This invention relates to a tracking device, a tracking method, and a tracking system.

The invention is expected to be advantageously applicable to the tracking of people and items by the police force, for example the tracking of banknotes in a banknote pile. Accordingly, such applications should particularly, but not exclusively, be borne in mind when considering this specification.

Background of the invention

The inventors are familiar with tracking devices that rely on Global Positioning System (GPS) enabled cellular handsets and cellular networks for the reporting and tracking of handset location. However, such tracking devices have been found to be lacking in their accuracy due to the unreliability of either cellular or GPS connectivity and are prone to rapid battery drain due to their “always-on” mode of operation.

The present invention provides for a tracking device, method and system which aims to improve on location tracking accuracy and tracking device power consumption.

Summary of the invention

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a tracking method, the method being conducted at a tracking server, and including the steps of: receiving a series of device locations from one or more tracking devices at the tracking server having installed thereon a server-side location tracking software application whilst the one or more tracking devices are in an awake mode, the series of device locations being transmitted to the tracking server from a cellular network transceiver of the one or more tracking devices provided cellular connectivity, alternatively from a wireless network transceiver of the one or more tracking devices provided Wireless Access Point (AP) connectivity, alternatively from the wireless network transceiver of the one or more tracking devices provided proximity to a nearby device; processing of the series of device locations; transmitting the series of device locations of the one or more tracking devices to a client-side location tracking software application being installed on a user terminal; and a user’s tracking of the one or more tracking devices at the user terminal.

Transmitting of the series of device locations of the one or more tracking devices may include transmitting tracking information that includes any one or more of: coordinates of the series of device locations; a status of the one or more tracking devices; movement and altitude information about the one or more tracking devices; an update frequency of the one or more tracking devices; and a map of the series of device locations of the one or more tracking devices.

The movement and altitude information may include a speed and a compass bearing of the one or more tracking devices.

The status of the one or more tracking devices may include any one or more of: a sleep or awake mode of the devices; a connection status indicating GPS, cellular network, wireless network and nearby device connectivity, a frequency update status, and a battery level status. Transmitting of the series of device locations of the one or more tracking devices may include transmitting a tracking history of the one or more tracking devices.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a tracking device which includes: a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver; a cellular network transceiver; a wireless network transceiver; a location recorder module; the tracking device operable to: determine its location via the GPS receiver provided GPS signal availability, alternatively determine its location via the cellular network transceiver provided cellular network connectivity, alternatively determine its location via the wireless network transceiver provided Wireless Access Point (AP) connectivity, alternatively determine its location via the wireless network transceiver provided proximity to a nearby device; record the location at the location recorder module whilst the tracking device is in a power-saving sleep mode; and transmit the location to a tracking server having installed thereon a server-side location tracking software application whilst the tracking device is in an awake mode via any one or more of the cellular network transceiver and the wireless network transceiver for operative tracking of the device from a client-side location tracking software application being in communication with the server-side location tracking software application.

The wireless network transceiver may include a Local Area Networking (LAN) wireless transceiver such as a Wi-Fi radio, and a short-range wireless transceiver such as a Bluetooth® radio.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a tracking system which includes: one or more tracking devices as hereinbefore described; a tracking server having installed thereon a server-side location tracking software application; and a client-side location tracking software application being installed on a user terminal of a user, the tracking system being operable to: receive a series of device locations from one or more tracking devices at the tracking server whilst the one or more tracking devices are in an awake mode, the series of device locations being operatively transmitted to the tracking server from a cellular network transceiver of the one or more tracking devices provided cellular connectivity, alternatively from a wireless network transceiver of the one or more tracking devices provided Wireless Access Point (AP) connectivity, alternatively from the wireless network transceiver of the one or more tracking devices provided proximity to a nearby device; process the series of device locations at the tracking server; transmit the series of device locations of the one or more tracking devices from the server-side location tracking software application to the clientside location tracking software application; and track the one or more tracking devices at the user terminal.

The user terminal may include any one or more of: a desktop terminal and a mobile device. The client-side location tracking software application may include any one or more of: a browser application and a mobile software application, for example an App Store application.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer program product for a tracking system, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored computer-readable program code, the computer-readable program code executable by processing circuit to perform the steps in the tracking method as hereinbefore described.

The invention is now described, by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings. Drawings

In the drawings,

Figure 1 illustrates, schematically, a tracking device, a tracking system, and a tracking method in accordance with one aspect of the invention.

Figure 2 shows several screenshots of a client-side location tracking software application that illustrate steps in the tracking method of figure 1 in accordance with another aspect of the invention.

Figure 3 shows several screenshots of a client-side location tracking software application that illustrate steps in the tracking method of figure 1 in accordance with yet another aspect of the invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention

With reference to figure 1 , reference numeral (10) denotes, generally, a tracking system according to one embodiment of the invention. The system (10) includes a tracking device (12), a tracking server (44) having installed thereon a server-side location tracking software application (42), and a client-side location tracking software application (54) being installed on a user terminal in the form of a user mobile device (52), the tracking system (10) being operable to: receive a series of device locations from the tracking device (12) at the tracking server (44) whilst the tracking device (12) is in an awake mode, the series of device locations being operatively transmitted to the tracking server (44) from a cellular network transceiver (14) of the tracking device provided cellular connectivity (30), alternatively from a wireless network transceiver (16) of the tracking device (12) provided Wireless Access Point (AP) connectivity (32), alternatively from the wireless network transceiver of the tracking device provided proximity to a nearby device (34) via Bluetooth® (18); process the series of device locations at the tracking server (44); transmit the series of device locations of the tracking device (12) from the server-side location tracking software application (42) to the client-side location tracking software application (54); and track the tracking device at the user mobile device (52).

