US008334773B2
(12) Ulllted States Patent
(10) Patent N0.:
Cova et a]. (54)
(45) Date of Patent:
ASSET MONITORINGAND TRACKING SYSTEM
4,736,857 A 5,151,684 A 5,189,396 A
.
.
5,266,925 A
(75) Inventors: Nicholas-D. Cova, Salt Lake Clty, UT
4/1988 Monico, Jr. et a1. 9/1992 Johnsen 2/1993 Stobbe et a1. 11/1993
Vercellotti et a1.
M996 Yamada et al‘
(US); Nell M- Smlth, P2110 Alto, CA
5,491,486 A
(US)
5,515,030 A 5,565,858 A
2/1996 Welles et al. 5/1996 Citron et 31.
s
.T h l I A1 d . VA 6° “0 0g)” "c" exam “2"
Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35
10/1996 Guthrie
5,656,996 A
8/1997 Houser
5,710,973 A 5,752,218 A
l/l998 Yamada et a1. 5/1998 Harrison et a1.
5,758,263 A 5,774,876 A
5/1998 Berger et 31. 6/1998 Woolley et a1.
(Continued)
U~S~C~ 154(1)) by 414 days~ (21)
Dec. 18, 2012
5,483,666 A
(73) Assignees: Deal Magic, Inc., Edmonds, WA (US);
( * ) Notice:
US 8,334,773 B2
FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
Appl. N0.: 12/560,377
GB
2 368 174 A
‘"2002
(Continued) (22) Filed:
Sep. 15, 2009 OTHER PUBLICATIONS
(65)
Prior Publication Data US 2011/0050423 A1
US. Appl. No. 13/569,862, ?led Aug. 8, 2012, Cova et al.
Mar. 3, 2011
_
(Cont1nued) Related US. Application Data _ _
_
_
Primary Examiner * Phung Nguyen
(60) ggmgszgnal apphcanon NO‘ 61/237’936’ ?led on Aug‘
(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm * Fish & Richardson PC.
(51) Int. Cl. G08B 13/14
( ) Techniques for monitoring and tracking assets and providing
(52)
57
(200601)
US. Cl. .................................................. .. 340/5721
(58) Field of Classi?cation Search
340/572145729,
340/101, 235/385, 705/9 28
See application ?le for Complete; Search history
’ '
(56)
US. PATENT DOCUMENTS A A A A
12/1901 11/1976 11/1980 3/1988
noti?cations to users are disclosed In one aspect’ a request to
Had? an asset ,and emerPnse d2“? des?nblng the asset are recelved, a tag 1s selected to assoclate Wlth the asset, an event
noti?cation is received from the tag, and a user noti?cation is generated from the event noti?cation and the enterprise data. In another aspect, a request for a tag is received, a tag is selected in response to the request, a tag is routed to the origin location for the tag, a noti?cation is received that the tag has arrived at a destination location, and the tag is routed from the destination location to a tag pool.
References Cited
690,191 3,993,987 4,233,595 4,729,626
ABSTRACT
Saxe Stevens Landkammer Stieff
11 Claims, 17 Drawing Sheets Tag Provider _
1115
US 8,334,773 B2 Page2 US. PATENT DOCUMENTS
7,853,480 B2
12/2010 Taylor et 31.
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7,760,103 7,764,231 7,822,580 7,830,852
B2 B1 B2 B2
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W0 W0 W0 W0 W0 W0 W0 W0
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FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 2 448 482 A 10/2008 541 176 A 8/2005 W0 03 /098 1 7 5 1 1 / 2003 WO 2007/121508 11/2007
US 8,334,773 B2 Page 4 LiaW, M. And Cova, N., “Data Quality Delivered,” A Savi Networks White Paper, copyright 2006, 19 pages. Maersk Line, “Maersk Line Shipping Containers Worldwide”. Retrieved from internet: URL, dated Aug. 19,
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* cited by examiner
US. Patent
Dec. 18, 2012
Sheet 1 0f 17
US 8,334,773 B2
US. Patent
Dec. 18, 2012
Sheet 4 0f 17
US 8,334,773 B2
QEm5>83m,; w.“,
US. Patent
Dec. 18, 2012
Sheet 5 0f 17
US 8,334,773 B2
US. Patent
Dec. 18, 2012
Sheet 6 0f 17
US 8,334,773 B2
6002‘ Receive a Request for a Tag, the Request Specifying an Origin Location for the Tag
M
Select a Tag in Response to the Request
M
i Route the Tag from a First Tag Pool Location to
the Origin Location
gm
i Receive a Notification that the Tag has Arrived at a Destination Location
iv Route the Tag from the Destination Location to a
Second Tag Pool Location
m
FIG. 6
US. Patent
Dec. 18, 2012
Sheet 7 0f 17
Vm.E .m ITT
US 8,334,773 B2
n
maPDmma mmC KG 3D
mmm Du03u Tag Status P2P +_scA Update
nRS
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m gEn w mQueHWm
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GPS Tag
US. Patent
8002‘
Dec. 18, 2012
Sheet 8 of 17
US 8,334,773 B2
Receive Input Including a Request to Track an Asset
Containing One or More items, Enterprise Data Describing the items, and a From-Location and a To-Location for the Asset
L2
l Select a Tag to Associate with the Asset in Accordance with the input, and then Route the Tag to the From-Location
l Receive an Event Notification for the Tag as the Tag Travels from the From-Location to the To-Location
M
Generate a Customer Notification from the Event
Notification and the Enterprise Data, and Provide the Customer Notification to a Customer
M
FIG. 8
US. Patent
Dec. 18, 2012
Sheet 9 of 17
US 8,334,773 B2
9002‘ Receive Enterprise Data Describing items Being Shipped in Assets
m
i Receive Tag Data for a Tag Associated with Each Asset while the Asset is in Transit, the Tag Data including a Location of the Asset 904
i Generate One or More inventory Management Statistics Using the Enterprise Data and the Tag Data for Each Asset 906
FIG. 9
US. Patent
Dec. 18, 2012
Sheet 14 0f 17
US 8,334,773 B2
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