Personnel monitoring system

• US 4,924,211 A
• Filed: 10/28/1988
• Issued: 05/08/1990
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/1988
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Digital Products Corp.
• Original Assignee: Digital Products Corp.
• Inventors: Davies, Ronald C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Swann, III, Glen R.
• Application Number:
  US07/264,201
• Time in Patent Office: 557 Days
• Field of Search: 340/573, 340/539, 340/825.49, 340/825.54, 455/67, 455/66, 455/88, 455/89, 455/73, 455/78, 379/38, 379/106
• US Class Current: 340/573.4
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/28 the pass enabling tracking or indicating presence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0205 Specific application combined with child monitoring using a transmitter-receiver system
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0227 System arrangements with a plurality of child units
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0277 Communication between units on a local network, e.g. Bluetooth, piconet, zigbee, Wireless Personal Area Networks [WPAN]
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0286 Tampering or removal detection of the child unit from child or article
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/22 responsive to presence or absence of persons
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12

Abstract

A system for monitoring presence of persons at preselected monitoring locations. A plurality of local units, one at each monitoring location, determines whether the monitored person is present or absent at the monitoring location and sends report signals via free space radio transmission. A mobile unit, preferably mounted in a vehicle, passes within range of the various local units in order, and hence recovers status information. Desirably, the mobile unit provides a perceptible signal to an officer in the vehicle if the monitored person is absent. Each local unit may be arranged to receive radio signals from a tag carried by the monitored person and to provide an absence indication if the tag signals are no longer received. The same radio receiver as employed to receive the tag signals may also be employed to receive a callout signal sent by the mobile unit. The local unit may be arranged to provide an audible signal to the monitored person upon receipt of a callout signal, thus instructing the monitored person to present himself for inspection by the monitoring officer. The system permits an officer driving an automobile or walking a route carrying the mobile unit to monitor the status of any individuals in a house arrest program.

Claims

1. Apparatus for monitoring a plurality of persons at a plurality of preselected monitoring locations comprising:

(a) a plurality of local units each disposed at a monitoring location and associated with a person to be monitored at such monitoring location, each said local unit including detector means for determining the presence or absence of the associated person to be monitored and providing presence or absence information accordingly, each said local unit further including report signal sending means for transmitting a report radio signal bearing said presence or absence information through free space from the monitoring location; and

(b) a mobile unit including report signal receiving means for detecting the report signal from the local unit at each said monitoring location while the mobile unit is within range thereof and recovering the presence information from the detected report signal, whereby presence information regarding all of the persons to be monitored can be recovered by bringing said mobile unit within range of all said monitoring locations seriatim.

17. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein each said local unit includes manually operable contact request means and means for incorporating contact request information in the report signal sent by the local unit in response to actuation of said contact request means, said mobile unit including means for detecting said contact request information and providing a perceptible contact request indication at the mobile unit in response thereto.

18. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein each said local unit includes means for detecting tampering with the local unit and incorporating tamper information in the report signal sent by the local unit when tampering is detected, said mobile unit including means for detecting said tamper information and providing a perceptible tamper indication at the mobile unit in response thereto.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim wherein said mobile unit further includes presence status indication means for providing a perceptible indication at said mobile unit of the presence or absence information recovered from each report signal.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said mobile apparatus further includes in-range indication means for providing a perceptible indication at said mobile unit whenever said mobile unit is detecting a report signal.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said mobile unit includes selectively operable callout signal sending means for sending a callout radio signal, wherein said local unit includes a local unit radio receiver adapted to receive said callout signal, and callout signal indicating means for providing a perceptible indication at the local unit that a callout signal has been received upon reception of said callout signal by the local unit radio receiver.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 further comprising tag signal means carried by each person to be monitored for transmitting a tag radio signal associated with the monitored person, said radio receiver of each said local unit being adapted to receive the tag radio signal associated with the person assigned to the location of that local unit, said detector means of each said local unit including the radio receiver of that local unit and means for providing a presence signal only if the radio receiver has received the associated tag signal within a predetermined tolerance time and providing an absence signal when the radio receiver of the local apparatus does not receive the associated tag signal within such predetermined tolerance time.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein the radio receiver of each said local unit includes local code means for defining a local identification code and means for rejecting radio signals which do not bear such local identification code, the local code means in different ones of said local units defining different local identification codes, and wherein the tag signal means associated with each monitored person includes means for encoding the tag signal sent by that tag signal means with the local identification code utilized by the receiver of the associated local unit, said mobile unit including means for selecting any one of said local identification codes and encoding said callout signal with the so-selected local identification code.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein each said local unit includes means for encoding the report signal sent by the report signal sending means of that local unit with a report identification code, different local units utilizing different report identification codes, and wherein said mobile unit includes report identification code selection means for selecting any one of the report identification codes utilized by said local units the receiver of said mobile unit being arranged to receive only radio signals bearing the so-selected report identification code, whereby the receiver of said mobile apparatus can be set to respond only to report signals from a selected one of said local units.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein the report identification code utilized by each local unit bears a predetermined relationship to the local identification code utilized by the same local unit.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein said mobile unit includes manually operable input means for accepting a single manually entered designation, said means for selecting the local identification code and said means for selecting the report identification code being responsive to said single manually entered designation to select the report identification and local identification codes having said predetermined relationship.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein the report identification code utilized by each local unit is different from the local identification code utilized by the same local unit, and wherein the report signal sending means and local unit radio receiver of each local unit operate on the same frequency.

