Shipment Tracking System for Detecting Unauthorized Deviations
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Solution Overview
Problem
The security of cargo during transportation is compromised due to the inability of conventional trucking systems to detect unscheduled deviations or unauthorized activities, such as signal jamming attacks, which can lead to theft or loss of cargo and vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A data processing system and method that tracks shipments by receiving location signals from multiple geographically-co-located entities, monitoring for unscheduled deviations, and triggering responsive actions, including notifications and alerts, to prevent theft and ensure security through real-time monitoring and communication with security details and law enforcement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional trucking systems are used to transport cargo, then the simplicity of operation is maintained, but the security and detection capability against unauthorized activities is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple tracking entities (cargo, vehicle, driver) into a single shipment group with co-located visual representations. This merging approach allows the system to monitor security by tracking the spatial relationships between entities without requiring separate complex monitoring systems for each component.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a computing device as an intermediary that receives location signals from multiple entities, processes their spatial relationships, and generates security assessments. This intermediary handles the complexity of multi-entity tracking, leaving the actual trucking operations simple and unchanged.
2Measurement precision
If real-time tracking of multiple shipment entities is implemented, then the detection precision of unauthorized activities is improved, but the quantity of data to be processed increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential security-relevant information from the location data of multiple entities. By focusing on whether entities maintain expected spatial relationships (co-location) rather than processing all location details, the system achieves high detection precision while minimizing data processing requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The tracking data is segmented into shipment groups, where each group contains entities that should be spatially co-located. This segmentation allows the system to process data in manageable units and only flag anomalies when entities within a group deviate from their expected spatial relationships.
3Reliability
If multiple location signals from co-located entities are monitored, then the reliability of security detection is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The computing device performs multiple functions: receiving location signals, determining spatial relationships, assessing security conditions, and generating reports. By consolidating these functions into a single multi-functional system rather than separate specialized devices, the patent improves reliability without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method, computer device, and security detail (SD) communication device enables real-time tracking and security of shipments. The method includes receiving a plurality of location signals indicating a location of multiple geographically co-located shipment-related entities that are being tracked as a shipment group. The shipment group includes an assigned security detail that has a corresponding location signal. The method includes presenting the shipment group as a plurality of co-located visual representations on a shipment tracking user interface (STUI) of the computing device, where each location signal is represented among the co-located visual representations. The method includes monitoring for any unscheduled deviations in at least one of an expected co-location and an expected geo-location of received updates to the location signals within the shipment group. The method further includes, in response to detecting an unscheduled deviation, triggering responsive actions, including notifying SD personnel, based on the type of deviation.