Abstract:
An electronic containment system using positional satellites is provided for controlling the movement of animals relative to a selected confinement area. A portable programming transceiver is used to program the boundary of a selected confinement area as the device is moved along such boundary. A programmable collar transceiver worn by the animal provides GPS signals from the satellite to a remotely located control station. The control station tracks the movement of the animal relative to the boundary. If the animal crosses the boundary, the station transmits a stimulus activation signal to the collar so that a corrective stimulus may be produced for the animal. Tracking and containment of objects are accomplished by providing GPS-defined, user-programmable containment areas.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/358,622, filed Jul. 21, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,271,757, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/995,084, filed Dec. 19, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,043,748. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to an electronic tracking and containment system for, but not limited to, animals and more specifically to an improved electronic containment system using positional satellites such as the GPS (Global Positioning System) in conjunction with a portable programming transceiver, a programmable collar transceiver, and a remotely located control station. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Conventional electronic animal containment systems have a subterranean transmission antenna shaped to define fixed boundaries of a confinement area. The transmission antenna transmits a unique electromagnetic signal which is received by a collar transceiver having a radio frequency receiver. The collar transceiver is typically attached to the neck of an animal and is used to stimulate that animal to, among other things, encourage or discourage certain behavior such as movement. 
     Electronic animal containment systems that can be installed with minimal disruption of the landscape and readily reconfigured to redefine the confinement area are in great demand. In the current practice, the installation of a subterranean transmission antenna requires excavation of the confinement area boundary which can entail disruption of plant root systems, damaging surrounding grass, flower beds and the like. Additionally, the installation may be hindered by obstacles such as trees, concrete walkways, and driveways. 
     Beyond installation difficulties, the fixed location of the subterranean transmission antenna inhibits future alteration of the confinement area. Redefinition of the confinement area is advantageous as confinement needs change with, for example, the introduction of new animals or changes to the landscape. Moreover, at present, electronic animal containment systems are generally permanent to the location on the property in which the antenna is installed. This permanency denies its availability for use when traveling and can necessitate the purchase of an additional system upon relocation given the impracticality of excavating and salvaging an installed system. 
     Consequently, satellite global positioning systems which can be used to dynamically define a confinement area and also track animals are desirable for use in animal containment systems. An animal containment system based on the GPS obviates the need for the fixed subterranean antenna and eliminates the aforementioned disadvantages of the buried antenna. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a satellite animal containment system that is not constrained to fixed confinement boundaries. The system provides a portable programming transceiver, or alternately a collar transceiver, each in communication with the global positioning system (GPS) for the purpose of programming one or more alterable confinement boundaries. The system may be used to program an outer perimeter boundary, such as around a yard, as well as internal exclusion zones, such as around gardens or swimming pools. 
     In a preferred embodiment, a portable programming transceiver receives a GPS signal representative of the transceiver&#39;s coordinates and transmits these coordinates to a remotely located control station. These coordinates are used by the control station to define a point on the boundary of a confinement area. The portable programming transceiver is moved along the perimeter of the confinement area and continually transmits additional coordinates to the control station thus contiguously defining the boundary of the confinement area. By this method the boundary is represented by any closed curve, often a simple closed curve, in addition to conventional rectilinear shapes. The area outside the boundary is designated as an exclusion area and the area within the boundary is designated as a permissible area, i.e. the confinement area. Optionally, additional boundaries may be defined within the established confinement area to create the inside exclusion zones through selected use of the portable programming transceiver. Further, a collar transceiver, attached to an animal, receives a separate GPS signal representative of the collar transceiver&#39;s coordinates. These coordinates are transmitted to the control station where they are compared to the definition of the confinement area. When the collar transceiver&#39;s location is a determined to be too close to any boundary associated with the confinement area, a signal is transmitted by the control station to the collar transceiver which activates a stimulus generator, located in the collar transceiver, to correct the animal. The stimulus may be applied based on additional factors such as animal velocity toward a boundary as well as proximity to the boundary. Accordingly, the application of a stimulus may not be exclusively dependent on relative animal position to a boundary alone. For example, an animal that is asleep, or otherwise not moving, at a location within three feet of a boundary may not require any stimulus at all, whereas an animal moving at a rapid rate of speed toward the boundary at a location within three feet of the boundary may require an immediate stimulus to deter further movement toward the boundary. 
