System and method for reporting a status of an asset

• US 9,064,421 B2
• Filed: 09/20/2010
• Issued: 06/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SkyBitz, Inc. (Ametek Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: SkyBitz, Inc. (Ametek Incorporated)
• Inventors: Battista, Rich
• Primary Examiner(s): Bugg, George
• Assistant Examiner(s): Labbees, Edny
• Application Number:
  US12/886,098
• Publication Number:
  US 20110010044A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,737 Days
• Field of Search: 701/207, 701/213, 701/216, 701/201, 340/425.5, 340/988.8, 340/500, 340/3.71, 340/438, 340/439
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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

Abstract

A system and method for reporting a status of an asset is described. In one embodiment, an asset status is determined based on configurable parameters to thereby enable accurate reporting of departures and arrivals of an asset.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

during a time period that begins when a transition is detected from a first operational condition to a second operational condition of an asset, determining a non-zero percentage of time during the time period that the asset operated in the first operational condition; and

initiating a transmission of a status report to a site remote from the asset when it is determined that the non-zero percentage of time is less than a threshold value representing a fraction of the time period.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first operational condition is a motion condition and the second operational condition is a no-motion condition.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first operational condition is a no-motion condition and the second operational condition is a motion condition.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the status report includes time and position information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the time information is a time of the detected transition.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the length of the time period and the threshold value are configurable parameters.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving, via satellite, a configurable parameter at a mobile terminal affixed to the asset; and

setting at least one of the length of the time period and the threshold value based on the received configurable parameter.

8. A device, comprising:

a sensor that is configured to measure a state of an asset;

a processor that is configured to detect, based on measurements by the sensor, when a transition from a first operational condition to a second operational condition of the asset occurs, to determine, during a time period that begins when the transition is detected, a non-zero percentage of time during the time period that the asset operated in the first operational condition, and to initiate a transmission of a status report to a site remote from the asset when it is determined that the non-zero percentage of time is less than a threshold value representing a fraction of the time period.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the first operational condition is a motion condition and the second operational condition is a no-motion condition.

10. The device of claim 8, wherein the first operational condition is a no-motion condition and the second operational condition is a motion condition.

11. The device of claim 8, wherein the status report includes time and position information.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the time information is a time of the detected transition.

13. The device of claim 8, wherein at least one of the length of the time period and the threshold value are configurable parameters.

14. The device of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to set at least one of the length of the time period and the threshold value based on a parameter received wirelessly by the device from a remote location.

15. A mobile terminal system, comprising:

a sensor that is configured to measure a state of an asset;

a processor that is configured to detect, based on measurements by the sensor, when a transition from a first operational condition to a second operational condition of the asset occurs and to determine, during a time period that begins when the transition is detected, a non-zero percentage of time during the time period that the asset remained in the first operational condition; and

a transmitter that is configured to transmit a status report to a site remote from the asset when it is determined that the non-zero percentage of time is less than a threshold value representing a fraction of the time period.

16. The mobile terminal of claim 15, wherein the first operational condition is a motion condition and the second operational condition is a no-motion condition.

17. The mobile terminal of claim 15, wherein the first operational condition is a no-motion condition and the second operational condition is a motion condition.

18. The mobile terminal of claim 15, wherein the status report includes time and position information.

19. The mobile terminal of claim 18, wherein the time information is a time of the detected transition.

20. The mobile terminal of claim 15, wherein the sensor is a vibration sensor.