`
`FILE HISTORY
`US 6,771,970
`
`6,771,970
`PATENT:
`INVENTORS: Dan, Meir
`
`TITLE:
`
`Location determination system
`
`APPLICATION
`NO:
`FILED:
`ISSUED:
`
`US2000677827A
`
`02 OCT 2000
`03 AUG 2004
`
`COMPILED:
`
`05 APR 2013
`
`

`

`&
`
`BSgj cepy
`
`SI~
`-'4
`
`1w-cF
`
`APPLICATION NO.
`
`I 09/677827
`
`Vt :i. I - 1:
`
`CONT/PRIOR ICLASS
`
`D
`
`45
`
`SUSC LASS
`(I c
`
`jART UNIT
`
`IEXAMINER
`
`N 11 _eki ,
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`I
`
`, . :::, i I .,, Y s I.. e! rn
`
`PTO-2040
`12/99
`
`ORIGINAL
`
`ISSUING CLASSIFICATION
`CROSS REFERENCE(S)
`
`CLASS1SAICL..St
`
`il 7 ZJA 6,
`
`INTERNATIONAL CLASSIF!CATION
`
`CLASS
`s3
`~~7,
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`SUBCLASS (ONE SUBCLASS PER BLOCK)
`4'5 7
`45'6.C
`445-.2 9 6
`71 ______
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`_____
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`___
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`0 Continued on Issue Slip inside File Jacket
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`IIDISCLAIMER
`oTERMINAL
`
`Sheets Drg
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`DRWNSCLAIMS
`:igs. Drwg.
`Print Fig.
`
`Total Claims
`
`ALLOWED
`Print Claim for O.G.
`
`___
`
`(date)
`
`BThe term ot this patent
`subsequent to _
`has been disclaimed.
`0I The term of this patent shall
`not extend beyond the expiration date
`of U.S Patent. No..ISE
`
`__________
`
`(ssistant Examiner)
`
`(Date)
`
`(Prmar_Eamier
`
`(Date)
`
`NOTICE OF ALLOWANCE MAILED
`
`/z k
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`E
`
`-months of
`1: The terminal
`this patent have been disclaimed.
`
`(Lpgai Instrulments Examirr
`
`____
`Dae
`
`WARNING:
`The information disclosed herein may be restricted. Unauthorized disclosure may be prohibited by the United Slates Code Title 35, Sections 122, 181 and 368.
`Possession outside the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office is restricted to authorized employees and contractors only.
`FILED WITH: [H DISK (CRF) FH FICHE H CD-ROM
`Form PTO-436A
`(Rev. 6/99)
`
`(Attached In pocket on right inside flap)
`
`ISSUE BATCH NUMBER
`
`ISSUE FEE IN FILE
`
`(FACE)
`
`1
`
`

`

`6,771,970
`
`LOCATION DETERMINATION SYSTEM
`
`Transaction History
`
`Date
`
`Transaction Description
`
`10/2/2000 Workflow - Drawings Finished
`
`10/2/2000 Workflow - Drawings Matched with File at Contractor
`
`10/2/2000
`
`Initial Exam Team nn
`
`11/22/2000
`
`IFW Scan & PACR Auto Security Review
`
`12/13/2000 Notice Mailed--Application Incomplete--Filing Date Assigned
`
`12/13/2000 Correspondence Address Change
`
`1/29/2001 Application Dispatched from OIPE
`
`1/29/2001 Application Is Now Complete
`
`2/6/2001 Case Docketed to Examiner in GAU
`
`3/14/2001
`
`Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) Filed
`
`3/14/2001
`
`Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) Filed
`
`3/20/2001
`
`Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) Filed
`
`3/20/2001
`
`Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) Filed
`
`1/14/2003 Case Docketed to Examiner in GAU
`
`2/20/2003 Case Docketed to Examiner in GAU
`
`4/30/2003 Case Docketed to Examiner in GAU
`
`5/15/2003 Non-Final Rejection
`
`5/16/2003 Mail Non-Final Rejection
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`8/18/2003 Response after Non-Final Action
`
`10/2/2003 Date Forwarded to Examiner
`
`12/24/2003 Mail Non-Final Rejection
`
`12/24/2003 Non-Final Rejection
`
`3/4/2004 Response after Non-Final Action
`
`3/11/2004 Date Forwarded to Examiner
`
`4/27/2004 Notice of Allowance Data Verification Completed
`
`4/28/2004 Mail Notice of Allowance
`
`5/3/2004 Workflow - File Sent to Contractor
`
`5/3/2004 Receipt into Pubs
`
`5/4/2004 Receipt into Pubs
`
`6/16/2004 Receipt into Pubs
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`6/22/2004 Receipt into Pubs
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`6/24/2004
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`Issue Fee Payment Verified
`
`6/24/2004
`
`Issue Fee Payment Received
`
`7/7/2004 Dispatch to FDC
`
`7/7/2004 Application Is Considered Ready for Issue
`
`7/8/2004 Receipt into Pubs
`
`7/15/2004
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`Issue Notification Mailed
`
`8/3/2004 Recordation of Patent Grant Mailed
`
`8/3/2004 Patent Issue Date Used in PTA Calculation
`
`12/26/2007 Correspondence Address Change
`
`
`
`2
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`

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`SOV 1
`INITIALS
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`-_____
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`Date Received
`(Incl. C. of M.)
`or
`Date Mailed
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`PAT NT APPLICATION
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`jc913 U.S. PTO
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`If09/677827
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`V677827
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`1. Ap6%atio
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`aper.
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`CONTENTS
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`pp _
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`ISSUE SLIP STAPLE AREA (for additional cross references)
`
`POSITION
`
`INITIALS
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`ID NO.
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`DATE
`
`FEE DETERMINATION
`O.I.P.E. CLASSIFIER
`FORMALITY REVIEW
`RESPONSE FORMALITY REVIEW
`
`a2
`
`1
`
`INDEX
`OF CLAIMS
`..... Rejected
`IN...................... Non-elected
`...........
`I ......................
`Interference
`Allowed
`..................
`numeral) ... Canceled
`A...................... Appeal
`................
`Restricted
`0...................... Objected
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`claim
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`Date
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`If more than 150 claims or 10 actions
`staple additional sheet here
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`(LEFT INSIDE)
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`5
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`

`

`(12) United States Patent
`
`Dan
`
`US006771970B1
`US 6,771,970 B1
`Aug. 3, 2004
`
`(10) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`(54) LOCATION DETERMINATION SYSTEM
`
`(75)
`
`Inventor: Meir Dan, Tel Aviv (IL)
`
`(73) Assignee: Locationet Systems 2000 Ltd.,
`Natanya (IL)
`
`*)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
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`(60) Provisional application No. 60/157,643, filed on Oct. 4,
`1999.
`............................
`lnt. CI.'.7
`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,'
`455/456.2, 456.3, 456.5; 340/988, 989,
`990, 991, 993; 701/208, 212, 213, 200,
`207; 342/357.1, 357.14, 357.15
`
`(56)
`
`5,223,844
`5,8M,373
`6,087,952
`6,131,067
`6,222,483
`6,330,454
`
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`Mansell et al .......... 342/357
`DeLorme et alt.....701/200
`Prabb aka ran
`Girerd et at.
`Twitchell el al.
`Verdonkc
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`44 27913 Al
`2/1996
`
`EP'
`WO
`
`0 '785 535 Al
`7/1997
`5/1998
`WO 98/20434
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`International Search Report; International Application No.
`PCT/IL 00/ 00617; Feb. 9, 2001.
`*cited by examiner
`Primary Examiner-Erika Gary
`Assistant Examiner-Buy 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 heing arranged to
`pass said mobile platform location
`information to said
`location detention system. The location determination sys-
`tern is arranged to receive said mobile platform location
`information and to forward it to said subscriber
`
`19 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
`
`jA1
`
`6
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`US. Patent
`
`Aug. 3,2004
`Aug. 3, 2004
`
`Sheet 1 of4
`Sheet 1 of 4
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`US 6,771,970 BI
`US 6,771,970 B1
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`‘1‘.—
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`7
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`U.S. Patent
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`Aug. 3, 2004
`
`Sheet 2 of 4
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`US 6,771,970 Bl
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`Location
`and Map
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`/ 3
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`U.S. Patent
`US. Patent
`
`Aug. 3, 2004
`Aug. 3, 2004
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`Sheet 3 004
`Sheet 3 of 4
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`US 6,771,970 Bl
`US 6,771,970 B1
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`3rd Party
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`U.S. Patent
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`Aug. 3, 2004
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`Sheet 4 of 4
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`U.S.Patnt
`6,771,970 BI
`ug.3, 204 hee 4 f 4US
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`I
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`Fig. 4a
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`

