WO2014172832A1

WO2014172832A1 - A system and method for tracking an object

Info

Publication number: WO2014172832A1
Application number: PCT/CN2013/074518
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hin Wai LUI
Original assignee: Jaw Ip Limited
Priority date: 2013-04-22
Filing date: 2013-04-22
Publication date: 2014-10-30

Abstract

A system and method for tracking an object comprising the steps of receiving location data associated with the object, identifying one or more predetermined spatial position associated with the object, and comparing the location data with one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position, and when upon the location data satisfies at least one condition associated with the predetermined spatial position, generate a notification signal.

Description

A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRACKING AN OBJECT

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a system and method for tracking an object, and particularly, although not exclusively, to a system and method for tracking a location device held by or in the possession of a person being tracked. BACKGROUND

Children, elderly or employees often have the freedom to move about as part of their every day lives. Whilst it would be desirable to provide them with as much freedom as possible, supervisors and carers know too well that many of their subjects will move into undesirable locations or worse still, find themselves in danger after departing from their usual planned locations. With the developments of Global Positioning Satellite

Systems (GPS) and sophisticated communication networks, the usage of tracking devices such as GPS tags or mobile phones are becoming more common. These devices operate on obtaining a location coordinate by GPS and then proceeds to transmit the location to a user who has access to a map. These systems are useful in that a supervisor or carer can observe on a map the location of their subjects at any one time.

However, despite these developments, the ability to monitor and track a mobile subject still requires a substantial amount of time and effort on the part of the carer or supervisor. Whilst existing tracking devices are useful, they require constant supervision or monitoring to operate properly. Due to the effort required to constantly monitor and track a subject, the usage of tracking apparatuses are limited to irregular instances such as emergencies, verifications or employee audits and thus cannot be effectively used by carers who would otherwise be very busy during each day. Accordingly, existing tracking systems are limited in their uses by parents or carers of the elderly who often find themselves busy with work or other duties whilst monitoring their subjects. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for tracking an object comprising the steps of:

- receiving location data associated with the object;

- identifying one or more predetermined spatial position associated with the object; and

- comparing the location data with one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position; and

when upon the location data satisfies at least one condition associated with the predetermined spatial position, generate a notification signal.

In an embodiment of the first aspect, the method further comprises the step of processing the location data with a filter arranged to minimize noise in the location data.

In an embodiment, the filter is a digital signal filter arranged to minimize signal noise in the location data.

In an embodiment of the first aspect, the location data includes a location co-ordinate of the object.

In an embodiment of the first aspect, the location data further includes an identifier arranged to identify the object.

In an embodiment of the first aspect, the location data further includes attribute data representative of one or more characteristics of the object.

In an embodiment of the first aspect, the predetermined spatial position includes a location co-ordinate of a point of interest . In an embodiment of the first aspect, the one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position are satisfied by comparing a distance between the object and the predetermined spatial position.

In an embodiment of the first aspect, the one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position is satisfied by comparing an attribute of the predetermined spatial position with the attribute data of the object.

In an embodiment of the first aspect, the one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position is satisfied by comparing an active time of the predetermined spatial position with a timestamp of the location data.

In an embodiment of the first aspect, the filter is arranged to process the location data to minimize the generation of the signal notification. In an embodiment of the first aspect, the digital signal filter is further arranged to process the location data such that the location data minimizes a continuous change in satisfying one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position.

In an embodiment of the first aspect, the filter is arranged to process the location data through a weighted exponential moving average function. In an embodiment of the first aspect, the weighted exponential moving average function can be expressed as:

So = Xo

wherein :

Xo = Detection signal at 0th reading S₀ = Confidence level at time 0^th reading

t = The t' th reading

a = Smoothing factor, indicates the relative weight of new signal, 0<a<l

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for tracking an object comprising the steps of:

- a gateway arranged to receive location data associated with the object;

- a processor arranged to identify one or more predetermined spatial position associated with the object; and compare the location data with one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position; and

when upon the location data satisfies at least one condition associated with the predetermined spatial position, triggering a signalling module to generate a notification signal . In an embodiment of the second aspect, the processor is further arranged to process the location data with a filter arranged to minimize noise in the location data.

In an embodiment of the second aspect, the location data includes a location co-ordinate of the object.

In an embodiment of the second aspect, the location data further includes an identifier arranged to identify the object. In an embodiment of the second aspect, the location data further includes attribute data representative of one or more characteristics of the object.

