Abstract:
A hierarchical and distributed system architecture for a container monitoring and security system is provided. The architecture may be a hierarchical chain of separate, related processing elements. The partitioning of functions and distribution of processing among these or other similar hierarchical elements in the network is provided. The elements may further be described in successive layers, each have a greater level of network intelligence than the former.

Description:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY 
     The present invention claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/735,850, filed Nov. 14, 2005. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to container security and supply chain management and, more particularly, to a distributed processing architecture within a shipping container security system. 
     2. Background of the Invention 
     In today&#39;s security conscious transportation environment, there is a strong need to cost-effectively and accurately monitor the contents of containerized shipments. This need exists both in the United States and abroad. 
     Despite the strong need, until recently few solutions, if any, have been able to provide the protection and accuracy needed to suit the transportation industry and the government agencies charged with monitoring shipments. This lack of an acceptable solution is due to many factors which complicate interstate and international shipping. Shipping containers are used to transport most of the commerce entering, leaving, and transiting or moving within the United States. It is estimated that there are over 6 million containers moving in global commerce. Shipping containers have revolutionized the transportation of goods by greatly reducing the number of times goods must be loaded and unloaded during transport. However, at the same time, this same advantage has created a major problem in that it is very difficult to monitor and track the contents of each container during transport. 
     Beyond their basic construction, monitoring the content of shipping containers is also difficult because these containers are carried through numerous transit points and depots all over the world and it is impractical to stop and check the contents of each container individually at each point of transit. Dealing with this problem, the U.S. Customs Service estimates it can inspect just 5% of the 6 million containers entering and reentering the U.S. each year. Accordingly, agencies such as the United States Customs Service are seeking improved ways to achieve cargo container security and integrity upon arrival at the ports of entry of the United States. 
     To date, many government agencies have initiated programs to improve container security. These include many useful elements that are intended to preclude their use by terrorists. However, at present, none of the container tracking systems in use provides a way to assure the integrity of the contents of the containers to assure global container security. 
     However, the reliable detection and processing of the raw sensor data and conversion of this data into actionable reports and recommendations for human operators are complex and daunting tasks. In order to accomplish this function, a container security system may be comprised of various elements, each of them occupying a specific decision support layer and performing a specific task. These elements will interface with adjacent layers and together perform the container security function at a network level in a hierarchical manner. 
     The benefits of a hierarchical architecture over a centralized processing architecture are significant and include: the ability to process more information and process it quickly; reduction of amount of data sent between various processing elements and the associated reduction in communication link capacity and cost; improvement in the reliability of results and data; reduction of false alarms; and representation of more concise summary to human operators. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART 
     A container security system as described by System Planning Corporation (SPC) (U.S. Pat. No. 7,098,784) herein referred to as “the SPC Invention”, performs many of the functions to monitor containers, their content, and to detect tampering within a container during transit. This is accomplished through a device is which located on a container, which performs multiple functions. Some of these functions may include controlling various sensors, collecting the data from these sensors and transmitting this data back to a central monitoring station. The central monitoring station may also send commands and information to individual containers equipment with this device. 
     To enable information to be transmitted to and from the container, there are several communications subsystems including a satellite or cellular communications device, or both. This system also describes the utilization of a short range wireless or local area communication channel to communicate with various sensors and other elements within the container. The system utilizes the satellite or cellular communications channel to communicate and send status and alarms to a central monitoring station. 
     While the SPC invention is quite useful, most of the intelligence of the system is concentrated in the central monitoring station, and in the human operators that will be required to interpret the events of various sensors. The processing element located in the container controls the sensor array, and triggers on certain thresholds, but does not offer a higher level of processing sophistication. Currently a very small number of the 6 million containers entering the US are monitored using the SPC and similar monitoring systems. As the number of containers in the monitoring network grows, the SPC and other similar systems may require human intervention and may become bogged down in that operators must sort out events, often in real-time. In addition, because the SPC invention typically simply monitors sensor thresholds, the false alarm rate of the system may be high. Finally, because each trigger event will result in an alarm condition, the amount of traffic sent over the satellite or alternate communications channels will grow, networks may become congested, and the associated monitoring service cost will increase as well. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     To address the problems and limitations noted above, a system and method for distributing the information and decision support processing into discrete, hierarchical processing elements is provided. 
     The preferred embodiments of the present invention comprise system architecture of a container security system. The architecture may be described as a hierarchical chain of processing elements and a relationship between these elements. Embodiments of the present invention include partitioning of functions, and the distribution of processing among these or other similar hierarchical elements in the network. The elements may further be described in successive layers. 
     The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate various embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a functional diagram of the various processing elements which comprise the container monitoring system. 
         FIG. 2  shows a hierarchical processing system wherein the functions are distributed into multiple layers of intelligence. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The present invention provides a unique system for providing more effective architecture for systems which monitor and report environmental information regarding the status of the shipping container. The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described wherein container security system is divided into specific hierarchical layers. The architecture may have distributed processing and distributed intelligence, such that successive layers process information associated with that particular layer, and pass results to and from adjacent layers. This model is analogous to a complex computation being performed on a parallel processor, which includes multitudes of smaller distributed processing elements which results in a significant increase in the overall computational capacity of the entire system. 
