Abstract:
A system and method is provided for wirelessly tracking a tracking device. The subject of the tracking device may be a person, group of people or an article of interest. The tracking device receives location information via GPS and transmits the location information to a remote server via a cellular network or some other communications network. The server may be employed to identify the subject of the tracking device, change operational parameters of the tracking device and may otherwise analyze the information received from the tracking device. Based on the analysis, the server may recommend or may make changes to the operational parameters of the tracking device.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This disclosure relates generally to wireless-tracking solutions and more particularly but not exclusively to systems and methods for wireless tracking using a combination of intelligence, global positioning systems (GPS) and one or more communication technologies such as cellular, WiFi, BlueTooth, etc. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Real time GPS location solutions have been a key part of logistics for many years. However, there are many situations where no full-time power source is available for the tracking of mobile goods and/or people. Lack of location awareness has cost businesses billions of dollars by losing track of people, packages, cargo, containers and other specialty items. 
         [0003]    Retail consumers want to know the location and status of their children, elderly parents, vehicles, assets, luggage, purses and other valuable goods. While smartphones can provide location services, they are battery hungry and are too large and expensive to be used solely as a tracking device. Because of these factors, a GPS enabled smartphone is not a practical solution in many situations. Existing “standalone” tracking devices are bulky, expensive and poorly integrated for ease of use. 
         [0004]    Conventional tracking solutions also require each tracking device to be manually configured each time the tracking device is attached to a tracked item. This is time sensitive and adds expense to the system. 
         [0005]    It would be advantageous to create a relatively inexpensive tracking device that minimizes power requirements and which employs both GPS and cellular technology to provide real-time or substantially real-time location and status. It would further be advantageous to create such a tracking device that employs intelligence. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    Many advantages of the invention will be determined and are attained by the invention, which in a broad sense provides wireless tracking solutions. In at least one embodiment a wireless tracking system is provided. The system includes a tracking device which includes a global positioning system (GPS) module, a cellular circuitry module in electrical communication with the GPS module, a transceiver in electrical communication with the cellular circuitry module, an accelerometer in electrical communication with the cellular circuitry module, a battery in electrical communication with the GPS module, the cellular circuitry module and the accelerometer, and a power management module in electrical communication with the battery. The system also includes a server, located remote from the tracking device. The server includes a transceiver configured to communicate with the tracking device via a cellular network, an intelligence module in electrical communication with the transceiver, and a configuration module in electrical communication with the transceiver and the intelligence module. 
         [0007]    In one or more implementations of the invention, a method for wirelessly tracking a location of a tracking device is provided. The method includes the tracking device periodically determining a location of the tracking device via a global positioning system (GPS). The tracking device forwards the location to a remote server via a cellular network, the remote server analyzes the location and determines modifications for the tracking device based at least in part on the analysis. 
         [0008]    In one or more implementations of the invention, a method for wirelessly tracking a location of a tracking device is provided. The method includes the tracking device determining a location of the tracking device via a global positioning system (GPS) and determining a change in the location. The tracking device forwards the changed location to a remote server via a cellular network. The remote server forwards the changed location for receipt by a mobile device via a communication network. 
         [0009]    In one or more implementations of the invention, a method for wirelessly tracking a location of a tracking device is provided. The method includes the tracking device periodically determining a location of the tracking device via a global positioning system (GPS). The tracking device forwards the location to a remote server via a cellular network, the remote server analyzes the periodically determined location and determines, based at least in part on the analysis, a subject of the tracking device. 
         [0010]    The invention will next be described in connection with certain illustrated embodiments and practices. However, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that various modifications, additions and subtractions can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    For a better understanding of the invention, reference is made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout, and in which: 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating a wireless tracking device in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a server in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a tracking system in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart illustrating an operation of tracking system in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. 