In an embodiment of the second aspect, the predetermined spatial position includes a location co-ordinate of a point of interest.

In an embodiment of the second aspect, the one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position are satisfied by comparing a distance between the object and the predetermined spatial position.

In an embodiment of the second aspect, the one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position are satisfied by comparing an attribute of the predetermined spatial position with the attribute data of the object.

In an embodiment of the second aspect, the one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position is satisfied by comparing an active time of the predetermined spatial position with a timestamp of the location data.

In an embodiment of the second aspect, the filter is arranged to process the location data to minimize the generation of the notification signal.

In an embodiment of the second aspect, the filter is further arranged to process the location data such that the location data minimizes a continuous change in satisfying one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position .

In an embodiment of the second aspect, the filter is arranged to process the location data through a weighted exponential moving average function.

In an embodiment of the second aspect, the weighted exponential moving average function can be expressed as:

So = Xo

wherein:

Xo = Detection signal at 0th reading

S₀ = Confidence level at time 0^th reading

t = The t' th reading a = Smoothing factor, indicates the relative weight of new signal, 0<a<l

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a server arranged to operate with a system for tracking an object in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a system for tracking an object;

Figure 3 is a flow diagram of the system for tracking an object of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a point of interest routine of the system for tracking an object of Figure 2; and,

Figures 5A to 5E are example screenshots of an interface of the system for tracking an object of Figure 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to Figure 1, an embodiment of a computer server 100 or computing device arranged to operate an embodiment of a system for tracking an object is illustrated. In this embodiment, the server 100 is arranged to be programmed or otherwise implemented to provide a system for tracking an object comprising:

a gateway arranged to receive location data associated with the object;

a processor arranged to identify one or more predetermined spatial position associated with the object; and compare the location data with one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position; and

when upon the location data satisfies at least one condition associated with the predetermined spatial position, triggering a signalling module to generate a notification signal .

In this example embodiment, the gateway, processor and the signalling module are implemented by a computer, computing system or computing device having one or more programmed or predetermined logic which is appropriately programmed to implement the invention. Each of these gateways, modules, or processors may be appropriately programmed, implemented or designed so as to perform specific functions, routine or processes to implement the invention and may be deployed on one or more computing systems.

The computer, computing system or computing device may be implemented by any computing architecture, including stand- alone PC, client /server architecture, portable computing devices, tablet computers, smart phones, "dumb" terminal /mainframe architecture, or any other appropriate architecture. Referring to Figure 1, there is a shown a schematic diagram of a computing system which is arranged to be implemented as a system for tracking an object. In this embodiment, the system comprises a computer server 100. The server 100 comprises suitable components necessary to receive, store and execute appropriate computer instructions. The components may include a processing unit 102, read-only memory (ROM) 104, random access memory (RAM) 106, and input/output devices such as disk drives 108, input devices 110 such as an Ethernet port, a USB port, etc. Display 112 such as a liquid crystal display, a light emitting display or any other suitable display and communications links 114. The server 100 includes instructions that may be included in ROM 104, RAM 106 or disk drives 108 and may be executed by the processing unit 102. There may be provided a plurality of communication links 114 which may variously connect to one or more electronic communication and/or computing devices such as a tracking device, server, personal computers, terminals, wireless or handheld computing devices. At least one of a plurality of communications link may be connected to an external computing network through a telephone line or other type of communications link.

The server 100 may include storage devices such as a disk drive 108 which may encompass solid state drives, hard disk drives, optical drives or magnetic tape drives. The server 100 may use a single disk drive or multiple disk drives. The server 100 may also have a suitable operating system 116 which resides on the disk drive or in the ROM of the server 100. The system may also use a communication link arranged to connect with another computing or tracking device such as a tablet computing device or tracking device, including, but without limitation, a tablet computer or smart phone or a dedicated tracking device which includes a GPS receiver and a communication gateway arranged to receive or transmit data from and to the GPS receiver.