11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein the local unit radio receivers and report signal sending means of all of said local units operate on the same frequency.

12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein the local identification code utilized by each local unit includes a series of digital values and wherein the report identification code utilized by each local unit includes a corresponding series of digital values such that each digital value in the report identification code of a particular unit is the inverse of the corresponding digital value in the local identification code utilized by the same local unit.

13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein each of said tag signal transmitting means is arranged to send its tag signal repetitively at predetermined tag signal intervals, and each of said report signal sending means is arranged to send its report signal repetitively at predetermined report signal intervals.

14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein said predetermined tag signal intervals are longer than said predetermined report signal intervals.

15. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein each said local unit includes a manually operable callout acknowledgement device and means for altering said report signal in response to operation of said callout acknowledgement device, and wherein said mobile unit includes means for detecting said alteration of said report signal.

16. Apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein each said local unit means includes means for encoding its report signal with callout status information having a first content when no callout signal is received and having a second content after call out information has been received, said means for altering said report signal in response to operation of said callout acknowledgement device including means for restoring said call out status information in said report signal to said first status, said means in said mobile unit for detecting alteration of said report signal including means for detecting said callout status information and providing a perceptible indication thereof, whereby a person operating the mobile unit can ascertain that the callout signal has been received by a local unit and can ascertain that the callout signal has been acknowledged.

19. A mobile unit for use in monitoring persons at a plurality of monitoring locations a said mobile unit comprising report signal receiving means for detecting a report signal bearing presence information concerning the presence or absence of a monitored person from a local unit at each said monitoring location while the mobile unit is within range thereof and recovering the presence information from the detected report signal, whereby presence information regarding all of the persons to be monitored can be recovered by bringing said mobile unit within range of all said monitoring locations seriatim, said mobile unit further including presence status indication means for providing a perceptible indication at said mobile unit of the presence information recovered from each report signal.

20. A local monitoring unit for monitoring a person at a monitoring location comprising detector means for determining the presence or absence a person to be monitored and providing presence information accordingly, report signal sending means for transmitting a report radio signal bearing said presence information through free space from the monitoring location, and a local unit radio receiver adapted to receive a callout signal, and callout signal indicating means for providing a perceptible indication at the local unit that a callout signal has been received upon reception of said callout signal by the local unit radio receiver.

21. A local monitoring unit as claimed in claim 20 wherein said local unit radio receiver is adapted to receive a tag radio signal associated with the person assigned to the location of that local unit, said detector means of said local unit including the radio receiver of the local unit and means for providing a presence signal only if the radio receiver has received the associated tag signal within a predetermined tolerance time and providing an absence signal when the radio receiver does not receive the tag signal within such predetermined tolerance time.

22. A method of monitoring a plurality of persons at a plurality of preselected monitoring locations comprising:

(a) operating a plurality of local units, each disposed at a monitoring location and associated with a person to be monitored at such monitoring location, so that each said local unit automatically determines the presence or absence of the associated person to be monitored and provides presence or absence information accordingly, and so that each said local unit automatically transmits a report radio signal bearing said presence or absence information through free space from the monitoring location; and

(b) bringing a mobile unit within range of all said monitoring location seriatim, detecting the report signal from the local unit at each said monitoring location while the mobile unit is within range thereof and recovering the presence information from the detected report signal, whereby presence information regarding all of the persons to be monitored is recovered.