초록 ▼

A method and apparatus of transmitting subject status information, such as the status and location of a parolee or individual under house arrest, to a central monitoring station (CMS) operated by, for example, a parole staff or correctional facility. The subject status information is transmitted by

A method and apparatus of transmitting subject status information, such as the status and location of a parolee or individual under house arrest, to a central monitoring station (CMS) operated by, for example, a parole staff or correctional facility. The subject status information is transmitted by a band or collar attached to, for example, the leg or wrist of the subject. A cellular radio communicator receives, encodes and transmits the subject status information over the control channel of a cellular radio communications network as control signals, bypassing the voice channels, to a mobile switching center (MSC) of the cellular radio communications network. The MSC decodes and forwards the subject status information over the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to the CMS. Optionally, the CMS may send a command to the communicator over the same data paths, i.e., the PSTN to the MSC, then over the control channel, formatted as a control signal, to the cellular radio communications network communicator. The communicator may integrate a paging receiver, or a satellite receiver, or other wireless receiver for receiving commands out of band, i.e., by way of communication networks other than the cellular radio communications network. The method and apparatus may also be utilized to track to position of more than one subject relative to other subjects or objects.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A method for communicating subject status information between a subject and a central monitoring station utilizing a wireless communications network that includes a voice channel and a control channel wherein the voice channel conveys data signals and the control channel

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A method for communicating subject status information between a subject and a central monitoring station utilizing a wireless communications network that includes a voice channel and a control channel wherein the voice channel conveys data signals and the control channel conveys control signals that manage access to and use of the voice channel, the method comprising the steps of:a) transmitting a subject status data message from a radio collar coupled to the subject to a communicator;b) encoding the subject status data message at the communicator to create an encoded subject status data message for transmission over the control channel as control signals;c) transmitting the encoded subject status data message over the control channel as control signals to a mobile switching center (MSC), bypassing the voice channel;d) decoding the encoded subject status data message at the MSC to retrieve the subject status data message;e) transmitting the subject status data message over a switched telephone network to a central monitoring station (CMS); andf) transmitting a command message from the CMS to the communicator.