Low power remote asset monitoring

An arrangement for monitoring an asset, comprising:

• a location determining system adapted to be arranged on the asset, said location determining system being arranged to monitor the location of the asset;
• at least one environment sensor adapted to be arranged on the asset, said at least one environment sensor being arranged to obtain information about the environment in which the asset is located different than the location of the asset;
• a communication system adapted to be arranged on the asset and coupled to said at least one environment sensor and said location determining system, said communication system being arranged to transmit the information about the location of the asset and the environment in which the asset is located to a remote facility,
• said at least one environment sensor comprising at least one wave receiver arranged to receive waves from an area in a vicinity of the asset and a processor arranged to analyze waves received by said at least one wave receiver and obtain information about the environment in which the asset is located based on the waves received by said at least one wave receiver.

A method for monitoring movable assets and contents in the assets;

• comprising the steps of:
• assigning a unique identification code to each asset;
• determining the location of each asset;
• assigning an event to initiate a determination of at least one property or characteristic of the contents of each asset, the at least one property or characteristic being different than the location of the asset;
• detecting the event;
• determining the at least one property or characteristic of the contents of each asset only after detection of the event assigned to that asset;
• and
• after detection of the event and the determination of the at least one property of characteristic of the contents of the asset, transmitting the location of each asset along with the determined at least one property or characteristic of the contents of the asset to a data processing facility to form a database of information about the use of the assets or to retransmit the data to another location.

A method for monitoring movable assets and contents in the assets;

• comprising the steps of:
• mounting a replaceable cell phone or PDA having a location providing function and a low duty cycle to the asset;
• determining the location of the asset;
• determining information about the contents of the asset other than the location of the asset, said information determining step comprising the steps of arranging at least one wave receiver on the asset in a position to receive waves from the interior of the asset and comparing waves received by the at least one wave receiver at different times such that the information about the contents of the asset are obtained based on the comparison of the waves received by the at least one wave receiver at different times;
• enabling communications between the cell phone or PDA and the asset to enable the cell phone or PDA to obtain the determined location of the asset and the determined information about the contents of the asset;
• and
• establishing a communications channel between the cell phone or PDA and a location remote from the asset to enable the information about the asset and its contents to be transmitted to the remote location.

An asset including an arrangement for monitoring the asset and an interior of the asset, comprising:

• an interior sensor system arranged on the asset, said interior sensor system being arranged to obtain information about contents in the interior of the asset different than the location of the asset and the contents thereof, said interior sensing system including at least one sensor arranged to periodically determine a property or characteristic of the contents in the interior of the asset, an event monitoring sensor arranged to monitor an event related to the asset and a processor coupled to said at least one sensor and said event monitoring sensor and arranged to cause said at least one sensor to determine the property or characteristic of the contents in the interior of the asset only when said event monitoring sensor detects occurrence of the event;
• a location determining system arranged on the asset, said location determining system being arranged to monitor the location of the asset;
• and
• a communication system arranged on the asset and coupled to said interior sensor system and said location determining system, said communication system being arranged to transmit the information about the contents in the interior of the asset and the location of the asset to a remote facility.