G.P.S. management system

• US 9,734,698 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2014
• Issued: 08/15/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Hamrick, Marvin R., Ingman, R. T. Mitchell
• Primary Examiner(s): SMITH, ISAAC G
• Application Number:
  US14/275,799
• Publication Number:
  US 20140249731A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,191 Days
• Field of Search: 701 293, 701 324, 701 325, 701 334, 701 70, 701117, 340988, 340438
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/16 Anti-theft; Abduction
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0036 of measured values, i.e. measurement on mobile and position calculation on base station
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 7/00 Methods or arrangements for processing data by operating upon the order or content of the data handled logic circuits H03K19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/001 Alarm cancelling procedures or alarm forwarding decisions, e.g. based on absence of alarm confirmation
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/002 Generating a prealarm to the central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/005 Alarm destination chosen according to a hierarchy of available destinations, e.g. if hospital does not answer send to police station
• 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 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/207 with respect to certain areas, e.g. forbidden or allowed areas with possible alerting when inside or outside boundaries
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/00 Connection management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/903 Radio telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/904 Telephone telemetry

Abstract

A management system using Global Positioning System receivers for tracking remote units from a central office and quickly and conveniently determining if those remote units have varied from a set of predetermined parameters of operation. The system also includes provisions that allows information to be sent from the remote units to the central office and vice versa. The system also has safety features that promote the rapid dispatch of law enforcement personnel when requests for emergency assistance have been made from the remote units.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a vehicle comprising a global positioning system receiver and an ignition sensor;

a vehicle control unit comprising a processor and an application that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform operations comprising

determining, based on ignition information obtained using the ignition sensor, an ignition time comprising a duration that an ignition of the vehicle is turned on for a predetermined time period, wherein the ignition sensor detects ignition on events and ignition off events,

identifying an identified time at which the vehicle is expected to be inactive,

receiving at the vehicle control unit at the identified time, a request for global positioning system data and the ignition time, wherein the global positioning system data is generated by the global positioning system, and

uploading, to a server computer and via a wireless network, the global positioning system data and the ignition time, wherein the global positioning system data and the ignition time are uploaded at the identified time, and wherein the server computer

compares the global positioning system data and the ignition time to acceptable values, and

notes an exception if the global positioning system data or the ignition time is outside of the acceptable values.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein determining that the global positioning system data is outside of the acceptable values comprises:

determining that a speed of the vehicle exceeds a predefined speed.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the application, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform operations further comprising:

in response to determining that the speed exceeds the predefined speed, logging an exception with a time stamp and location information.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein determining that the global positioning system data or the ignition time is outside of the ranges of acceptable values comprises determining that the vehicle has not entered a region.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the request is received via the wireless network.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the acceptable values comprise a range of acceptable values.

7. A method comprising:

determining, by a vehicle comprising a global positioning system receiver and an ignition sensor, based on ignition information obtained using the ignition sensor, an ignition time comprising a duration that an ignition of the vehicle is turned on for a predetermined time period, wherein the ignition sensor detects ignition on events and ignition off events;

identifying an identified time at which the vehicle is expected to be inactive;

receiving, by the vehicle, a request for global positioning system data and the ignition time, wherein the global positioning system data is generated by the global positioning system receiver; and

uploading, by the vehicle and directed to a server computer via a wireless network, the global positioning system data and the ignition time, wherein the global positioning system data and the ignition time are uploaded at the identified time, and wherein the server computer

compares the global positioning system data and the ignition time to acceptable values, and

notes an exception if the global positioning system data or the ignition time is outside of the acceptable values.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining that the global positioning system data is outside of the acceptable values comprises:

determining that a speed of the vehicle exceeds a predefined speed, logging an exception with a time stamp and location information.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

in response to determining that the speed exceeds the predefined speed, logging an exception with a time stamp and location information.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein determining that the global positioning system data or the ignition time is outside of the ranges of acceptable values comprises one of determining that the vehicle has entered the region or that the vehicle has not entered the region.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the request is received via the wireless network.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the acceptable values comprise a range of acceptable values.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the vehicle further comprises a vehicle control unit.

14. A method comprising:

determining, by a vehicle comprising a global positioning system receiver and an ignition sensor, based on ignition information obtained using the ignition sensor, an ignition time comprising a duration that an ignition of the vehicle is turned on for a predetermined time period, wherein the ignition sensor detects ignition on events and ignition off events;

identifying an identified time at which the vehicle is expected to be inactive;

receiving, by the vehicle, a request for global positioning system data and the ignition time, wherein the global positioning system data is generated by the global positioning system receiver; and

uploading, by the vehicle and directed to a server computer via a wireless network processor, the global positioning system data and the ignition time, wherein the global positioning system data and the ignition time are uploaded at the identified time, and wherein the server computer;

compares the global positioning system data and the ignition time to ranges of acceptable values; and

determines if that the global positioning system data or the ignition time is outside of the ranges of acceptable values.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein determining that the global positioning system data or the ignition time is outside of the ranges acceptable values comprises:

determining that a speed of the vehicle exceeds a predefined speed.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

in response to determining that the speed exceeds the predefined speed, logging an exception with a time stamp and location information.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein determining that the global positioning system data is outside of the acceptable values comprises one of determining that the vehicle has entered the region or that the vehicle has not entered the region.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the request is received via the wireless network.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the acceptable values comprise a range of acceptable values.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the vehicle further comprises a vehicle control unit.