Abstract:
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for using a sensor array that detects environmental changes in or around a shipping container. Sensors detect NBC materials and detect tampering with the container (such as broken seals and open doors). The sensors are monitored remotely. The sensors are tracked for determining risk levels and communicating the risks to receiving ports, customs officials, shipping companies, and other interested entities. The sensors can also detect environmental conditions that may be important to the protection of cargo that may not be security-sensitive, but may require special conditions (such as perishable food). The system may categorize cargo into various levels of risk (such as mandatory inspection, occasional inspection, and random inspection).

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates generally to a method, apparatus, and system for remotely monitoring a shipping container, and, more particularly, to track cargo status, detect changes in cargo conditions, sense cargo environment, and to assess and control potential safety threats present in cargo. 
         [0002]    Cargo transit (such as air, ocean, or land transportation) transports containers, vessels, and people. Certain containers, vessels, and/or people may pose safety and security threats. For example, a container may be diverted from a planned route, during which cargo may be exchanged for harmful substances, such as weapons of mass destruction (WMD). In another example, a criminal or fugitive may be hidden inside a container to avoid detection by a authorities. Such safety and security threats should be minimized. One way to minimize potential threats is by restricting containers that have a high probability of threat to areas outside an intended target, protected area, or sensitive environment. 
         [0003]    The relevant public safety authorities prefer to receive information regarding cargo before the cargo reaches its intended destination. Any necessary exclusion of harmful materials or people should take place before the cargo reaches an intended target. 
         [0004]    Currently, global positioning system (GPS) location logging is used to track shipping containers. The GPS system may be used to determine when a shipping container deviates from a planned route towards a destination. However, the current GPS systems do not provide the ability to categorize or prioritize potential security or safety threats posed by shipping containers that pose an elevated risk (such as wherein a seal has been broken in transit or wherein the shipping container performs a suspicious deviation from the planned route. 
         [0005]    Thus, there is a need for a method, system, and apparatus for tracking a shipping container&#39;s status, environment (internal and external), and integrity while minimizing safety and security risks. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    In one aspect of the present invention, a shipping container, comprises a body having a door; a global positioning system unit; and a sensor array mounted within the shipping container and being operative to wirelessly transmit environmental condition information to a remote monitoring center regarding the environment of the shipping container; wherein the sensor array includes a nuclear sensor, a biological sensor, a chemical sensor, and a temperature sensor. 
         [0007]    In another aspect of the present invention, a method, of transporting cargo in a shipping container via a transportation vehicle to a destination, comprises loading the cargo in the shipping container, the container including a container condition detector for monitoring container conditions; sealing the shipping container electronically; loading the shipping container onto the transportation vehicle; transporting the cargo via the transportation vehicle; monitoring conditions of the shipping container during transit using the container condition detector, evaluating container security risk; taking corrective action if the container security risk is high; proceeding to the destination if the container security risk is not high; and electronically unsealing the shipping container. 
         [0008]    In a further aspect of the present invention, a shipping container comprises an opening capable of being sealed and unsealed; a sensor array including a route deviation detector situated within the container, the route deviation detector adapted to detect deviations from a planned route of the shipping container; and a link situated within the container and in communication with the route deviation detector, the link adapted to receive route deviation information from the route deviation detector and to transmit the route deviation information from the container to a remote monitoring center. 
         [0009]    In a still further aspect of the present invention, an integrated, redundant, and orthogonal sensor array system for characterizing the nuclear, chemical, biological, atmospheric, and spectral internal environment of a maritime, air, or land cargo container wherein each phenomenology sensor generates a measurable signal and whose orthogonality to all other sensors increases the probability of detection and identification and minimizes the false alarm rate by correlating the sensor data, by analyzing the attributes of the environment at the time instant of collection, and by analyzing the time series stochastic trends of the data. 
         [0010]    These and other aspects, objects, features and advantages of the present invention, are specifically set forth in, or will become apparent from, the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a plan view of a shipping container monitoring system, according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a shipping container, according to another embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a schematic of a sensor array, according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0014]    The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims. 