`US 6,771,970 B1
`
`LOCATION DETERMINATION SYSTEM
`
`This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
`Application No, 60/157,643, filed Oct. 4, 1999.
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`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 mohile entity has a communication device from
`which the location of the entity can he 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 suhmit 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 custornise
`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.
`
`S
`
`a0
`
`15
`
`20
`
`2
`SUMMARY OF ThE INVENTION
`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 systemn 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-
`25 nation system;
`25 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
`wilh a mapping system having at least one map database,
`30 said mappi ng 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
`35 system, wherein said location determination system
`is
`arranged to forward said map to said subscriber.
`The mapping system may communicate with at least
`location information system, said location information sys-
`tern 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,
`45 L-comamerce 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 he 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
`55 and an image.
`Communication between said subscriber and said location
`determination system may he over the Internet.
`Communication between said communication system and
`the corresponding remote tracking service is over the Inter-
`60 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 portahle
`65 computer, a mobile telephone or any other mobile entity that
`can be
`tracked or have a tracking device
`installed or
`attached.
`
`40
`
`so
`
`11
`
`

`

`US 6,771,970 Bil
`
`3
`Each remote tracking system may belong to a different
`company and supervises a different group of mobile plat-
`forms.
`According to another aspect of the present invention,
`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 he located to the determined remote tracking
`system(s);
`(dt) 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 ITH-E DRAWINGS
`For a better understanding, the invention will now be
`described, by way of example only, with reference to
`the
`accompanying drawing, in which:
`HIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a location tracking
`system in accordance with the invention;
`FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram iflustrating 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 inveotion; and,
`FIGS. 4a and 4b are schematic diagrams illustrating
`protocol data units tused in a preferred embodiment of the
`invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENT
`ITrning first
`to FIG. 1, there is shown a schematic
`diagram of a location determinatioo 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(Perwonal 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.
`
`20
`
`30
`
`4
`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
`5a briefcase (24).
`'The systems (11-14) of the various location tracking
`servtce providers communicate over the Internet (30) with a
`communication subsystem (3) of the location determination
`system (1). Communication
`is made using, typically, a
`10 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
`is 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 respeetive loca-
`tion tracking system (11-14). 'The map sewer (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
`25 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
`35 example, a member of a number of licensed subscribers in
`a given organization, all as required and appropriate.
`Thte 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
`40 (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 thc request and details of the appropriate
`location tracking system (11-14) to the communication
`45 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
`55 (1). The location determination system (1) passes the Inca.
`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).
`6o 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
`65 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'
`
`50
`
`12
`
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`

`US 6,771,970 Bi
`
`5
`server (110) to submit location requests and receive location
`maps or coordinates.
`'Ihe 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 sewver 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
`datal,ases is obtained from the location data server (120) hy
`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, PSTlN 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. 'lhe 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
`
`30
`
`may also contain a timeslot field (210) designating a point in
`tine 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-
`Snication subsystem (3) and includes the fields ItemID (300)
`and Coord (310). The Coard field (310) may be in Latitude!
`Longditude format or in UJTM formal The data unit may
`include the optional fields of Accuracy (320) indicating the
`location accuracy in Meters and Date (330) and Time (340)
`10fields 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
`15request 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
`20 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
`25 spread among more
`than one company (e.g.
`they may
`belongs to different groups (21) to (24), each supervised by
`a respe ctive different location company), Consider that the
`operational center communicates with the Company Loca-
`lion 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.
`35 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
`40 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
`45 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,
`50 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
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
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`US 6,771,970 B1
`
`7
`tracking systems, the appropriate remote tracking sys-
`tern 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 nn which each
`location is marked.
`7. A system 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 we