Systems and methods for distributed processing of location information associated with emergency 911 wireless transmissions

• US 20050135287A1
• Filed: 11/08/2004
• Published: 06/23/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tarsus Trust Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Tarsus Trust Company Limited
• Inventors: Stangle, John A., Gould, Lawrence A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,577,421 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/310
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/205 Mobile phones
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/00 Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles locks for vehicles E05B77/00-E05B85/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/102 a signal being sent to a remote location, e.g. a radio signal being transmitted to a police station, a security company or the owner
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/33 of global position, e.g. by providing GPS coordinates
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/006 for emergency situations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/008 using a mobile telephone network
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/04 Position of source determined by a plurality of spaced direction-finders
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/006 Alarm destination chosen according to type of event, e.g. in case of fire phone the fire service, in case of medical emergency phone the ambulance
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/08 using communication transmission lines G08B13/19658, G08B21/0286, G08B25/016 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental

Abstract

The present invention relates to systems and methods to locate and recover objects equipped with tracking devices by determining the location information of the object. The system employs multiple radio direction finding (RDF) devices, which is capable of determining the angle of arrival of a radio signal. The MSC sends a request along with radio information to a location processor, which controls the RDF devices. The system also employs a theft detection device, which is capable of placing a wireless telephone call to a monitoring center. The theft detection device connects to and receives instructions from the monitoring center, which retrieves the instructions from a primary database server. If the primary database server is unavailable, the request for information is sent to a secondary database server.

Claims

1. A system for determining the location of an object equipped with a tracking device capable of placing a wireless telephone call, the system comprising:

a mobile switching center connected to a telephone network;

at least one base station, wherein the at least one base station is in communication with the mobile switching center;

a plurality of wireless transmission antennas, wherein each wireless transmission antenna is in communication with one base station;

a location processor, the location processor being in communication with the mobile switching center, wherein the location processor is capable of determining the location of the radiotelephone through triangulation calculation;

a plurality of radio direction finding devices, each radio direction finding device being installed adjacent one wireless transmission antenna;

a monitoring center in communication with the monitoring center and a data network;

a plurality of database servers in communication with the data network; and

a tracking device installed on the object, wherein the tracking device is capable of initiating and receiving wireless telephone calls to and from the monitoring center.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein each database server has a subscriber database.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the subscriber database contains lists of actions prescribed by subscribers.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein one database server is assigned as the primary database server for the monitoring center.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the monitoring center is capable of accessing a secondary database server.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the data network is the Internet.

7. A method for locating an object equipped with a tracking device capable of receiving and placing wireless telephone calls, the method comprising:

receiving a notification about the object from a caller;

requesting information about the caller from a primary database server;

placing a call to the object device;

requesting a location processor to determine the location of the tracking device after the call to the tracking device is established;

receiving radio signal information related to the call from a mobile switching center;

sending radio signal information to a plurality of radio direction finding devices;

receiving angular information from at least two radio direction finding devices;

employing a triangulation method to calculate the location of the tracking device; and

transmitting information about the location to a monitoring center.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

receiving a list of prescribed actions from the primary database server; and

transmitting prescribed actions to the tracking device.

9. The method of claim 7 further comprises

requesting information about the caller from a secondary database server, if the primary database server does not supply the information requested.

10. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

identifying a new data in the primary database server for updating; and

sending the new data with update request to a secondary database server.

11. A method for providing assistance to an owner of a vehicle equipped with a theft detection device, the method comprising:

receiving a call from the theft detection device at a monitoring center;

receiving information about a triggering event;

requesting a list of prescribed actions from a primary database server;

requesting a location processor to determine the location of the theft detection device;

receiving radio signal information related to the call from a mobile switching center;

sending radio signal information to a plurality of radio direction finding devices;

receiving angular information from at least two radio direction finding devices; and

employing a triangulation method to calculate the location of the theft detection device.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

retrieving a list of prescribed actions from the primary database server; and

transmitting prescribed actions to the theft detection device.

13. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

placing a call to a roadside service center; and

transmitting the location information to the roadside service center.

14. The method of claim 11 further comprising

recording actions taken by the monitoring center.

15. The method of claim 11 further comprises

requesting the list of prescribed actions from a secondary database server, if the primary database server does not supply the requested list of actions.

16. A method for providing medical assistance to a person carrying a medical emergency device capable of placing a wireless telephone call, the method comprising:

receiving a call from the medical emergency device at a monitoring center;

requesting the person'"'"'s medical information from a primary database server;

requesting a location processor to determine the location of the device;

receiving radio signal information related to the call from a mobile switching center;

sending radio signal information to a plurality of radio direction finding devices;

receiving angular information from at least two radio direction finding devices;

employing a triangulation method to calculate the location of the device; and

sending the location information to a medical emergency center.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

receiving the person'"'"'s medical information from the primary database server; and

transmitting the medical information to the medical emergency center.

18. The method of claim 16 further comprises

requesting the medical information from a secondary database server, if the primary database server does not supply the medical information.