Patent ID: 7843348

Claim:
A system for tracking personnel and equipment in a hazardous environment comprising: a tracking tag for being attached to one of a person and a piece of equipment in the hazardous environment, the tracking tag being intrinsically safe and periodically transmitting a radio signal containing a unique tracking tag identification code identifying the tracking tag; an intrinsically safe reader system including a hub cable driver and a plurality of intrinsically safe antennas, the hub cable driver and the plurality of intrinsically safe antennas connected by communication cables; the hub cable driver feeding an intrinsically safe power signal into the communication cables and coupling bidirectional data signals onto the power signal, such that the hub cable driver provides intrinsically safe power to and communication with said plurality of intrinsically safe antennas over said communication cables; the plurality of intrinsically safe antennas located in the hazardous environment in a redundant connective infrastructure topology, each intrinsically safe antenna configured to: receive the radio signal from said tracking tag; and transmit a data signal to the hub cable driver over said communication cables, the data signal containing an antenna identification code identifying the antenna and a tracking tag identification code identifying the tracking tag; wherein the system continues to operate in an explosive environment due to the intrinsically safe nature of the intrinsically safe tracking tag, the plurality of intrinsically safe antennas, and the intrinsically safe power and communication from the hub cable driver; and wherein the redundant connective infrastructure topology enables the system to continue to operate despite a communication disruption at a location along the redundant connective infrastructure topology.