Method and system for remotely monitoring a user

• US 10,573,152 B2
• Filed: 10/11/2018
• Issued: 02/25/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Resource Consortium Limited, LLC
• Original Assignee: Resource Consortium Limited, LLC
• Inventors: Humbard, Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): La, Anh V
• Application Number:
  US16/157,516
• Publication Number:
  US 20190051130A1
• Time in Patent Office: 502 Days
• Field of Search: 3405734, 3405731, 34053911, 34053912, 34053913, 3405391
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/02 Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0202 Child monitoring systems using a transmitter-receiver system carried by the parent and the child
• 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: G08B 21/0275 Electronic Article Surveillance [EAS] tag technology used for parent or child unit, e.g. same transmission technology, magnetic tag, RF tag, RFID
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0283 via a telephone network, e.g. cellular GSM
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/04 responsive to non-activity, e.g. of elderly persons G08B21/06 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0453 worn on the body to detect health condition by physiological monitoring, e.g. electrocardiogram, temperature, breathing detecting, measuring or recording for diagnostic purposes A61B5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/088 by monitoring a device worn by the person, e.g. a bracelet attached to the swimmer
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/22 responsive to presence or absence of persons
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/022 with dynamic range variability

Abstract

A system may include a user monitor device, a supervisory device, and a subscription sub-system. The subscription sub-system may be configured to: obtain a definition of a boundary that includes a radius from a particular location; monitor, by way of global positioning system (GPS) signals, a location of the user monitor device; determine that the user monitor device has crossed the boundary; and in response to determining that the user monitor device has crossed the boundary, transmit an alert to the supervisory device.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a user monitor device;

a supervisory device; and

a subscription sub-system configured to;

receive, by way of the supervisory device, user information and monitoring options;

create a user profile based on the user information;

obtain a definition of a particular location from the monitoring options;

monitor, by way of global positioning system (GPS) signals, a location of the user monitor device;

determine that the user monitor device is in the particular location; and

in response to determining that the user monitor device is in the particular location, transmit an alert to the supervisory device,

wherein the subscription sub-system supports multiple selectable levels of subscription services, and wherein location monitoring of the user monitor device is one of the multiple selectable levels of subscription services, and wherein the multiple selectable levels of service are each associated with types of monitoring and alert options.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein transmitting the alert to the supervisory device comprises transmitting geographical information specifying the location.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the alert indicates that the particular location has been entered by the user monitor device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the alert comprises an email message.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a second user monitor device, wherein the definition of the particular location applies to both the user monitor device and the second user monitor device, and wherein the subscription sub-system is further configured to;

monitor, by way of GPS signals, a second location of the second user monitor device;

determine that the second user monitor device is in the particular location; and

in response to determining that the second user monitor device is in the particular location, transmit a further alert to the supervisory device.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a web site through which the supervisory device can be configured as a recipient of the alert.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the web site allows a plurality of devices, including the supervisory device, to be configured as recipients of the alert, and wherein the subscription sub-system is further configured to:

in response to determining that the user monitor device is in the particular location, transmit the alert to the plurality of devices.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the user monitor device is assigned a unique identifier.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the subscription sub-system stores the alert in an alert history that includes an alert type and time and date of the alert.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the supervisory device incurs a flat rate subscription fee.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the definition of the particular location is received from the supervisory device.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the subscription sub-system is further configured to:

determine that the user monitor device has left the particular location; and

in response to determining that the user monitor device has left the particular location, transmit a further alert to the supervisory device.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a tamper alert module within the user monitor device, wherein the tamper alert module is configured to cause, when the user monitor device is subject to tampering, transmission of an alarm to the supervisory device, and wherein the tamper alert module can be armed or disarmed by a code obtained from the supervisory device.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the tampering involves an attempt to remove user monitoring from the user monitor device while the tamper alert module is armed.

15. A subscription sub-system configured to:

receive, by way of a supervisory device, user information and monitoring options;

create a user profile based on the user information;

obtain a definition of a particular location, from the monitoring options;

monitor, by way of, global positioning system (GPS) signals, a location of a user monitor device;

determine that the user monitor device is in the particular location; and

in response to determining that the user monitor device is in the particular location, transmit an alert to the supervisory device,

wherein the subscription sub-system supports multiple selectable levels of subscription services, and wherein location monitoring of the user monitor device is one of the multiple selectable levels of subscription services, and wherein the multiple selectable levels of service are each associated with types of monitoring and alert options.

16. A method comprising:

receiving, by way of a supervisory device, user information and monitoring options;

creating a user profile based on the user information;

obtaining a definition a particular location from the monitoring options;

monitoring, by way of, global positioning system (GPS) signals, a location of a user monitor device;

determining that the user monitor device is in the particular location; and

in response to determining that the user monitor device is in the particular location, transmit an alert to the supervisory device,

wherein a subscription sub-system facilitating monitoring of the user monitor device by the supervisory device supports multiple selectable levels of subscription services, and wherein location monitoring of the user monitor device is one of the multiple selectable levels of subscription services, and wherein the multiple selectable levels of service are each associated with types of monitoring and alert options.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein transmitting the alert to the supervisory device comprises transmitting geographical information specifying the location.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the alert indicates that the location has been entered by the user monitor device.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the alert comprises an email message.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the definition of the particular location applies to both the user monitor device and a second user monitor device, the method further comprising:

monitoring, by way of, GPS signals, a second location of the second user monitor device;

determining that the second user monitor device is in the particular location; and

in response to determining that the second user monitor device is in the particular location, transmit a further alert to the supervisory device.

21. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

configuring, by way of a web site, the supervisory device as a recipient of the alert.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the web site allows a plurality of devices, including the supervisory device, to be configured as recipients of the alert, the method further comprising:

in response to determining that the user monitor device is in the particular location, transmit the alert to the plurality of devices.

23. The method of claim 16, wherein the user monitor device is assigned a unique identifier.

24. The method of claim 16, wherein the subscription sub-system stores the alert in an alert history that includes an alert type and time and date of the alert.

25. The method of claim 16, wherein the definition of the particular location is received from the supervisory device.

26. The method of claim 16, wherein a tamper alert module within the user monitor device is configured to cause, when the user monitor device is subject to tampering, transmission of an alarm to the supervisory device, and wherein the tamper alert module can be armed or disarmed by a code obtained from the supervisory device.