Identifying the location of an asset
First Claim
1. A tracking system to track the location of a plurality of assets of interest, said tracking system comprising:
- a set of asset badges, wherein each of said set of asset badges is attached to a corresponding one of a first set of assets and transmits a corresponding badge identifier;
a plurality of intelligent badges, wherein each of said plurality of intelligent badges is attached to a corresponding one of a second set of assets and transmits a corresponding badge identifier, wherein said first set of assets and said second set of assets are comprised in said plurality of assets;
each of said plurality of intelligent badges receiving a corresponding one of a plurality of sets of badge identifiers, each of said plurality of intelligent badges sending said corresponding one of a plurality of sets of badge identifiers associated with a badge identifier of the intelligent badge, wherein the badge identifiers in each set are sent together associated with the badge identifier of the intelligent badge even if the badge identifiers in the set are it received at different time instances;
a processing system receiving and processing said plurality of sets of badge identifiers and corresponding identifiers of said intelligent badges to determine a location of each of said plurality of assets of interest; and
a reader receiving each of said plurality of sets of badge identifiers and said associated badge identifier from a corresponding one of said plurality of intelligent badges, said reader sending said plurality of sets of badge identifiers and said associated badge identifiers to said processing system, wherein said reader is associated with a reader zone,wherein each of said asset badges transmits a corresponding badge identifier using a first type of signals suited for a first distance range, and each of said plurality of intelligent badges sends said corresponding one of said plurality of sets of badge identifiers associated with said badge identifier of the intelligent badge using a second type of signals suited for a second distance range, wherein said second distance range is more than said first distance range,wherein said reader is located within a distance of said second distance range from each of said plurality of intelligent badges.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
According to an aspect of the present invention, an intelligent badge having the ability of collecting the identifiers of each of the badges located within the zone of the intelligent badge may be employed to identify the location of each badge. The central processing system determines the relative location of an asset by processing the sets of identifiers received from multiple intelligent badges. The relative location of an asset is determined by identifying at least one common badge identifier of a badge attached to a corresponding one of assets. The relative location of each asset may be determined with reference to known location of some badges by employing reference badges.
-
Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A tracking system to track the location of a plurality of assets of interest, said tracking system comprising:
-
a set of asset badges, wherein each of said set of asset badges is attached to a corresponding one of a first set of assets and transmits a corresponding badge identifier; a plurality of intelligent badges, wherein each of said plurality of intelligent badges is attached to a corresponding one of a second set of assets and transmits a corresponding badge identifier, wherein said first set of assets and said second set of assets are comprised in said plurality of assets; each of said plurality of intelligent badges receiving a corresponding one of a plurality of sets of badge identifiers, each of said plurality of intelligent badges sending said corresponding one of a plurality of sets of badge identifiers associated with a badge identifier of the intelligent badge, wherein the badge identifiers in each set are sent together associated with the badge identifier of the intelligent badge even if the badge identifiers in the set are it received at different time instances; a processing system receiving and processing said plurality of sets of badge identifiers and corresponding identifiers of said intelligent badges to determine a location of each of said plurality of assets of interest; and a reader receiving each of said plurality of sets of badge identifiers and said associated badge identifier from a corresponding one of said plurality of intelligent badges, said reader sending said plurality of sets of badge identifiers and said associated badge identifiers to said processing system, wherein said reader is associated with a reader zone, wherein each of said asset badges transmits a corresponding badge identifier using a first type of signals suited for a first distance range, and each of said plurality of intelligent badges sends said corresponding one of said plurality of sets of badge identifiers associated with said badge identifier of the intelligent badge using a second type of signals suited for a second distance range, wherein said second distance range is more than said first distance range, wherein said reader is located within a distance of said second distance range from each of said plurality of intelligent badges. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12)
-
-
8. A method of tracking the location of a plurality of assets of interest, said method comprising:
-
attaching each of a set of asset badges to a corresponding one of a first set of assets, wherein each of said set of asset badges transmits a corresponding badge identifier; attaching each of a plurality of intelligent badges to a corresponding one of a second set of assets, wherein each of said plurality of intelligent badges also transmits a corresponding badge identifier, wherein said first set of assets and said second set of assets are comprised in said plurality of assets; receiving each of a plurality of sets of badge identifiers in a corresponding one of said plurality of intelligent badges; transmitting from each intelligent badge a corresponding one of said plurality of sets of badge identifiers along with a badge identifier of the intelligent badge, wherein the badge identifiers in each set are sent together associated with the badge identifier of the intelligent badge even if the badge identifiers in the set are received at different time instances, wherein each of said asset badges transmits said corresponding badge identifier using a first type of signals suited for a first distance range, and each of said plurality of intelligent badges sending said corresponding one of said plurality of sets of badge identifiers along with a badge identifier of the intelligent badge using a second type of signals suited for a second distance range, wherein said second distance range is more than said first distance range; receiving in a reader each of said plurality of sets of badge identifiers and said associated badge identifier from a corresponding one of said plurality of intelligent badges, wherein said reader sends said plurality of set of badge identifier to a processing system, wherein said reader is located within a distance of said second distance range from each of said plurality of intelligent badges, wherein said reader is associated with a reader zone; and processing in said processing system said plurality of sets of badge identifiers and corresponding identifiers of said intelligent badges to determine a location of each of said plurality of assets of interest. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 13)
-
-
14. A method of tracking the location of a plurality of assets of interest, said method comprising:
-
attaching each of a set of asset badges to a corresponding one of a first set of assets, wherein each of said set of asset badges transmits a corresponding badge identifier; attaching each of a plurality of intelligent badges to a corresponding one of a second set of assets, wherein each of said plurality of intelligent badges also transmits a corresponding badge identifier, wherein said first set of assets and said second set of assets are comprised in said plurality of assets; receiving each of a plurality of sets of badge identifiers in a corresponding one of said plurality of intelligent badges; transmitting from each intelligent badge a corresponding one of said plurality of sets of badge identifiers along with a badge identifier of the intelligent badge, wherein the badge identifiers in each set are sent together associated with the badge identifier of the intelligent badge even if the badge identifiers in the set are received at different time instances; said transmitting being performed without requiring a request to transmit from any external systems; wherein a reader receives each of said plurality of sets of badge identifiers and associated badge identifier from a corresponding one of said plurality of intelligent badges, said reader sending said plurality of set of badge identifiers and associated badge identifier to said processing system, wherein each of said asset badges transmits corresponding badge identifier using a first type of signals suited for a distance range, and each of said plurality of intelligent badges sending said corresponding one of said plurality of sets of badge identifiers associated with said badge identifier of the intelligent badge using a second type of signals suited for a second distance range, wherein said second distance range is more than said first distance range, and wherein said reader is located within a distance of said second distance range from each of said plurality of intelligent badges; and processing in a processing system said plurality of sets of badge identifiers and corresponding identifiers of said intelligent badges to determine a location of each of said plurality of assets of interest. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
-
Specification