     In an alternate embodiment, the portable collar transceiver, prior to being attached to the animal, may be used in a programming mode, instead of using a separate programmable transceiver, to define the boundary of a confinement area in a manner similar to that of the portable programming transceiver. That is, when operated in a boundary programming mode, the collar transceiver receives a GPS signal representative of the transceiver&#39;s coordinates and transmits these coordinates to a remotely located control station. These coordinates are used by the control station to define a point on the boundary of the confinement area. The collar transceiver is moved along the perimeter of the confinement area, such as a yard, and continually transmits additional coordinates to the control station thus contiguously defining the boundary of the confinement area. By this method the boundary may be represented by any closed curve, often a simple closed curve, in addition to conventional rectilinear shapes. The area outside the boundary is designated as an exclusion area and the area within the boundary is designated as a permissible area, i.e. the confinement area. Optionally, additional inside boundaries may be defined within the established confinement area to create further inside exclusion zones, such as around a flower garden. The collar transceiver is then switched out of programming mode and into its operational mode. The collar is placed on the animal, where it functions in conjunction with the control station for the purpose of generating a stimulus when the animal approaches an exclusion area boundary. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the satellite animal containment system; 
     FIG. 2 is a flow chart of the data processing function of the satellite animal containment system of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the overall confinement geometry having multiple exclusion regions; and 
     FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the confinement area definition process of the satellite animal containment system of FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     An electronic containment system  18  is provided for tracking the movement of an animal  10 , such as a dog, relative to a selected confinement area  104  such as along lines  18   a ,  18   b ,  18   c , and  18   d  of FIG.  1 . The confinement area is defined using a portable programming transceiver  29 . The programming transceiver  29  receives a GPS signal from which the transceiver&#39;s coordinates can be determined. The programming transceiver computes its coordinates from the GPS signal and transmits these coordinates to the remotely located control station  18 . Alternatively, the programming transceiver may function to transmit the original GPS signal, or a portion thereof to the remotely located control station  28 , which computes the coordinates of the programming transceiver. The coordinates are stored by the control station  28  to define a point on the boundary of the confinement area. Additional coordinates are generated as the programming transceiver  29  is moved along the boundary of the confinement area, and the additional coordinates are stored in the control station thus defining the boundary of the confinement area. The coordinates may be transmitted continually, in real time, to the remotely located control station or may be stored in the programming transceiver and subsequently downloaded to the remotely located control station. 
     A collar transceiver  14 , attached to the animal, receives a GPS signal representative of the collar transceiver&#39;s coordinates. The collar transceiver transmits the coordinates to the control station  18  where they are compared to the programmably defined confinement area. If the control station  18  determines the collar transceiver&#39;s location to be within a predetermined distance from the boundary of the confinement area, a signal is transmitted by the control station  18  to the collar transceiver  14  which activates a stimulus generator located in the collar transceiver. A stimulus, such as an audible tone or mild shock is delivered to the animal to correct the animal. 
     PROGRAMMING OF BOUNDARIES 
     Referring now to FIGS. 1,  3 , and  4 , in a preferred embodiment, the programming transceiver is portable programming transceiver  29  used to define an overall confinement geometry  100 . The portable programming transceiver  29  incorporates a receiver for receiving GPS signals from a GPS source, such as positional satellites  16 . The portable programming transceiver  29  computes its coordinates from the GPS signal and transmits the coordinates to a remotely located control station  18 . The remotely located control station  18  defines a point on the boundary  104  of a main confinement area  108 , as schematically shown in FIG. 3, corresponding to the coordinates of the portable programming transceiver  29 . The portable programming transceiver  29  is moved along the boundary  104  of the confinement area  108  where the portable programming transceiver  29  continually transmits additional coordinates to the remotely located control station  18 , contiguously defining the boundary  104  of confinement area  108 . The external area  102  outside of boundary  104  is designated as an exclusion area, and the area within the boundary  104  of confinement area  108  is designated as a permissible area. Optionally, the portable programming transceiver  29  may be used so that additional boundaries  110  may be defined inside the established confinement area  108  to create further inside exclusion regions  112 . 
