Surveillance and remote alarm system for persons subject to limitation of freedom of movement

• US 6,975,234 B2
• Filed: 12/13/2000
• Issued: 12/13/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Italdata Ingegneria Dll'Idea S. P. A.
• Original Assignee: Italdata Ingegneria Dell'Idea SPA
• Inventors: Boccacci, Roberto
• Primary Examiner(s): Mullen, Jr., Thomas J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): TANG, SON M
• Application Number:
  US10/168,140
• Publication Number:
  US 20020190864A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,826 Days
• Field of Search: 340/573.4, 3405731-5737, 3405391-53923
• US Class Current: 340/573.4
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 15/00 Tags attached to, or associated with, an object, in order to enable detection of the object record carriers for use with machines having a detectable tag or marker G06K19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/28 the pass enabling tracking or indicating presence
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/37 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voice recognition
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/04 with alarm systems, e.g. fire, police or burglar alarm systems

Abstract

A surveillance and remote alarm system for persons subject to limitation of freedom of movement includes a fixed unit placed in the area within which the person can move and a personal bracelet element attached to the person subject to limitation of freedom of movement. The fixed unit is arranged to establish an electromagnetic connection with the personal element and a connection via a telephone line to an operations center. The fixed unit is equipped with a CPU associated with a fingerprint reader and a radio receiver arranged to interact with a similar radio transmitter fitted in the personal element together with a CPU that controls its operation. A sensor is provided to detect any interruption and/or anomalies in the connection between the fixed unit and the personal element and to send an alarm to the operations center.

Claims

1. A surveillance and remote alarm system for persons subject to limitation of freedom of movement, comprising:

a fixed unit placed in an area within which the person can move; and

a personal bracelet element attached to the person subject to limitation of freedom of movement,

the fixed unit being arranged to establish an electromagnetic connection with the personal element and to connect via a telephone line to an operations center, the electromagnetic connection being encrypted and/or encoded and established at predetermined intervals;

the fixed unit being equipped with a first CPU and a radio receiver arranged to interact with a corresponding radio transmitter contained in the personal element and a second CPU thereof;

means communicating with the first and second CPUs to detect any interruption and/or anomalies in the connection between the fixed unit and the personal element and to send alarms to the operations center;

means of detecting tampering or sabotage and consequently sending an alarm to the operations center;

means for establishing the quality of the electromagnetic connection and sending an alarm in the event of a significant degradation in quality;

the personal element including an anti-tamper system including optical fibres embedded in the element strap and optical channels are used which are tested at random intervals to check for consistency between signals sent and those received, wherein said fixed unit is further equipped with means for generating a local pre-alarm according to pre-set conditions without contacting the operations center and a digital fingerprint reader recognizing a fingerprint of said person subject to limitation of freedom of movement as a reset system for the pre-alarm wherein if the pre-alarm is not reset via the digital fingerprint reader, the system sends an alarm to the operations center.

2. System according to claim 1, wherein a casing for the fixed transceiver includes anti-tamper devices.

3. System according to claim 1, wherein a frequency of the radio connection is centred on 433.92 MHz.

4. System according to claim 1, wherein the fixed unit comprises means for recording an occurrence of the pre-alarm.

5. A surveillance and remote alarm system for persons subject to limitation of freedom of movement, comprising:

a fixed unit placed in an area within which the person can move, the fixed unit including a first CPU, a radio receiver, and a telephone interface to communicate with an operations center via a telephone line; and

a personal bracelet element attached to the person subject to limitation of freedom and having an encrypted or encoded electromagnetic connection with the fixed unit established at predetermined intervals, the personal bracelet element including a second CPU and a radio transmitter that communicates with the radio receiver,

wherein the fixed unit further comprises a connection sensor communicating with the first and second CPUs that detects a status of the electromagnetic connection, and a tamper sensor communicating with the first and second CPUs that detects a tamper condition of the personal bracelet element, the personal bracelet element further comprising an anti-tamper system including optical fibers embedded in the element strap, the anti-tamper system communicating with the second CPU,

wherein the first CPU is programmed to generate a local pre-alarm according to pre-set conditions without contacting the operations center, and wherein the fixed unit further comprises a digital fingerprint reader communicating with the first CPU, the digital fingerprint reader recognizing a fingerprint of the person subject to limitation of freedom of movement as a reset system for the pre-alarm wherein if the pre-alarm is not reset via the digital fingerprint reader, the system sends an alarm to the operations center.