Marine vessel traffic system
First Claim
1. A harbor vessel traffic service system, comprising:
- a computer network;
a plurality of radar sensor means for tracking ship location;
a plurality of remote site means, connected to said computer network and said plurality of radar sensor means, for obtaining remote site radar sensor data inputs from said plurality of radar sensor means, pre-processing said remote site radar sensor data inputs and inputting pre-processed remote site radar sensor data inputs to said computer network;
a display; and
a vessel traffic control subsystem means, connected to said computer network and to said display and having a digital database and a processor, the digital database having a digital map of a harbor including all underwater obstacles that pose a danger to shipping, and vessel identification data of potential and current vessels using the harbor, and the processor computing multiple tracks of vessels in the harbor from the pre-processed remote site radar sensor data inputs and digitally fusing and displaying multiple tracks of vessels in the harbor with the digital map of the harbor and displaying a menu of the vessel identification data of an operator-selected vessel onto the display.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The marine Vessel Traffic System (VTS) is an improved radar harbor surveillance sensor, computer and display system that monitors marine harbor traffic, provides advisories to vessels in areas selected by the system operators, and provide the operators of the system with an early warning of unacceptable traffic conflicts in the confined waterways of the harbor. The VTS collects harbor traffic information from multiple remote sensor collection sites around the harbor and integrates, records, merges and presents the remote site data onto a single operator display, selected from a plurality of operator displays. VTS provides quick accurate computer generated graphic display of the harbor traffic, possible surface and subsurface conflicts, and key vessel identification information and the VTS documents incidents and traffic conditions for the Coast Guard or other waterway authorities.
294 Citations
8 Claims
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1. A harbor vessel traffic service system, comprising:
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a computer network;
a plurality of radar sensor means for tracking ship location;
a plurality of remote site means, connected to said computer network and said plurality of radar sensor means, for obtaining remote site radar sensor data inputs from said plurality of radar sensor means, pre-processing said remote site radar sensor data inputs and inputting pre-processed remote site radar sensor data inputs to said computer network;
a display; and
a vessel traffic control subsystem means, connected to said computer network and to said display and having a digital database and a processor, the digital database having a digital map of a harbor including all underwater obstacles that pose a danger to shipping, and vessel identification data of potential and current vessels using the harbor, and the processor computing multiple tracks of vessels in the harbor from the pre-processed remote site radar sensor data inputs and digitally fusing and displaying multiple tracks of vessels in the harbor with the digital map of the harbor and displaying a menu of the vessel identification data of an operator-selected vessel onto the display. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
an ORACLE database; and
a track database manager that stores and distributes vessel track data.
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3. The harbor vessel traffic service system of claim 1, wherein said vessel identification data comprises:
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a registry number and a call sign of a vessel;
a name of a captain of the vessel;
a configuration of the vessel;
an identification of the vessel'"'"'s cargo including an identification of any hazardous material;
an identification of a point of origination for the vessel;
an identification of the vessel'"'"'s destination;
an estimated time of arrival of the vessel;
an estimated time of departure for the vessel; and
an identification of the last time the vessel was in port.
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4. The harbor vessel traffic service system of claim 1, wherein the menu of the vessel identification data is provided to an operator when a cursor is moved over a track of a vessel in the harbor and a mouse button is clicked.
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5. The harbor vessel traffic service system of claim 1, wherein the processor calculates collision alarms between the multiple tracks of vessels in the harbor and all underwater obstacles that pose a danger to shipping.
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6. The harbor vessel traffic service system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of operator displays and the processor displaying onto a single operator display, selected from the plurality of operator displays, the digitally fused multiple tracks of vessels in the harbor, the digital map, and the vessel identification data.
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7. The harbor vessel traffic service system of claim 1, wherein the vessel traffic control subsystem further comprises:
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a means to backup and preserve the digital map of the harbor, the vessel identification data of potential and current vessels using the harbor, and the multiple tracks of vessels in the harbor; and
a means to detect faults and recovery from faults in the vessel traffic control subsystem.
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8. The harbor vessel traffic service system of claim 7, further comprising a backup processor and a means to detect faults and recovery from faults in the processor.
Specification