Method and system for tracking and monitoring assets

A system for tracking and monitoring a plurality of assets, comprising:

• an electronic controller configured to:
• retrieve at least location data and condition data from a portable electronic apparatus coupled to or within a particular asset of the plurality of the assets;
• analyze at least the location data and the condition data related to the particular asset being tracked and monitored;
• and
• enable a wireless notification to be transmitted to at least a wireless device associated with an interested party to alert the interested party concerning the particular asset,
• wherein the portable electronic apparatus is configured to wirelessly couple to at least one electronic sensor,
• wherein the portable electronic apparatus receives data from the at least one electronic sensor regarding the condition data, at least a portion of the condition data pertaining to an attribute of an environment proximate to the at least one electronic sensor,
• wherein the portable electronic apparatus includes wireless communication circuitry, a circuit board and an antenna, and includes or couples to a location acquisition device that is configured to acquire data regarding the location data, the wireless communication circuitry supporting wireless communication over a first wireless network and a second wireless network, the portable electronic apparatus including shared frequency synthesizing circuitry including a crystal oscillator, the location acquisition device being operatively connected to the shared frequency synthesizing circuitry, and the wireless communication circuitry being operatively connected to the shared frequency synthesizing circuitry,
• wherein the crystal oscillator that produces a temperature-compensated oscillating signal, the temperature-compensated oscillating signal being shared by the location acquisition device and the wireless communication circuitry, and
• wherein the location data and the condition data are related to the particular asset being tracked and monitored by the system.

A system for tracking and monitoring a plurality of assets, comprising:

• a portable electronic apparatus physically coupled to or within a particular asset of the plurality of assets, the portable electronic apparatus including at least a location detection circuitry, a wireless communication circuitry, a circuit board, and an antenna, the location detection circuitry configured to acquire data pertaining to location of the portable electronic apparatus, the wireless communication circuitry supporting a plurality of wireless communication networks, including a first wireless network and a second wireless network, the portable electronic apparatus including shared frequency synthesizing circuitry including a crystal oscillator, the location detection circuitry being operatively connected to the shared frequency synthesizing circuitry, and the wireless communication circuitry being operatively connected to the shared frequency synthesizing circuitry;
• a plurality of sensor devices configured to wirelessly couple to the portable electronic apparatus via the first wireless network, the plurality of sensor devices being configured to sense one or more conditions at, in or proximate to the particular asset, and wirelessly transmit via the first wireless network, to the portable electronic apparatus, data pertaining to the one or more conditions being sensed by the plurality of sensor devices;
• and
• a tracking and monitoring computing apparatus configured to receive (i) location data based on the data pertaining to location of the portable electronic apparatus and (ii) condition data based on data pertaining to the one or more conditions being sensed by the plurality of sensor devices, transmitted from the portable electronic apparatus via at least the second wireless network, and the tracking and monitoring computing apparatus configured to analyze at least the location data and the condition data related to the particular asset being tracked and monitored, determine whether an electronic notification is to be provided based on at least the location data and/or the condition data, and initiate transmission of the electronic notification to at least an interested party if it is determined that the electronic notification is to be provided,
• wherein the wireless communication circuitry includes a first wireless communication circuit supporting wireless communications over the first wireless network, and a second wireless communication circuit supporting wireless communications over the second wireless network, and
• wherein the includes crystal oscillator is configured to produce a temperature-compensated oscillating signal, the temperature-compensated oscillating signal being shared by the first wireless communication circuit and the second wireless communication circuit.