Personal alarm monitor system

• US 6,396,413 B2
• Filed: 03/11/1999
• Issued: 05/28/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Telephonics Corporation (TTM Technologies Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Telephonics Corporation (TTM Technologies Incorporated)
• Inventors: Pang, Robert James, Pulver, Fred, Starling, Edward, Hines, Richard
• Primary Examiner(s): Holloway, III, Edwin C.
• Application Number:
  US09/266,449
• Publication Number:
  US 20010040512A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,174 Days
• Field of Search: 340/825.49,825.36,825.45,539,572.1,573.1,573.4,286.07,10.41,10.42 705/32 701/209 235/388 455/33.2
• US Class Current: 340/8.1
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/28 the pass enabling tracking or indicating presence

Abstract

A personal alarm monitor system provides for the recording of a record of locations of a person as the person travels through a designated premises having a series of designated areas interconnected by portals or gateways, such as doorways. The person carries a receiver capable of receiving broadcasts from a series of preferably low-power transmitters specifically located throughout the premises. Pairs of transmitters are located at each gateway, one transmitter being placed in each of the adjacent designated areas to broadcast a signal primarily into the designated area about the gateway. Additional unpaired transmitters may be located at additional locations in the designated areas. Each transmitter is assigned and broadcasts a unique code corresponding to its location and status as either a gateway or non-gateway tag. A portable receiver, carried by a person whose location is to be monitored, receives the unique code broadcasts from the transmitters and processes the code data to validate the position it represents. When validated, the code is stored by the receiver. A list of the validated codes can be downloaded or transmitted to a remote location for tracking purposes.

Claims

1. Apparatus for monitoring the location of a person within a monitored premises having a plurality of designated areas interconnected by gateways, comprising:

a plurality of radio frequency transmitters located throughout said monitored premises, at least one of said transmitters being located in each designated area, each of said transmitters broadcasting a signal comprising a unique code identifying the transmitter; and

a portable receiver carried by the person capable of receiving the signals broadcast by each of the transmitters, said portable receiver having means for determining the code of a broadcast received, processing said code to determine its validity as representing a position within the monitored premises in close proximity to the person, and storing a validated code as a record of the location of the person at the time of the reception thereof, said processing means comprising means for comparing the code received to a list of previously received and stored codes corresponding to a record of previous other locations for the person and determining whether the received code corresponds to a valid location for the person based upon a logical relationship between the position associated with the received code and the record of previous other locations.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each transmitter is configured to broadcast a signal intended to be received by a receiver only in close proximity to the transmitter.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein each gateway has a transmitter associated therewith located proximate the gateway in each of the designated areas joined by the gateway.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the unique code associated with each transmitter includes a first data portion indicating the designated area in which the transmitter is located and a second data portion indicating the location of the transmitter within the designated area.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the second data portions associated with the transmitters associated with a gateway are the same.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said portable receiver includes a transmitter for transmitting the stored codes for reception at a remote location.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said receiver includes means for activating the receiver'"'"'s transmitter upon command from the person carrying the receiver.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said receiver includes means for activating the receiver'"'"'s transmitter upon command from the remote location.

9. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the receiver further includes means for measuring and normalizing the signal strength of a received signal bearing a code and storing the normalized signal strength in association with the code and a reception time stamp.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said means for comparing the code to a list of previously-received codes includes means for comparing the normalized signal strength of the broadcast received to a time-weighted normalized signal strength value of a previously-received code.

11. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said transmitters broadcast on an intermittent basis.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said transmitters broadcast on a common frequency.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said means for storing the code as a record of the person'"'"'s location includes means for storing a time stamp associated with the code.

14. A method for determining the location of a person within a monitored premises having a plurality of designated areas in which the person'"'"'s presence is intended to be detected interconnected by gateways, comprising the steps of

a) assigning each designated area a unique first identifier value;

b) assigning a unique second identifier value to each gateway;

c) locating a transmitter within each designated area proximate each gateway and assigning the transmitter a unique code corresponding to the unique first identifier for the designated area and to the unique second identifier for the gateway associated with the transmitter;

d) having the transmitter broadcast its unique code for reception by a receiver carried by the person;

e) processing the unique code by the receiver for validity by comparing the code received to a list of previously received codes stored by the receiver corresponding to a record of previous other locations for the person and determining whether the received code corresponds to a valid location for the person based upon the relationship between the position associated with the received code and the record of previous other locations; and

f) storing the validated code in the receiver as a record of the location of the person as of the time of reception.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said broadcasting step is performed on an intermittent basis.

16. The method of claim 14 further comprising the step of assigning a unique second identifier value to a chosen location within a designated area not associated with a gateway, locating an additional transmitter at that location and assigning the additional transmitter a unique code having as a first identifier the unique first identifier value assigned for the designated area and a second identifier corresponding to the unique second identifier for the chosen location associated with the transmitter.

17. The method of claim 14 further comprising the step of transmitting validated codes stored by the receiver to a remote location for display and correlation with the physical locations associated therewith.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said step of transmitting validated codes occurs upon a command of the person carrying the receiver.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein said step of transmitting validated codes occurs upon a command of the remote location.