Patent Application
20230184874
The present invention relates generally to the field of emergency locator beacons, and more specifically, to systems to detect emergency locator beacon transmissions and decode transmissions to aid emergency responses.
Vessels, aircraft, and personnel operating in remote locations often carry emergency locator transmitters in case of incapacitation or other need. Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRBs) for vessels, personal locator beacons (PLBs), and emergency locator transmitters (ELTs) generally perform these functions. A worldwide system of receivers monitors the transmission of emergency distress signals on reserved frequencies to dispatch search and rescue or other emergency responses in these situations.
Prior art emergency beacon systems provide only a distinct, repeating noise on the reserved frequency, but do not provide precise position data. Newer systems integrated with registration lists allow for a decoding that can provide contact information for the beacon owner to emergency personnel. In both systems, the precise location of the actual distress signal may be unknown for a lengthy period of time, as dedicated rescue aircraft, vessels, and personnel must canvas the area searching for the distress signal.
In emergency response, even short delays can drastically reduce the likelihood of a positive outcome.
In a broad aspect, the present invention provides an emergency locator beacon system comprising: at least one individual emergency beacon device with the capability to transmit an emergency beacon, the emergency beacon device having a transceiver; a plurality of receivers or relay systems, each receiver or relay system configured to: transmit the emergency beacon system to other receivers with the effect of increasing the range of the overall locator beacon system over that of a single receiver and single transmitter; a means of calculating the distance and/or direction of the emergency beacon transmission, such as through comparisons of subsequent signals; a means of displaying and/or relaying the computed position of the transmitting emergency beacon to other actors such as search and rescue personnel; and the capability to alert an operator of the emergency beacon receiver that an emergency distress signal has been received.
In another broad aspect, the present invention provides an emergency locator beacon system comprising: at least one individual emergency beacon device with the capability to transmit an emergency beacon, the emergency beacon device having a transceiver with the capability to compute and transmit locational data such as positional GPS; a plurality of receivers or relay systems, each receiver or relay system configured to: transmit the emergency beacon system to other receivers with the effect of increasing the range of the overall locator beacon system over that of a single receiver and single transmitter; a means of decoding and relaying or separately calculating the distance and/or direction of the emergency beacon transmission, such as through comparisons of subsequent signals; a means of displaying and/or relaying the position of the transmitting emergency beacon to other actors such as search and rescue personnel; and the capability to alert an operator of the emergency beacon receiver that an emergency distress signal has been received and the location of the emergency transmission.
In another broad aspect, the present invention provides an emergency locator beacon system comprising: numerous emergency beacon transmitters and receivers providing decentralized information to all users of currently or recently transmitting emergency beacons, such as through open network access for all connected users, or through broadcasting through radio frequencies, including, in certain embodiments, interpolated position information for the transmitting emergency beacons.
In another broad aspect, the present invention provides an emergency locator beacon system comprising: emergency beacon transmitters, sympathetic transmitters and relays, and passive receivers, such as through a connected peer-to-peer network of transmitters and relays allowing any interested parties, such as those responsible for the operation of the emergency beacon transmitting unit, or other actors, to participate in joint emergency response or recovery efforts.
In another broad aspect, the present invention provides an emergency locator beacon system comprising: emergency beacon transmitters, sympathetic transmitters and relays, and passive receivers, such as through a connected peer-to-peer network of transmitters and relays allowing any interested parties, such as those responsible for the operation of the emergency beacon transmitting unit, or other actors, to participate in a marketplace of rescue and recovery operators conducting live-bidding on the emergency response or accident recovery efforts.
The invention will be better understood by way of the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention with reference to the appended drawings, in which:
The present invention relates to a sympathetic emergency beacon locator system in which receivers attuned to emergency distress signals relay these messages to increase the robustness of emergency response systems and to increase the chances of successful response or recovery efforts.
In accordance with a non-limiting example of implementation of an embodiment of the present invention, an emergency locator beacon sympathetic relay system is illustrated in
The distress unit 1010 transmits a distress signal through an emergency locator beacon 1011 when undergoing or experiencing certain conditions reflecting an emergency or distress condition. This distress signal may not include information beyond the existence of a distress situation, and in older models may not even include registration information to contact those responsible for the distress unit 1010 to pass detailed information to search and rescue operators.
Passive carrier 1020 may be conducting normal operations unrelated to the distress unit 1010 when passive carrier 1020's emergency locator receiver 1021 alerts to the emitted distress signal. Passive carrier 1020 may utilize relative position information, such as through calculations performed on the differences in signal distance from emergency locator beacon 1011 and emergency locator receiver 1021 at different positions. Passive carrier 1020 may use onboard computing to thus determine the position of distress unit 1010 and may use emergency locator relay transmitter 1022 to forward this interpolated position information to additional units of the emergency locator beacon sympathetic relay system.
Passive carrier 1020 may relay emergency information, including any additional computed information such as the interpolated position of distress unit 1010, to additional units of the emergency locator beacon sympathetic relay system by means of emergency locator relay transmitter 1022. In certain situations, it may be possible and beneficial for emergency information transmitted by emergency locator relay transmitter 1022 to be directly received by emergency locator decoder 1040 for decoding and notification of search and rescue operations. In other situations, due to the inability of emergency locator relay transmitter 1022 to be directly received by emergency locator decoder 1040 due to obstructions such as terrain and low altitude of passive carrier 1020, it may be beneficial for emergency information transmitted by emergency locator relay transmitter 1022 to be first received by satellite unit 1030 through emergency locator receiver/transmitter 1031, and then be relayed from emergency locator receiver/transmitter 1031 to emergency locator decoder 1040 for decoding and notification of search and rescue operations.
The emergency locator beacon sympathetic relay system as shown in
The decision-making process 2000, when implemented by various entities simultaneously receiving a repeating distress signal, has the effect of amplifying the range and salience of emergency information. This information, which in other contexts may be expected to be superfluous or unnecessary, in emergency situations such as search and rescue can be critical. The redundant possibility of several passive carriers 1020 providing continuously updated position information regarding the same distress unit 1010 allows personnel at emergency locator decoder 1040 site and subsequent personnel responsible for deployment of search and rescue operations the ability to sift through all information and use redundant transmissions as confirmation of actual distress situations. This raw information, redundant and salient, can be distilled for relay to search and rescue operators, with subsequent updates to account for any changes or to confirm that the emergency locator beacon sympathetic relay system continues to validate the prior position information and presence of distress unit 1010 transmitting an emergency signal.
In the event of accidental or erroneous transmission of emergency locator transmitters, decision-making process 2000, when implemented by various entities simultaneously receiving a repeating distress signal, has the effect of additionally providing to the emergency locator beacon sympathetic relay system information regarding the possibility that a distress unit 1010 has ceased transmission. In various circumstances, if a distress unit 1010 is believed to have terminated its distress situation, this may be due to an inadvertent transmission being discovered and remedied, the distress situation being successfully remedied, or the failure of the emergency locator beacon 1011 due to some other issue. In each of these issues, continuing to monitor for subsequent information, or the lack of further reported transmissions can provide helpful clues to emergency monitoring personnel operating at or in conjunction with emergency locator decoders 1040 sites. These personnel can use previously received transmissions through the emergency locator beacon sympathetic relay system, including those with position information derived and transmitted through decision-making process 2000, to determine the likelihood of an actual distress situation continuing to exist. Due to present constraints on emergency personnel and the prohibitive costs of deploying resources to all transmissions of emergency distress signals, distress signals are first confirmed to be actual distress conditions prior to deploying search and rescue operators. The present invention provides means to more quickly and precisely assess emergency beacon transmissions to determine whether search and rescue operations ought to commence, improving the likelihood for positive outcomes in actual distress situations.
Many additional and/or different tracking, alert, display, notification or other options are also possible and may be implemented by the decision-making process 2000 for improving the experience and information afforded to the users and operators.
In the event of a distress unit 1010 transmitting a distress signal, emergency operators or other responding personnel equipped with graphical display system 3000 may more easily determine the relative position of the distress unit 1010 so as to more effectively respond to the distress situation. Responding personnel equipped with graphical display system 3000 may utilize information contained in text-based display 3100, populated with registration number 3102 and operator contact information 3104 from emergency beacon transmitter registration lists, incident type 3103, input by personnel at emergency locator decoder 1040 site, and distress unit latitude 3105, distress unit longitude 3106 calculated either by passive carriers 1020 implementing decision-making process 2000 and position determination process 2030, or by personnel at emergency locator decoder 1040 site. Emergency operators' position equipment, can be used to computer and display relative distance 3107 between rescue operator and distress unit 1010, and relative bearing 3108 between rescue operator and distress unit 1010, based on information the operator's position information and distress unit latitude 3105, distress unit longitude 3106. Registration number 3102 can provide useful information regarding the type of aircraft or vessel involved so as to determine the nature and scope of the distress situation, such as the number of personnel likely to be involved. Operator contact information 3104 can be used by emergency personnel to follow up with the operator on any questions that might aid recovery or response, as well as to provide information to any concerned parties, such as family members of passengers and crew.
Graphical display system 3000, may further be used by emergency operators to more easily determine the relative position of the distress unit 1010 and more effectively respond to the distress situation by use of graphical position display 3200 to maneuver emergency personnel and resources (such as rescue aircraft or vessels) towards distress unit 1010 using graphical representation of relative position 3202 and an understanding of graphical representation of spatial position 3201. The graphical position display 3200 can be used by emergency personnel as a navigation device providing simple symbolic representation of the path that will most directly lead to distress unit 1010. The present invention provides means to more quickly and precisely assess emergency beacon information to guide search and rescue operations, improving the likelihood for positive outcomes in actual distress situations.
Thus, the reader will see that the method and apparatus for the sympathetic emergency beacon locator system provides a more robust and immediate means of transmitting emergency distress signals over a network of receivers for emergency response and recovery operations.
While the above description contains many specifications, these should not be construed as limitations of the scope of the invention, but rather as an exemplification of a preferred embodiment of the invention. Many other variations and embodiments are possible. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiment illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.
This substitute specification contains no new matter.