     Throughout this specification, preferred embodiments of the invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the embodiments, various examples and illustrative embodiments are provided. It should be understood that these embodiments and examples are provided purely for purposes of illustration. The present invention is limited solely by the claims appended hereto. 
     With reference now to  FIG. 1 , and for the purposes of explanation, a hierarchical system architecture  100  comprising multiple layers and distributed processing elements for a monitoring and security system for a plurality of containers  104  which may reside within a vessel or transport vehicle  101  is described. Located within each container  104  in the network may be a sensor level processing element  102  operating on information related to a particular sensor type. In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the sensor element  102  comprises a sensor, a micro processor element, a communications device which may be wireless or wired, and may have an analog to digital converter. The sensor type may vary depending on the particular application but may include any sensor from a group of sensors containing: temperature sensor, visible light sensor, acoustic sensor, vibration sensor, motion sensor, microbolometer, radiation sensor, hazardous chemical sensor, explosives sensor, proximity sensor, infrared sensor, door switch sensor, image capture sensor, and smoke detector. The sensor element  102  may perform several functions which may include data smoothing, data filtering and reduction, and transmission of sensor data onto the container level processing element, which is the next higher element in the chain. 
     Again in  FIG. 1 , the container level processing element  106  may receive raw or processed data from one or multiple said sensor elements  102 . The container level element  106  performs several higher level functions which may include comparing sets of sensor data over a fixed or variable time interval, comparing data from one type of sensor to that collected from another type of sensor to determine a higher level event that may have occurred, or sending this data onto the collection and relay processing element. For example, if a sensor door seal triggers, and vibration and acoustic sensors exhibit a specific pattern, then the container processor  106  may conclude with a certain probability that a door opening has occurred. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the container processor  106  may query the sensors for additional data or collect additional sensor data readings. This may be performed if previous results indicate an inconsistent conclusion, or if an event would indicate that more data should be taken to further refine a decision or capture data immediately after the event. For example, if a door opening has occurred, the container may collect a series of freeze frames from an image sensor. In this manner intelligence is driven down to the lowest possible system component or layer that has access to the data, reducing raw data being sent over a costly satellite channel, improving response time, and reducing the risk of bogging down central processing elements. 
     A collection and relay processing element  108  may operate on information related to a group of containers which may be transported together in a shipment. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the collection element  108  performs several functions including collecting data from multiple containers either being transported on a vessel or other means, collecting data from multiple containers stored in a shipyard or other staging area such as a manufactures point of origin. In the preferred embodiment of the preset invention, the collection element  108  may also make group comparisons and query individual container processing elements for additional information if required, and send this data onto a data fusion center processing element. For example, given a elevated temperature reading followed by strong acoustic peaks from several containers located in a certain portion of the vessel, the collection and relay processing element  108  may determine that a fire or other hazard may have occurred, and that an explosion may have followed. In this example the information from multiple containers is compared and conclusions may be established based on an aggregate of containers. 
     In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a data fusion center processing element  110  may operate on information related to groups or shipments of containers, and information related to each successive lower layer as necessary, and the network as a whole. The data fusion center  110  may perform functions including collecting information from all the collection and relay processing elements in the network, identifying regional level issues based on multiple collection and relay processing elements, identifying overall trends of activity and events for all elements in the network, or prioritizing information based on predetermined importance of certain types of events. The data fusion center  110  is also the last link in the network chain and primary interface to a human operator  112 . In the preferred embodiment of the present invention the data fusion center  110  formats and displays information in a graphical manner for the human operator to understand easily and take appropriate action. 
     The data fusion center  110  may process data at the next level to determine higher level events based on other factors. For example, a container which may have had a door opened in Ohio may not be flagged as a critical event, however one which had an unauthorized opening in Baghdad may be flagged immediately. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the data fusion center  110  can process other information based on groups of containers to determine outcomes, and may also look at global trends and apply event probabilities to these trends to filter or weight results or false alarms for future similar occurrences. However, in a preferred embodiment, the data fusion center  110  may be able to query, control, and receive additional data form any element in the network down to the sensor level. This is important because the human operator must be able to have an interface to access every level of the monitoring network. Also, the data fusion center  110  may be required to control certain events at a network level. For example, if certain human intelligence data may indicate that a nuclear device may be inserted into a cargo container in a particular region, the data fusion center may activate an infrequently used, power hungry radiation detector for every container that reports a door opening in that region. 
     In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the various processing elements represent functional elements. As such the functions of each discrete processing layer may be combined with the adjacent layer for reasons of implementation simplicity while maintaining functional integrity. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a container monitoring network architecture  200  can be optimized by empowering each element of the network to process information that is immediately available at that level. In another preferred embodiment, a sensor level processor  202 , collects and perform low level data processing before this is sent on to a container level processor  204 , which in turn is processed and sent to a collection and relay processor  206 , and the information from multiple containers is aggregated and sent to a data fusion center  208 , and finally to a human operator  210  who interprets the information and events. In this manner, the total computational bandwidth of the network is the sum of all processing elements within the network. As human operators gain experience in operating the network over several years, the capacity for added intelligence functionality may not easily limited by computation means when using this architecture.