Intelligent tracking system and methods and systems therefor
AssigneeCulvert-Iot Corporation
InventorsDean Mamoru Kawaguchi, Alberto Vidal, Edward John Boling, Prasad Panchalan, Edward Maurice Farrell
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Abstract
An intelligent tracking system generally includes one or more tracking devices, some of which may be passive tracking devices. Each passive tracking device includes one or more transceivers and is energized by an energizing signal. Some of these passive tracking devices may operate in a first communication mode or a second communication mode based on the energizing signal. Some tracking devices may include encryption modules or authentication modules. Some of these devices may incorporate a bulk acoustic wave oscillator.
Claims18
A tracking system comprising:
- a plurality of tracking devices, each tracking device of the plurality of tracking device having a device identifier that uniquely identifies the tracking device from other tracking devices of the plurality of tracking devices, wherein each tracking device is configured to transmit a short message indicating the device identifier of the tracking device via a short range communication medium;
- a backend tracking system that maintains a plurality of location profiles, each location profile corresponding to a respective tracked item that is associated with one or more tracking devices of the plurality of tracking devices and that maintains reported locations of the tracked item and a timestamp corresponding to each reported location;
- a plurality of tracking modules, wherein each tracking module is installed on a respective user device, and is configured to:
- receive a transmitted short message from a proximate tracking device of the plurality of tracking devices that is within a receiving range of the user device on which the tracking module is installed, the short message indicating the device identifier of the proximate tracking device;
- and
- determine a geolocation of the user device on which the tracking module is installed;
- and
- transmit the device identifier of the proximate tracking device and the geolocation of the user device;
- and
- wherein the backend tracking system is configured to update the location profile of a proximate tracked item associated with the proximate tracking device based on geolocation of the user device, the device identifier of the proximate tracking device, and a corresponding timestamp.
A passive tracking device comprising:
- a first antenna that transmits response signals in a first frequency band;
- a second antenna that receives energizing signals in a second frequency band;
- an energy harvest module that receives an energizing signal from a remote device via the second antenna and converts the energizing signal from RF electrical energy to DC electrical energy that energizes the passive tracking device;
- a transmission module that modulates a response signal for transmission in the first frequency band and outputs the modulated response signal to the first antenna for transmission in accordance with a communication protocol, the response signal including a message indicating a device identifier of the passive tracking device, wherein the transmission module includes a bulk acoustic wave reference oscillator that produces an output frequency, the bulk acoustic wave reference oscillator including a bulk acoustic wave delay reference, and wherein the transmission module modulates the response signal such that the response signal has a carrier frequency based on the output frequency of the bulk acoustic wave reference oscillator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.