With reference to Figure 2, there is shown a block diagram of one embodiment of the system for tracking an object 200. In this embodiment, the system for tracking an object 200 is implemented on an example computer server 100 as illustrated with reference to Figure 1. The server 100 is programmed or implemented to include the gateway 202, the processor 204 and the signalling module 206 which are arranged to perform a method for tracking an object comprising the steps of: - receiving location data associated with the object; identifying one or more predetermined spatial position associated with the object; and - comparing the location data with one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position; and when upon the location data satisfies at least one condition associated with the predetermined spatial position, generate a notification signal. In this example, the gateway 202 is implemented as a communication gateway which is arranged to communicate with a tracking device so as to receive location data of an object. The object may be a person, container, vehicle or any other mobile item from which a tracking device 203 can be attached or held onto the object. As the object may be in a mobile state, such as when a user or a vehicle is on the move, the tracking device 203 is arranged to obtain a position co^¬ ordinate and transmit this position co-ordinate to the gateway 202 through a communication network periodically. Examples of this type of tracking device 203 may include smart phones which have both a GPS module arranged to obtain a GPS co^¬ ordinate and a communication module which transmits these GPS co-ordinates over a telephone network. Smaller devices such as tracking tags or tracking modules which have a GPS receiver and a communication port may also be used to obtain and transmit location data of an object to the gateway 202.

In one example, the gateway 202 is arranged to receive the transmitted data via a central HTTPS server which is in communication with the tracking device 203. This is advantageous in that the location data communicated between the gateway 202 and the tracking device 203 would be encrypted and thus protects the privacy of the object being tracked. Once the data is received, the data is then transmitted to a processor 204 for processing so as to compare the location data with a predetermined spatial position and where appropriate, trigger an alert or notification message to a user .

Preferably, the predetermine spatial position is a co^¬ ordinate which is predetermined by a user which references a specific point or area of interest which would be relevant, associated with or otherwise have a relationship with the object being tracked. The purpose of defining these predetermined spatial positions is so that when the object which is being tracked approaches these related points of interest, or otherwise satisfies a condition of these related points of interest, an alert signal or notification may be provided to a user tracking the object. As an example, a parent may wish to deem their child's school's location as being a specific point of interest relevant to his or her child as they may wish to receive a notification that the child has arrived at their school or has left the school. The parent of a child being tracked may also set an alternative predetermined spatial position of a cinema or shop location that the parent does not wish to child to go to, in which case if the child is detected to be approaching these predetermined spatial positions, an alert or notification may also be sent to the parent .

In this example, in order to determine whether an alert or notification is to be sent, the location data of the object being tracked is firstly compared with a list of predetermined spatial position. The processor 204 can then determine a list of any of predetermined spatial position which has a relationship with the object. If there are relationships between the location data and the predetermined spatial position, then this predetermined spatial position, which may reference a point of interest, would be deemed relevant to and associated with the object which is transmitting this location data .

Once it is determined that there are predetermined spatial positions associated with the object, the processor 204 then proceeds to check whether the location data of the object satisfies any predetermine condition associated with the predetermined spatial position. If one or more conditions are satisfied, then an alert, alarm or other forms of notification may then be raised and/or transmitted to a user tracking the object. In one embodiment, the predetermined conditions associated with a predetermined spatial position may include any type of conditions which will need to be satisfied before an alert or notification is to be generated. As an example, and without limitation, these conditions may include: the location of the object relative to the location of the point of interest as determined by the positional co-ordinate of the object and the point of interest; the distance between the object and the point of interest ; - the point of interest itself, as in what the point of interest entails, for example, is it a school, restaurant, church, office, hospital or other landmarks and whether this is of a particular interest to the object which is being tracked; the time or date in which the condition is checked; or any combinations of one or more the above.

In some embodiments, once a point of interests associated with the object is identified, a condition check is conducted to determine if the relationship established between the object and the point of interest would warrant an alert or notification to be sent or further processed. Preferably, these conditions are preset for each of the points of interests and thus each point of interest will have its own list of conditions. Further examples of those conditions associated with each predetermined spatial position or point of interest may include the time of day or date, the distance of the object and the point of interest. If a condition is checked and deemed valid, then a signalling module is arranged to generate a signal, which could be in the form of an alarm, alert, message or notification and transmit the signal to a user tracking the object so as to notify the user as to the signal and the reason (condition and relationship) for its generation. Alternatively, the signal may also be sent to a database or storage area for storage or further processing.

With reference to Figure 3, there is illustrated a data flow diagram of a system for tracking an object 300 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the system 300 is implemented with the use of a central server similar to the server 100 of Figure 1 and includes a HTTP stack 302 which is arranged to operate as a stack for location co-ordinates received from a tracking device 301 which in this example includes a GPS sensor 301A, a RSA encryption module 301B arranged to encrypt the GPS co^¬ ordination and a HTTP stack 301C for buffering the encrypted GPS co-ordination for transmission to the server 100.

Preferably, as shown in this embodiment, the co-ordinates are encrypted with RSA encryption so as to protect the privacy of the users of the system and thus the location data received in the HTTP stack 302 is firstly decrypted with a RSA decryption module 304. As a person skilled in the art would appreciate, other forms of encryption/decryption are possible dependent on security requirements.

Once the location data is decrypted, the data is processed by a processor 204 arranged to operate a point of interest routine 306 to which is arranged to determine if the location data is related to and satisfies a condition of a predetermined spatial position (also referred to as a point of interest) . If the point of interest routine 306 determines that the location data is related to a point of interest and any condition of the point of interest is satisfied by the location data, then an alert or notification is triggered to be generated for the attention of a user tracking the object. In this embodiment, the notification can be in the forms of a push notification, SMS message 308 or an email 310 although other forms of notifications are possible.

As an example, if the point of interest is set by a user as a school and the object is a child who is attending this school, then a relationship is established between the object and the school upon receiving the location data for the child after comparing the location data of the child, particularly the identity of the child with a list of points of interests. Once the child reaches a certain distance from the school, say 100 metres, then the child will satisfied a predetermined proximity condition of the point of interest and thus cause an alert or message to be transmitted to the child' s parents indicating that the child has arrived at the school. Further details concerning the operations of the processor 204 and the execution of the point of interest routine is described with reference to Figure 4 below.

With reference to Figure 4, there is illustrated a block diagram of the point of interest routine 400 which may be executed by the processor 204 so as to determine if the location data is related and satisfies a condition of a point of interest. In this embodiment, the routine 400 may be implemented as a computer software module arranged to be executed by the server 100 so as to provide the necessary function of the processor 204 to determine if the location data is related to a point of interest and whether the location data satisfies a condition of the point of interest. In this example embodiment, a tracking device 401 will regularly update the gateway of the server 100 with location data 402 including its identity, timestamp and its co^¬ ordinates obtained from its GPS receiver or other forms of locating mechanism. Once received by the processor 204, the processor 204 proceeds to process the coordinates by executing the point of interest detection routine 400 to identify whether there is a point of interest related to or associated with the location data and when there is a point of interest related to the location data, whether the location data satisfies a condition of the point of interest to trigger the generation of a notification signal. In this example, the point of interest routine 402 will firstly determine if there are any one or more points of interest associated with the object being tracked (404) . This may be completed by using the identity of the object and retrieving a list of predetermined point of interest related or is associated with the object. As an example, where the object that is being tracked belongs to a student of a school, the school and its coordinates may be listed as a predetermined point of interest for the student and thus the point of interest routine will determine that the school as a point of interest which is associated or have a relationship with the student being tracked.

Once the points of interests associated with the object are identified, in some examples, the point of interest routine may then also consider for example the time of day and automatically determine whether a condition of a point of interest would be satisfied by a location data associated with the object (406) . In the example above, should the system for tracking an object operate outside of school hours, the routine may then decide that the object will not meet the condition of a school as the student's location data may not satisfy a time condition of the school. Instead a sports field for after school sport, as an example, may then have a time condition which would satisfy the location data of the student

Preferably, once a relationship is determined to exist between a point of interest and an object which is being tracked by the system, the routine 400 may then proceed to compare one or more conditions associated with the point of interest to determine whether a notification (408) needs to be transmitted (406) . Other conditions may include a predetermined radius or other forms of defined boundary around a point of interest which would determine that the object has moved within, near or away from the point of interest. If the routine 402 has determined that the object has moved within, near or away from the point of interest, a notification may then be transmitted to a user or stored as data for further processing indicating that the object has moved within, near or away from the point of interest as it has satisfied a proximity condition of the point of interest.

As a person skilled in the art would appreciate, the routine can also be implemented with the rules for determining whether there is a point of interest associated with an object and whether the conditions of the point of interest for issuing a notification to be interchangeable. Depending on the preferred form of implementation a person skilled in the art would identify that both implementations are possible based on the efficiency of design and the number of conditions and/or points of interests which will be considered by the system.

In this embodiment, the processor further includes a filtering 405A and edge detection function 405B which is arranged to minimise the issuance of inaccurate or unnecessary notifications by minimising the noise which may be received from the tracking device. In systems which use a GPS tracking devices to obtain location data for an object being tracked, a GPS receiver may have an accuracy of 1 to 2 meters at best. However, when the receiver is indoor, the accuracy of the coordinates significantly degrades and in turn may cause false or inaccurate coordinates to be received by the system. This may not be a problem if the object being tracked is far from a point of interest. However, where the condition of a point of interest is dependent on distance of the object from the point of interest, the signal noise may cause error readings as a condition check can be passed or failed on each different refresh of the location data. This may cause the issuance of notifications which are incorrect or unnecessary and may be aggravated when an object is near the boundary or edge of a point of interests which is dependent on a condition of the point of interest. It may be that over a stream of location data received from the tracking device, the object is deemed to be travelling in and out of the point of interest, resulting in numerous notifications when in fact the object may not have moved at all.

To minimise these problems, the processor 204 includes a filtering 405A and edge detection function 405B which is arranged to filter the location data such that noise generated by faulty or inaccurate signals are filter out from triggering a notification, particularly when the location data indicates that the object is near an edge of a predetermined spatial reference. Preferably, the function firstly applies a weighted exponential moving average low pass filter which may be implemented by the following routine:

So = Xo

where :

Xo = Detection signal at 0th reading

S₀ = Confidence level at time 0^th reading

t = The t' th reading

a = Smoothing factor, indicates the relative weight of new signal, 0<a<l

The confidence level S after the low pass filter is a time series analogue signal with a value from 0 to 1. In one example, a threshold of 0.5 is then used to transform this signal back to a binary signal of 0 or 1. The detection state at current time is then compared to the previous reading and the notification is sent whenever there is a change of state.

This embodiment is advantageous in that the function provides a low pass filter which dampens out any fast changing signals and separates the signal from noise to give a confidence level to a change in state as being likely to be accurate and thus minimises the likelihood of numerous false notifications in being sent to a user. This in turn may be triggered to generate a notification when the object is near an edge of a point of interest which may satisfy a proximity condition of the point of interest.

With reference to Figures 5A to 5E, there are shown example screenshots of an interface of the system for tracking an object. In this embodiment, the system for tracking an object is arranged to operate on a smart phone or tablet computer although it may also be implemented to operate with any computing or electronic device.

As shown in Figures 5A, a user intending to track an object, such as another person under their care or supervision, may firstly select the identity of the tracking device which they intend to track. Once selected, the user can then proceed to enter in a number of different points of interests 503 which could be in the form of addresses 502 as shown in Figures 5A. Users can add, edit or delete these addresses as required and can enter one or more points of interests.

Once the addresses or a reference for the points of interests are entered or added to the system 505, the system then proceeds to present these points of interests on a map interface 504 as shown in Figures 5B to 5D . At this stage, the user can manipulate the map interface 504 so as to change the location of a point of interest 503. This is particularly advantageous in that certain locations which do not have addresses or cannot be accurate described with an address can be identified through the map interface.

After the user confirms 506 the location of a point of interest 503 via the map interface 504, the user can then proceed to activate each of these points of interests 503. As shown in Figures 5C and 5E, the user can set a predetermined radius or range from the point of interests 508 which would operate as a condition of the point of interest to activate an alert should the object which the user is tracking enter within or depart from the predetermined radius or range from the point of interests. Effectively, by setting a range 508 from the point of interest, an area is set around of point of interest and thus allows a user to track the object around this point of interest and receive any alerts or notifications via the object's geographic location relative to this point of interest .

Some embodiments are advantageous in that the system for tracking an object provides a system whereby a user can select one or more points of interests associated with an object being tracked. Thus alerts and notifications are only triggered based on whether the object satisfies a condition of a point of interest and thus allowing greater control for a user to set the conditions which trigger the generation and processing of alerts and notifications. Furthermore, embodiments which include a filter which allows noise or weak signals typical of GPS receivers in live environments to be processed whilst minimizing the triggering of unnecessary or false notifications.

Although not required, the embodiments described with reference to the Figures can be implemented as an application programming interface (API) or as a series of libraries for use by a developer or can be included within another software application, such as a terminal or personal computer operating system or a portable computing device operating system. Generally, as program modules include routines, programs, objects, components and data files assisting in the performance of particular functions, the skilled person will understand that the functionality of the software application may be distributed across a number of routines, objects or components to achieve the same functionality desired herein. It will also be appreciated that where the methods and systems of the present invention are either wholly implemented by computing system or partly implemented by computing systems then any appropriate computing system architecture may be utilised. This will include stand alone computers, network computers and dedicated hardware devices. Where the terms "computing system" and "computing device" are used, these terms are intended to cover any appropriate arrangement of computer hardware capable of implementing the function described .

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive

Any reference to prior art contained herein is not to be taken as an admission that the information is common general knowledge, unless otherwise indicated .

Claims

1. A method for tracking an object comprising the steps of: - receiving location data associated with the object;

comparing the location data with one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position; and

2. A method for tracking an object in accordance with claim 1, wherein the location data includes a location co-ordinate of the object.

3. A method for tracking an object in accordance with claim 2, wherein the location data further includes an identifier arranged to identify the object.

4. A method for tracking an object in accordance with claim 2 or 3, wherein the location data further includes attribute data representative of one or more characteristics of the object .

5. A method for tracking an object in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, wherein the predetermined spatial position includes a location co-ordinate of a point of interest .

6. A method for tracking an object in accordance with claim 5, wherein the one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position is satisfied by comparing a distance between the object and the predetermined spatial position.

7. A method for tracking an object in accordance with claim 6, wherein the one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position is satisfied by comparing an attribute of the predetermined spatial position with the attribute data of the object.

8. A method for tracking an object in accordance with claim 6 or 7, wherein the one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position is satisfied by comparing an active time of the predetermined spatial position with a timestamp of the location data.

9. A method for tracking an object in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising the step of processing the location data with a filter arranged to minimize noise in the location data.

10. A method for tracking an object in accordance with claim 9, wherein the filter is arranged to process the location data to minimize the generation of the notification signal.

11. A method for tracking an object in accordance with claim 9 or 10, wherein the filter is further arranged to process the location data such that the location data minimizes a continuous change in satisfying one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position.

12. A method for tracking an object in accordance with any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the filter is arranged to process the location data through a weighted exponential moving average function.

13. A method for tracking an object in accordance with claim 12, wherein the weighted exponential moving average function can be expressed as:

So = Xo

wherein : Χο ₌ Detection signal at Oth reading

S₀ = Confidence level at time 0^th reading

t = The t' th reading

a = Smoothing factor, indicates the relative weight of new signal, 0<a<l

14. A system for tracking an object comprising the steps of:

- a gateway arranged to receive location data associated with the object;

when upon the location data satisfies at least one condition associated with the predetermined spatial position, triggering a signalling module to generate a notification signal.

15. A system for tracking an object in accordance with claim 14, wherein the processor is further arranged to process the location data with a filter arranged to minimize noise in the location data.

16. A system for tracking an object in accordance with claim 14 or 15, wherein the location data includes a location co- ordinate of the object.

17. A system for tracking an object in accordance with claim 16, wherein the location data further includes an identifier arranged to identify the object.

18. A system for tracking an object in accordance with claim 16 or 17, wherein the location data further includes attribute data representative of one or more characteristics of the object .

19. A system for tracking an object in accordance with any one of the claims 14 to 18, wherein the predetermined spatial position includes a location co-ordinate of a point of interest .

20. A system for tracking an object in accordance with claim 19, wherein the one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position is satisfied by comparing a distance between the object and the predetermined spatial position .

21. A system for tracking an object in accordance with claim 20, wherein the one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position is satisfied by comparing an attribute of the predetermined spatial position with the attribute data of the object.

22. A system for tracking an object in accordance with claim 20 or 21, wherein the one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position is satisfied by comparing an active time of the predetermined spatial position with a timestamp of the location data.

23. A system for tracking an object in accordance with any one of claims 15 to 22, wherein the filter is arranged to process the location data to minimize the generation of the notification signal.

24. A system for tracking an object in accordance with any one of claims 15 to 23, wherein the filter is further arranged to process the location data such that the location data minimizes a continuous change in satisfying one or more conditions associated with the predetermined spatial position.

25. A system for tracking an object in accordance with any one of claims 15 to 24, wherein the filter is arranged to process the location data through a weighted exponential moving average function.

26. A system for tracking an object in accordance with claim 25, wherein the weighted exponential moving average function can be expressed as:

So = Xo

wherein :

Xo ₌ Detection signal at Oth reading

S₀ = Confidence level at time 0^th reading

t = The t' th reading

a = Smoothing factor, indicates the relative weight of new signal, 0<a<l