Patent US6493633B2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US6493633B2
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Systems and methods for distributing real-time site specific weather information
Assignee: Baron Services Inc
•
Filing: 2001-04-13
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Granted: 2002-12-10
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Expires: 2021-04-13
Abstract
Abstract An event notification system in accordance with the present invention includes a computer system configured to receive data indicative of an event to be warned for and to process the data to define a boundary for an area affected by the event. A distribution site communicates with the computer system to distribute information indicative of the boundary of the area affected by the event to a plurality of devices remote from the distribution site and each other. The plurality of remote devices communicate with the distribution site to receive information indicative of the boundary of the area affected by the event and each is configured to determine if it is affected by the event and to respond accordingly. A method of remotely activating a warning device in response to an event notification is also disclosed.
Inventors
- 👤 Robert O. Baron, Sr.
- 👤 Tom S. Thompson
- 👤 Tony L. Benson
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 20:39
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06Q; G06Q30/00; G06Q30/02; G01; G01K; G01K2203/00
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 79
Claim 1
Independent Claim
126 words
An event notification system comprising: a computer system configured to receive data indicative of an event to be warned for and to process the data to define a boundary for an area affected by the event, the boundary for the area affected by the event comprising latitude and longitude coordinates; a distribution site communicating with said computer system to distribute information indicative of the boundary of the area affected by the event; and a plurality of receiving devices remote from said distribution site and each other communicating with said distribution site to receive the information indicative of the boundary of the area affected by the event, each of said plurality of devices configured to determine if it is affected by the event and to respond accordingly.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
126 words
An event notification system comprising: a computer system configured to receive data indicative of an event to be warned for and to process the data to define a boundary for an area affected by the event, the boundary for the area affected by the event comprising latitude and longitude coordinates; a distribution site communicating with said computer system to distribute information indicative of the boundary of the area affected by the event; and a plurality of receiving devices remote from said distribution site and each other communicating with said distribution site to receive the information indicative of the boundary of the area affected by the event, each of said plurality of devices configured to determine if it is affected by the event and to respond accordingly.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
22 words
The system of claim 1 wherein the event to be warned for comprises the location and projected path of a weather phenomenon.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
13 words
The system of claim 2 wherein the weather phenomenon comprises a severe storm.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
51 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said distribution site comprises an RF broadcast system constructed and arranged to broadcast the information indicative of the boundary of the area affected by the event over an RF channel selected from the group consisting of a VHF frequency band or a UHF frequency band.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
24 words
The system of claim 1 wherein each of said plurality of receiving devices affected by the event is automatically activated to emit an alert.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
17 words
The system of claim 5 wherein said alert comprises an audible alarm followed by a severity message.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
69 words
The system of claim 1 wherein each of said plurality of receiving devices is geographically coded with latitude and longitude information corresponding to its location, and wherein the boundary of the area affected by the event is defined by latitude and longitude coordinates so that each receiving device can compare its latitude and longitude to the event latitude and longitude to determine if it is affected by the event.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 7 wherein at least one of said plurality of devices communicates with a GPS to receive updated latitude and longitude information.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
112 words
An event notification system comprising: a weather alert manager configured to receive data indicative of an event to be warned for and to process said data to define a location of the event, the location of the event comprising latitude and longitude coordinates; a distribution site communicating with said weather alert manager to distribute data indicative of the location of the event; and a plurality of receiving devices remote from said distribution site and each other communicating with said distribution site to receive the data indicative of the location of the event, each of said plurality of devices configured to determine if it is affected by the event and to respond accordingly.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
112 words
An event notification system comprising: a weather alert manager configured to receive data indicative of an event to be warned for and to process said data to define a location of the event, the location of the event comprising latitude and longitude coordinates; a distribution site communicating with said weather alert manager to distribute data indicative of the location of the event; and a plurality of receiving devices remote from said distribution site and each other communicating with said distribution site to receive the data indicative of the location of the event, each of said plurality of devices configured to determine if it is affected by the event and to respond accordingly.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
16 words
The system of claim 9 wherein the event to be warned for comprises a storm location.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
23 words
The system of claim 10 wherein the storm location comprises the present location of the storm and the projected path of the storm.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
30 words
The system of claim 9 wherein each of said plurality of receiving devices affected by the event is automatically activated to emit an audible alarm followed by a severity message.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
64 words
The system of claim 9 wherein the location of the event is defined by cartesian coordinates and wherein each of said plurality of receiving devices is geographically coded with Cartesian coordinates corresponding to its location such that each receiving device compares its Cartesian coordinates to the Cartesian coordinates of the area affected by the event to determine if it is affected by the event.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 13 wherein at least one of said plurality of receiving devices communicates with a GPS to receive updated Cartesian coordinate information.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
88 words
A method of remotely activating a device, said method comprising: receiving data indicative of an event to be warned for; processing said received data to define a boundary for an area affected by the event, the boundary for the area affected by the event comprising latitude and longitude coordinates; and distributing information indicative of the boundary of the area affected by the event to a plurality of remote receiving devices, each of which is configured to determine if it is affected by the event and to respond accordingly.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
88 words
A method of remotely activating a device, said method comprising: receiving data indicative of an event to be warned for; processing said received data to define a boundary for an area affected by the event, the boundary for the area affected by the event comprising latitude and longitude coordinates; and distributing information indicative of the boundary of the area affected by the event to a plurality of remote receiving devices, each of which is configured to determine if it is affected by the event and to respond accordingly.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 15 wherein said receiving step comprises the step of ingesting NexRad attribute data including the location of a weather phenomenon.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 16 wherein said processing step comprises the step of determining the latitude and longitude of the boundary defining a projected path of the weather phenomenon.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 17 wherein said distributing step comprises the step of broadcasting an RF signal including geographically coded information indicative of the boundary of the projected path of the weather phenomenon.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 18 further comprising the step of geographically coding each of said plurality of remote receiving devices with information indicative of its geographical location.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 19 further comprising the steps of receiving the broadcast information at each of said plurality of remote receiving devices, and automatically emitting an alert from the remote receiving devices which determine they are affected by the projected path of the storm.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
