Method and apparatus for tracking objects and people
DCFirst Claim
1. A system for locating, identifying, tracking, and providing surveillance of at least one object or person, said system comprising:
- an active or passive transponder affixable to the object or person;
a scanner for transmitting and receiving time-varying electromagnetic radio frequency (RE) signals; and
an antenna for respectively transmitting and receiving said RF signals to and from said scanner and said transponder, wherein said antenna being strategically affixable within a facility for enabling the system to process data generated by said transponder, scanner and antenna to locate, identify, track and provide surveillance of the object or person having said transponder affixed to the object or person, and said system being configured such that said locating determines a position of the object or person, said identifying determines a characteristic by which the object or person is recognizable, said tracking monitors the course of a moving object or person, and said surveillance providing generally continuous systematic observation of an assigned coverage region for detection and said tracking of the object or person.
1 Assignment
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Reexamination
Accused Products
Abstract
An object locating, identifying, tracking, and surveillance system, denoted the Assets Locating, Tracking, and Surveillance System (ALTSS), is provided for managing physical objects and evidence in environments such as police departments, law offices, and the Courts. ALTSS employs radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, computer programming and database applications, networking technologies, and hardware elements. ALTSS may locate and track physical evidence, merchandise, information carriers like files, folders or individual pieces of paper, and people, under certain conditions, in near-real time. It may be configured as part of a local area network, a wide area network, or the Internet. ALTSS may employ exemplary components such as RFID transponders, scanners, strategically located antennas and computers to facilitate tracking of objects and people as needed. Any number of users having access privileges and connected to the network may access ALTSS directly or remotely via the Internet to locate and track evidence or objects.
294 Citations
53 Claims
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1. A system for locating, identifying, tracking, and providing surveillance of at least one object or person, said system comprising:
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an active or passive transponder affixable to the object or person;
a scanner for transmitting and receiving time-varying electromagnetic radio frequency (RE) signals; and
an antenna for respectively transmitting and receiving said RF signals to and from said scanner and said transponder, wherein said antenna being strategically affixable within a facility for enabling the system to process data generated by said transponder, scanner and antenna to locate, identify, track and provide surveillance of the object or person having said transponder affixed to the object or person, and said system being configured such that said locating determines a position of the object or person, said identifying determines a characteristic by which the object or person is recognizable, said tracking monitors the course of a moving object or person, and said surveillance providing generally continuous systematic observation of an assigned coverage region for detection and said tracking of the object or person. - 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)
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27. A system for locating, identifying, tracking, and providing surveillance of at least one object or person, said system comprising:
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an active or passive transponder affixable to the object or person;
a scanner for transmitting and receiving at least one of a laser and an infrared signal; and
an antenna for respectively transmitting and receiving said at least one of laser and infrared signals to and from said scanner and said transponder, wherein said antenna being strategically affixable within a facility for enabling the system to process data generated by said transponder, scanner and antenna to locate, identify, track and provide surveillance of the object or person having said transponder affixed to the object or person, and said system being configured such that said locating determines a position of the object or person, said identifying determines a characteristic by which the object or person is recognizable, said tracking monitors the course of a moving object or person, and said surveillance providing generally continuous systematic observation of an assigned coverage region for detection and said tracking of the object or person. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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29. A method of locating, identifying, tracking, and providing surveillance of at least one object or person by means of a system, said method comprising:
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affixing an active or passive transponder to the object or person;
providing a scanner;
providing an antenna;
if said transponder is passive, transmitting a time-varying electromagnetic radio frequency (RF) signal by means of said scanner, energizing said transponder by said RF signal, and transmitting information stored in said transponder back to said scanner;
if said transponder is active, automatically transmitting said information stored in said transponder back to said scanner;
processing said transmitted information to enable locating, identifying, tracking, and surveillance of the object or person; and
configuring the system such that said locating determines a position of the object or person, said identifying determines a characteristic by which the object or person is recognizable, said tracking monitors the course of a moving object or person, and said surveillance provides generally continuous systematic observation of an assigned coverage region for detection and said tracking of the object or person. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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34. A method according to clam 31, if said scanner is a wall scanner and detects a transponder ID, said method further comprising:
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comparing known transponder IDs with said detected transponder ID;
if one of said known transponder IDs does not correspond to said detected transponder ID, then at least one of recording movement of said detected transponder ID and indicating said detected transponder ID as being unknown; and
if one of said known transponder IDs corresponds to one of said detected transponder IDs, then at least one of recording said detected transponder ID and recording movement of said detected transponder ID.
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42. A system for locating, identifying, tracking, and providing surveillance of at least one object or person, said system comprising:
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an active or passive transponder affixable to the object or person;
a scanner for transmitting and receiving time-varying electromagnetic radio frequency (RF) signals; and
an antenna for respectively transmitting and receiving said RE signals to and from said scanner and said transponder, wherein said antenna being strategically affixable within a facility, and said system including locating, identifying, tracking and surveillance means for enabling the system to process data generated by said transponder, scanner and antenna to locate, identify, track and provide surveillance of the object or person having said transponder affixed to the object or person, said locating means enabling location of a position of the object or person, said identifying means enabling identification of a characteristic by which the object or person is recognizable, said tracking means enabling tracking of the course of a moving object or person, and said surveillance means enabling generally continuous surveillance by providing systematic observation of an assigned coverage region for detection and said tracking of the object or person. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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Specification