Abstract:
A patrolling method includes the steps of: installing transponders at sites to be monitored, respectively; providing a patrol guard with a transceiver unit such that the patrol guard is able to use the transceiver unit to detect the transponders; enabling operation of the transceiver unit to forward patrol information retrieved from the transponders to a monitoring station; and enabling operation of the transceiver unit to forward a current geographic location thereof to the monitoring station. A patrolling system, which includes the transponders, the transceiver unit and the monitoring station, is also disclosed.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The invention relates to a patrolling method and system, more particularly to a tamper-free patrolling method and system. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    In a conventional patrolling method, patrol boxes are installed at sites to be monitored, a patrol guard visits one of the sites to be monitored, and writes down patrol information on a notebook placed in the patrol box installed at the visited site. 
         [0005]    The aforementioned patrolling method is disadvantageous in that, since the patrol guard follows a fixed route and the patrol boxes are not locked, lawbreakers have easy access to the notebooks, and the patrol information in the notebooks are therefore prone to tampering and may be maliciously used by the lawbreakers. 
         [0006]    To solve this problem, it has been proposed to use a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, in place of the notebook, and equip the patrol guard with an RFID writer for writing the patrol information into the RFID tag. 
         [0007]    It is further desirable to determine a current geographical location of the patrol guard who is visiting different sites to be monitored. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    According to an aspect of the present invention, a patrolling method is to be implemented using a monitoring station, a plurality of transponders that have corresponding patrol information stored therein, and a transceiver unit that includes a sensor module capable of retrieving the patrol information from the transponders, a first transceiver module capable of forwarding retrieved patrol information to the monitoring station, and a second transceiver module capable of determining a current geographic location of the transceiver unit and forwarding the current geographic location to the monitoring station. The patrolling method comprises the steps of: 
         [0009]    a) installing the transponders at a plurality of sites to be monitored, respectively; 
         [0010]    b) providing a patrol guard with the transceiver unit such that the patrol guard is able to use the transceiver unit to detect the transponder installed at one of the sites to be monitored so as to retrieve the patrol information thereof; 
         [0011]    c) enabling operation of the transceiver unit to forward the retrieved patrol information to the monitoring station via the first transceiver module; and 
         [0012]    d) enabling operation of the transceiver unit to forward the current geographic location thereof to the monitoring station via the second transceiver module. 
         [0013]    According to another aspect of the present invention, a patrolling system comprises a monitoring station, a plurality of transponders, and a transceiver unit. The transponders have corresponding patrol information stored therein, and are adapted to be installed at a plurality of sites to be monitored, respectively. The transceiver unit includes a sensor module, and first and second transceiver modules. The sensor module is capable of detecting the transponders so as to retrieve the patrol information therefrom. The first transceiver module is capable of forwarding retrieved patrol information to the monitoring station. The second transceiver module is capable of determining a current geographic location of the transceiver unit and forwarding the current geographic location to the monitoring station. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]    Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: 
           [0015]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view of the preferred embodiment of a patrolling system according to the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of the preferred embodiment; 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart to illustrate the first preferred embodiment of a patrolling method according to the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart to illustrate the second preferred embodiment of a patrolling method according to the present invention; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart to illustrate the third preferred embodiment of a patrolling method according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0020]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the preferred embodiment of a patrolling system  2  according to this invention is shown to include a monitoring station  21 , a plurality of transponders  22 , and a plurality of transceiver units  23 . 
         [0021]    The patrolling system  2  of this embodiment is employed to facilitate monitoring of a plurality of sites  3  for security purposes, in a manner that will be described hereinafter. 
         [0022]    The transponders  22  are installed at the sites  3  to be monitored, respectively. In this embodiment, each of the transponders  22  includes a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag  221  that stores corresponding patrol information therein. 
         [0023]    It is noted that since the RFID tag  221  of the transponder  22  is relatively inexpensive, the number of transponders  22  may be increased without a considerable affect on installation costs. 
         [0024]    Since the transceiver units  23  are identical in structure and operation, only one of the transceiver units  23  will be described herein. 