     For example, to begin the definition of the confinement area  108 , an operator moves to a point on the main boundary  104 , at step  80  of FIG. 4, and presses a “Record” button on the portable programming transceiver  29 , at step  81 . A GPS signal representing the portable programming transceiver&#39;s  29  coordinates is transmitted to the remotely located control station  18  via communication device  20  of the control station  18 . The remotely located control station  18  stores this location in memory. The operator walks along the boundary  104  of the confinement area  108 , at step  82 , and the portable programming transceiver  29  continually transmits its coordinates to the remotely located control station  18  to provide a path or line of coordinates. The remotely located control station  18  stores the coordinates in memory and defines a curve corresponding to the path traversed by the operator, i.e. the boundary  104 . After the boundary  104  has been traversed, the operator presses a “Stop” button on the portable programming transceiver  29 , at step  83 . The remotely located control station  18  stops recording the coordinates of the portable programming transceiver  29 . The operator steps outside of the confinement area  108  into external area  102 , at step  84 , and presses an “Exclusion” button on the portable programming transceiver  29 , at step  85 . The remotely located control station  18  defines external area  102  as an area of exclusion in which the animal is not permitted. The operator steps inside the boundary  104 , at step  89 , and presses a “Safe Zone” button on the portable programming transceiver  29 , at step  87 . The remotely located control station  18  defines the internal area  106  as a non-correction zone where the animal is permitted. In an alternate embodiment, the control station may be programmed to automatically define an area outside of the initial boundary  104  as an exclusion zone and the area inside as a permissible zone. 
     Optionally, at step  88 , the operator may provide additional inside exclusion regions  112  located within confinement area  108 . When desired, the operator walks to a selected boundary of an inside exclusion region  112 , such as a rose garden, within the confinement area  108 , at step  89 , and presses the “Record”button, at step  90 . The operator walks along the desired inside boundary  110  of the inside exclusion region  112  while the portable programming transceiver  29  continually transmits its coordinates to the remotely located control station  18 , at step  91 . The remotely located control station  18  stores the coordinates in memory and defines a curve corresponding to the path traversed by the operator, i.e. the inside exclusion boundary  110 . The operator presses the “Stop” button after completing one circuit, at step  92 . The operator moves into the exclusion area  114 , at step  93 , and presses the “Exclusion” button, at step  94 . The remotely located control station  18  defines the inside exclusion region  112  as an area  114  in which the animal is not permitted. Multiple inside exclusion areas  112  may be selectively defined in a similar manner. 
     In another embodiment of the present invention, a programming transceiver may be provided on or as an integral part of the programmable collar transceiver  14 . The programmable collar transceiver  14  may function to configure a set of confinement boundaries  104  and, optionally, the exclusion boundary  110 , when operating in a Program Mode. The programmable collar transceiver  14  includes a receiver for receiving a GPS signal. Programming of the confinement area  108  and optional inside exclusion regions  112  follows the above procedure using the portable collar transceiver  14  in the place of the portable programming transceiver  29 . However, in order to minimize the weight and size of the collar, the use of the separate programming transceiver  29  may be preferred in various applications. 
     In yet another embodiment, the remotely located control station  18  may be programmed directly. In one specific example, the remotely located control station  18  includes a personal computer  22 , where latitude and longitude coordinates defining the boundaries  104  of the confinement area  108  and the inner exclusion boundaries  110  of the inside exclusion regions  112  may be entered via keyboard  24 , mouse  2 , or other known input devices. For instance, the remotely located control station  18  may comprise a graphic display having an input for data entry that allows the overall confinement geometry  100  to be entered by drawing on the screen. 
     The remotely located control station  18  stores the confinement geometry  100 , including boundaries  104  and  110 , as a configuration file in either volatile or non-volatile memory. A plurality of configuration files each defining an overall confinement geometry  100  may be created and stored for use with different animals or different confinement locations. In a preferred embodiment, data configuration files are stored on non-volatile memory media, such as floppy disks, cd-roms, etc., for use with the collar transceiver  14  at alternate locations equipped with a remotely located control station  18 . Accordingly, a first selected confinement geometry may be used for one pet, while a different confinement geometry is simultaneously used for another pet at the same time and the same location. Similarly, a first selected confinement geometry may be used when the pet is home and a second confinement geometry may be selected for use at a vacation home. 