       
    
    
       [0016]    The invention will next be described in connection with certain illustrated embodiments and practices. However, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that various modifications, additions, and subtractions can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0017]    Referring to the drawings in detail wherein like reference numerals identify like elements throughout the various figures, there is illustrated in  FIGS. 1-4  a wireless tracking solution. While only a very limited number of system elements (e.g. tracking devices  10 , servers  100 , user devices  210 , networks  205 / 215 , etc.) are illustrated, those skilled in the art will recognize this is only done for illustration purposes and that the invention is not so limited. The wireless locator solution may include multiple servers  100 , multiple tracking devices  10 , multiple users and/or user devices  210 , and can operate over multiple networks or over a single network  205 / 215 . For example, the tracking solution may operate over one or more of the Internet  205 , a wireless network  215 , a private network, a virtual private network (VPN), a plain old telephone service (POTS) network  220 , etc. and it/they may be secure or unsecure and still fall within a scope of one or more embodiments of the invention. It is contemplated by the inventors that the user(s) may employ various mobile devices  210  such as personal digital assistants (PDA), smart phones, tablets, e-readers, smart watches, etc. and/or various computers such as laptops, desktops, thin clients etc. to track and configure the tracking devices  10 . 
         [0018]    Principles and operations of the invention may be better understood with reference to the drawings and the accompanying description. The following description will be limited to a preferred embodiment(s), but the invention is not intended to be limited to that/those embodiments. Those skilled in the art will recognize that various mechanical and electrical modifications to the described embodiments may occur without departing from a scope of the claims. In the following description, the words locator and tracking will be used interchangeably (e.g. tracking device  10 , locator device  10 ). 
         [0019]    In a preferred embodiment as illustrated in  FIGS. 1-4  an intelligent location and mapping solution is provided which enables tracking of persons and/or articles. The battery powered locator device  10  utilizes a GPS system to determine the location of the device  10  and one or more wireless networks for data transmission of the location back to a data center. A mapping and reporting application is provided for viewing the device&#39;s location and/or movement history on smartphones, tablets and PC&#39;s  210 . 
         [0020]    As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the tracking device  10  may be a relatively small, portable, battery powered  35  tracking device  10  that derives its position from GPS  15  but delivers location and other data from the device to a remote server  100  through cellular technology  20 . Such data is delivered through the Internet  205  to the end-user and displayed on any PC, smartphone, tablet or other similar device  210 . The tracking device  10  employs a GPS module  15  (e.g. a Telit Communications, PLC (LSE-TTCNE) GPS/RF Radio module or similar technology), cellular circuitry  20 , one or more transceivers  25  (e.g. an Ethertronics antenna), a gyroscope/accelerometer  30  (e.g. a Freescale accelerometer), a lithium ion battery  35  and a power manager  40 . The GPS obtains location information from a GPS system then communicates the location information to the cellular circuitry  20 . The cellular circuitry transmits the location information via transceiver  25  to a remote server  100  via a wireless communications network  215 . The gyroscope/accelerometer  30  detects force applied to the device  10  and detects if the device  10  has fallen. This information is also provided to the cellular circuitry  20  for transmission to the remote server  100 . The battery  35  powers all of the elements of the tracking device  10 . The power manager  40  minimizes the amount of power being used when a particular feature or element of the device  10  is not needed or being used. For example, if the device  10  is configured to only report every 20 seconds the power manager may turn off all modules for 20 seconds or some other time less than 20 seconds, or it might turn off select modules such as the cellular circuitry  20  and the transceiver  25 . Alternatively or in conjunction the power manager  40  may turn off some or all modules, and lower the power level of some or all modules for a period of time. 
         [0021]    As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the server  100  is a processor  130  based device which includes, among other conventional server based elements, a wireless connection  105 , an Internet connection  110 , intelligence module  115 , a hardware configuration module  120  and an input device  135  (e.g. a mouse, keyboard, touchscreen, pen, etc.) and a display  125 . The majority of the elements of server  100  are conventional and as such will not be further described herein as those skilled in the art will be familiar with their operation and connection. For example the processor  130 , Internet connection  110 , display  125 , input device  135 , cellular circuitry  105 , etc. The server  100  also includes an intelligence module  115  and the hardware configuration module  120 . 
         [0022]    The hardware configuration module  120  is a software based module which dictates how the device  10  operates. The configuration module  120  enables a user to change/dictate the operational parameters of the device  10  such as obtain a live ping, change the report rate of the device, change the report basis of the device (e.g. from time based to movement based reporting, etc.), change the battery performance, create geo-fences and alerts related to the geo-fences, report changes in heading or direction, temperature and g-force shock/fall and take charge of other customizable alerts or reports. The configuration module may also enable a user to auto-detect the device on which the tracking device  10  is attached or with which it is otherwise associated. The hardware configuration module  120  and intelligence module  115  are accessed via an application programming interface (API). The API provides access to device controls, error correction, data analytics, and processing and logical comparisons. 
