unit, each sensor unit providing an alarm signal upon occurrence of a corresponding predefined condition, said automated method comprising the steps of:
-
(a) receiving an alarm signal generated by a sensor unit of the at least one remote sensor unit upon occurrence of the remote sensor unit'"'"'s corresponding predefined condition; and (b) automatically triggering powering of the alarm processing system upon receipt of the alarm signal, said automatically triggering including automatically transitioning the alarm processing system from a dormant, unpowered state to an active, at least partially powered state, said automatically transitioning being responsive to said receiving (a) of the alarm signal. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
-
-
31. In an alarm processing system, an automated method for monitoring at least one sensor unit, each sensor unit providing an alarm signal upon occurrence of a corresponding predefined condition, said automated method comprising the steps of:
-
(a) receiving an alarm signal generated by a sensor unit of the at least one remote sensor unit upon occurrence of the remote sensor unit'"'"'s corresponding predefined condition; and (b) automatically communicating a predefined message across a first, land-based telecommunications medium to a remote computer, said predefined message corresponding to the remote sensor unit'"'"'s alarm signal received in said step (a); and (c) automatically communicating a digitally coded message across a second, satellite-based telecommunications medium from the remote computer to a remote receiver, said digitally coded message being produced from said predefined message of said automatically communicating (b) received at the remote computer. - View Dependent Claims (33)
-
-
32. An alarm processing system for monitoring at least one sensor unit, each sensor unit providing an alarm signal upon occurrence of a corresponding predefined condition, said alarm processing system comprising:
-
means for receiving an alarm signal generated by a sensor unit of the at least one sensor unit upon occurrence of the sensor unit'"'"'s corresponding predefined condition; means for automatically retrieving a predefined message in response to said alarm signal, said predefined message corresponding to occurrence of said corresponding predefined condition; means for automatically communicating the predefined message across a first, land-based telecommunications medium to a remote computer; and means for automatically communicating a digital message from the remote computer to a remote receiver across a second, satellite-based telecommunications medium, said digital message being produced from the predefined message communicated to the remote computer.
-
Specification