     SYSTEM OPERATION 
     As shown in FIG. 1, an outer boundary  104  encloses an area  12 , such as a yard, occupied by an animal  10 , such as a dog. The animal  10  is equipped with a collar transceiver  14  which includes reception circuitry and transmission circuitry, preferably battery operated. The reception circuitry receives GPS signals from a GPS source, such as positional satellites  16 , as well as update and stimulus signals from the remotely located control station  18 . The transmission circuitry of the collar relays positional satellite data to the remotely located control station  18 . 
     The positional satellites  16  transmit precise positional information to the collar transceiver  14 . When the distance between the collar transceiver  14  relative to three positional satellites  16  is known, the collar transceiver  14  can be located utilizing the three dimensional Pythagorean theorem. The distance from the collar transceiver  14  to the positional satellites  16  is determined by calculating the time between the GPS signal broadcast and collar transceiver  14  reception. Each positional satellite  16  signal includes a unique (PN) pseudonoise sequence so the collar transceiver  14  can differentiate between various positional satellites  16  and account for their specific orbital movement. 
     This positional information is relayed at a variable rate or preset rate by collar transceiver  14  at a selected radio frequency to the remotely located control station  18  via the RF communications device  20 . The frequency of the signal transmitted by the collar transceiver  14  to the remotely located control station  18  can be different from the frequency of the signal received by the collar transceiver  14  from the positional satellites  16 . The remotely located control station  18  determines the location and ground speed of the animal  10  equipped with the collar transceiver  14  relative to the programmed confinement area boundaries  104  and inside exclusion boundaries  110 . 
     Referring now to FIG. 2, the collar transceiver  14  periodically relays positional GPS satellite data as received from positional satellites  16  at a variable relay rate or preset rate, via RF transmissions, to the remotely located control station  18  as shown in step  40 . At step  54 , the system checks whether readable, usable data is being received in which event the system progresses to step  42  or whether there is inconsistent data or a lack of data in which event the system progresses to step  56 . The rate of transmission of the relay information is either preset or determined by the speed of the animal  10  as calculated by the remotely located control station  18 . In the case of a preset rate, steps  44  and  48  of FIG. 2 are bypassed. In a preferred embodiment, as an animal  10  moves within the boundary  104 , the system computes the animal location at step  42  relative to boundaries  104  and  110 . As the animal moves, the system also determines the velocity of the animal at step  44 . At step  52 , the change in position or velocity of the animal is monitored to ascertain whether such change is a logical change, i.e. within normal parameters. 
     As the animal approaches within a predetermined distance of a programmed boundary  110  or  104 , the relay rate may be adjusted accordingly, increasing, for example, from one sample per second upwards to ten samples per second. An adjust enable signal, at step  48 , is transmitted by the remotely located control station  18  if the movement of animal  10  is determined to be logical by step  52 . The location of the animal  10  is determined to be logical if the current location is less than a predetermined displacement from the previous location. Repeated determinations of illogical animal  10  displacements in either distance or velocity, at step  54 , which are not caused by a satellite malfunction, as determined at step  58 , are accumulated up to a predetermined, operator-selected threshold at step  62 . Exceeding the operator selectable threshold causes, at step  66 , activation of an audible or visual indication at the remotely located control station  18  informing the operator. 
     Similarly, if a change in animal location and speed are detected, at step  44 , to be above a selected threshold and determined, at step  52 , to be within the ability of the animal  10 , the collar transceiver  14  receives a transmission rate adjust enable signal at step  48  from the remotely located control station  18  increasing the rate of relay to ensure accuracy of the animal  10  location determination. The speed of an animal  10  is determined to be logical if it is within the animal&#39;s  10  capability of movement, i.e. if the speed is less than a predetermined value. Alternatively, if the animal  10  is dormant or if a decrease in speed is detected, at step  44 , the collar transceiver  14  receives a transmission rate adjustment enable signal at step  48  from the remotely located control station  18  to conserve collar transceiver  14  battery power by decreasing the rate of relay. 
