(12) United States Patent
`(10) Patent N0.:
`US 6,771,970 B1
`
`Dan
`(45) Date of Patent:
`Aug. 3, 2004
`
`USOO6771970B1
`
`(54) LOCATION DETERMINATION SYSTEM
`
`EP
`W0
`
`0 785 535 A1
`WO 98/20434
`
`7/1997
`5/1998
`
`(75)
`
`Inventor: Meir Dan, Tel Aviv (IL)
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`(73) Assignee: L0cati0net Systems 2000 Ltd.,
`Natanya (IL)
`
`International Search Report; International Application No.
`PCT/IL 00/ 00617; Feb. 9, 2001.
`
`* cited by examiner
`
`Primary Examiner—Erika Gary
`Assistant Examiner—Huy Nguyen
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Fitch, Even, Tabin &
`Flannery
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A system for location tracking of mobile platforms, each
`mobile platform having a tracking unit is described. The
`system includes a location determination system communi-
`cating through a user interface With at least one subscriber;
`said communication including inputs that include the sub-
`scriber identity and the identity of the mobile platform to be
`located; a communication system communicating With said
`location determination system for receiving said remote
`platform identity; and,
`a plurality of remote tracking systems communicating
`With said communication system for determining the
`location of the remote platform;
`The communication system is arranged to determine an
`appropriate one of the plurality of remote tracking systems
`and to communicate said remote platform identity,
`the
`appropriate remote tracking system receiving said mobile
`platform identity and returning mobile platform location
`information, said communication system being arranged to
`pass said mobile platform location information to said
`location detention system. The location determination sys-
`tem is arranged to receive said mobile platform location
`information and to forward it to said subscriber.
`
`( * ) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 534 days.
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 09/677,827
`
`(22)
`
`Filed:
`
`Oct. 2, 2000
`
`(60)
`
`Related US. Application Data
`Provisional application No. 60/157,643, filed on Oct. 4,
`1999.
`
`Int. Cl? .................................................. H04Q 7/20
`(51)
`(52) U.S.Cl.
`................................ 455/456.1;455/456.2;
`455/456.3; 455/456.5; 455/457; 342/357.1;
`342/357.14; 342/357.15
`(58) Field Of Search .............................. 455/456.1, 457,
`455/4562, 456.3, 456.5; 340/988, 989,
`990, 991, 993, 701/208, 212, 213, 200,
`207; 342/357.1, 357.14, 357.15
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`6/1993 Mansell et al.
`5,223,844 A
`12/1998 DeLorme et al.
`5,848,373 A
`7/2000 Prabhakaran
`6,087,952 A
`10/2000 Girerd et al.
`6,131,067 A
`4/2001 Twitchell et al.
`6,222,483 B1
`12/2001 Verdonk
`6,330,454 B1
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`****
`
`............. 342/357
`........... 701/200
`
`DE
`
`44 27 913 A1
`
`2/1996
`
`19 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
`
`
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`11
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`14
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`W24
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`EXHIBIT 1001
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`EXHIBIT 1001
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`US. Patent
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`Aug. 3, 2004
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`Sheet 2 0f 4
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`US 6,771,970 B1
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`Internet Browser
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`l
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`US. Patent
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`Aug. 3, 2004
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`Sheet 3 0f 4
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`US 6,771,970 B1
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`
`Management
`Applications
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`Billing]
`Advertising
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`Emergency
`Services
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`132
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`1 33
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`134
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`ll'llnn-._A,‘
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`‘,‘\\““'A
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`13
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`11
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`US. Patent
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`Aug. 3, 2004
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`Sheet 4 0f 4
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`US 6,771,970 B1
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`Fig. 4a
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`

`

`1
`LOCATION DETERMINATION SYSTEM
`
`2
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`US 6,771,970 B1
`
`This application claims the benefit of US. Provisional
`Application No. 60/157,643, filed Oct. 4, 1999.