         [0023]    The intelligence module  115 , which may be a separate module or the same module as the hardware configuration module  120 , enables the device  110  to “learn” about the usual and customary operation of a device and then recommend operational parameters. It is also contemplated that the intelligence module  115  may be provided the capability to automatically configure/update operational parameters of the device  10 . The device  10  may “learn” over time how, where and why it is being moved around and behaving a certain way. Iterative defined states of historical patterned behavior which are specific to the device  10  are analyzed and then applied to a decision tree to make recommendations for or modifications to the operating parameters of the device  10 . In other words, data received from the device  10  and/or manually entered into the intelligence module  115  is stored on server  100  and then analyzed on a periodic basis, in real-time or substantially in real-time by the intelligence module  115 . The data is analyzed against various if-then and/or if-then-else statements and/or it may be analyzed against one or more thresholds. By way of a non-limiting example, if the data received from the device  10  indicates that the device  10  continually (as defined by the design choices of the system) only travels between 2 locations, then the intelligence module  115  may define or may recommend to the user to define a geo-fence for the area between those two locations and may suggest or set up an alert for when the device  10  leaves that geo-fenced area. The above example could also be limited by time or some other parameter. For example, if the intelligence module  115  is informed that the tracking device  10  is associated with a student and determines that from 8:30 am until 9:00 am every Monday through Friday, inclusive, the student travels from home to school and each of those same days leaves the school and returns home between 3:00 pm and 3:30 pm the intelligence module  115  may define or may recommend to the user to define a geo-fence for the area between the home and the school for Monday&#39;s through Fridays, inclusive, which is only active from 8:30 am-9:00 am and 3:00 pm-3:30 pm and may also suggest or set up an alert for when the student&#39;s device  10  leaves the geo-fenced area, enters the geo-fenced area, fails to enter the geo-fenced area during one of those time periods or if the device  10  is not present in the geo-fenced area during those time periods. By way of another non-limiting example, the intelligence module  115  could determine that from 11:00 pm to 7:00 am every day the tracking device  10  remains stationary (e.g. the student is asleep). The intelligence module  115  may configure or may recommend to the user to configure the power module  40  on the device  10  to shut down for all or part of that time period, and/or to increase the time period between the tracking device&#39;s  10  reporting and/or to change the reporting requirement to a movement based report. This learned behavior can then be used to tailor and/or optimize the operational parameters of the device. 
         [0024]    The intelligence module  115  may also be employed to automatically identify the subject of the tracking device  10 . To that end, the intelligence module  15  is provided access to one or more tracking profiles. A tracking profile includes one or more expected/usual and customary behaviors that a particular subject of the tracking device  10  exhibits. If the tracking device  10  matches all of the behaviors of a particular profile or a predefined number or percentage of behaviors then the intelligence module  115  determines that the tracking device is attached/associated with a subject matching that particular profile. It is possible that a subject will match multiple profiles. In that event, the system may be designed to select the best fit or some other profile based upon a design choice of the system. Once the subject is determined the intelligence module  115  communicates that information to the hardware configuration module which then downloads a default configuration for that particular subject. At that point, the tracking device  10  may be configured to continue reporting as usual, or may be configured to only report anomalous activity based on the profile. 