     If the animal&#39;s change in position and velocity are determined to be normal, the remotely located control station  18  determines, at step  46 , whether the animal  10  is seeking to breach a boundary from, for example, analysis of the aforementioned displacement and speed data. If the animal  10  is seeking escape, a stimulus enable signal step  50  is broadcast from the remotely located control station  18  to the collar transceiver  14 . The stimulus enable signal activates the collar transceiver  14  to provide a correction stimulus, such as a mild shock or audible signal, to the animal  10 . An alarm or indication at the remotely located control station  18  may be activated to alert an operator of a breach or potential egress from permissible confinement area  106 . 
     A group of animals subject to the programmable electronic boundary system may be equipped with independently addressable collar transceivers  14  such that a unique level of stimulus may be communicated to individual animals by the remotely located control station  18 . In this way, the stimulus enabled by the remotely located control station  18  is programmable to conform to the physical characteristics of each preselected animal (i.e. size, weight, etc). Similarly, the level of stimulus enabled by the remotely located control station  18  may further correspond to that animal&#39;s proximity to a programmed boundary  104  or  110 . Thus, an animal that is closer to a boundary than a second animal may be subject to a greater degree of stimulus as enabled by the remotely located control station  18 . Likewise, when two animals are both the same distance from the boundary, one animal, such as an aggressive dog, may receive a higher level of stimulus than another non-aggressive animal. The unique levels of stimulus for preselected animals having independently addressable collar transceivers  14 , as well as variable boundary proximity stimuli, are input at the remotely located control station  18  and saved in the data configuration file. 
     DATA PROCESSING 
     The remotely located control station  18  is preferably a general purpose computer, such as a personal computer  22 , including a microprocessor for the processing of positional satellite  16  data to determine the location of an animal  10  relative to the signals of positional satellites  16 . Additionally, the remotely located control station  18  includes a data storage device for the storage of configuration files and tracking software and a communication device  20  for communication with the collar transceiver  14 . 
     In a preferred embodiment, the remotely located control station  18  is a personal computer  22  having a communication port adapted to communicate between the personal computer  22  and collar transceiver  14  through communication device  20 . Additionally, the remotely located control station  18  may communicate with an existing home automation system. Further, the personal computer  22  includes a modem  28  for connection to a satellite monitoring computer  30  which monitors the status of positional satellites  16 . Upon relay of an indecipherable signal to the personal computer  22  by the collar transceiver  14  or portable programming transceiver  29 , the personal computer  22  may contact the satellite monitoring computer  30  to determine the status of the positional satellites  16 . If the minimum number of positional satellites  16  are not available for tracking, the satellite monitoring computer  30  disables the stimulus enable signal of the personal computer  22  and activates an alarm located at the personal computer  22  to indicate the failure of the system. 
     Management and communication software compatible with known operating environments such as the Windows® operating system is provided for use with the personal computer  22 . The software enables the visual display of the overall confinement geometry  100  coordinates and the animal&#39;s  10  location relative to the overall confinement geometry  100 . Configuration data files can be adjusted and edited utilizing the software of personal computer  22  to expand, contract or completely reconfigure the overall confinement geometry  100  or otherwise alter the parameters of the configuration data file. 
     The memory device of remotely located control station  18  may include volatile and non-volatile forms of computer memory. Preferably, data configuration files are stored in a non-volatile mass storage device such as a hard disk drive. Copies of data configuration files may be transported via portable memory media such as floppy disks, CD-ROMS, DAT&#39;, etc. 
     In an alternative embodiment, the functions of the remotely located control station  18  are performed by the collar transceiver  14  eliminating the need for communication device  20  and remotely located control station  18 . In this embodiment the collar transceiver  14  performs all calculations. Optionally, the remotely located control station  18  may be utilized to reconfigure or back-up configuration data files stored within the collar transceiver  14  through an optional serial or parallel transceiver or IR or optical communications port of collar transceiver  14 . In this embodiment the collar transceiver  14  transmits an alarm enable to the remotely located control station  18  for audible or visual indication of a collar transceiver  14  failure or satellite system failure. 
     The terms and expressions which have been employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation. There is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof It is recognized, however, that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention as claimed.