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`5
`
`The present invention is in the general field of location
`tracking services and is particularly suitable for vehicle
`tracking.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`Tracking the location of vehicles in large fleets is
`complex, expensive and time consuming. Technologies such
`as GPS (Global Positioning System), EOTD (Enhanced
`Observed Time Difference), Cell ID, AMPS (Advanced
`Mobile Phone Service), GSM (Global System for Mobile
`Communication), CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data),
`EDACS (Enhanced Digital Access Communication System)
`and MSAT (Mobile Satellite communications) allow a
`vehicle, mobile telephone or other mobile entity to be
`located. The mobile entity has a communication device from
`which the location of the entity can be determined. In order
`to locate an entity, a base station communicates with a
`communication system such as a satellite in orbit or an array
`of transmitter/receivers, which in turn triangulates the posi-
`tion of the entity. This is technically complicated process
`requiring expensive equipment and access to expensive
`resources such as satellite time. Organizations with a need
`for instantaneous information on the whereabouts of their
`
`vehicles normally employ the services of a location tracking
`service provider. Such service providers offer access to the
`equipment and technology necessary to locate the vehicles
`to a number of organisations. An authorised member of an
`organisation subscribing to one of the service providers is
`able to submit a request for a location of one of the
`organisation’s vehicles to the service provider’s system. The
`location of the vehicle is determined and returned to the
`
`requestor. However, due to the complexity of the underlying
`systems, communication with a service provider’s systems
`is normally made via expensive and complex client soft-
`ware. Each service provider collects data using different
`technologies and stores this data in its own proprietary
`format. In addition, many service providers have their own
`proprietary communication formats in which position
`requests must be made and in which location data is
`received. This results in confusion for customers who need
`
`to consider the various advantages, disadvantages and cost
`implications associated with each of the various location
`systems offered by service providers. Furthermore, the soft-
`ware is usually so complex that only a few trained personnel
`in every organization can operate the vehicle tracking soft-
`ware. The software is often resource-heavy, expensive and
`not intuitive for the users. Retrieval of data can only be done
`from a few terminals thereby making the information spe-
`cialized and highly inaccessible. Furthermore,
`the differ-
`ences in proprietary data and communication formats make
`it extremely difficult for an organisation to customise the
`client software or to develop systems capable of communi-
`cating with the service provider’s systems and accepting the
`location is data.
`
`There is accordingly a need in the art to simplify the
`process by allowing inter alia extraction of information from
`multiple tracking service providers. There is a further need
`in the art to provide a relatively simple to operate location
`tracking service adapted for use by common subscribers
`whilst obviating the need to install and use a cumbersome
`vehicle tracking software.
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`According to one aspect of the present invention, there is
`provided a system for location tracking of mobile platforms,
`each mobile platforms having a tracking unit; the system
`including:
`a location determination system communicating through a
`user interface with at least one subscriber; said com-
`munication including inputs that include the subscriber
`identity and the identity of the mobile platform to be
`located;
`a communication system communicating with said loca-
`tion determination system for receiving said remote
`platform identity; and,
`a plurality of remote tracking systems communicating
`with said communication system for determining the
`location of the remote platform;
`wherein said communication system is arranged to deter-
`mine an appropriate one of the plurality of remote
`tracking systems and to communicate said remote
`platform identity, the appropriate remote tracking sys-
`tem receiving said mobile platform identity and return-
`ing mobile platform location information, said commu-
`nication system being arranged to pass said mobile
`platform location information to said location determi-
`nation system;
`said location determination system being arranged to
`receive said mobile platform location information and
`to forward it to said subscriber.
`The location determination system may communicate
`with a mapping system having at least one map database,
`said mapping system accepting mobile platform location
`information, correlating said location information with a
`location on a map from said at least one map database,
`generating a map on which said location is marked and
`communicating said map to said location determination
`system, wherein said location determination system is
`arranged to forward said map to said subscriber.
`least
`The mapping system may communicate with at
`location information system, said location information sys-
`tem accepting mobile platform location information, obtain-
`ing location information and returning said location infor-
`mation for association with said map.
`The location information system may obtain location
`information from selected ones of traffic information
`
`systems, electronic Yellow Page databases, video databases,
`L-commerce systems and free advertising systems.
`The map database may include maps formatted as at least
`one of the following: Raster Map in various scales, vector
`maps and air photo.
`The user interface may accept multiple mobile platforms
`to be located, the mapping system accepting multiple mobile
`platform location information and generating a map on
`which each location is marked.
`
`Data forwarded to said subscriber may comprise at least
`one mobile platform location in a map represented in HTML
`and an image.
`Communication between said subscriber and said location
`
`determination system may be over the Internet.
`Communication between said communication system and
`the corresponding remote tracking service is over the Inter-
`net.
`
`The location determination system, the mapping system
`and the communication system may be accommodated in the
`same web site.
