SYSTEM FOR TRACKING AND LOCATING AN OBJECT USING A CELLULAR NETWORK

• US 20050024202A1
• Filed: 07/14/2004
• Published: 02/03/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 08/01/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Spectrum Tracking Systems, Inc. (5th Element Tracking LLC)
• Original Assignee: Spectrum Tracking Systems, Inc. (5th Element Tracking LLC)
• Inventors: Smith, Lawrence M., Culpepper, Jerry W., VanCleave, James P.
• Granted Patent: US 7,151,446 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/539.130
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0294 Trajectory determination or predictive filtering, e.g. target tracking or Kalman filtering
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0272 System arrangements wherein the object is to detect exact location of child or item using triangulation other than GPS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a position isolation system comprising at least one portable cellular transmitter adapted for wireless data communication via an associated cellular communication system. Data exchange between the at least one cellular transmitter and an associated tracking station is initiated via the associated cellular communication system. The data exchange obtains additional position data representing an associated, cellular relay system through which the cellular data exchange is made, enabling isolation of the location of the portable cellular transmitter in a limited geographic region. The position isolation system also includes a secondary transmission system, associated with the portable transmitter, that is adapted for outputting information representing secondary location data. The secondary location data has a positioning resolution within that of the limited geographic region.

Claims

1. A position isolation system comprising:

at least one portable cellular transmitter adapted for wireless data communication via an associated cellular communication system;

activation means for selectively initiating data exchange between the at least one cellular transmitter and an associated tracking station via the associated cellular communication system, wherein data of the data exchange obtains additional position data representative of an associated, cellular relay system through which the cellular data exchange is made so as to allow for isolation of a location of the at least one portable cellular transmitter in a limited geographic region; and

a secondary transmission system associated with the at least one portable cellular transmitter, wherein the secondary transmission system is adapted for outputting information representative of secondary location data having a positioning resolution within that of the limited geographic region.

2. The position isolation system of claim 1, wherein the secondary transmission system includes a global positioning system for generating secondary location data in accordance with satellite acquired positioning data.

3. The position isolation system of claim 1, wherein the secondary transmission system includes means adapted for communicating a location beacon to at least one associated receiving station so as to facilitate generation of the secondary location data.

4. The position isolation system of claim 3, wherein the secondary location data is generated as a function of a strength of the location beacon.

5. The position isolation system of claim 3, wherein the secondary location data is generated mathematically in accordance with receipt of the location beacon by a plurality of associated receiving stations.

6. The position isolation system of claim 1, further comprising:

means adapted for securing the at least one portable cellular transmitter and the secondary transmission system so as to be generally concealed within an associated item of value; and

triggering means adapted for triggering the activation means in accordance with a selected trigger event.

7. The position isolation system of claim 6, wherein the associated, valuable object includes a currency bundle, and wherein the triggering means includes a reed switch, wherein the reed switch is enabled when the currency bundle is removed from a fixed location.

8. A system for locating objects, comprising:

at least one portable cellular transmitter adapted for wireless data communication via an associated cellular communication system;

a device controller, the device controller includes, means for acquiring cellular location data representative of at least one telecommunication cell associated with a transmission from the at least one cellular transmitter, a database, inclusive of map information relating to the cellular location data, and

an interface adapted for outputting location data inclusive of a selected portion of the map information corresponding to the cellular location data;

activation means adapted for selectively initiating data exchange between the at least one cellular transmitter and the device controller via the associated cellular communication system; and

means adapted for initiating a secondary location operation in connection with the selected portion of the map information.

9. The system for locating objects of claim 8, wherein the means for initiating a secondary location operation includes means adapted for activating a global positioning system for generating secondary location data in accordance with satellite acquired positioning data;

and further comprising means adapted for communicating the secondary location data to at least one associated receiving system.

10. The system for locating objects of claim 8, wherein the means for initiating a secondary location operation includes means adapted for communicating a location beacon to at least one associated receiving station.

11. The system for locating objects of claim 10, wherein the means for initiating a secondary location operation includes means adapted for generating a location beacon adapted for location as a function of a strength thereof.

12. The system for locating objects of claim 10, wherein the means for initiating a secondary location operation includes means adapted for communicating a location beacon to a plurality of spaced-apart receivers from which secondary location information is generated mathematically.