86 words
A mobile receiving device having stored thereon computer instructions that, when executed by a processor operable in the mobile receiving device, causes the mobile receiving device to: receive information indicative of an event via a communication link; receive location information from a coupled position location device; process the information indicative of the event and the location information to determine if the mobile receiving device is affected by the event; and responsive to determining that the mobile receiving device is affected by the event, activate an alert.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
86 words
A mobile receiving device having stored thereon computer instructions that, when executed by a processor operable in the mobile receiving device, causes the mobile receiving device to: receive information indicative of an event via a communication link; receive location information from a coupled position location device; process the information indicative of the event and the location information to determine if the mobile receiving device is affected by the event; and responsive to determining that the mobile receiving device is affected by the event, activate an alert.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
17 words
The mobile receiving device of claim 21 , wherein the communication link comprises a satellite communication link.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
23 words
The mobile receiving device of claim 21 , wherein the information indicative of an event comprises one or more latitude and longitude points.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
26 words
The mobile receiving device of claim 22 , wherein the one or more latitude and longitude points defines a boundary for a path of the event.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
19 words
The mobile receiving device of claim 21 , wherein the information indicative of an event comprises an event profile.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
21 words
The mobile receiving device of claim 21 , wherein the information indicative of an event comprises one or more event paths.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
20 words
The mobile receiving device of claim 21 , wherein the information indicative of an event comprises a current event location.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
19 words
The mobile receiving device of claim 21 , wherein the information indicative of an event comprises an event direction.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
19 words
The mobile receiving device of claim 21 , wherein the information indicative of an event comprises an event speed.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
16 words
The mobile receiving device of claim 21 , wherein the location device comprises a GPS device.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
17 words
The mobile receiving device of claim 21 , wherein the location information comprises latitude and longitude information.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
25 words
The mobile receiving device of claim 21 , wherein the information indicative of the event is received as an RF signal via the communication link.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
71 words
The mobile receiving device of claim 21 , wherein the computer instructions that determine if the mobile receiving device is affected by the event further comprise computer instructions that, when executed by the processor operable in the mobile receiving device, causes the mobile receiving device to determine if the mobile receiving device has moved into a projected event path, wherein the information indicative of the event comprises the projected event path.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
73 words
The mobile receiving device of claim 21 , wherein the computer instructions that determine if the mobile receiving device is affected by the event further comprise computer instructions that, when executed by the processor operable in the mobile receiving device, causes the mobile receiving device to determine if the mobile receiving device is moving into or toward a projected event path, wherein the information indicative of the event comprises the projected event path.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
15 words
The mobile receiving device of claim 21 , wherein the alert comprises an audible alert.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
15 words
The mobile receiving device of claim 21 , wherein the alert comprises a visual alert.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
18 words
The mobile receiving device of claim 21 , wherein the alert varies based on a type of event.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
19 words
The mobile receiving device of claim 21 , wherein the alert varies based on a severity of the event.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
26 words
The mobile receiving device of claim 21 , wherein the alert varies based on a likelihood of the mobile receiving device being affected by the event.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
53 words
The mobile receiving device of claim 21 , wherein the computer instructions that determine if the mobile receiving device is affected by the event further comprise computer instructions that, when executed by the processor operable in the mobile receiving device, causes the mobile receiving device to display a graphical representation of the event.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
131 words
An event notification method comprising: providing an apparatus comprising: an interface operable to be coupled to a position location device; a communication link interface operable to receive information via a communication link; and a controller coupled to the interface and the communication link interface, the controller operable to process a first information received via the interface and a second information received via the communication link interface; receiving at the apparatus the first information, the first information being location information regarding the apparatus; receiving at the apparatus the second information, the second information being information indicative of an event; determining if the apparatus is affected by the event by processing the first information and the second information; and responsive to determining that the apparatus is affect by the event, activating an alert.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
131 words
An event notification method comprising: providing an apparatus comprising: an interface operable to be coupled to a position location device; a communication link interface operable to receive information via a communication link; and a controller coupled to the interface and the communication link interface, the controller operable to process a first information received via the interface and a second information received via the communication link interface; receiving at the apparatus the first information, the first information being location information regarding the apparatus; receiving at the apparatus the second information, the second information being information indicative of an event; determining if the apparatus is affected by the event by processing the first information and the second information; and responsive to determining that the apparatus is affect by the event, activating an alert.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 41 , wherein the communication link comprises a satellite communication link.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 41 , wherein the mobile apparatus is coupled to a vehicle.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 41 , wherein the mobile apparatus is coupled to a plane.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 41 , wherein the mobile apparatus is coupled to a mobile communication device.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 41 , wherein the mobile apparatus is coupled to a portable computing device.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 41 further comprising: determining a path of the apparatus; determining a path of the event; and determining whether the path of the event is likely to affect the path of the apparatus.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 41 , wherein determining if the apparatus is affected by the event comprises determining if the apparatus is currently in or approaching an area possibly affected by the event.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 41 , wherein determining if the apparatus is affected by the event comprises determining if the apparatus is currently in or approaching an area probably affected by the event.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 41 , wherein the second information being received via a RF transmission.
