US 4,952,928 A · Adaptable electronic monitoring and identification system

Abstract

A personnel monitoring system includes a transmitting or transponding unit that is worn or carried by the individual being monitored. This transmitting or transponder unit periodically, or upon request, transmits a uniquely encoded signal that identifies the person being monitored, as well as information about the condition or activities of the person being monitored. Such condition or activites are sensed by sensors, coupled to the transmitting unit, that monitor selected body functions or parameters, such as heart rate, amount of skin perspiration, muscle movement, and the like. The monitoring system also includes a field monitoring device, or FMD, that is positioned near the person being monitored (or at a location where the person being monitored should be found). The FMD receives, processes, and stores the periodic or requested signals transmitted from the transmitting unit as directed by a program stored in a factory-removable and replaceable memory pack. Hence, the operation of the FMD can be changed as required in order to fit different monitoring applications. The monitoring system further includes a central processing unit, or CPU, that automatically, or by request, receives and interprets data from the FMD. The communication link between the FMD and the CPU may be by way of existing telephone lines or other telecommunicative links. From this data, the CPU generates desired reports indicating the location, condition, and activities of the monitored individual as a function of time.

Claims27

Dependent claims

A personnel monitoring system for monitoring the compliance of a designated individual with a prescribed activity comprising:

sensing means carried by the individual for sensing whether the individual is engaging in said prescribed activity;
transmitting means carried by the individual and coupled to said sensing means for transmitting a unique identifying signal that indicates whether the occurrence of said prescribed activity has been sensed since said unique identifying signal was last transmitted;
local receiving means for receiving and preliminarily processing said identifying signal, including logging the time periods during which each unique identification signal is received;
remote processing means for interrogating said local receiving means on a regular basis and for receiving therefrom the preliminarily processed and logged data relating to said identifying signal received by said remote processing means since said remote processing means was last interrogated by said remote processing means, and for further processing and interpreting said preliminarily processed and logged data in accordance with at least one of a plurality of control programs that allow said remote processing means to be selectively configured for a particular application, whereby said identifying signal received from said transmitting means can be used and interpreted by said remote processing means for a variety of different purposes as controlled by a selected one or more of said plurality of control programs;
and
report generating means within said remote processing means for generating a report that indicates the time periods during which the individual engaged in the prescribed activity in accordance with the particular application for which the remote processing means is selectively configured.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Adaptable electronic monitoring and identification system

Life of this patent

Adaptable electronic monitoring and identification system

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims27