WO2021110421A1

WO2021110421A1 - Tracking device

Info

Publication number: WO2021110421A1
Application number: PCT/EP2020/082696
Authority: WO
Inventors: Johan Westlund; Philip LENNMAN DICKSON
Original assignee: Jop Connected Ab
Priority date: 2019-12-06
Filing date: 2020-11-19
Publication date: 2021-06-10
Also published as: EP4070131A1; SE1930390A1; SE544126C2

Abstract

Tracker (110) with an adjustable reporting schedule, method therein and a tracker management node (130), for tracking an object (100) associated with the tracker (110) and reporting the position to a user device (140) via a tracker management node (130) over a terrestrial telecommunication network (120) allowing for operation in Power Saving Mode. The tracker (110) comprises a positioning unit (111), configured to determine geographical position of the tracker (110), based on a satellite-based location system (210a, 210b, 210c, 210d); a telecommunication unit (113), configured to transmit information according to the reporting schedule; a battery (114) configured to provide electricity to other units (111, 112, 113, 115, 116, 117) of the tracker (110); and a processing circuitry (115), configured to determine a change of state of the tracker (110); and adjust the reporting schedule of the tracker (110), based on the change of state of the tracker (110).

Description

TRACKING DEVICE

TECHNICAL FIELD

Implementations described herein generally relate to a tracker with an adjustable reporting schedule, methods therein, and a tracker management node. In particular, a mechanism is herein described, for tracking of an object associated with the tracker, wherein a change of state of the tracker is determined and wherein the reporting schedule of the tracker is ad justed based on the detected change of state of the tracker.

BACKGROUND

It is often desired to be able to locate and / or monitor a current geographical position of an object. The object may be any arbitrary entity such as a vehicle, a pet, a child, or various personal properties for example. The reason for being able to locate and track the device may for example be to find the object which has been lost or stolen, to locate the thief, and / or in more general terms, to make the object less attractive for theft.

A satellite-based location system such as for example Global Positioning System (GPS) may be used in order to determine position of the object, when the object carries a GPS receiver.

The GPS concept is based on time and the known position of dedicated GPS satellites. The satellites carry very stable atomic clocks that are synchronised with one another and with ground clocks. Any drift from time maintained on the ground is corrected daily. In the same manner, the satellite locations are known with great precision. The GPS receiver also has a clock, however less stable and less precise.

Each GPS satellite continuously transmits a radio signal containing the current time and data about its position. Since the speed of radio waves is constant and independent of the satellite speed, the time delay between when the satellite transmits a signal and the receiver receives it is proportional to the distance from the satellite to the receiver. The GPS receiver monitors multiple satellites and solves equations to determine the precise position of the receiver and its deviation from true time. At a minimum, four satellites must be in view of the receiver for it to compute four unknown quantities, i.e. three position coordinates and clock deviation from satellite time.

By placing a GPS receiver at the object and request the GPS receiver to continuously, or upon request, send information concerning current position over a telecommunication net work such as Groupe Special Mobile (GSM) to a user device, the current position of the object may be determined by the owner of the object.

A problem however with known solutions is that the battery lifetime of GPS receivers is very limited due to the intense signalling and computations that are required to be made by the GPS receiver for the network connection and signalling over GSM. Applying a larger battery with higher capacity to the GPS receiver will add weight, size, and costs to the product, and may thereby disturb a minor pet, for example, when carried.

It would be desired to be able to extend battery lifetime of a GPS receiver, and possibly also reduce size of the battery.

SUMMARY

It is therefore an object to obviate at least some of the above-mentioned disadvantages and to provide improved tracking of objects.

This and other objects are achieved by the features of the appended independent claims. Further implementation forms are apparent from the dependent claims, the description and the figures.

According to a first aspect, a tracker with an adjustable reporting schedule is provided. The tracker is associated with an object. The tracker aims at tracking the object associated with the tracker and reporting the position of the object to a user device via a tracker management node over a terrestrial telecommunication network allowing for operation in a Power Saving Mode. The tracker comprises a positioning unit, configured to determine geographical posi tion of the tracker, based on a satellite-based location system. Also, the tracker comprises a telecommunication unit, configured to transmit information according to the reporting sched ule, over the terrestrial telecommunication network allowing for operation in the Power Sav ing Mode, to the tracker management node. In addition, the tracker also comprises a battery configured to provide electricity to other units of the tracker. The tracker furthermore com prises a processing circuitry, configured to determine a change of state of the tracker. The processing circuitry is also configured adjust the reporting schedule of the tracker, based on the detected change of state of the tracker.

According to a second aspect, a method is provided, for use in a tracker associated with an object. The method aims at tracking the object associated with the tracker and reporting the position of the object to a user device via a tracker management node over a terrestrial tel ecommunication network allowing for operation in the Power Saving Mode. The method com prises determining a change of state of the tracker. The method also comprises adjusting the reporting schedule of the tracker, based on the determined change of state of the tracker.

According to a third aspect, a tracker management node is provided for tracking an object, associated with a tracker with an adjustable reporting schedule. The tracker management node comprises a receiver. The receiver is configured to receive information comprising an identification reference and a geographical position of the tracker over a terrestrial telecom munication network allowing for operation in the Power Saving Mode. The tracker manage ment node also comprises a processing circuitry, configured to determine a user device as sociated with the identification reference of the tracker. Furthermore, the tracker manage ment node also comprises a transmitter configured to transmit geographical position of the tracker to the determined user device.

Thanks to the disclosed solution, by defining some different states of the tracker, such as whether the tracker is positioned inside/ outside a geofence; the current time is inside/ out side a predetermined time interval; and / or whether the tracker is stationary or in movement, and determine the current state of the tracker, the operative mode of the tracker may be adjusted; i.e. the tracker may be set into active mode, or (back) into sleep mode. By setting the tracker into sleep mode when the user defined state of the tracker indicates that the object/ tracker is behaving as expected and / or is situated where it is expected to be, battery power is saved and battery lifetime is radically extended, yet allowing for tracking of the object/ tracker when the object/ tracker is not behaving as expected according to the prede fined constraints. Thus, battery lifetime is extended and / or usage of a battery with less ca pacity and thereby has a smaller size is enabled, which in turn enables tracking of a rather small object/ animal, and / or making the tracker itself more difficult for a thief to detect, for example.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the described aspects will become apparent from the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments are described in more detail with reference to attached drawings, il lustrating examples in which:

Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating a tracker and a tracker management node, ac cording to some embodiments. Figure 2A is a block diagram illustrating transportation and tracking of an object, accord ing to some embodiments.

Figure 2B is a block diagram illustrating transportation and tracking of an object, accord ing to some embodiments. Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method in a tracker according to an embodiment.

Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating a tracker management node according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the invention described herein are defined as a tracker, a tracker manage ment node and methods therein, which may be put into practice in the embodiments de scribed below. These embodiments may, however, be exemplified and realised in many dif ferent forms and are not to be limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these illustra tive examples of embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and com- plete.

Still other objects and features may become apparent from the following detailed description, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the herein disclosed embodiments, for which reference is to be made to the appended claims. Further, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and, unless oth erwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and pro cedures described herein. Figure 1 is a schematic illustration over a scenario wherein an object 100 is tracked and traced by a tracker 110. The object 100 may be any arbitrary entity which is desired to keep track of, including e.g. a human, an animal, a vehicle, a piece of cargo/ freight, etc.

The tracker 110 has an adjustable reporting schedule and may report its geographical posi- tion over a terrestrial telecommunication network 120 allowing for operation in a Power Sav ing Mode, to a tracker management node 130. The tracker management node 130 may in turn report position and/ or status of the object 100 to a user device 140. The Power Saving Mode of the terrestrial telecommunication network 120 allows a device such as the tracker 110 to be connected to the network 120 for long periods of time without disconnecting. The tracker 110 and network 120 handshake timers when the tracker 110 is next to communicate with the network 120. The network 120 can also store data sent from a server such as the tracker management node 130 and dispatch it to the tracker 110 next time its awake. This will reduce the power consumption of the tracker 110 greatly since most of the power consumption of an ordinary prior art GSM tracker (and similar technologies) comes from connecting and disconnecting to and from the telecommunication network.

Some examples of terrestrial telecommunication networks 120 that allows for the Power Saving Mode for connected devices are Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB loT) and / or Long Term Evolution (LTE) for machines Cat M1/ LTE-M, in LTE bands B3 and B20; or other Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) radio technology standards.

Both the NB-loT and LTE-M/ Cat-M1 are 3GPP standardised technologies. While being com plementary to each other, they to some extent address different types of use cases based on the strength of the capabilities of the two technologies.

NB-loT supports ultra-low complexity devices with very narrow bandwidth, 200 kHz. Due to its narrow bandwidth, the data rate peaks at around 250 kbs per second. An NB-loT carrier can be deployed even in guard-band of an LTE carrier to use the spectrum that is otherwise unused.

On the other hand, LTE-M/ Cat-M1 operates at 1 .4 MHz bandwidth with higher device com plexity/ cost than NB-loT. The wider bandwidth allows LTE-M/ Cat-M1 to achieve greater data rates (up to 1 Mbps), lower latency and more accurate device positioning capabilities. LTE-M/ Cat-M1 also supports voice calls and connected mode mobility.

The tracker 110 when implemented in any of NB-loT and / or LTE-M/ Cat-M1 can sleep for extended periods of time with extended Discontinuous Reception (eDRX) and the Power Saving Mode (PSM) functionalities, which greatly reduces device power consumption of the tracker 110. Furthermore, both technologies support enhanced signal coverage per base station. NB-loT has longer latency than LTE-M/ Cat-M1 and more limited data transfer ca pacity. Further, LTE-M/ Cat-M1 may be more suitable for tracking objects 100 in movement.

Thanks to the configurable schedules of the tracker 110, the user may set conditions when the tracker 110 is to get the GPS position of the tracker 110 and thereby also of the object 100 and send data to the tracker management node 130, who in turn may forward this infor mation to the user device 140.