         [0015]    Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout several views, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and more particularly referring to  FIG. 1 , the present invention provides a system  100  for transporting cargo in a shipping container  102  via a transportation vehicle  126  (such as a ship or a truck) to a destination  116 . It should be understood that the present invention may be practiced such that shipping container  102  may take various forms, such as a cargo hold (for example, in aircraft, space craft, missiles, submarines, or any other type of storage space in any means of transportation). 
         [0016]    Global positioning system (GPS) satellites  104 A,  104 B,  104 C may provide location data (such as a longitudinal, latitudinal, and elevational position, an address, a nearby landmark, and the like) to a remote monitoring center  106 . GPS satellites  104 A,  104 B,  104 C are maintained and operated by the United States Department of Defense. The time it takes a global positioning system signal from a GPS satellite, such as  104 A, to reach the shipping container  102  is used to calculate the distance from the GPS satellite  104 A to the shipping container  102 . Using measurements from multiple GPS satellites  104  (for example, three GPS satellites  104 A,  104 B,  104 C), the system  100  may triangulate a location for the shipping container  102 , providing a latitude and a longitude by comparing the measurements from the multiple GPS satellites  14  to the tracking device  20  and measurements of the distances between two or more GPS satellites  104 A,  104 B,  104 C, and measurements of the relative orientations of the GPS satellites  104 A,  104 B,  104 C, the shipping container  102 , and the earth. 
         [0017]    Continuing with  FIG. 1 , the system  100  may comprise a first wireless communication system  112  for communicating between the shipping container  102  and remote monitoring center  106 . The first wireless communication system  112  may be connected (such as connected via a wireless link) to a communication network  108  and a public switched telephone network (PSTN)  110 . An identification code of the shipping container  102  may be sent within a signal to the first wireless communication system  112 . 
         [0018]    A second wireless communication system  114  may be used within the system  100  for locating and tracking the shipping container  102 . The second wireless communication system  114  may be used for communicating between the shipping container  102  and the remote monitoring center  106 . 
         [0019]    The remote monitoring center  106  may be linked to the communication network  108 , which may be in communication with an application service provider (ASP)  120 . The ASP  120  may include a database  122  and web and application servers  124 . 
         [0020]    The communication network  108  may be used to communicate necessary information, including warnings, to the destination  116  or to communicate with another shipping container  118 . 
         [0021]    General packet radio service (GPRS) signals may be used to locate and track the shipping container  102 . GPRS is a non-voice service that allows information to be sent and received across a mobile telephone network. GPRS may supplement Circuit Switched Data (CSD) and Short Message Service (SMS). Although the acronym GPRS is similar to the acronym GPS, GPRS is not related to GPS. GPRS is an alternative service for locating and tracking individuals and objects. 
         [0022]    A method for tracking the shipping container  102  may comprise loading the cargo in the shipping container  102 , sealing the shipping container  102  electronically; loading the shipping container  102  onto the transportation vehicle  126 ; transporting the cargo via the transportation vehicle  126 ; monitoring conditions of the shipping container  102  during transit using the container condition detector; evaluating container security risk; taking corrective action if the container security risk is high; and proceeding to the destination  116  if the container security risk is not high. At the destination  116 , the method may further comprise electronically unsealing the shipping container  102 . The corrective action taken when the container security risk is high may comprise not proceeding to the destination  116 . 
         [0023]    In communication with the remote monitoring center  108  and other portions of the system  100  via the communication network  108 , evaluating container security risk may comprise determining if there was a volumetric change in shipping container  102  contents (such as from an explosion or an implosion); determining if there was breach of a seal of the shipping container  102 ; determining if the shipping container  102  contents are radioactive; determining if there was a route deviation. These, and other container events may be logged. 
         [0024]    The communication network  108  may be used for communicating a record of manifest information to the remote monitoring center  106 , the manifest information including a description of the shipping container  102  contents; the destination  116 ; and a planned mute for the shipping container  102 . 