Claim 56
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 41 , wherein the first information being received from a GPS device.
Claim 57
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 41 , wherein the information indicative of an event comprises an event profile.
Claim 58
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 52 , wherein the event profile comprises a storm profile.
Claim 59
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 41 , wherein the event comprises a weather phenomenon.
Claim 60
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 41 , wherein the event comprises a forest fire.
Claim 61
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 41 , wherein the event comprises a gas leak.
Claim 62
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 41 further comprising: determining a path of the event; and determining if the path of the event is approaching the apparatus.
Claim 63
Dependent Claim
98 words
An event notification apparatus comprising: an interface operable to be coupled to a position location device, the interface operable to receive a location information of the apparatus; a communication link interface operable to receive an information indicative of an event; and a controller coupled to the interface and the communication link interface, the controller operable to process the location information of the apparatus and the information indicative of the event to determine if the apparatus is affected by the event; the controller also operable to produce an alert upon determining that the apparatus is affected by the event.
Claim 64
Dependent Claim
98 words
An event notification apparatus comprising: an interface operable to be coupled to a position location device, the interface operable to receive a location information of the apparatus; a communication link interface operable to receive an information indicative of an event; and a controller coupled to the interface and the communication link interface, the controller operable to process the location information of the apparatus and the information indicative of the event to determine if the apparatus is affected by the event; the controller also operable to produce an alert upon determining that the apparatus is affected by the event.
Claim 65
Dependent Claim
16 words
The apparatus of claim 58 , wherein the communication link interface comprises a satellite communication link.
Claim 66
Dependent Claim
31 words
The apparatus of claim 58 , wherein the controller determines if the apparatus is affected by the event by processing a path of the apparatus and a path of the event.
Claim 67
Dependent Claim
16 words
The apparatus of claim 58 , wherein the location information of the apparatus comprises GPS information.
Claim 68
Dependent Claim
21 words
The apparatus of claim 58 , wherein the information indicative of the event comprises a plurality of latitude and longitude points.
Claim 69
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus of claim 58 , wherein the communication link interface is operable to receive RF signals via the satellite communication link.
Claim 70
Dependent Claim
64 words
An alert manager comprising: a first interface operable to receive information indicative of an event; a processor operable to perform one or more event tracking operations with the information indicative of the event to provide an event profile; and a second interface operable to transmit the event profile to a distribution network for transmitting to one or more remote devices via a satellite communication.
Claim 71
Dependent Claim
64 words
An alert manager comprising: a first interface operable to receive information indicative of an event; a processor operable to perform one or more event tracking operations with the information indicative of the event to provide an event profile; and a second interface operable to transmit the event profile to a distribution network for transmitting to one or more remote devices via a satellite communication.
Claim 72
Dependent Claim
18 words
The alert manager of claim 64 , wherein the first interface and the second interface are the same.
Claim 73
Dependent Claim
22 words
The alert manager of claim 64 , wherein the information indicative of the event comprises information regarding the event direction and speed.
Claim 74
Dependent Claim
22 words
The alert manager of claim 64 , wherein the information indicative of the event comprises one or more latitude and longitude points.
Claim 75
Dependent Claim
29 words
The alert manager of claim 64 , wherein the event profile comprises information regarding a current location of the event and a forecasted direction and speed of the event.
Claim 76
Dependent Claim
37 words
A distribution network comprising: a first interface operable to receive an event profile regarding an event; a second interface operable to transmit the received event profile to one or more remote devices via a satellite communication link.
Claim 77
Dependent Claim
37 words
A distribution network comprising: a first interface operable to receive an event profile regarding an event; a second interface operable to transmit the received event profile to one or more remote devices via a satellite communication link.
Claim 78
Dependent Claim
18 words
The distribution network of claim 69 , wherein the one or more remote devices comprises a mobile device.
Claim 79
Dependent Claim
22 words
The distribution network of claim 69 , wherein the event profile is transmitted as an RF signal via the satellite communication link.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2005-12-09 | 2006-06-10 | 2006-12-10 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2009-12-09 | 2010-06-10 | 2010-12-10 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2013-12-09 | 2014-06-10 | 2014-12-10 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |