Patent EP0501058A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0501058A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Vehicle locating and communicating method and apparatus
Assignee: Track Communications Inc
•
Filing: 1991-06-26
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2011-06-26
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for locating and communicating with vehicles is provided, including at least one mobile cellular unit connected to at least one microprocessor and installed within a vehicle. The microprocessor interrogates the mobile cellular unit to obtain location information from an overhead message stream transmitted from cellular telephone transmitter sites. The location is displayed on a display located in the vehicle or the microprocessor periodically instructs the mobile cellular unit to initiate a call to a host controller and, upon receipt of transmitting instructions from the host controller, transmits the location information for display on a screen connected to the host controller.
Inventors
- 👤 Larry Clifford Wortham
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 22:05
CPC Classifications
G; G08; G08G; G08G1/00; G08G1/20; G01; G01D; G01D4/00; G01D4/002; G01D4/004; G07; G07C; G07C5/00; G07C5/008; H; H04; H04B; H04B7/00; H04B7/14; H04B7/15; H04B7/185; H04B7/1853; H04B7/18558; H04W; H04W4/00; H04W4/02; H04W4/021; H04W4/029; H04W4/30; H04W4/40; H04W4/48; H04W76/00; H04W76/10; H04W88/00; H04W88/02; H04W60/00; H04W60/04; H04W8/00; H04W8/18; H04W8/183; Y; Y02; Y02B; Y02B90/00; Y02B90/20; Y04; Y04S; Y04S20/00; Y04S20/30; Y10; Y10S; Y10S379/00; Y10S379/913
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 34
Claim 1
Independent Claim
106 words
A system for locating and communicating with a vehicle by means of the network of cellular communication systems comprising: storage/display means; mobile cellular means in the vehicle; means for interrogating said mobile cellular means to receive location information from a particular cellular system providing service to said mobile cellular means at the time of interrogation and for initiating communication with said storage/display means for transmitting information to said storage/display means from said means for interrogating; and said storage/display means including storage means and a display connected to said storage means for displaying a map location of said vehicle and other information transmitted to said storage/display means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
35 words
The locating and communicating system of claim 1, further comprising clock means connected to said means for interrogating to determine predetermined time intervals for initiating communication from said mobile cellular means to said storage/display means.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
87 words
A system for locating and graphically displaying in a vehicle the vehicle's location by means of a network of cellular communication systems comprising: mobile cellular means; at least one microprocessor connected to said mobile cellular means for controlling operation of said system and for interrogating said mobile cellular means to receive the system identification number of a particular cellular system providing service to the mobile cellular means at the time of interrogation; and a graphic display connected to said microprocessor for displaying a map and location information.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
32 words
The system of claim 3, further comprising a keyboard connected to said microprocessor for selecting menu options, for inputting data, and for panning and zooming said map displayed on said graphic display.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
39 words
The system of claim 3 or 4, further comprising auxiliary memory means connected to said microprocessor for receiving interchangeable storage means containing maps, directories and information on geographic areas as the vehicle travels from one geographic area to another.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
23 words
The system of claim 5, further comprising means for selecting and dialing telephone numbers contained in the directories of said interchangeable storage means.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
48 words
The system of claim 5 or 6, further comprising means for selecting a location from the directories of said interchangeable storage means, highlighting said selected location on the displayed map, and displaying textually the distance to the selected location and the estimated travel time to reach said location.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
36 words
The system of any one of claims 3 to 7, further comprising voice activation means for operation of said mobile cellular means alone and for operation of said mobile cellular means in conjunction with said microprocessor.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
68 words
The system of any one of claims 3 to 8, wherein said microprocessor includes means for interrogating said mobile cellular means for receiving the cell number of a particular cell and the longitude and latitude of a particular transmitter site in said cell of the cellular system providing service to the mobile cellular means at the time of interrogation to more accurately determine the location of said vehicle.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
14 words
The system of any preceding claim, which is voice actuatable by a vehicle operator.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
22 words
The system of claim 10, wherein said mobile cellular means includes a hands-free microphone to enable an operator to input verbal information.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
146 words
A system for locating and communicating with vehicles by means of a network of cellular communication systems comprising: a host controller; a cellular telephone in at least one vehicle; at least one microprocessor connected to said cellular telephone for interrogating said cellular telephone to receive a system identification number of a particular cellular system providing service to said vehicle at the time of interrogation for determining location of said vehicle and for initiating communication at predetermined intervals with said host controller for transmitting information from said microprocessor to said host controller; a display connected to said host controller for displaying graphically a map location of said vehicle and for displaying textually information transmitted from said microprocessor; voice recognition means for voice actuation of said cellular telephone by a vehicle operator; and a hands-free microphone to enable an operator to input verbal information to said cellular telephone.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
67 words
The system of claim 12, wherein said microprocessor includes means for interrogating said cellular telephone for receiving the identification number assigned in the cellular system to a particular cell to provide the longitude and latitude of a particular transmitter site in a particular cell of the cellular system providing service to the cellular telephone at the time of interrogation to determine the geographical location of said vehicle.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
31 words
The system of claim 12 or 13, further comprising clock means connected to said microprocessor to determine predetermined time intervals for initiating communication from said cellular telephone to said host controller.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
16 words
The system of any preceding claim, further comprising means for remotely programming authorised telephone numbers therein.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
15 words
The system of claim 15, further comprising means for inhibiting dialing of unauthorised telephone numbers.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
31 words
The system of any preceding claim, further comprising means for responding to received signal strength for notifying an operator when said vehicle enters a strong signal area within the cellular system.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
13 words
The system of any preceding claim, which includes means for monitoring vehicle information.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
26 words
The system of claim 18, which further comprises means for storing said vehicle information and compiling said information into a report covering at least one vehicle.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
30 words
The system of claim 18 or 19, further comprising means by which is actuatable a communication link with said storage/display means to report unauthorised entry and operation of the vehicle.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
119 words
A method for locating vehicles equipped with mobile cellular means comprising the steps of: voice activating said mobile cellular means to store information received verbally from a vehicle operator; interrogating the mobile cellular means to obtain cellular information to determine the location of said vehicle; establishing a communications link between the mobile cellular means and a storage/display means; transmitting to said storage/display means the identity of the reporting vehicle and information to determine location of said vehicle; interrogating a database of the storage/display means in response to information received from said reporting vehicle to determine the geographic location of said vehicle; graphically displaying on a display as a part of said storage/display means the geographic location of said vehicle.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
24 words
The locating method of claim 21, wherein the step of interrogating the mobile cellular means obtains preselected information for transmitting to said storage/display means.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
33 words
The locating method of claim 21 or 22,wherein the step of interrogating said mobile cellular means includes evaluating the received signal to determine sufficient signal strength to initiate communication with said storage/display means.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
32 words
The locating method of claim 21, 22 or 23, further comprising the step of sounding an alarm connected to said storage/display means when said vehicle has moved into a strong signal area.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
44 words
The locating method of any one of claims 21 to 24, further comprising the step of storing the information transmitted to said storage/display means, and compiling the stored information into a report identifying the location of a vehicle for a predetermined period of time.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
53 words
The locating method of any one of claims 21 to 25, further comprising the step of measuring the time following transmission of information from said mobile cellular means to said storage/display means and initiating transmission of information from said mobile cellular means to said storage/display means upon lapse of a predetermined time period.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
46 words
The locating method of any one of claims 21 to 26, further comprising the step of remotely programming authorised telephone numbers in said mobile cellular means from said storage/display means for inhibiting dialing of telephone numbers from said cellular unit other than said authorised telephone numbers.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
42 words
The locating method of any one of claims 21 to 27, wherein the step of interrogating said database includes the step of identifying the cellular system providing service at the time of said interrogation to determine a geographical location of said vehicle.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
44 words
The locating method of any one of claims 21 to 28, wherein the step of interrogating said database includes the step of identifying a cell identification number obtained for a particular cell in the cellular system providing service at the time of said interrogation.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
58 words
The locating method of any one of claims 21 to 29, wherein the step of interrogating said mobile cellular means includes the step of obtaining the longitude and latitude of a transmitter site located in a particular cell of the cellular system providing service at the time of said interrogation to determine a geographical location of said vehicle.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
114 words
The locating method of claim 21, further comprising the step of locating a vehicle between transmissions comprising the steps of: determining the location of a vehicle during the last transmission; recording the final destination and approximate route of said vehicle; calculating travel time after the last transmission from the vehicle; calculating the distance travelled in the time elapsed to determine approximate location of the vehicle; interrogating said database to obtain the system identification numbers and roamer numbers of cellular systems serving an area including said approximate location; and initiating calls from said storage/display means to said vehicle in the cellular systems in said area at predetermined intervals until contact is made with said vehicle.
Claim 32
Independent Claim
123 words
A method for displaying in a vehicle the geographical location of the vehicle equipped with a cellular communication means comprising the steps of: interrogating said cellular means to determine an identification number assigned to a cellular system providing communication service at the time of interrogation; graphically displaying on a display connected to said cellular means a map including the area wherein said vehicle is located; highlighting on said map the location of said vehicle; selecting, by means of a keyboard, points of interest from storage means connected to said cellular means; displaying the distance from said selected points of interest to the location of said vehicle; displaying the estimated travel time from the location of said vehicle to the selected points of interest.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
46 words
The locating method of claim 32, wherein the step of interrogating said cellular means includes the step of identifying the cell identification number of a particular cell providing service to the cellular means at the time of interrogation to determine a geographical location of said vehicle.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
50 words
The locating method of claim 32 or 33, wherein the step of interrogating said cellular means includes the step of identifying the longitude and latitude coordinates of a particular transmitter site in the cellular system providing service at the time of interrogation to determine the geographical location of said vehicle.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.