`
`A mobile platform may be a vehicle, a person, a portable
`computer, a mobile telephone or any other mobile entity that
`can be tracked or have a tracking device installed or
`attached.
`
`

`

`US 6,771,970 B1
`
`3
`Each remote tracking system may belong to a different
`company and supervises a different group of mobile plat-
`forms.
`
`invention,
`According to another aspect of the present
`there is provided a method of determining the location of
`remote platforms, said remote platforms between them
`being locatable by a plurality of remote tracking systems, the
`method comprising the steps of:
`(a) accepting inputs from a subscriber identifying one or
`more remote platforms to be located;
`(b) determining for each remote platform one of the remote
`tracking systems that is capable of locating said remote
`platform;
`(c) communicating the identity of the one or more remote
`platforms to be located to the determined remote tracking
`system(s);
`(d) receiving the location of each remote platform from the
`respective remote tracking system; and,
`(e) transmitting the location of each remote platform to said
`subscriber.
`
`Step (e) may further comprise the step of correlating the
`location of each remote platform with a map database and
`transmitting a map having marked said remote platform
`location(s) to said subscriber.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`the invention will now be
`For a better understanding,
`described, by way of example only, with reference to the
`accompanying drawing, in which:
`FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a location tracking
`system in accordance with the invention;
`FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of
`the system of FIG. 1;
`FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the system of FIGS. 1
`and 2 illustrating preferred features of the invention; and,
`FIGS. 4a and 4b are schematic diagrams illustrating
`protocol data units used in a preferred embodiment of the
`invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENT
`
`there is shown a schematic
`to FIG. 1,
`Turning first
`diagram of a location determination system (1) in accor-
`dance with the invention. In the example of FIG. 1, there are
`Z location tracking service providers (referred to also as
`service providers), each offering access to a respective
`location tracking system. For the purposes of this example
`only 4 location tracking systems are shown (designated
`generally as (11), (12), (13) and (14)). One of the location
`tracking systems may be, for example, a Motorola tracking
`location system such as systems based around Motorola’s
`MLU (Mobile Logic Unit). Other location tracking systems
`may be based around, for example, the Ituran VLU (Vehicle
`Logic Unit) or PAL (Personal Alarm and Location) or Nexus
`Telocation’s RMU (Remote Monitoring Unit) based system.
`For the purpose of tracking vehicles, each vehicle is
`preferably equipped with an individual tracking unit (not
`shown). Most mobile telephones already have appropriate
`functionality to interact with the location tracking systems.
`Other entities such as people, computers, briefcases or other
`valuables to be tracked require a tracking unit to be in-built
`or carried. The tracking unit, or equivalent, transmits data
`via a wireless data transmission protocol, such as GSM radio
`transmissions to the associated location tracking service
`provider.
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`Between them, the systems (11—14) are capable of track-
`ing the location of one or more vehicles, mobile telephones
`or other entities. These are shown in this example as a
`mobile telephone (21), a car (22), a laptop computer (23) and
`a briefcase (24).
`The systems (11—14) of the various location tracking
`service providers communicate over the Internet (30) with a
`communication subsystem (3) of the location determination
`system (1). Communication is made using,
`typically, a
`communication protocol specific to each location tracking
`system provider.
`The location determination system (1) is linked to a user
`database that cross-references vehicles and other entities to
`
`be tracked with the location tracking service that is capable
`of tracking them. The location determination system (1) is
`also linked to a map server (4) operating a map engine for
`accessing a map database (5). The map server (4) is capable
`of correlating between maps stored in the database (5) and
`positioning information received from the respective loca-
`tion tracking system (11—14). The map server (4) may
`support various types of maps, such as, for example, Raster
`maps in various scales, vector maps and air photographs.
`In a prefer red non-limiting embodiment of the invention,
`the location determination system (1) hosts a World Wide
`Web site (50) on the Internet (30). The Web site (50)
`includes a home page (51) operating as the entry point to the
`Web site (50) for visitors, information pages (52—53) and a
`service access form (54).
`FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of
`the system of FIG. 1. A subscriber to the location determi-
`nation system (1) equipped with a computer (60) running an
`Internet browser requests the location of a specific vehicle
`(22). The subscriber can be a stand-alone user or,
`for
`example, a member of a number of licensed subscribers in
`a given organization, all as required and appropriate.