         [0025]    The transceiver unit  23  is assigned to a patrol guard (not shown), and includes a sensor module  231 , and first and second transceiver modules  232 ,  233 . 
         [0026]    The sensor module  231  of the transceiver unit  23  includes a RFID reader  2311  that is capable of detecting the RFID tags  221  of the transponders  22  so as to retrieve, i.e., read, the patrol information stored from the RFID tags  221  of the transponders  22 , in a conventional manner. 
         [0027]    The first transceiver module  232  of the transceiver unit  23  is coupled to the sensor module  231 , and is capable of forwarding retrieved patrol information to the monitoring station  21 . 
         [0028]    In this embodiment, the first transceiver module  232  is configured to forward the retrieved patrol information to the monitoring station  21  immediately upon detection by the RFID reader  2311  of the sensor module  231  of the RFID tag  221  of the transponder  22  at one of the sites  3  to be monitored. 
         [0029]    In an alternative embodiment, the first transceiver module  232  is configured to forward the retrieved patrol information to the monitoring station  21  after detection by the RFID reader  2311  of the sensor module  231  of the RFID tags  221  of the transponders  22  at a predetermined set of the sites  3 . The predetermined set of the sites  3  may include one or more of the sites  3  to be monitored. 
         [0030]    It is noted that the first transceiver module  232  accesses a service, such as a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) or a Short Message Service (SMS), provided by a mobile communications service provider (not shown), such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) provider (not shown), in forwarding the patrol information to the monitoring station  21 . 
         [0031]    The second transceiver module  233  of the transceiver unit  23  is capable of determining a current geographic location of the transceiver unit  23  and forwarding the current geographic location of the transceiver unit  23  to the monitoring station  21 . 
         [0032]    In this embodiment, the second transceiver module  233  is configured to forward the current geographic location of the transceiver unit  23  to the monitoring station  21  upon detection of a change in the current geographic location. This keeps the patrol guard under surveillance by the monitoring station  21 , thus safeguarding the patrol guard. 
         [0033]    In an alternative embodiment, the second transceiver module  233  is configured to forward the current geographic location of the transceiver unit  23  to the monitoring station  21  upon detection by the RFID reader  2311  of the sensor module  231  of the RFID tag  221  of the transponder  22  at one of the sites  3  to be monitored. This reduces battery power consumption of the transceiver unit  23 , and thus optimizes operating time of the transceiver unit  23 . 
         [0034]    It is noted that the second transceiver module  233  accesses a service provided by a global positioning system (GPS) service provider (not shown) in determining the current geographic location of the transceiver unit  23 . 
         [0035]    The first preferred embodiment of a patrolling method to be implemented using the aforementioned patrolling system  2  according to this invention includes the steps shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0036]    In step  31 , the transponders  22  are installed at the sites  3  to be monitored, respectively. 
         [0037]    In step  32 , the patrol guard is provided with the transceiver unit  23 . 
         [0038]    In step  33 , the patrol guard visits one of the sites  3  to be monitored. 
         [0039]    In step  34 , the patrol guard uses the RFID reader  2311  of the sensor module  231  of the transceiver unit  23  to detect the RFID tag  221  of the transponder  22  installed at the visited site  3  so as to retrieve the patrol information thereof. 
         [0040]    In step  35 , the first transceiver module  232  of the transceiver unit  23  forwards the retrieved patrol information to the monitoring station  21 . 
         [0041]    In step  36 , the second transceiver module  233  of the transceiver unit  23  determines a current geographic location of the transceiver unit  23 . 
         [0042]    In step  37 , the second transceiver module  233  of the transceiver unit  23  compares the current geographic location determined thereby in step  36  with a previous geographic location determined thereby prior to step  36 . 
         [0043]    In step  38 , if the second transceiver module  233  of the transceiver unit  23  determines in step  37  that the current geographic location is different from the previous geographic location, the flow proceeds to step  39 . Otherwise, the flow proceeds to step  40 . 
         [0044]    In step  39 , the second transceiver module  233  of the transceiver unit  23  forwards the current geographic location to the monitoring station  21 . 
         [0045]    In step  40 , the monitoring station  21  instructs the patrol guard to visit another one of the sites  3  to be monitored. 
         [0046]    In this embodiment, the monitoring station  21  randomly selects said another one of the sites  3  to be monitored. This offers better security against crime. 
         [0047]    In one embodiment, the monitoring station  21  selects said another one of the sites  3  to be monitored in order of distance from the visited site  3 . 
         [0048]    In another embodiment, the monitoring station  21  selects said another one of the sites  3  to be monitored in order of time since a site  3  was last visited. 
         [0049]    In yet another embodiment, the monitoring station  21  selects said another one of the sites  3  to be monitored in order of importance. 
         [0050]    In step  41 , the patrol guard visits said another one of the sites  3  to be monitored. Thereafter, the flow goes back to step  34 . 
         [0051]    The second preferred embodiment of a patrolling method to be implemented using the aforementioned patrolling system  2  according to this invention includes the steps shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0052]    In step  51 , the transponders  22  are installed at the sites  3  to be monitored, respectively. 
         [0053]    In step  52 , the patrol guard is provided with the transceiver unit  23 . 
         [0054]    In step  53 , the patrol guard visits one of the sites  3  to be monitored. 
         [0055]    In step  54 , the patrol guard uses the RFID reader  2311  of the sensor module  231  of the transceiver unit  23  to detect the RFID tag  221  of the transponder  22  installed at the visited site  3  so as to retrieve the patrol information thereof. 
         [0056]    In step  55 , the first transceiver module  232  of the transceiver unit  23  forwards the retrieved patrol information to the monitoring station  21 . 
         [0057]    In step  56 , the second transceiver module  233  of the transceiver unit  23  determines a current geographic location of the transceiver unit  23 . 
         [0058]    In step  57 , the second transceiver module  233  of the transceiver unit  23  forwards the current geographic location to the monitoring station  21 . 
         [0059]    In step  58 , the monitoring station  21  instructs the patrol guard to visit another one of the sites  3  to be monitored. 
         [0060]    In step  59 , the patrol guard visits said another one of the sites  3  to be monitored. Thereafter, the flow goes back to step  54 . 
         [0061]    The third preferred embodiment of a patrolling method to be implemented using the aforementioned patrolling system  2  according to this invention includes the steps shown in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0062]    In step  61 , the transponders  22  are installed at the sites  3  to be monitored, respectively. 
         [0063]    In step  62 , the patrol guard is provided with the transceiver unit  23 . 
         [0064]    In step  63 , the patrol guard visits one of the sites  3  in the predetermined set. In this embodiment, the predetermined set of the sites  3  includes all the sites  3  to be monitored. 
         [0065]    In step  64 , the patrol guard uses the RFID reader  2311  of the sensor module  231  of the transceiver unit  23  to detect the RFID tag  221  of the transponder  22  installed at the visited site. 
         [0066]    In step  65 , the transceiver unit  23  determines whether the RDIF tags  221  of the transponders  22  at all of the sites  3  in the predetermined set have been detected. 
         [0067]    In step  66 , if the transceiver unit  23  determines in step  65  that the RDIF tags  221  of the transponders  22  at all of the sites  3  in the predetermined set have been detected, the flow proceeds to step  70 . Otherwise, the flow proceeds to step  67 . 
         [0068]    In step  67 , the second transceiver module  233  of the transceiver unit  23  determines a current geographic location of the transceiver unit  23 . 
         [0069]    In step  68 , the second transceiver module  233  of the transceiver unit  23  forwards the current geographic location to the monitoring station  21 . 
         [0070]    In step  69 , the patrol guard visits another one of the sites  3  to be monitored. Thereafter, the flow goes back to step  64 . 
         [0071]    In step  70 , the first transceiver module  232  of the transceiver unit  23  forwards the retrieved patrol information to the monitoring station  21 . 
         [0072]    In this embodiment, the patrol guard visits the sites  3  to be monitored by following a fixed route. As such, the monitoring site  21  does not need to instruct the patrol guard of a site  3  to be visited next. This reduces operating load of the monitoring station  21 . 
         [0073]    While the present invention has been described in connection with what are considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.