Communications: electrical – Vehicle position indication
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-11
2001-02-06
Swarthout, Brent A. (Department: 2736)
Communications: electrical
Vehicle position indication
C340S426110, C342S457000, C455S422100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06184801
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to clandestine use of location determination systems, such as the Global Positioning System, to monitor and report on the location of a missing vehicle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As used herein, the term “vehicle” refers to land vehicles and to marine vehicles or vessels. In the United States, about 1.7 million automotive vehicles and as many as 100,000 marine and aircraft vehicles are reported missing (or stolen) each year. The probability that a land or marine vehicle will be recovered drops dramatically after the vehicle or vessel has been missing for 24 hours or more. Thus, time is of the essence in locating and retrieving a missing vehicle. Several workers in this field have used relative signal strength, signal triangulation and/or pluralities of radiowave to determine the location of a vehicle and have used a cellular phone system to transmit relevant information to a base station for analysis. The cellular phone unit used for such signal transmissions is usually dedicated to this task and is not available for other activities.
Sheffer, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,650, discloses a vehicle location system that disperses an array of cellular monitoring stations, each of which detects a cellular alarm signal that is transmitted from a vehicle when the vehicle is determined to be missing. Vehicle location is determined at a base station by the relative alarm strength measured at each detector.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,043,736, issued to Darnell et al, discloses a portable vehicle locating system that uses a Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine vehicle location, a cellular phone to report this location to a base station, and an interface to convert GPS signals to cellular phone signals for transmission.
A position-aided subscriber unit for a satellite-based cellular phone system is disclosed by Durboraw in U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,341. A GPS unit determines the location of a transceiver on the ground and transmits This location information to a satellite, to increase the efficiency of satellite-to-receiver communication. This apparatus has use in asset management and in search-and-rescue operations.
Wortham, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,155,689 and 5,398,190, discloses installation of a mobile cellular phone unit, with its own identification number, an unspecified location determination unit, and an interface between these two units within a vehicle, to determine and transmit vehicle location. This vehicle location information is displayed on a screen in the vehicle and is periodically transmitted to a base station that is located elsewhere.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,805, Bertiger et al disclose a telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C) system for satellite-aided cellular communications. Here, the cells for the cellular phone system move with the satellite used for the link. GPS-determined location of a mobile user station is used to facilitate handoff from one satellite to another as a satellite cell pattern sweeps across a region containing one or several users.
Song discloses a vehicle locating and navigating system in U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,756. A small receiver, hidden on the vehicle, is activated by a plurality of DTMF signals transmitted from telephone stations with fixed, known locations. The vehicle receiver determines the present location of the vehicle, using relative or absolute signal strengths of the received signals and triangulation of these signals. The vehicle location information is then transmitted to a base station, using a voice synthesis and/or digital signals.
A vehicle tracking system that uses an array of spaced apart cellular phone receivers is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,367, issued to Sheffer et al. One or more sensors, such as vehicle break-in sensors, is positioned on a vehicle, and a cellular phone transmitter on the vehicle transmits a cellular signal when a corresponding sensor is activated. The vehicle's location is determined at a base station, using relative signal strengths of these signals, as received at several spaced apart receivers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,844, issued to Mansell, discloses a vehicle tracking and security system that provides vehicle location information where vehicle break-in, theft, breakdown or other unusual events or emergencies occur. Several “mobile units,” each including some type of event sensor, are hidden on the vehicle. When a sensor senses occurrence of an alarm condition or event, a mobile unit causes an on-board transmitter to transmit an event alarm or signal to a control center, together with the location of the vehicle as determined by an on-board GPS receiver. The control center then takes appropriate action, depending on the condition or event and the location of the vehicle.
Dennison discloses a cellular phone system that uses GPS-determined location of a vehicle in which the phone unit is carried to make call management decisions, such as call handoff, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,633. The vehicle location information is transmitted to a call management site that determines when cell handoff will occur for a given mobile cellular phone unit.
What is needed is a system including cellular telecommunication means that allows determination and reporting of the present location of a missing vehicle, using clandestine means on the vehicle itself. Preferably, the cellular means (1) will function in a normal manner if used by a vehicle occupant while the vehicle is missing and (2) can be used to determine and transmit a report on the present location of the missing, if commanded to do so by a central station that communicates with the vehicle. Preferably, the system should allow recording of any telecommunications made using the cellular means while the vehicle is missing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These needs are met by the invention, which provides a location determination and reporting (LDR) system for clandestinely determining and reporting on the present location of a missing vehicle. The vehicle may be in motion or may be motionless when its location is determined and reported, and the vehicle may be anywhere within reach of a cellular station to which the location is reported.
A vehicle is equipped with an operating cellular telephone, with a location determination (LD) unit, including an LD signal antenna and receiver/processor (preferably hidden on the vehicle), that determines the present location of the LD antenna, and with a cellular telephone/LD unit controller and interface. If (or when) the vehicle is reported missing, stolen or moved without authorization from its last known resting place, a central station uses the cellular telephone facility to interrogate the vehicle to determine the present location of the vehicle, even if the vehicle is presently in motion. The owner, agent or other interested person makes a phone call to the cellular phone unit in the vehicle and transmits a location interrogation message that commands the LD signal receiver/processor to provide information on the present location of the LD antenna for transmission by the vehicle cellular phone unit to a designated central station where the owner, tracking agent or police are waiting. When the vehicle cellular phone is contacted and the clandestine vehicle tracking mode is activated, the phone will not signal an incoming call for an initial time period of length &Dgr;t
d
(&Dgr;t
d
=1-30 sec, preferably &Dgr;t
d
=1-5 sec), awaiting receipt of an anticipated location interrogation signal from the central station requesting that the cellular phone unit provide present location information for the vehicle. If the cellular phone receives this location interrogation signal while the clandestine tracking mode is activated, the cellular phone does not “ring” in the usual sense, provides no indication that it is communicating with the designated station, and transmits information on the vehicle's present location to the central station.
However, if the anticipated location interrogation signal is not received, the cellular phone will then “ring” audibly or otherwise signal visually, a
Pelton, Esq. William E.
Swarthout Brent A.
Trimble Navigation Limited
LandOfFree
Clandestine location reporting for missing vehicles does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Clandestine location reporting for missing vehicles, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Clandestine location reporting for missing vehicles will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2597820