`The user logs on to the Web site (50) and selects the
`vehicle (22) for which the location is sought via the service
`access form (54). The request is passed from the Web site
`(50) to the location determination system (1) which accesses
`a database (2) to determine the appropriate location tracking
`system (11—14) for the vehicle. The location determination
`system (1) passes the request and details of the appropriate
`location tracking system (11—14)
`to the communication
`subsystem (3).
`The communication subsystem (3) formats the request for
`transmission to the respective location tracking system
`(11—14) and transmits it via the Internet (30). The location
`tracking system (11—14) receives the request and determines
`the location of the vehicle (22). This information is then
`transmitted back to the communication subsystem (3) via the
`Internet (30). Upon receipt of the information, the commu-
`nication subsystem (3) associates the information with the
`request and passes it to the location determination system
`(1). The location determination system (1) passes the loca-
`tion of the vehicle (22) to the map server (4) which obtains
`a map of the area in which the vehicle (22) is located using
`the map engine, marks the position of the vehicle (22) on the
`map and passes it to the location determination system (1).
`The map is then passed via the Internet (30) to the Web
`browser running on the subscriber’s computer (60).
`FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the system of FIGS. 1
`and 2 illustrating preferred features of the invention.
`In addition to the Web site (50), the location determination
`system (1) may host a WML-based Web site (not shown) on
`the Internet (30). WAP-enabled mobile telephones (100) and
`other communication devices can communicate via a WAP
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`5
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`US 6,771,970 B1
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`server (110) to submit location requests and receive location
`maps or coordinates.
`The map server (4) may be linked to map databases (5) in
`formats such as Raster, Vector, Topographic or aerial pho-
`tographs. In addition, data related to the determined location
`could also be incorporated in the output. A location data
`server (120) may be linked to a number of location
`databases, examples of which include traffic information
`databases (121), Yellow Pages databases (122) and data-
`bases of video of the location (123). In addition, the location
`data server may accept connections and/or data from exter-
`nal data providers via an open content
`layer (124) that
`establishes a standard data communication protocol. As an
`automatic procedure, or upon request of a subscriber,
`selected or all data on the location determined by the
`location determination system (1) that is available from the
`databases is obtained from the location data server (120) by
`the map server (4) and incorporated in the output map.
`The location data received by a subscriber is normally an
`HTML representation of the information requested. This
`representation may be composed of, for example, HTML
`and a GIF (image) component. Of course the invention is not
`limited to the specific user interface data, which could be
`made up of, or converted to, any appropriate format.
`Preferably, multiple requests for the location of the same
`entity are detected and processed as one request, the location
`data being sent to both parties. Multiple requests from one
`subscriber may be processed so that the locations of the
`entities are superimposed on one map. Alternatively, each
`request may result in a location map being displayed in a
`separate window.
`In addition to supplying map-based location data to
`requesting Web browsers, the location determination system
`(1) may also be configured to communicate with external
`application servers (130) via the Internet, PSTN or other
`communication medium. The application server may run a
`proprietary or commercial software system for, for example,
`supplying navigation information (131), managing move-
`ment of resources (132), such as for route planning between
`multiple destinations, billing and/or advertising (133) and
`emergency service management (134). The data supplied to
`the application server (130) may include maps or may just
`be location coordinates in a predetermined format. The
`location determination system (1) may also communicate
`location data to non-Internet based clients. For example, it
`may be linked to an SMS (Simple messaging service) server
`(140) and supply locations as coordinates, street names
`derived from map databases or other location data available
`to mobile telephones (141), pagers (142) etc.
`It is preferred that the communication subsystem (3) is an
`XML server. Communication with location tracking systems
`(11—14) is preferably asynchronous. In this manner, as no
`communication channel or session is held open while the
`location is determined (which may take anywhere from a
`few seconds to a number of minutes), the use of system
`resources and communication costs are limited without any
`negative effect on the response time of the system.
`Communication between the communication subsystem
`(3) and location tracking system (11—14) is preferably made
`using an open format communication protocol. The protocol
`is illustrated in the schematic diagram of FIGS. 4a and 4b.
`In FIG. 4a, a request protocol data unit is shown. The data
`unit is transmitted by the communication subsystem (3) to
`the respective location tracking system (11—14) and includes
`the field ItemID (200), which contains the location tracking
`system’s identifier of the item to be located. The data unit
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`may also contain a timeslot field (210) designating a point in
`time for which the location of the item is requested. In FIG.
`2b, a location data unit is shown. The data unit is transmitted
`from the respective tracking system (11—14) to the commu-
`nication subsystem (3) and includes the fields ItemID (300)
`and Coord (310). The Coord field (310) may be in Latitude/
`Longditude format or in UTM formal The data unit may
`include the optional fields of Accuracy (320) indicating the
`location accuracy in Meters and Date (330) and Time (340)
`fields indicating the date and time at which the item was at
`the specified location.
`If necessary, a translation system may be installed at
`location tracking systems that are not compatible with the
`open format communication protocol in order to intercept
`requests from the communication subsystem (3), convert the
`request to the location tracking system’s proprietary format
`and to convert the location data from the location tracking
`service back into the open format for transmission to the
`communication subsystem (3).
`The description above exemplifies the simplicity and
`flexibility of the system over hitherto known solutions.
`Thus, a single subscriber can access from his home com-
`puter (equipped with commercially available browser) a web
`site (50) and inquire as to location of vehicles or other
`entities of interest Obviously, the vehicles or entities may be
`spread among more than one company (e.g.
`they may
`belongs to different groups (21) to (24), each supervised by
`a respective different location company). Consider that the
`operational center communicates with the Company Loca-
`tion Systems over the Internet; the sought vehicles may be
`located in remote locations not necessarily in the same
`country or to even continent.
`The application of the present invention is not bound to
`motor vehicles and may used for any mobile platform, e.g.
`for tracking persons.
`Whilst the examples described have separated the func-
`tionality of the location determination system into a number
`of computer servers, databases and is modules, it will be
`apparent
`that
`the functionality of the system could be
`provided by a single appropriately programmed computer
`server. Alternatively,
`the functionality could be further
`divided across a number of computer servers that may be in
`remote locations.
`
`The present invention has been described with a certain
`degree of particularity but various alternations and modifi-
`cations may be carried out without departing from the spirit
`and scope of the following claims.
`What is claimed is:
`
`1. A system for location tracking of mobile platforms,
`each mobile platform having a tracking unit; the system
`including:
`a location determination system communicating through a
`user interface with at least one subscriber; said com-
`munication including inputs that include the subscriber
`identity and the identity of the mobile platform to be
`located;
`a communication system communicating with said loca-
`tion determination system for receiving said mobile
`platform identity; and,
`a plurality of remote tracking systems communicating
`with said communication system each of the remote
`tracking systems being adapted to determine the loca-
`tion of a respective mobile platform according to a
`property that is predetermined for each mobile platform
`for determining the location of the mobile platform;
`wherein said location determination system is arranged to
`determine an appropriate one of the plurality of remote
`
`

`

`US 6,771,970 B1
`
`7
`tracking systems, the appropriate remote tracking sys-
`tem receiving said mobile platform identity from said
`communication system and returning mobile platform
`location information, said communication system
`being arranged to pass said mobile platform location
`information to said location determination system;
`said location determination system being arranged to
`receive said mobile platform location information and
`to forward it to said subscriber.
`2. A system according to claim 1, wherein said location
`determination system communicates with a mapping system
`having at least one map database, said mapping system
`accepting mobile platform location information, correlating
`said location information with a location on a map from said
`at least one map database, generating a map on which said
`location is marked and communicating said map to said
`location determination system, wherein said location deter-
`mination system is arranged to forward said map to said
`subscriber.
`3. A system according to claim 2, wherein said mapping
`system communicates with at least one location information
`system, said location information system accepting mobile
`platform location information, obtaining location informa-
`tion and returning said location information for association
`with said map.
`4. A system according to claim 3, wherein said location
`information system obtains location information from
`selected ones of traffic information systems, electronic Yel-
`low Page databases, video databases, L-commerce systems
`and free advertising systems.
`5. A system according to claim 2, wherein said map
`database includes maps formatted as at least one of the
`following: Raster Map in various scales, vector maps and air
`photo.
`6. A system according to claim 2, wherein said user
`interface accepts multiple mobile platforms to be located,
`the mapping system accepting multiple mobile platform
`location information and generating a map on which each
`location is marked.
`7. Asystem according to claim 2, wherein data forwarded
`to said subscriber comprises at least one mobile platform
`location in a map represented in HTML and an image.
`8. A system according to claim 1, wherein the commu-
`nication between said subscriber and said location determi-
`nation system is over the Internet.
`9. A system according to claim 1, wherein the commu-
`nication between said communication system and the cor-
`responding remote tracking service is over the Internet.
`10. A system according to claim 1, wherein said location
`determination system, said mapping system and said com-
`munication system are accommodated in the same web site.
`11. A system according to claim 1, wherein said mobile
`platform is a vehicle.
`12. A system according to claim 1, wherein said mobile
`platform is a person.
`13. A system according to claim 1, wherein each remote
`tracking system belongs to a different company and super-
`vises a different group of mobile platforms.
`14. A method of determining the location of mobile
`platforms, said mobile platforms between them being locat-
`able by a plurality of remote tracking systems, each which
`is adapted to determine the location of a respective mobile
`platform according to a property that is predetermined for
`each mobile platform, the method comprising:
`(a) accepting inputs from a subscriber identifying one or
`more mobile platforms to be located;
`(b) determining for each mobile platform one of the
`remote tracking systems that is capable of locating said
`mobile platform;
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`(c) communicating the identity of the one or more mobile
`platforms to be located to the determined remote track-
`ing system(s);
`(d) receiving the location of each mobile platform from
`the respective remote tracking system; and
`(e) transmitting the location of each mobile platform to
`said subscriber.
`
`15. A method according to claim 14, wherein transmitting
`the location of each mobile platform further comprises
`correlating the location of each mobile platform with a map
`database and transmitting a map having marked said mobile
`platform location(s) to said subscriber.
`16. A computer program product comprising a computer
`useable medium having computer readable program code
`embodied therein to enable determination of the location of
`
`mobile platforms, said mobile platforms between them
`being locatable by a plurality of remote tracking systems,
`each which is adapted to determine the location of a respec-
`tive mobile platform according to a property that is prede-
`termined for each mobile platform, the computer readable
`program product comprising:
`computer readable program code for causing a computer
`to accept inputs from a subscriber identifying one or
`more mobile platforms to be located;
`computer readable program code for causing the com-
`puter to determine for each mobile platform one of the
`remote tracking systems that is capable of locating said
`remote platform;
`computer readable program code for causing the com-
`puter to communicate the identity of the one or more
`mobile platforms to be located to the determined
`remote tracking system(s);
`computer readable program code for causing the com-
`puter to receive the location of each mobile platform
`from the respective remote tracking system; and
`computer readable program code for causing the com-
`puter to transmit the location of each mobile platform
`to said subscriber.
`
`17. A computer program product according to claim 16,
`further comprising computer readable code for causing the
`computer to correlate the location of each mobile platform
`with a map database and to transmit a map having marked
`said mobile platform location(s) to said subscriber.
`18. A system for location tracking of mobile platforms,
`each of which is equipped each with a tracking unit, each
`being adapted to determine the location of a respective
`mobile platform according to a property that is predeter-
`mined for each mobile platform; the system comprising:
`(a) a location server communicating through a user inter-
`face with at
`least one subscriber equipped with a
`browser; said communication having inputs that
`include at
`least
`the subscriber identity,
`the mobile
`platform identity and map information;
`(b) at least one mobile platform location system coupled
`to said location server for receiving the mobile platform
`identity and map information that pertain to mobile
`platforms associated with the respective mobile plat-
`form location system; each one of said mobile platform
`location systems being associated with a map database
`and map engine for manipulating said map database;
`(c) at least one remote tracking service communicating
`with said respective mobile platform location system
`for receiving mobile platform identity and returning
`mobile platform location information;
`the at least one mobile platform location system being
`adapted to receive said mobile platform location infor-
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`US 6,771,970 B1
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`9
`mation and access said map database for correlating
`map to said location information, so as to obtain
`correlated location information;
`said location server being adapted to receive the corre-
`lated location information and forward them to said
`browser.
`
`19. A program storage device readable by a machine,
`tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by
`the machine to perform a method of determining the location
`of mobile platforms, said mobile platforms between them
`being locatable by a plurality of remote tracking systems,
`each of which is adapted to determine the location of a
`respective mobile platform according to a property that is
`predetermined for each mobile platform, the method com-
`prising:
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`(a) accepting inputs from a subscriber identifying one or
`more mobile platforms to be located;
`(b) determining for each mobile platform one of the
`remote tracking systems that is capable of locating said
`mobile platform;
`(c) communicating the identity of the one or more mobile
`platforms to be located to the determined remote track-
`ing system(s);
`(d) receiving the location of each mobile platform from
`the respective remote tracking system; and
`(e) transmitting the location of each mobile platform to
`said subscriber.
`
`