Wireless location assisted zone guidance system compatible with large and small land zones

• US 9,961,884 B1
• Filed: 03/17/2015
• Issued: 05/08/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GPSip, Inc.
• Original Assignee: GPSip, Inc.
• Inventors: Landers, Rodney P., Nieuwsma, Kevin L., James, Chad R., Krekelberg, Patrick J.
• Primary Examiner(s): PHAM, THANH T
• Application Number:
  US14/660,922
• Time in Patent Office: 1,148 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 15/023 Anti-evasion devices
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 27/009 with electric-shock, sound, magnetic- or radio-waves emitting devices
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 29/005 Monitoring or measuring activity, e.g. detecting heat or mating
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/14 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/52 Determining velocity
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/01 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/00 Alarms responsive to a single specified undesired or abnormal condition and not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0225 Monitoring making use of different thresholds, e.g. for different alarm levels
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0261 System arrangements wherein the object is to detect trespassing over a fixed physical boundary, e.g. the end of a garden
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0269 System arrangements wherein the object is to detect the exact location of child or item using a navigation satellite system, e.g. GPS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A look-up table is defined by at least one reference point, and rows and columns that are offset from the reference. The table rows and columns correspond to ordinate and abscissa data points representing geographic locations. Each data point offset in the table corresponds to a predefined geographic offset. The look-up table contains machine-stored values at each table location, with each value representing a particular one of several guidance zones. Each guidance zone is associated with behavioral guidance provided to an animal. Real-time determination of a current guidance zone is made by first determining present location. The corresponding table location is identified by calculating latitudinal and longitudinal offsets from a reference point, and using these offsets as the two indices to access a double-indexed array. The offsets are selectively subjected to a scalar conversion to accommodate large land areas while limiting the amount of memory required to store the table.

Claims

1. A method of storing behavioral guidance zone indicia, comprising steps of:

providing electronically accessible memory having at least a fixed size memory;

providing a double-indexed array having a pair of indices in said electronically accessible memory;

adjusting position resolution to adjust a boundary to natively fit within said fixed size memory;

and electronically retrieving behavioral modification actions associated with a current geographic location, further comprising steps of;

detecting when a border map will not fit within a suitable portion of a tile in said fixed size memory;

scaling a resolution of said border map to reduce the resolution thereof responsive to said detecting step, until said border map will fit within said suitable portion of said tile;

electronically associating a first one of said double-indexed array indices to a latitudinal offset from a geographic reference point;

electronically associating a second one of said double-indexed array indices to a longitudinal offset from said geographic reference point; and

storing a value at each individual array location representing a single behavioral guidance zone selected from a plurality of distinct behavioral guidance zones;

storing a unique set of behavioral processes associated with each one of said plurality of distinct behavioral guidance zones in the electronically accessible memory;

representing said current geographic location by latitude and longitude points;

electronically determining a latitudinal offset and a longitudinal offset between said current geographic location and said geographic reference point;

applying a scalar conversion factor to at least one of said latitudinal offset and said longitudinal offset responsive to said detecting step, to thereby reduce a magnitude of said at least one of said latitudinal offset and said longitudinal offset;

electronically retrieving said stored value representing said single behavioral guidance zone from an individual array location defined by said latitudinal offset and said longitudinal offset subsequent to said applying step; and

electronically retrieving said unique set of behavioral processes associated with said stored value.

2. The method of storing behavioral guidance zone indicia of claim 1, wherein said step of representing said current geographic location by latitude and longitude points further comprises the steps of:

generating current electrical latitude and longitude information within a wireless location determination apparatus representative of a current position of said wireless location determination apparatus, wherein said wireless location determination apparatus is local to said fixed size memory;

providing said current electrical latitude and longitude information at an output of said wireless location determination apparatus; and

reading said output from said wireless location determination apparatus to obtain said current latitude and longitude information.

3. The method of storing behavioral guidance zone indicia of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

powering at least one stimulation apparatus coupled to a housing by an electrical power source within said housing; and

providing said unique set of behavioral processes associated with said stored value through said stimulation apparatus.

4. The method of storing behavioral guidance zone indicia of claim 3, wherein said step of providing said unique set of behavioral processes further comprises a step of generating a sound.

5. The method of storing behavioral guidance zone indicia of claim 3, wherein said step of providing said unique set of behavioral processes further comprises a step of generating a vibration.

6. The method of storing behavioral guidance zone indicia of claim 3, wherein said step of providing said unique set of behavioral processes further comprises a step of generating an electrical stimulation.

7. The method of storing behavioral guidance zone indicia of claim 1, wherein said memory further comprises volatile memory and non-volatile memory, and further comprising a steps of:

dividing geographic latitude and longitude locations into a plurality of tiles each containing unique double-indexed data;

storing said plurality of tiles of double-indexed data into said non-volatile memory, each one of said plurality of tiles representative of unique geographic latitude and longitude locations and comprising a reference location corresponding to a specific geographic latitude and longitude; and

comparing said latitude and longitude points of said current geographic location with said plurality of tile reference locations; and

selectively loading a unique one of said plurality of tiles of double-indexed data into said volatile memory responsive to said comparing step.

8. The method of storing behavioral guidance zone indicia of claim 7, wherein said step of selectively loading a unique one of said plurality of tiles of double-indexed data into said volatile memory further comprises loading only one of said plurality of tiles in said volatile memory at a time, while preserving all others of said plurality of tiles solely in said non-volatile memory.

9. The method of storing behavioral guidance zone indicia of claim 1, wherein said plurality of distinct behavioral guidance zones further comprise at least a safe zone value and an alert zone value.