Different reporting schedules may be set for the tracker 110, so that positioning of the tracker 110 and reporting of the position may be triggered by different issues, for example when the tracker 110 is moving (when it is expected to be stationary); when the tracker 110 is leaving a predefined geofence (when it is expected to be inside the geofence); and / or when the tracker 110 is moving outside a predetermined time interval, etc. , to mention some examples. Also, or alternatively, a time interval for position determination and reporting may be set by the user. The rest of the time, the tracker 110 may be deactivated. Hereby, battery lifetime may be considerably extended, as there may not be any requirement for the tracker 110 to update and / or report position to the tracker management node 130.

In an arbitrary example it may be assumed that the user wants to monitor his/ her autono mous lawn mower. For this reason, he/ she then fasten the tracker 110 on the lawn mower/ object 100. However, the user does not want or need to get the position of the lawn mower/ object 100 as long as it is operating (or is stationary) in the own garden. A geofence area may be defined by the user, covering the own garden and the tracker 110 may be set to sleep as long as the tracker 110 is inside the geofence, but trigger positioning and reporting when the tracker 110 leaves the defined geofence, i.e. the garden.

The positioning and report of the position may be made at an arbitrary user-defined fre quency in some embodiments. The tracker 110 may be set to determine position and report to the tracker management node 130, for further forwarding to the user device 140, once triggered, for example every 10 minutes; every 30 seconds; every second hour, etc.

The tracker management node 130 is thereby also configured for allowing operation in power saving mode over the telecommunication network 120, thereby enabling the tracker 110 to be set into sleep mode for saving battery power and extending battery lifetime.

It may hereby be determined when the lawn mower/ object 100 is stolen/ borrowed and po sition of the lawn mower/ object 100 is provided to the user device 140, making it easy to find the thief/ borrower. The mere presence/ existence of the tracker 110 (as indicated by a warning sign for example) may have a repelling effect on thieves, who may hesitate to steal the object 100 for this reason.

The tracker 110 may comprise a plurality of units. Some or all of them may be low energy components in order to minimise or at least reduce energy consumption of the tracker 110, thereby further extending battery lifetime. Every microampere of saving is important to lower the quiescent current when the tracker 110 is dormant for long periods of time, as may be the case.

The tracker 110 comprises a positioning unit 111 , configured to determine geographical po sition of the tracker 110, based on a satellite-based location system. The satellite-based location system may for example be GPS, but it may alternatively comprise the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite Sys tem, the European Union Galileo positioning system, India's Navigation with Indian Constel lation (NAVIC), Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) and / or some other similar system.

The positioning unit 111 may be configured with smart power saving features and a (flash) memory 112, configured to store valid time, position, almanac, and ephemeris data, enabling a rapid acquisition of satellite signals, and connected to backup power for “hot start” to im prove Time to first fix (TTFF); and / or Time to Subsequent fix (TTSF). The memory 112 may be any kind of non-volatile memory such as e.g. solid-state drives (SSD), erasable program mable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), etc.

The tracker 110 also comprises a telecommunication unit 113, configured to transmit infor mation according to the adjusted reporting schedule, over the terrestrial telecommunication network 120 allowing for operation in the Power Saving Mode, to the tracker management node 130. The telecommunication unit 113 is operating in the Power Saving Mode, thereby reducing energy consumption of the tracker 110. A high efficient antenna design may lower the current consumption of the modem even more in some embodiments.

The tracker 110 furthermore comprises a battery 114. The battery 114 may provide electricity to various other units of the tracker 110. The battery 114 may comprise a rechargeable bat tery in some embodiments.

The charging level of the battery 114 may be monitored and an alert may be triggered and output when having fallen below a threshold limit, for example below 20% of the maximum load; below 10% of the maximum load, etc. The user may thereby become aware of the sinking charge of the battery 114 and may thereby recharge or replace the battery 114 in due time.

The battery 114 is configured to provide electricity to electricity consuming components/ units 111 , 112, 113 of the tracker 110. Thus, the battery 114 may provide electricity to the posi tioning unit 111 , to the memory 112, to the telecommunication unit 113, to a processing circuitry 115, to the memory 116 and/ or to an accelerometer 117.

The processing circuitry 115 of the tracker 110 is configured to determine a change of state of the tracker 110 and to adjust the reporting schedule of the tracker 110, based on the detected change of state of the tracker 110. The processing circuitry 115 may comprise a low energy Microcontroller (MCU) such as e.g. ARM Cortex M0+ with special features to save power such as low power sleep mode. The processing circuitry 115 may thus be con figured to operate in low power sleep mode, saving battery power consumption.

The processing circuitry 115 may be configured to activate/ deactivate an accelerometer comprised in the tracker 110 according to a time schedule, in some embodiments.

The processing circuitry 115 may further be configured to determine position of the tracker 110, via the positioning unit 111 , upon receiving a request from the user device 140 via the tracker management node 130, and report the determined tracker position to the user device 140 via the tracker management node 130, in some embodiments.

By determining the geographical position and report this position only on request by the user device 140, battery lifetime is further extended, as reporting of position may be made merely upon request by the user. This embodiment may also be combined with the usage of geofence for activating/ deactivating the tracker 110, and / or other previously discussed em bodiments for adjusting the reporting schedule of the tracker 110. Also, the user is provided with the current position of the object 100 which may be important for example when the object is a pet or a patient/ senior citizen which/ who the user is looking for.

The processing circuitry 115 may also be configured to adjust coordinates of the geofence 220 and / or a predetermined time interval of the tracker 110 upon receiving a request from the user device 140 via the tracker management node 130.

