Apparatus and method for position reporting

A system for tracking a number of subjects in a plurality of areas comprising:

• a plurality of transmitters, wherein at least one transmitter is associated with each of said subjects, each of said transmitters comprising transmission means for transmitting a light based signal representative of an identifying code unique to that transmitter;
• a plurality of receivers, wherein at least one of said receivers is associated with each of said areas, each of said receivers comprising a converter for converting a transmitted light based signal to an electrical signal and a validation circuit for processing said electrical signal to determine whether said electrical signals are representative of the unique identifying codes associated with said transmitters;
• and
• processor means, connected to each of said receivers, for recording those electrical signals which are representative of said unique identifying codes, for recording the receiver which determined that such electrical signals are representative of the unique identifying codes associated with said transmitters and for determining in which of said areas said transmitters are located, wherein said processor means comprises scanning means for scanning said receivers and accumulating means for accumulating with respect to each transmitter those areas in which receivers have determined that an electrical signal is representative of the unique identifying code associated with that particular transmitter and for accumulating a badge count for each accumulated area, said badge count being representative of the number of times a receiver has determined that an electrical signal is representative of the unique identifying code associated with that particular transmitter.