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:
Jun. 02, 2009
Filed:
Apr. 16, 2008
Carl Binding, Rueschlikon, CH;
Francois B. Dolivo, Waedenswil, CH;
Reto J. Hermann, Buttikon, CH;
Dirk Husemann, Einsiedeln, CH;
Andreas Schade, Langnau am Albis, CH;
Carl Binding, Rueschlikon, CH;
Francois B. Dolivo, Waedenswil, CH;
Reto J. Hermann, Buttikon, CH;
Dirk Husemann, Einsiedeln, CH;
Andreas Schade, Langnau am Albis, CH;
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A method for tracking a plurality of containers each joined to an electronic tracking device having routing capabilities and a WPAN-enabled radio receiver/transmitter configured to attempt to connect to a pre-configured WPAN upon being activated comprises activating the radio receiver/transmitter of each tracking device joined to a container being loaded onto a cargo vessel; receiving an indication from each tracking device that fails to connect to the WPAN; intermittently performing a network scan to locate each WPAN-connected tracking device; intermittently configuring the WPAN to include each WPAN-connected tracking device in a hybrid tree-mesh network topology; intermittently configuring routing information stored on each WPAN-connected tracking device to maintain mutual communication with each WPAN-connected tracking device and enable mutual communication between each WPAN-connected tracking device; receiving transport-related data from each WPAN-connected tracking device; transmitting the transport-related data to a control station through a LAN on the vessel; broadcasting a request to be routed between the WPAN-connected tracking devices in a depth-first traversal of the network topology that directs each WPAN-connected tracking device to enter a low-power mode when the depth-first traversal backtracks from the tracking device; and receiving an acknowledgment of the request communicated from each WPAN-connected tracking device when the tracking device enters the low-power mode.