The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 22, 2000
Filed:
Feb. 20, 1998
John Erik Hershey, Ballston Lake, NY (US);
Howard LeRoy Lester, Alplaus, NY (US);
John Anderson Ross, Schenectady, NY (US);
General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US);
Abstract
An asymmetrical (inbound only) high frequency communication system for asset tracking is made up of a message preparation and transmitter subsystem, a receiving subsystem, and a system monitoring subsystem. A transmission channel is selected randomly or pseudorandomly. Prior to each transmission, the transmitter performs a radiometric measurement of a selected channel. If the measurement exceeds a predetermined threshold, transmission in the selected channel is canceled and another channel is selected. The transmission protocol achieves frequency diversity by sequentially transmitting a message on a plurality of different channels. The receiving subsystem has a plurality of spatially separated receiver sites at various geographical points, thereby providing spatial diversity. The receiver sites are linked to a common processing center. Onboard the asset and collocated with the transmitter, a system monitoring subsystem records and stores parameters related to the message preparation and transmitter subsystem. These parameters are useful in assessing efficacy of transmission frequency planning algorithms and the transmission protocol.