         [0025]    In operation  FIG. 4 , at  300  the tracking device  10 , which has a unique identifier, is attached to a person or an article to be tracked. The tracking device  10  is programmed to operate with certain default parameters such as report location every 10 minutes, or report location every 100 feet. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the default parameters are a design choice and thus other default parameters may be selected without departing from a scope of the claims. Additionally, the tracking device  10  could be provided with no default operating parameters and still fall within a scope of the claims. As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , using a computer, smartphone or similar device  210  (hereinafter referred to as the smartphone  210 ), at  310  the person who wants to track the tracking device  10  (hereinafter the tracker) may connect to the server  100  via the Internet (or some other communications network depending upon the design choice of the system). The API is presented to the tracker via the smartphone  210  such that the tracker can select operational parameters to set for the tracking device  10 . In addition to being able to set the operational parameters, the API may provide the tracker with the ability to view the location of the tracking device in map view or some other view, it may provide the tracker with the ability to view historical data about the tracking device  10  (e.g. locations within last 12 hours, how long it remained at a location, and other analytics about the tracking device  10 ). The tracker may enter information about the tracking device (e.g. identifying information about the person or article being tracked, limits on the allowed locations/movements for the tracked device etc.). This information may be entered using radio boxes, drop down menus, or using other conventional data input options. At  330 , information entered into the smartphone is then transmitted to the server  100  via the Internet, and at  340  the server  100  stores the information and/or transmits the operational parameters via cellular carrier  215  to the tracking device  10 . Once operational, at  350  the tracking device periodically transmits its location to the server via cellular network  215 . That period may be customizable by the tracker and may be based on time and or movement of the device. For example, the device  10  may be configured obtain and report its location every minute or every 10 minutes or some other time period. It may also or alternatively be configured to report its location every time the tracking device moves more than 100 feet, or some other distance. In the event that the tracking device  10  detects a fall or some other sudden force acting on the device  10  it could be programmed to send an alert that it has fallen or otherwise been in some type of accident. 
         [0026]    In addition to or alternatively, the above system may automatically determine the subject of the tracking device  10 . The tracking device  10  is attached to a subject and sometime thereafter begins to report for a certain period of time, or for a certain number of reports. After a sufficient amount of data is received (e.g. after a few hours or days or x number of reports) by the server  100 , and/or as the data is received, the intelligence module  115  compares the data to one or more profiles and/or to various if-then and/or if-then-else statements and makes a determination as to an identity of the subject matter of the tracking device  10  (e.g. a person, a car, a shipping container, a golf cart, a shopping cart, etc.) and the hardware configuration module  120  sets the operational parameters for the tracking device  10 . In this manner, if the tracking device  10  is removed from one subject and attached to/associated with a different subject, the system can determine the change without the need for human intervention. 
         [0027]    Having thus described preferred embodiments of the invention, advantages can be appreciated. Variations from the described embodiments exist without departing from the scope of the claims. Thus it is seen that wireless tracking solutions are provided. Although particular embodiments have been disclosed herein in detail, this has been done for purposes of illustration only, and is not intended to be limiting with respect to the scope of the claims, which follow. In particular, it is contemplated by the inventors that various substitutions, alterations, and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims. For example, the tracking device  100  may also employ a radio frequency transceiver for instances where cellular or GPS is unavailable, but local RF readers and repeaters are available. Other aspects, advantages, and modifications are considered to be within the scope of the following claims. The claims presented are representative of the inventions disclosed herein. Other, unclaimed inventions are also contemplated. The inventors reserve the right to pursue such inventions in later claims. 
         [0028]    Insofar as embodiments of the invention described above are implemented, at least in part, using a computer system, it will be appreciated that a computer program for implementing at least part of the described methods and/or the described systems is envisaged as an aspect of the invention. The computer system may be any suitable apparatus, system or device, electronic, optical, or a combination thereof. For example, the computer system may be a programmable data processing apparatus, a computer, a Digital Signal Processor, an optical computer or a microprocessor. The computer program may be embodied as source code and undergo compilation for implementation on a computer, or may be embodied as object code, for example. 
         [0029]    It is also conceivable that some or all of the functionality ascribed to the computer program or computer system aforementioned may be implemented in hardware, for example by one or more application specific integrated circuits and/or optical elements. Suitably, the computer program can be stored on a carrier medium in computer usable form, which is also envisaged as an aspect of the invention. For example, the carrier medium may be solid-state memory, optical or magneto-optical memory such as a readable and/or writable disk for example a compact disk (CD) or a digital versatile disk (DVD), or magnetic memory such as disk or tape, and the computer system can utilize the program to configure it for operation. The computer program may also be supplied from a remote source embodied in a carrier medium such as an electronic signal, including a radio frequency carrier wave or an optical carrier wave. 
         [0030]    It is accordingly intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted as illustrative rather than in a limiting sense. It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention as described herein, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall there between.