Patent ID: 8886382

Claim:
A method of regulating movement of an entity from a first zone to a second zone adjacent to the first zone, the method comprising: a) providing a hierarchy of controllers corresponding to a hierarchy of zones in a defined geographical region, the hierarchy of controllers comprising: a first controller associated with the first zone, a second controller associated with the second zone, and a supervising controller operable to supervise the first and second controllers in the hierarchy of controllers, the supervising controller associated with a parent zone encapsulating the first and second zones; b) the supervising controller seeking clearance from the first and second controllers for the entity to move from the first zone to the second zone; c) the supervising controller commanding the first controller to instruct the entity to move to a transition zone that spans a boundary between the first zone and the second zone; d) the supervising controller commanding the second controller to register the entity such that the entity is responsive to supervisory control of the second controller as the entity moves from the transition zone to the second zone; and e) the supervising controller commanding the first controller to de-register the entity such that the entity is no longer responsive to supervisory control by the first controller.