Mobile tracking device for transportation industry

• US 6,937,855 B2
• Filed: 11/09/2001
• Issued: 08/30/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 08/13/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Joseph S. Nadan
• Original Assignee: Joseph S. Nadan
• Inventors: Nadan, Joseph S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramakrishnaiah, Melur
• Application Number:
  US10/399,280
• Publication Number:
  US 20040116116A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,390 Days
• Field of Search: 455/418, 455/456.1, 455/67.11, 455/432.1, 455/437, 455/455, 455/457, 340/988, 340/989, 340/990, 701/207, 701/208, 342/357.01, 342/357.02
• US Class Current: 455/418
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0294 Trajectory determination or predictive filtering, e.g. target tracking or Kalman filtering
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0295 Proximity-based methods, e.g. position inferred from reception of particular signals
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A freight tracking system having sufficient accuracy for most commercial freight hauling purposes is disclosed. The system includes a mobile telephone transmitter located in the freight or in the vehicle hauling the freight that automatically calls a telephone at the central reporting station. A caller reception unit detects the calling number and current visited base station information without answering the call and supplies it to a computer at the central reporting station which then determines the location of the shipment.

Claims

1. A tracking apparatus, comprising:

a mobile device varying in geographic location;

a callback unit, attached to said mobile device, programmed to telephone a destination and terminate said telephone call prior to completion of said call;

a computer system responsive to said unanswered calls from said callback unit, said computer system having call-information processing software, a database, and a user interface resident therein.

2. The tracking apparatus of claim 1, further comprising

said unanswered-call information being proprietary to a specific telephone provider.

3. The tracking apparatus of claim 1, further comprising

said unanswered-call information being customized to a stand-alone phone company integrated with said computer system.

4. The tracking apparatus of claim 1, further comprising

said callback unit is pre-programmed to originate calls according to a user'"'"'s preferred schedule.

5. The tracking apparatus of claim 1, further comprising

said calls are received by a landline telephone system connected to said computer system.

6. The tracking apparatus of claim 1, further comprising

said calls are received by a mobile telephone system which transfers them to a landline telephone system connected to said computer system.

7. The tracking apparatus of claim 1, further comprising

said database is coordinated with a telephone provider to frequently update area codes with geographic regions.

8. The tracking apparatus of claim 1, further comprising

said computer system, application, database, and an operating system restrict separate users from viewing data belonging to other users through separate processes each of which has a data segregation component.

9. The tracking apparatus of claim 1, further comprising

said computer system being operable by a human or automated attendant vocally communicating with users through telephone.

10. The tracking apparatus of claim 1, further comprising

said computer system having multiple telephone lines connected thereto.

11. The tracking apparatus of claim 1, wherein said callback unit further comprises an receiver for receiving telephone calls and in response originating a call to said computer system.

12. The tracking apparatus of claim 4, wherein said callback unit adjusts the frequency of outgoing calls depending on its distance or expected travel time from a predetermined destination.

13. A method for tracking, comprising:

calling a central base station from a callback unit attached to a mobile device;

programming the duration of the telephone call to be sufficient to convey call-origin properties yet brief enough to hang up before incurring calling charges;

reading call-origin information accompanying said call;

processing desired portions of said call-origin information by a computer system connected to said central base station; and

coordinating said call-origin information with a database within said computer system.

14. The tracking method of claim 13, further comprising

said call-origin information being proprietary to a specific telephone provider.

15. The tracking method of claim 13, further comprising

customizing said call-origin information, by an individual telephone company;

connecting said individual telephone company to said computer system.

16. The tracking method of claim 13, further comprising

coordinating said database with a telephone provider to frequently update area codes with geographic regions.

17. The tracking method of claim 13, further comprising

segregating data areas belonging to said separate processes;

thereby

restricting separate users from viewing data belonging to other users.

18. The tracking method of claim 13, further comprising

enabling users to remotely access said computer system.

19. The tracking method of claim 13, further comprising

operating said computer system by a human or automatic attendant;

vocally communicating with users through a telephone;

thereby

providing desired portions of said call-origin information to users lacking remote access to said computer system.