Keeping with figure 1 , the tracking device (12) includes a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver (20); a cellular network transceiver (14); a wireless network transceiver (16); a location recorder module (22); and a rechargeable battery (24), the tracking device being operable to: determine its location via the GPS receiver (20) provided GPS signal availability, alternatively determine its location via the cellular network transceiver (14) provided cellular network connectivity (30), alternatively determine its location via the wireless network transceiver (16) provided Wireless Access Point (AP) connectivity (32), alternatively determine its location via the wireless network transceiver (18) provided proximity to a nearby device (34); record the location at the location recorder module (22) whilst the tracking device (12) is in a power-saving sleep mode; and transmit the location to the tracking server (44) having installed thereon the server-side location tracking software application (42) whilst the tracking device (12) is in an awake mode via any one or more of the cellular network transceiver (14) and the wireless network transceiver (16) for operative tracking of the device (12) from the client-side location tracking software application (54) being in communication with the server-side location tracking software application (42).

Figure 1 also depicts a tracking method in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the tracking method being implemented by the tracking system (10).

At a first step (101 ), a series of device locations is received from the tracking device (12) at the tracking server (44) having installed thereon the server-side location tracking software application (42) whilst the tracking device (12) is in an awake mode, the series of device locations being transmitted to the tracking server (44) from the cellular network transceiver (14) provided cellular connectivity (30), alternatively from the wireless network transceiver (16) of the tracking device (12) provided Wireless Access Point (AP) connectivity (32), alternatively from the wireless network transceiver (18) proximity to the nearby device (34). At a next step (102), the series of device locations is processed, and at step (103), the series of device locations of the tracking device (12) is transmitted to the client-side location tracking software application (54) of the user mobile device (52).

Then, at step (104), a user tracks the tracking device (12) from their mobile device (52).

As will become more apparent with reference to figure 2, the transmitting of the series of device locations of the tracking device (12) includes transmitting tracking information that includes: coordinates of the series of device locations; a status of the tracking device (12); movement and altitude information about the tracking device (12); an update frequency of the tracking device (12); and a map of the series of device locations of the tracking device (12). In particular, the movement and altitude information include a speed and a compass bearing of the tracking device (12).

Turning to figure 2 of the drawings, reference numeral (70) generally denotes several screenshots of the client-side location tracking software application (54) of figure 1 that illustrate detailed steps in the tracking method of figure 1 .

In (74), GPS Indicates the coordinates obtained from GPS satellites (accuracy 3 - 10 meters). If this label indicates CELL, then the coordinates are obtained from the cellular network (accuracy 25-100 meters).

In (76), the status of the tracking device (12) is provided as follows:

SLEEP indicates the device is in hibernation. This is used to save energy from the battery.

REC DATA if active it means the device (12) is sending data to the App (54).

CONECTION the tracker device (12) can use cellular connectivity (GPRS) (30) and/or Wi-Fi connectivity (32). In this embodiment, only cellular connectivity (30) is enabled. UPDATES indicates the frequency of the updates of the device (12) in minutes.

BATTERY is an indication of the battery level. Values above 3500 mV are good for the device to work

In (78), movement and altitude information are displayed. If the tracker is in movement, it will register the SPEED in Km/h and the DIRECTION within 16 categories (N, NNE, NE, ENE, E, ESE, SE, SSE, S, SSW, SW, WSW, W, WNW, NW, NNW). SATELLITES indicates the number of satellites used to get the coordinates in case GPS is active.

In (80), date & time and update frequency is displayed as follows:

DATE & TIME of the last Coordinates received via GPS or CELL;

UPDATES to change the update frequency. It will be activated in the next cycle when the tracker is connected.

BATTERY LIFE approximately 2 days with 5 mins update frequency, 4 days with 10 mins, etc.

In (72), a tracking map is displayed. The map indicates the location of the tracker in the map according to the last coordinates received. The map can show street or satellite view.

With reference to figure 3, numeral (90) shows several screenshots of the client-side location tracking software application (54) of figure 1 that illustrate detailed steps in the tracking method of figure 1 , particularly the transmitting of the series of device locations of the tracking device that includes transmitting a tracking history of the tracking device (92).

In (94), each ROW indicates the LATITUDE or LONGITUDE coordinates with the TIME STAMP when they were received. A position history is a PAIR of ROWS indicating the LONGITUDE and LATITUDE at the same time stamp. The TABLE can have up to 100 ROWS of history or the last 50 positions. Once the table reaches 100 position it will start with the first ROW in a loop mode.

In (96), the number in the right indicates the last row updated, once it reaches 100, it will start again with the position 1 . The CLR button can be pushed. Then in the next cycle that the tracker is activated, it will delete the table.