         [0025]    The database  122 , or other storage media and/or locations, may be used for storing a date and time of significant events, including, location; door seal/unseal events; and shipping container  102  volumetric signatures. Door seal/unseal events may be detected via a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag; and/or a tamper detection unit (shown in  FIG. 2  below). The method may also comprise detecting unauthorized opening of the shipping container  102  during transit of the shipping container  102 . Additionally, the method may comprise unauthorized opening of the shipping container  102 , other than opening of a shipping container  102  door during transit of the shipping container  102 . 
         [0026]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , a shipping container  200  may include a sensor array  204 ,  206  for monitoring container conditions. Door seal/unseal events may be detected via a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag  216 ; and/or a tamper detection unit  218 . A sensor array (for example, sensor array  204 ) may be designated as the master controller and every other sensor array (for example, sensor array  206 ) within a container  200  may electronically report to the master sensor&#39;s interrogations as a slave. The shipping container  200  may comprise a body having a door  202 ; a global positioning system unit  208 ; and one or more sensor arrays  204 ,  206  mounted within the shipping container  200 . The global positioning system unit  208  may be connected to a global positioning system antenna  210  for being operative to wirelessly transmit environmental condition information to a remote monitoring center  106  (shown in  FIG. 1  above) regarding the environment of the shipping container  200 . As a protection against spoofing or tampering, autonomous periodic transmission timings may be based on a pseudo-random code that is coherently coupled with the remote monitoring center  106  (shown in  FIG. 1  above). The global positioning system antenna  210  may be used for receiving signals relating to location of the shipping container  200  and position reporting circuitry responsive (within the global positioning system unit  208 ) to an output from the global positioning system antenna  210  for providing environmental condition information to the remote monitoring center  106  (shown in  FIG. 1  above). Similarly, an external connector, such as the antenna  210  may be used for communication from cargo to a command and control center, a cockpit, or other location for managing cargo status. 
         [0027]    The internal environment may be of concern (such as whether harmful materials are contained in the shipping container  200  or if a person is inside the container) and the external environment of the shipping container  200  may be of concern (such as whether radioactivity is leaking from the shipping container  200  or in danger of leaking into a shipping container  200 ). Another concern may be whether out gassing occurs from cargo, such as, fruit, vegetable matter, textiles, or other materials that produce effluent, fugitive gasses, and the like. The sensor array  204 ,  206  may transmit environmental condition information regarding the internal environment in the shipping container  200  or the external environment of the shipping container  200 . Some of the environmental condition information may include temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, light intrusion, barometric pressure, sound, an accurate time base, altitude, acceleration, and position, as well as other data. The sensor array  204 ,  206  may also provide health and status on the individual sensor arrays internal to the container  200  such as critical electrical sensors&#39; array currents, battery life, data storage memory usage, component life, and system-invoked default operation modes such as a master unit defaulting to a slave unit. Accelerometers may be used, if the accelerometers are microelectromechanical machine system-based units whose outputs are used by a sensor array processor to compute container positions, detect impulse accelerations due to external stimuli, such as closing of doors, coupling of train knuckle couplers, drops and bumps. 
         [0028]    The shipping container  200  may comprise an opening capable of being sealed and unsealed and a sensor array  300 . The sensor array  300  is shown in  FIG. 3 . A route deviation detector  310  may be situated within the sensor array  300 , the route deviation detector  310  being adapted to detect deviations from a planned route of the shipping container  200  (shown in FIG.  2  above). The sensor array  300  may also include a door open/close detection unit  312 ; a global positioning system-based route verification unit  314 ; an intrusion detection unit  316 ; a motion detection unit  318 ; a volumetric change detection unit  320 ; and a weapons of mass destruction detection unit  322 . The weapons of mass destruction detection unit  322  may include a radioactivity sensing unit; a biological material sensing unit; and a chemical sensing unit. The sensor array  300  may include a nuclear sensor, a biological sensor, a chemical sensor, and/or a temperature sensor. 
         [0029]    It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.