Method and apparatus for tracking objects and people
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A system for locating, identifying and tracking of at least one object, said system comprising:
- a transponder affixable to the object;
scanners for transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals;
antennas for respectively transmitting and receiving said RF signals to and from said scanners and said transponder; and
a processor for polling at least one of said scanners to determine whether said polled scanner is at least one of;
an entrance/exit scanner; and
,a scanner affixed on a ceiling or wall of a facility, thereby designated a wall scanner; and
wherein said antennas being affixable within the facility for enabling the system to locate, identify and track the object having said transponder affixed to the object, and wherein said locating determines a position of the object, said identifying determines a characteristic by which the object is recognizable, and said tracking monitors the movement of the object.
1 Assignment
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Reexamination
Accused Products
Abstract
An object locating, identifying, and tracking system is provided for managing physical objects and people in environments such as police departments, law offices, the Courts, hospitals, warehouses, and department stores. The system employs RFID technology, computer programming and database applications, networking technologies, and hardware elements. Employing its algorithmic decision machine to develop RFID tag operational state data, the system may provide item-level visibility in locating and tracking physical evidence, merchandise, valued items, people and supply chain items in near-real time. The system may be configured as part of a local area network, a wide area network, or the Internet. It may employ exemplary components such as RFID transponders or tags, scanners, 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 the system directly or remotely via the Internet to locate and track objects.
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Citations
62 Claims
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1. A system for locating, identifying and tracking of at least one object, said system comprising:
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a transponder affixable to the object; scanners for transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals; antennas for respectively transmitting and receiving said RF signals to and from said scanners and said transponder; and a processor for polling at least one of said scanners to determine whether said polled scanner is at least one of; an entrance/exit scanner; and
,a scanner affixed on a ceiling or wall of a facility, thereby designated a wall scanner; and wherein said antennas being affixable within the facility for enabling the system to locate, identify and track the object having said transponder affixed to the object, and wherein said locating determines a position of the object, said identifying determines a characteristic by which the object is recognizable, and said tracking monitors the movement of the object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for locating, identifying and tracking of at least one object, said system comprising:
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a transponder affixable to the object; scanners for transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals; antennas for respectively transmitting and receiving said RF signals to and from said scanners and said-transponder; and a processor for polling at least one of said scanners to determine whether said polled scanner is at least one of; an entrance/exit scanner; and
,a scanner affixed on a ceiling or wall of a facility, thereby designated a wall scanner; wherein said antennas being affixable within the facility for enabling the processor to locate, identify and track the object having said transponder affixed to the object, and wherein said locating determines a position of the object, said identifying determines a characteristic by which the object is recognizable, and said tracking monitors the movement of the object. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A system for locating, identifying and tracking of at least one object, said system comprising:
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a transponder affixable to the object; scanners for transmitting and receiving at least one of a laser and an infrared signal; antennas for respectively transmitting and receiving said at least one of laser and infrared signals to and from said scanners and said transponder; and a processor for polling at least one of said scanners to determine whether said polled scanner is at least one of; an entrance/exit scanner; and
,a scanner affixed on a ceiling or wall of a facility, thereby designated a wall scanner; wherein said antennas being affixable within the facility for enabling the system to locate, identify and track the object having said transponder affixed to the object, and wherein said locating determines a position of the object, said identifying determines a characteristic by which the object is recognizable, and said tracking monitors the movement of the object.
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27. A method of locating, identifying and tracking of at least one object, said method comprising:
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affixing a transponder to the object; providing scanners; providing antennas; transmitting information stored in said transponder to at least one of said scanners; processing said transmitted information to enable locating, identifying and tracking of the object, wherein said locating determines a position of the object, said identifying determines a characteristic by which the object is recognizable, and said tracking monitors the course of movement of the object; polling at least one of the scanners and determining whether said polled scanner is at least one of; an entrance/exit scanner; and a scanner affixed on a ceiling or wall of a facility, thereby designated a wall scanner. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A system for locating, identifying and tracking of at least one object or person, said system comprising:
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a transponder affixable to the object or person; scanners for transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals; antennas for respectively transmitting and receiving said RF signals to and from said scanners and said transponder; and a processor for; polling at least one of said scanners to determine whether said polled scanner is at least one of; an entrance/exit scanner; and
,a scanner affixed on a ceiling or wall of a facility, thereby designated a wall scanner; wherein said antennas being affixable within the facility for enabling the system to locate, identify and track the object or person having said transponder affixed to the object or person, wherein said locating determines a position of the object or person, said identifying determines a characteristic by which the object or person is recognizable, and said tracking monitors the movement of the object or person.
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37. A system for locating, identifying and tracking of at least one object or person, said system comprising:
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a transponder affixable to the objector person; scanners for transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals; antennas for respectively transmitting and receiving said RF signals to and from said scanners and said transponder; and a processor for polling at least one of said scanners to determine whether said polled scanner is at least one of; an entrance/exit scanner; and
,a scanner affixed on a ceiling or wall of a facility, thereby designated a wall scanner; and wherein said antennas being affixable within the facility for enabling the processor to locate, identify and track the object or person having said transponder affixed to the object or person, and wherein said locating determines a position of the object or person, said identifying determines a characteristic by which the object or person is recognizable, and said tracking monitors the movement of the object or person.
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38. A system for locating, identifying and tracking of at least one object, said system comprising:
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a transponder affixable to the object; scanners for transmitting and receiving at least one of a laser and an infrared signal; antennas for respectively transmitting and receiving said at least one of laser and infrared signals to and from said scanners and said transponder; and a processor for polling at least one of said scanners to determine whether said polled scanner is at least one of; an entrance/exit scanner; and
,a scanner affixed on a ceiling or wall of a facility, thereby designated a wall scanner; wherein said antennas being affixable within a facility for enabling the processor to locate, identify and track the object having said transponder affixed to the object, and wherein said locating determines a position of the object, said identifying determines a characteristic by which the object is recognizable, and said tracking monitors the movement of the object.
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39. A method of locating, identifying and tracking of at least one object or person by means of a system, said method comprising:
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affixing a transponder to the object or person; providing scanners; providing antennas; transmitting information stored in said transponder to at least one of said scanners; processing said transmitted information to enable locating, identifying and tracking of the object or person, wherein said locating determines a position of the object or person, said identifying determines a characteristic by which the object or person is recognizable, and said tracking monitors the movement of the object or person; and polling at least one of said scanners to determine whether said polled scanner is at least one of; an entrance/exit scanner; and
,a scanner affixed on a ceiling or wall of a facility, thereby designated a wall scanner.
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40. A system for locating, identifying and tracking of at least one object, said system comprising:
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a transponder affixable to the object; scanners for transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals; antennas for respectively transmitting and receiving said RF signals to and from said scanners and said transponder; and a processor for polling at least one of said scanners to determine whether said polled scanner is at least one of; an entrance/exit scanner; and
,a scanner affixed on a ceiling or wall of a facility, thereby designated a wall scanner; wherein said antennas being affixable within the facility, and said processor locating, identifying and tracking the object having said transponder affixed to the object, and wherein said locating enabling location of a position of the object, said identifying enabling identification of a characteristic by which the object is recognizable, and said tracking enabling tracking of the course of a moving object. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A system for locating, identifying, and/or tracking of at least one object, said system comprising:
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a transponder affixable to the object, the transponder associated with a transponder identification (ID); a reader for detecting a transponder ID; an antenna for communicating radio frequency (RF) signals between said reader and said transponder, the RF signals including the transponder ID; a storage device for storing known transponder IDs and detection information associated with the stored known transponder IDs, wherein the detection information indicates whether the stored known transponder ID has been previously detected by the system; and a processor for comparing the known transponder IDs stored in said storage device with the detected transponder ID, and determining whether the detected transponder ID is a detected known transponder ID based on the comparison of the known transponder IDs with the detected transponder ID. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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57. A system for locating, identifying, and/or tracking of at least one object, said system comprising:
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a transponder affixable to the object, the transponder associated with a transponder identification (ID); a reader; an antenna for communicating radio frequency (RF) signals between said reader and said transponder, the RF signals including the transponder ID; and a storage device storing previously detected transponder IDs by storing the transponder ID and information associated with the stored transponder ID indicating whether the stored transponder ID has been previously detected, wherein said system detects the transponder ID, compares the previously detected transponder IDs from said storage device with the detected transponder ID, and determines whether the transponder ID has been previously detected by the system based on the comparison of the previously detected transponder IDs with the detected transponder ID, and wherein the detected transponder ID is identified as a previously undetected transponder ID if the detected transponder ID has not been previously detected. - View Dependent Claims (58, 59, 60, 61)
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62. A system for locating, identifying, and tracking of at least one object, said system comprising:
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a transponder affixable to the object, the transponder associated with a transponder identification (ID); a reader; an antenna for communicating radio frequency (RF) signals between said reader and said transponder, the RF signals including the transponder ID; a storage device for storing known transponder IDs and detection information associated with the known transponder IDs, wherein the detection information indicates whether the known transponder ID has been previously detected by the system; and a processor for determining that said reader has detected the transponder ID, wherein the processor determines whether said detected transponder ID has been previously detected by the system based on the detection information stored in said storage device for the detected transponder ID, and wherein the detected transponder ID is identified as new to the system if the detected transponder ID has not been previously detected, and wherein the processor determines whether said detected transponder ID is a detected known transponder ID based on a comparison of known transponder IDs with said detected transponder ID.
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Specification