Hereby, a convenient way for the user to adjust features that may trigger a change of state of the tracker 110, making it easy for him/ her to personalise the tracker 110. The user friend liness of the concept of personalising the tracker 110 is in itself to be regarded as a power saving feature, as the user is enabled to continuously adjust the constraints of the tracker 110. In the above-mentioned example of the object 100 comprising a lawnmower and when the user is living in a subarctic environment of the northern hemisphere, the lawnmower may be locked up in a storage facility situated outside the garden (forming the geofence) during the winter months. The user may then either set the tracker 110 into sleep mode during the winter months or redefine the geofence into only comprise the storage facility during winter time. Hereby, battery lifetime is further extended.

The processing circuitry 115 may in some embodiments comprise, or be associated with a memory 116, configured to store log data. The memory 116 may for example be a flash memory, eeprom or a Ferroelectric Random Access Memory (FRAM) in different embodi ments. The memory 116 may be a non-volatile memory.

In some alternative embodiments, the tracker 110 may also comprise an accelerometer 117, configured to detect whether the tracker 110 is stationary or in movement. The Accelerome ter 117 may have a configurable sample rate and power consumption depending on the power state the tracker 110 needs to be in.

The combined usage of determination via the accelerometer 117 whether the tracker 110 is stationary or in movement, with the above described scheduling of the positioning and re porting battery lifetime may be additionally extended.

During daytime for example, the accelerometer 117 may not be used since its normal that it would move around, and during another period of the day, the accelerometer 117 may be activated while the processing circuitry 115 is dormant, thereby saving power. The pro cessing circuitry 115 may then be activated again when the tracker 110 is moved or touched, which may be detected by the accelerometer 117.

Further, the accelerometer 117 may also detect events like free fall or high gravitation events. These detected events may be stored in the memory 116, possibly associated with a time stamp. It hereby becomes possible to create a log over events and / or actions that has oc curred to the object 100/ tracker 110.

In some embodiments, the accelerometer 117 may detect an accident such as a downfall accident. This may be important in particular when patients, senior citizens or disabled peo ple are monitored. The detected accident may trigger an alert in some embodiments. The alert may be sent to the user device 140 via the tracker management node 130. Thereby, the user becomes aware of the situation and may assist the monitored person instantly, thereby reducing suffering of the object 100. In some cases, when the tracker 110 is used to monitor a senior citizen or a disabled person, the accelerometer 117 may trigger an alert when no movement is detected within a certain defined trigger time interval, such as some hours.

By triggering and sending an alert to the user device 140 when no movement has been detected for a certain time period, the user could check the status of the object 100, who may have gotten a stroke or other health threatening condition.

By using low leakage passive components in the tracker 110 and only use a bare minimum of components, additional energy consumption is saved.

The tracker 110 may in particular not comprise or be configured for short distance commu nication, for example via Bluetooth or other similar communication protocol. By excluding unnecessary energy consuming features of the tracker 110 such as Bluetooth communica tion, battery lifetime is further extended.

The tracker 110 may in some embodiments also comprise a permanent magnet, in order to be easily removably attached, in case the object 100 comprises any magnetic metal or metal alloy such as e.g. steel; for example, a typical car or boat engine.

In some embodiments, in case the object 100 comprises a human or an animal, the tracker 110 may be comprised under the skin of the object 100, or mounted around a body part such as the neck, an arm or a leg, etc.

Figure 2A illustrates an embodiment of the tracker 110 when the object 100 is about to be transported out from a geofence 220. The geofence 220 may be configured by the user. The geofence 220 is a definable area which may be used for adjusting the reporting schedule setting of the tracker 110. For example, the tracker 110 may be set to sleep mode while inside the geofence 220, while being set to a regular positioning and reporting of the position to a tracker management node 130 for forwarding information concerning the position of the tracker 110 to the user device 140. The tracker 110 may thus be activated when leaving the geofence 220 and the geographical position of the object 100/ tracker 110 may be deter mined continuously with a certain predetermined or configurable time intervals according to various embodiments while being outside the geofence 220.

The position of the tracker 110 inside/ outside the geofence 220 may be considered as a change of state of the tracker 110, which may trigger adjustment of the reporting schedule of the tracker 110.

The situation may also be the opposite in some embodiments, i.e. the tracker 110 may be deactivated while outside the geofence 220 and then trigger positioning/ report of the position when entering the geofence 220.

Another feature that may be triggered by the geofence 220 is to generate and transmit an alert to the user device 140 when the tracker 110 leaves the geofence 220 (or alternatively enter the geofence 220). Hereby, the user becomes aware of the fact that the object 100/ tracker 110 has passed the geofence 220 limitations.

The positioning of the tracker 110 is made by satellite navigation, based on distance meas urement using triangulation from a number of satellites 210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od. In this ex ample, four satellites 210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od are depicted, but this is merely an example. More than four satellites 210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od may be used for enhancing the precision, or for creating redundancy. The satellites 210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od continuously transmit in formation about time and date (for example, in coded form), identity (which satellite 210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od that broadcasts), status, and where the satellite 210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od are situated at any given time. The GPS satellites 210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od sends information encoded with different codes, for example, but not necessarily based on Code Division Mul tiple Access (CDMA). This allows information from an individual satellite 210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od distinguished from the others' information, based on a unique code for each respective satellite 210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od. This information can then be transmitted to be received by the appropriately adapted positioning unit 111 of the tracker 110 comprised in/ at the object 100.

Distance measurement can according to some embodiments comprise measuring the differ ence in the time it takes for each respective satellite signal transmitted by the respective satellites 210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od to reach the positioning unit 111 . As the radio signals travel at the speed of light, the distance to the respective satellite 210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od may be computed by measuring the signal propagation time.

The positions of the satellites 210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od are known, as they continuously are monitored by approximately 15-30 ground stations located mainly along and near the earth's equator. Thereby the geographical position, i.e. latitude and longitude, of the object 100 may be calculated by determining the distance to at least three satellites 210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od through triangulation. For determination of altitude, signals from four satellites 210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od may be used according to some embodiments. Having determined the geographical position of the object 100/ tracker 110, it may be trans mitted to the tracker management node 130, where it may be forwarded to the user device 140 and presented on a map context on a display of the user device 140, where the position of the object 100 is marked, in some embodiments.

In some embodiments, an alerting geofencing functionality may be implemented. Thereby, a geographical zone 220 may be defined, in which the object 100/ tracker 110 is expected to be situated. In case the object 100/ tracker 110 is removed out of the geofence 220, an alert may be triggered. The reason may be that the object 100/ tracker 110 has been stolen/ hijacked, etc. Thus, an early alert is forwarded to the user, concerning the loss of the object 100. Also, the tracking will make it easier to trace the object 100/ tracker 110.

Figure 2B illustrates a scenario comprising the object 100 and an embodiment of the tracker 110, similar to the scenario of Figure 2A.

A difference is that the change of state of the tracker 110 may comprise determining whether the tracker 110 is inside/ outside a predetermined time interval 230. The time interval 230 may be set by the user.

In some embodiments, the constraint of the time interval 230 may be combined with another constraint, such as for example concerning the geofence 220, as illustrated in Figure 2A and / or whether the tracker 110 is stationary or in movement.

For example, the tracker 110 may be activated and / or the positioning and reporting schedule may be intensified when the tracker 110 is leaving the geofence 220 at night-time, for exam ple, while otherwise let the tracker 110 be set into sleep mode otherwise.

By combining different constraints in this manner, it becomes possible for the user to set the tracker 110 in a way which is targeted for the particular situation of the object 100 that the user desires to monitor, while further minimising energy usage of the tracker 110. Hereby lifetime of the battery 114 is further extended.

Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating embodiments of a method 300 in a tracker 110, associated with an object 100. The tracker 110 has an adjustable reporting schedule, for tracking and reporting the position of the object 100 to a user device 140 via a tracker management node 130 over a terrestrial telecommunication network 120 allowing for operation in a Power Sav ing Mode, such as for example LPWAN, NB loT, LTE-M/ Cat M1 etc. The tracker 110 may be set into a sleep mode for long periods just to save battery power. Hereby, the battery lifetime or the time between recharge of the battery 114 is considerably extended.

The tracker 110 is arranged on or at the object 100 and associated with the object 100 by sending an identification reference of the tracker 110 possibly together with an identification reference of the object 100 to the tracker management node 130, e.g. at the production site of the object 100 or at premises of the user, i.e. any similar place where the owner of the object 100/ tracker 110 is in full control of the object 100/ tracker 110.

T o appropriately track the object 100, the method 300 may comprise a number of steps 301 - 309. It is however to be noted that any, some or all of the described steps 301 -309, may be performed in a somewhat different chronological order than the enumeration indicates. At least some of the steps 301 -309 may be performed simultaneously or even be performed in an at least partly reversed order according to different embodiments. Further, it is to be noted that some steps may be performed only in some particular embodiments, such as e.g. steps 301 -304 and / or 307-309; or may be performed in a plurality of alternative manners according to different embodiments, and that some such alternative manners may be performed only within some, but not necessarily all embodiments. The method 300 may comprise the sub sequent steps:

Step 301 which may be performed only in some embodiments, comprises activating/ deac tivating an accelerometer 117 comprised in the tracker 110 according to a time schedule.

The time schedule concerning activating/ deactivating the accelerometer 117 may be con figurable by the user in some embodiments.

Hereby, by only activating the optional accelerometer 117 at one or several user-defined time periods and otherwise keep it deactivated, battery power is saved, while yet being able to detect and possibly also log movements of the object 100/ tracker 110.

Step 302 which may be performed only in some embodiments, comprises receiving a re quest from the user device 140 via the tracker management node 130 for determining geo graphical position of the tracker 110.

The user device 140 may be for example a computer, a mobile telephone or other similar device configured for receiving user input and transmit some kind of communication signals to the tracker management node 130. The communication may be made over a wired or wireless communication interface, for example according to or inspired by some of the pre viously enumerated communication technologies.

Step 303, which may be performed only in some embodiments, comprises adjusting coordi nates of the geofence 220 and / or the predetermined time interval 230 of the tracker 110 upon receiving a request from the user device 140 via the tracker management node 130.

Hereby, the tracker 110 may be tailormade to the desires and needs of the user and the type of monitored object 100. By adjusting the geofence 220 and / or the predetermined time in terval 230 of the tracker 110, for activating/ deactivating the tracker 110, battery power is saved, while yet being able to monitor position of the object 100/ tracker 110 when the set constraints concerning the geofence 220 and / or the predetermined time interval 230 are fulfilled.

Step 304, which may be performed only in some embodiments, comprises extracting valid time, position, almanac, and ephemeris data of satellites 210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od, from a memory 112 of the positioning unit 111 in the tracker 110, for shortening time to acquisition of satellite signals. The memory 112 may for example be a flash memory or other similar non-volatile computer memory storage medium such as a read-only memory, eeprom, etc.

By storing these parameters and data concerning the satellites 210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od in the memory 112, hot start of the positioning of the tracker 110 is enabled, i.e. the tracker 110 may use the stored parameters for determining the own position based on the positions of the satellites 210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od. By shortening the time it takes to determine position of the tracker 110 (and thereafter setting the tracker 110 into sleep mode), battery power is saved, leading to extended battery lifetime of the battery 114.

Step 305 comprises determining a change of state of the tracker 1 10.

The change of state of the tracker 110 may be determined by detecting whether the tracker 110 is stationary or in movement, e.g. as determined by an optional accelerometer 117 of the tracker 110, in some embodiments.

The change of state of the tracker 110 may comprise determining whether the tracker 110 is situated inside/ outside a geofence 220. Thus, a change of state of the tracker 110 may occur when the tracker 110 cross the user-defined limitations of the geofence 220. The change of state of the tracker 110 may comprise determining whether the current time is situated inside/ outside a predetermined time interval 230.

These different state changes of the tracker 110 may be combined in some embodiments. Thus, the change of state of the tracker 110 may occur when the tracker 110 is in movement at a time period inside the predetermined time interval 230.

Step 306 comprises adjusting the reporting schedule of the tracker 110, based on the deter mined 305 change of state of the tracker 110.

The adjustment of the reporting schedule of the tracker 110 may comprise setting the tracker 110 into sleep mode, wherein no reporting of position is made, or set into active mode, wherein determination of position and reporting of the position is made at a certain time interval. In some embodiments, the reporting schedule may be further adjusted, for example into a low-frequency reporting mode and a high-frequency reporting mode, etc.

The adjustment may comprise activating the tracker 110 when the change of state of the tracker 110 is determined 305, for example when the tracker 110 is displaced outside the geofence 220; or is in movement outside the predetermined time interval 230; and otherwise deactivating the tracker 110, i.e. setting the tracker 110 into sleep mode.

Adjusting the reporting schedule of the tracker 110 by setting the tracker 110 into sleep mode prerequire a telecommunication connection with the tracker management node 130 over a telecommunication network 120 enabled to operate in the Power Saving Mode, such as for example LPWAN, NB loT, LTE-M/ Cat M1 etc.

By deactivating the tracker 110 (or reducing report frequency) under conditions when posi tion determination is not desired by the user, battery lifetime of the tracker 110 is extended.

Step 307, which may be performed only in some embodiments, comprises operating the processing circuitry 115 in a low power sleep mode.

Hereby, battery power is saved, leading to extended battery lifetime of the battery 114.

Step 308, which may be performed only in some embodiments wherein step 302 has been performed, comprises reporting the determined tracker position to the user device 140 of the user via the tracker management node 130. The report of the tracker position may be made over a terrestrial telecommunication network 120 allowing for operation in the Power Saving Mode, to the tracker management node 130, such as for example LPWAN, NB loT, LTE-M/ Cat M1 etc.

Hereby, the user is informed concerning the current geographical position of the object 100/ tracker 110 upon a previously sent request 302, enabling the user to always be able to re quest 302 and acquire a determined 308 position of the object 100/ tracker 110.

Step 309, which may be performed only in some embodiments, comprises generating and transmitting an alert to a user device 140 via the telecommunication unit 113, when the tracker 110 is determined to be positioned outside the geofence 220; or positioned outside the geofence 220, outside the predetermined time interval 230; or in movement outside the predetermined time interval 230.

Hereby, by generating and sending an alert to the user device 140 under certain user defined conditions, the user is informed that the object 100/ tracker 110 is behaving outside the ex pected operating scheme of the object 100/ tracker 110. Thereby, the user may act to for example prevent theft or that an animal is running away, depending on the situation and / or the nature of the monitored object 100.

Figure 4 illustrates an embodiment of a tracker management node 130. The tracker man agement node 130 is configured for enabling tracking of an object 100, associated with a tracker 110, wherein the tracker 110 has an adjustable reporting schedule, for tracking and reporting the position of the object 100 to a user device 140 via a tracker management node 130 over a terrestrial telecommunication network 120 allowing for operation in the Power Saving Mode, such as for example LPWAN, NB loT, LTE-M/ Cat M1 etc. The tracker 110 may be set into sleep mode for long periods just to save battery power. Hereby, the battery lifetime may be considerably extended.

The tracker 110 is configured for performing the method 300 according to at least some of the previously described method steps 301-309.

The tracker management node 130 comprises a receiver 410, configured to receive infor mation comprising an identification reference and a geographical position of the tracker 110 over the terrestrial telecommunication network 120 allowing for operation in the Power Sav ing Mode.

In some embodiments, the receiver 410 may be further configured to receive information comprising at least one parameter related to the object 100 from the tracker 110. The pa rameter may concern a change of state of the tracker 110; or an alert due to the change of state of the tracker 110.

Also, the tracker management node 130 comprises a processing circuitry 420, configured to determine a user device 140 associated with the identification reference of the tracker 110.

The processing circuitry 420 may comprise one or more instances of a processing circuit, i.e. a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a processing unit, a processing circuit, a processor, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a microprocessor, or other processing logic that may interpret and execute instructions. The herein utilised expression “processing cir cuitry” may thus represent a plurality of processing circuits, such as, e.g., any, some or all of the ones enumerated above.

The tracker management node 130 also comprises a transmitter 430 configured to transmit geographical position of the tracker 110 to the determined user device 140. Possibly, in some embodiments, the transmitter 430 may transmit an alert to the user device 140 when the object 100/ tracker 110 has been moved outside the geofence 220 for example.

Also, the tracker management node 130 may comprise a memory 425, configured to store the received information related to the object 100/ tracker 110 such as for example the pa rameter related to the object 100, associated with an identity reference of the object 100, a received geographical position of the object 100 and / or a time stamp.

The memory 425 may comprise a physical device utilised to store data or programs, i.e., sequences of instructions, on a temporary or permanent basis. According to some embodi ments, the memory 425 may comprise integrated circuits comprising silicon-based transis tors. Further, the memory 425 may be volatile or non-volatile. The memory 425 is configured to store an original sensor value of the tracker 120 together with other information such as e.g. a time stamp, a geographical position of the tracker 110, etc. Further, sensor values and other data may be stored for a plurality of trackers 1 10, managed by the tracker management node 130.

Thereby, a user may track and trace the object 100, or even a plurality of distinct objects 100, via the user device 140. In some embodiments, the user may receive an alert when the tracker 110 is leaving or entering a defined area or road, defined as a geofence 220. The alert or alarm may be time specific in some embodiments, e.g. “the tracker must arrive this location before xx:xx” ‘leave before”, “board before”, etc... as determined by the user- configured predetermined time interval 230.

The above described method steps 301-309 may be computer implemented through the one or more processor circuits 115, together with a computer program product for performing at least some of the functions of the method steps 301-309. Thus, a computer program com prising program code may perform the method 300 according to any, at least some, or all of the functions of the method steps 301 -309 for monitoring position and / or tracking the object 100.

The computer program product mentioned above may be provided for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing at least some of the method steps 301-309 according to some embodiments when being loaded into the processor cir cuits 115. The data carrier may be, e.g., a hard disk, a CD ROM disc, a memory stick, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device or any other appropriate medium such as a disk or tape that may hold machine readable data in a non-transitory manner. The com puter program product may furthermore be provided as computer program code on a server and downloaded to the tracker 110 and / or the tracker management node 130, e.g., over a wired or wireless Internet connection.

As used herein, the term “and/ or” comprises any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The term “or” as used herein, is to be interpreted as a mathematical OR, i.e., as an inclusive disjunction; not as a mathematical exclusive OR (XOR), unless ex pressly stated otherwise. In addition, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are to be inter- preted as “at least one”, thus also possibly comprising a plurality of entities of the same kind, unless expressly stated otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “includes”, “comprises”, “including” and / or “comprising”, specifies the presence of stated features, ac tions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, actions, integers, steps, operations, ele- ments, components, and / or groups thereof. A single unit such as e.g. a processor may fulfil the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage. A computer program may be stored/ distributed on a suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium supplied together with or as part of other hardware but may also be distributed in other forms such as via Internet or other wired or wireless communication system.

Claims

1. A tracker (110) with an adjustable reporting schedule, for tracking an object (100) associated with the tracker (110) and reporting the position of the object (100) to a user device (140) via a tracker management node (130) over a terrestrial telecommunication net work (120) allowing for operation in a Power Saving Mode; wherein the tracker (110) com prises: a positioning unit (111 ), configured to determine geographical position of the tracker (110), based on a satellite-based location system (210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od); a telecommunication unit (113), configured to transmit information according to the reporting schedule, over the terrestrial telecommunication network (120) allowing for opera tion in the Power Saving Mode, to the tracker management node (130); a battery (114) configured to provide electricity to units (111 , 112, 113, 115, 116, 117) of the tracker (110); and a processing circuitry (115), configured to determine a change of state of the tracker (110); and adjust the reporting schedule of the tracker (110), based on the detected change of state of the tracker (110); wherein the change of state of the tracker (110) comprises determining whether the tracker (110) is: inside/ outside a geofence (220); inside/ outside a predetermined time interval (230); and / or stationary or in movement; and wherein a user is enabled to personalise the tracker (110) by adjusting any of the enu merated features for changing the state of the tracker (110).

2. The tracker (110) according to claim 1 , further comprising: an accelerometer (117), configured to detect whether the tracker (110) is stationary or in movement; and wherein the processing circuitry (115) is further configured to determine the change of state of the tracker (110), based on the accelerometer (117) detection.

3. The tracker (110) according to claim 2, wherein the processing circuitry (115) is fur ther configured to activate/ deactivate the accelerometer (117) according to a time schedule.

4. The tracker (110) according to any one of claims 1 -3, wherein the reporting schedule of the tracker (110) is set into low intensity reporting when the tracker (110) is determined to be inside the geofence (220) and / or inside the predetermined time interval (230) and / or stationary; or high intensity reporting when the tracker (110) is determined to be outside the geofence (220) and/ or outside the predetermined time interval (230) and/ or in movement.

5. The tracker (110) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the terrestrial telecommunication network (120) allowing for operation in the Power Saving Mode com prises Long Term Evolution for Machines, LTE-M.

6. The tracker (110) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the pro cessing circuitry (115) is further configured to operate in a low power sleep mode.

7. The tracker (110) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the position ing unit (111 ) is associated with a memory (112), configured to store valid time, position, almanac, and ephemeris data of satellites (210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od).

8. The tracker (110) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the pro cessing circuitry (115) is further configured to generate an alert and transmit the alert, via the telecommunication unit (113) and the tracker management node (130), to a user device (140) when the tracker (110) is determined to be positioned outside the geofence (220); or positioned outside the geofence (220) and outside the predetermined time interval (230); or in movement and outside the predetermined time interval (230).

9. The tracker (110) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the pro cessing circuitry (115) is further configured to determine position of the tracker (110), via the positioning unit (111 ), upon receiving a request from the user device (140) via the tracker management node (130), and reporting the determined tracker position to the user device (140) via the tracker management node (130).

10. The tracker (110) according to any one of claims 4-9, wherein the processing circuitry (115) is further configured to adjust coordinates of the geofence (220) and / or the predeter mined time interval (230) of the tracker (110) upon receiving a request from the user device (140) via the tracker management node (130).

11. The tracker (110) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the pro cessing circuitry (115) is associated with a memory (116), configured to store log data.

12. A method (300) of a tracker (110) with an adjustable reporting schedule, for tracking an object (100) associated with the tracker (110) and reporting the position of the object (100) to a user device (140) via a tracker management node (130) over a terrestrial telecom munication network (120) allowing for operation in a Power Saving Mode; wherein the method (300) comprises the steps of: determining (305) a change of state of the tracker (110) wherein the change of state of the tracker (110) comprises determining whether the tracker (110) is: inside/ outside a geofence (220); inside/ outside a predetermined time interval (230); and / or stationary or in movement; and wherein a user is enabled to personalise the tracker (110) by adjusting any of the enu merated features for changing the state of the tracker (110); and adjusting (306) the reporting schedule of the tracker (110), based on the determined (305) change of state of the tracker (110).

13. The method (300) according to claim 12, wherein the change of state of the tracker (110) is determined (305) by detecting whether the tracker (110) is stationary or in move ment.

14. The method (300) according to any one of claim 12 or claim 13, further comprising the step of: activating/ deactivating (301 ) an accelerometer (117) according to a time schedule.

15. The method (300) according to any one of claims 12-14, wherein the change of state of the tracker (110) is determined (305) by determining geographical position of the tracker (110), based on a satellite-based location system (210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od); and estimating whether the tracker (110) is situated inside/ outside a geofence (220) based on the deter mined geographical tracker position.

16. The method (300) according to any one of claims 12-15, wherein the change of state of the tracker (110) is determined (305) by determining current time; and estimating whether the determined current time is inside/ outside a predetermined time interval (230).

17. The method (300) according to any one of claims 12-16, further comprising the step of: operating (307) the processing circuitry (115) in a low power sleep mode.

18. The method (300) according to any one of claims 12-17, further comprising the step of: extracting (304) valid time, position, almanac, and ephemeris data of satellites (210a, 210b, 210c, 21 Od), from a memory (112) of the positioning unit (111 ) in the tracker (110), for shortening time to acquisition of satellite signals.

19. The method (300) according to any one of claims 12-18, further comprising the step of: generating and transmitting (309) an alert to a user device (140) via the telecommu nication unit (113), when the tracker (110) is determined to be positioned outside the geofence (220); or positioned outside the geofence (220), outside the predetermined time interval (230); or in movement outside the predetermined time interval (230).

20. The method (300) according to any one of claims 12-19, further comprising the step of: receiving (302) a request from the user device (140) via the tracker management node (130) for determining geographical position of the tracker (110); and reporting (308) the determined tracker position to the user device (140) via the tracker management node (130).

21 . The method (300) according to any one of claims 12-20, further comprising the step of: adjusting (303) coordinates of the geofence (220) and / or the predetermined time interval (230) of the tracker (110) upon receiving a request from the user device (140) via the tracker management node (130).

22. A tracker management node (130) for tracking an object (100), associated with a tracker (110) with an adjustable reporting schedule, wherein the tracker management node (130) comprises: a receiver (410), configured to receive information comprising an identification refer ence and a geographical position of the tracker (110) over a terrestrial telecommunication network (120) allowing for operation in a Power Saving Mode; a processing circuitry (420), configured to determine a user device (140) associated with the identification reference of the tracker (110); and a transmitter (430) configured to transmit a geographical position of the tracker (110) to the determined user device (140).