Method and system for providing shipment tracking and notifications
AssigneeIpVenture, Inc.
InventorsChung Lau, C. Douglass Thomas
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Improved approaches for monitoring status of articles being shipped are disclosed. The monitoring can produce notifications to interested parties. The notifications typically contain status information pertaining to the articles being shipped. Alternatively, interested parties can gain access to status information pertaining to the articles being shipped via a website. According to one embodiment, the status information includes at least position (location) information and shipping conditions information.
Claims30
A system for tracking shipment of packages, comprising:
- a tracking database configured to store status information pertaining to a plurality of wireless tracking devices;
- and
- a tracking computing device configured to:
- (i) receive certain status information from a wireless tracking device used to track shipment of a package, the wireless tracking device being within or affixed to the package and being capable of wirelessly sending the certain status information to the tracking computing device;
- (ii) store the certain status information to the tracking database with reference to the wireless tracking device;
- (iii) determine if an environmental violation has occurred based on the certain status information and at least one environmental level;
- (iv) send an electronic notification regarding the environmental violation to an interested person upon determining that the environmental violation has occurred;
- and (v) facilitate network-based access to the tracking computing device to enable interested persons to receive at least a portion of the certain status information regarding the package,
- wherein the certain status information being received includes position information pertaining to position of the wireless tracking device, and
- wherein the tracking computing device is configured to transform the position information into a point of interest based on information stored in a database.
A method for tracking shipment of packages using wireless tracking devices provided within or affixed to the respective packages, the method comprising:
- accessing status information pertaining to a wireless tracking device used to track shipment of a package, the status information including at least position information and shipping condition information;
- transforming the position information into a point of interest pertaining to the wireless tracking device based on at least information stored in a database;
- determining if a shipping condition violation has occurred during shipment of the package based on at least the shipping condition information and at least one shipping condition level;
- sending an electronic notification regarding the shipping condition violation to an interested person if it is determined that the shipping condition violation has occurred during shipment;
- and
- facilitating network-based access to enable interested persons to receive at least a portion of the status information regarding the package, including at least the point of interest transformed from the position information.
A computer-implemented method for operating a tracking computer to track packages in a geographic region, the tracking computer having a data storage device associated therewith, the data storage device supporting a database stored therein, comprising:
- receiving location information regarding a location of a package acquired by a mobile communication device in or attached to the package;
- receiving, from the mobile communication device, business information regarding a business associated with the location based on wireless communication between the mobile communication device and a wireless device at the business;
- transforming the location information into a point of interest based on at least information stored in the database;
- and
- storing the transformed location information and the business information in the data storage device associated with the tracking computer,
- wherein the mobile communication device is configured to be wirelessly coupled to a wireless network to send the location information and the business information to the tracking computer.
A method for tracking shipment of packages using wireless tracking devices provided within or affixed to the respective packages, the method comprising:
- accessing status information pertaining to a wireless tracking device used to track shipment of a package, the status information including at least position information and shipping condition information;
- converting the position information into an enhanced location for the wireless tracking device based on at least information stored in at least one database;
- determining if a shipping condition violation has occurred during shipment of the package based on at least the shipping condition information and at least one shipping condition level;
- sending an electronic notification regarding the shipping condition violation to an interested person if it is determined that the shipping condition violation has occurred during shipment;
- and
- facilitating network-based access to enable interested persons to receive at least a portion of the status information, including at least the enhanced location.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.