System and method for collaborative resource tracking
First Claim
1. An efficient, low power, scalable system for monitoring one or a plurality of mobile assets within a predetermined area, the system comprising:
- a plurality of anchors having known, fixed locations;
said anchors configured to transmit and receive data wirelessly;
at least one sensor to be located or tracked;
each of said sensors coupled with a mobile asset and configured to exchange location data with sensors or anchors located nearby;
whereby each sensor determines its location relative to nearby sensors; and
a monitoring processor configured to obtain location information from the sensors in response to a query made by a user.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for locating, tracking, and monitoring resource in large-scale facilities is disclosed herein. The system is based on a sensor network and is efficient, scalable, and requires only short-range communication. The system allows for sensor-to-sensor communication as well as the traditional sensor-to-anchor communication to effectively eliminate long-range communications. In order to perform resource localization and tracking, the present invention pairs each resource with an inexpensive, low-powered sensor possessing minimal resources or anchors and those resources communicate with their nearby resources or anchors until a wireless, linked network of resources and anchors is formed.
41 Citations
16 Claims
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1. An efficient, low power, scalable system for monitoring one or a plurality of mobile assets within a predetermined area, the system comprising:
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a plurality of anchors having known, fixed locations;
said anchors configured to transmit and receive data wirelessly;at least one sensor to be located or tracked;
each of said sensors coupled with a mobile asset and configured to exchange location data with sensors or anchors located nearby;
whereby each sensor determines its location relative to nearby sensors; anda monitoring processor configured to obtain location information from the sensors in response to a query made by a user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for monitoring the location of one or a plurality of mobile assets, the method comprising:
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deploying a plurality of anchors, said anchors having a known location and being configured to transmit and receive data wirelessly; disposing a sensor on each mobile asset to be tracked;
said sensors being configured to transmit and receive data wirelessly;exchanging location data between each sensor and one or both of nearby sensors and anchors; determining an appropriate set of one or both of nearby sensors or anchors to ensure the location data is sufficient and reliable; and calculating a location estimate of the mobile asset based on the location data received from the appropriate set. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification