Patent Publication Number: US-2010117896-A1

Title: Global Satellite Positioning System Gunfire Detection System

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (a) Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a GPS (Global Satellite Positioning System) gunfire detection system, and more particularly to a GPS tracker device able to transmit circumstances regarding an object being hit by bullets and gunshot information to a remote server to enable location of the gunfire to be calculated, and notify rescue units. 
     (b) Description of the Prior Art 
     Since development of the global satellite positioning system (GPS) by the American Military, and after the government made the GPS open to public use, there has been continuous advancement in related technology and technical products, including application in various industries and at various levels, greatly increasing the standard of living of people and improving convenience in daily life, even accelerating notification of emergencies and the speed of medical rescue. 
     The global satellite positioning system consists of several space satellites, ground control stations and GPS receivers. Currently, there are 24 space satellites orbiting the Earth, and each of the space satellites equally maintain transmission of geographic position satellite coordinate signals carrying satellite orbit data and time for every type of terrestrial GPS receiver to receive. The ground control stations are responsible for tracing and controlling operation of each of the space satellites, as well as being responsible for correcting and maintaining each of the space satellites, thereby enabling normal continual transmission of each type of parameter data to the GPS receivers. 
     However, satellite navigators of the prior art are only able to indicate current position, route direction and neighboring buildings, and are not used to record circumstances of an object (such as: a bus, an army vehicle, a police vehicle, bulletproof clothing, and so on) being hit by bullets and calculate location of the gunfire, resulting in the inability to effectively speed up the rescue of personnel, and thus limiting use range thereof. Hence, there is still a need for developmental design of other uses for satellite navigators. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Hence, in light of the shortcomings of the aforementioned prior art, the inventor of the present invention, having accumulated knowhow and manufacturing experience of a diverse range of GPS (Global Satellite Positioning System) products, attentively researched various methods to resolve the shortcomings, which, following continuous research and improvements, culminated in the design of a completely new GPS gunfire detection system of the present invention. 
     One objective of the present invention is to provide a GPS gunfire detection system able to transmit circumstances regarding an object being hit by bullets and gunshot information to a remote server to enable location of the gunfire to be calculated, and notify relevant authorities, and thereby speed up emergency aid to personnel and rescue of casualties. 
     According to the aforementioned objective, the GPS gunfire detection system of the present invention comprises a plurality of detectors disposed on an object (such as: a bus, an army vehicle, a police vehicle, bulletproof clothing, and so on), and each of the detectors is provided with several microphones. A GPS tracker is located close to a position on the object, and the GPS tracker is provided with a GPS receiving circuit, a microprocessor and a signal receiving/transmission circuit. Accordingly, the detectors can detect circumstances regarding the object being hit by bullets and collect gunshot sounds, and the detected information and gunshot sounds are transmitted to the microprocessor of the GPS tracker. The GPS receiving circuit of the GPS tracker receives geographic positioning satellite coordinate signals, after which the geographic positioning satellite coordinate signals are matched with an internal prestored geographic data base to obtain the position of the object, whereupon the position is transmitted to the microprocessor. When in use, the microprocessor transmits information on the position of the object, circumstances regarding being hit by bullets and gunshot information to a remote server using the signal transmission circuit to enable recording the gunshot sounds in order to calculate the location of the gunfire and notify relevant authorities, thereby enabling speeding up emergency aid to personnel and rescue of casualties. 
     To enable a further understanding of said objectives and the technological methods of the invention herein, a brief description of the drawings is provided below followed by a detailed description of the preferred embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a circuit block diagram of a GPS gunfire detection system according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic view depicting the GPS gunfire detection system of the present invention in use. 
         FIG. 3  is a circuit block diagram of another embodiment of the GPS gunfire detection system according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is an operational flow chart of a remote server of the GPS gunfire detection system according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The present invention relates to a GPS gunfire detection system. Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , which show a GPS (Global Satellite Positioning System) gunfire detection system of the present invention, wherein a plurality of detectors  11  and signal transmission circuits  12  are disposed on selected areas of an object  10  (such as: a bus, an army vehicle, a police vehicle, bulletproof clothing, and so on), and each of the detectors  11  is provided with a number of microphones  13  to enable the collection of gunfire sounds. A GPS tracker  21  is located close to a position on the object  10 , and the GPS tracker  21  is provided with a GPS receiving circuit  22 , a microprocessor  23 , a signal transmission circuit  24  and a signal receiving circuit  25 . The detectors  11  on the object  10  are connected to the signal transmission circuits  12 , the detectors  11  enable detecting circumstances regarding the object  10  being hit by bullets, and the microphones  13  are used to collect gunshot sounds. Moreover, detected information and the collected gunshot sounds are transmitted to the microprocessor  23  of the GPS tracker  21  using the signal transmission circuits  12 . 
     The microprocessor  23  of the GPS tracker  21  is separately connected to the GPS receiving circuit  22 , the signal transmission circuit  24  and the signal receiving circuit  25 . Accordingly, the GPS receiving circuit  22  of the GPS tracker  21  receives geographic positioning satellite coordinate signals, after which the geographic positioning satellite coordinate signals are matched with an internal prestored geographic data base to obtain the position of the object  10 , whereupon the position is transmitted to the microprocessor  23 . 
     According to the assembly of the aforementioned components, when in use, the microprocessor  23  obtains the position of the object  10  from the GPS receiving circuit  22 , and obtains information on the circumstances regarding the object  10  being hit by bullets and gunshot sounds from the detectors  11  on the object  10 , whereupon the information is transmitted to a remote server  31  using the signal transmission circuit  24 . At which time, the remote server  31  records the gunshot sounds, and then calculates the location of the gunfire from the gunshot sounds, whereupon relevant authorities are notified of the position of the object  10 , circumstances regarding the object  10  being hit by bullets and location of the gunshot sounds, thereby speeding up emergency aid to personnel and rescue of casualties. 
     Referring again to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the GPS tracker  21  can be installed to user firearms or army vehicles, and can be effectively applied in areas where war has broken out. Moreover, the GPS tracker  21  is not a fixed type device, is low in price, easily installed and extremely convenient to use. 
     Referring again to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the signal transmission circuits  12  of the object  10  can be connected to the signal receiving circuit  25  of the GPS tracker  21  through wired means, thereby enabling the signal transmission circuits  12  of the object  10  to transmit detector information from the detectors  11  to the microprocessor  23  of the GPS tracker  21  using the signal receiving circuit  25  through wired transmission means. 
     Referring again to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the signal transmission circuits  12  of the object  10  can be connected to the signal receiving circuit  25  of the GPS tracker  21  through wireless means, thereby enabling the signal transmission circuits  12  of the object  10  to transmit detector information from the detectors  11  to the microprocessor  23  of the GPS tracker  21  using the signal receiving circuit  25  through wireless transmission means (such as: using RF (radio frequency) signals). 
     Referring again to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a battery  14  is located within the object  10 , and the battery  14  is connected to the detectors  11 , thereby enabling electric power to be supplied to the detectors  11 . 
     Referring again to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the battery  14  can be a rechargeable battery, which is connected to a solar panel (not shown in the drawings) located on the object  10 , thereby enabling electric power converted from solar energy received by the solar panel to charge the battery  14 , thus enabling the battery  14  to maintain a fully charged state; or a battery charger can be used to charge the battery  14  and enable the battery  14  to maintain a fully charged state. Accordingly, electric power can be supplied to the detectors  11  for long periods of time. 
     Referring again to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a switch  15  is located on each of the detectors  11 , ends of the switches  15  are respectively connected to the detectors  11 , and other ends are respectively connected to the battery  14 . When using the object  10 , the switches  15  are opened to effect a current conducting state (ON), thereby enabling the battery  14  to supply power to the detectors  11 . When the object  10  is not being used, the switches  15  can be closed to enable an off-state, thereby causing the battery  14  to stop supplying power to the detectors  11 . Accordingly, when not in use, the switches  15  can be closed, thereby achieving a power saving function. 
     Referring again to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the GPS receiving circuit  22  can use GPS, A-GPS (Assisted Global Satellite Positioning System) or GPSone (GPS One, Global Satellite Positioning System One) satellite positioning technology, and the GPS information, including a combination of circumstances related to the object  10 , such as time, position, altitude and speed, along with collected gunshot sounds are transmitted to the remote server  31 . 
     Referring again to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , communication media of the signal transmission circuit  24  includes various kinds of wireless communication, such as: RF (Radio Frequency), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), GPRS (General Packet Radio Services), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WiMAX WiFi (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access Wireless Fidelity) or satellite to satellite communication. 
     Referring again to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , when the GPS signal is weak, then the microprocessor  23  can control the signal receiving circuit  25  to replace the GPS positioning signal with a GSM or CDMA base station positioning signal LBS (Location Based Service)/GPSone (GPS One), or a function that automatically records the last time and position is used to record the position of the object  10 . 
     Referring again to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , when the detectors  11  have not detected that the object  10  has been hit by bullets within a period of time, then together with the signal transmission circuit  12 , they are directed to enter a sleep mode, thereby achieving a power saving objective. 
     Referring again to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the remote server  31  can computationally deduce location of the gunfire according to the position of the object  10  and volume of the recorded gunshot sounds, and is moreover able to determine whether the gunshot sounds were from a single shot, fixed point continuous gunfire or moving continuous gunfire according to the quality of the gunshot sounds. 
     Referring again to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , when the object  10  is a bus, then the microphones  13  can be installed to the front, rear, left and right sides of the bus to increase the volume of sound samples (as depicted in  FIG. 2 ). If the GPS tracker  21  is of small size, then one microphone  13  can be used for input. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , which shows another embodiment of the present invention, wherein a video camera  16  is located on each of the detectors  11 , thus, after the microphones  13  detect gunshot sounds, then the detectors  11  actuate the video cameras  16  to implement video recording for a period of time, after which the signal transmission circuits  12  transmit the information from recorded video footage to the microprocessor  23  of the GPS tracker  21 , whereupon the microprocessor  23  transmits the information to the remote server  31  using the signal transmission circuit  24 , thereby aiding the remote server  31  in interpreting the circumstances of the gunfire. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 , when the remote server  31  receives information from the GPS tracker  21 , the following processing steps are carried out: 
     ( 401 ) First, receive gunshot information collected by the microphones  13 ; 
     ( 402 ) Receive information on the position of the object  10 ; 
     ( 403 ) Receive circumstances regarding the object  10  being hit by bullets; 
     ( 404 ) Computationally deduce location of the gunfire according to volume of the gunshot sounds (the other embodiment of the present invention enables determining whether the gunshot is a single shot, fixed point continuous gunfire or moving continuous gunfire according to the quality of the gunshot sounds); 
     ( 405 ) Use a screen to display the position of the object  10 , circumstances regarding being hit by bullets and location of the gunfire for related personnel to refer to or enable carrying out further processing; 
     ( 406 ) Notify rescue units of the position of the object  10 , the circumstances regarding being hit by bullets and the location of the gunfire to help in the rescue by the rescue units, and speed up emergency aid to personnel and rescue of casualties, thereby reducing personal casualties. 
     In conclusion, the GPS gunfire detection system of the present invention is assuredly provided with an innovative structure not found in the prior art. Moreover, no similar products have been seen in any publication or in the market; the present invention is thus provided with undoubted originality. In addition, the present invention is provided with unique characteristics and functionality that are without comparison in the prior art. Hence, the incomparable advancement of the present invention clearly complies with the essential elements as required for a new patent application. Accordingly, a new patent application is proposed herein. 
     It is of course to be understood that the embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the principles of the invention and that a wide variety of modifications thereto may be effected by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.