Field of Invention

This invention relates to a system for monitoring remotely the cargo and vehicles. This system tracks and traces the cargo and vehicles and alerts in case of any tampering and intrusion. Further it controls the vital functions of the vehicles. This system based on GPS silently observes the various activities of a cargo/vehicle like the movements, fuel consumption security etc, in real time, and records the movements for later review. Thus it offers a simple and robust solution to continuously monitor and safeguard all cargo/vehicles. It comes with a very simple and intuitive web GUI that helps configure and manage the monitoring tasks. Managing and administering a fleet of vehicles is now literally at the fingertips of the person using it.

Back ground Art:

Current vehicle tracking systems have their roots in the shipping industry. Corporations with large fleets of vehicles required some sort of system to determine where each vehicle was at any given time. Vehicle tracking systems can now also be found in consumers vehicles as a theft prevention and retrieval device. Police can follow the signal transmitted by the tracking system to locate a stolen vehicle, called stolen vehicle tracking (SVT).

Many vehicle tracking systems now in use are a form of automatic vehicle location (AVL) that allows for easy location of the vehicle. The GPS satellite system was built and is maintained by government and Is available at no cost to civilians. This makes this technology very inexpensive. There are numerous GPS satellites orbiting the earth, tracking system of this invention receive signals from these satellites and identify its position to 2.5 meter accuracy in best condition.

Some vehicle tracking systems charge the user a monthly subscription for a bundle that includes mapping software, hardware, installation, and tracking service. Other companies offer units that are paid for upon installation and will continue to work for the life of the vehicle. The decision to adopt an active technology based on RF satellite or public carrier is driven by the quantity of information, the frequency of updates, and the physical environment of the device. For example a fleet manager may want 5 minute updates, telling whether a vehicle is on or off, or may want 30 second updates tracking engine vitals, brake status, container status, vehicle speed and direction and soon.

Object of the invention:

The object of the invention to provide a remote monitoring system for the asset particularly for cargo/vehicle wherein an electronic device installed in the cargo/ vehicle enables the owner or a third party to track the cargo/vehicle's location. This remote monitoring system uses Global Positioning System (GPS) modules for accurate location of the vehicle. Many systems also combine a communications component such as, cellular to communicate the vehicle's location to a remote user. Vehicle information can be viewed on electronic maps via the Internet or specialized software.
Other objects of the invention will be clear from the following detailed description with the aid of attached drawings.

Summary of the invention:

According to this invention there is provided a vehicle tracking system comprising a unit that resides in each and every vehicle to be monitored, a centralized management station where centralized control and monitoring is possible over every unit and a communication system between the management station and unit; the said unit basically consisting of a GSM module, a GPS module which captures the position of the vehicle (latitude, longitude and altitude) using the GPS satellites, a control module; the said control module comprising a micro controller and flashed firmware that initialises, activates, controls and monitors other modules available in the unit and a GSM modem that handles mobile communication with the centralized management station; a provision for plurality of SIM cards that is registered to the respective mobile service provider which is used as a failsafe mechanism; the said centralized management station consisting of a remote management station and a GSM modem where the requests to unit are generated and the responses from the unit are interpreted, the said centralized management station which further initializes the communication between the unit and the management station, configures and receives the responses from unit and is connected to a database so that all responses are logged into it and wherein the said Management station and unit communicate by GPRS through the existing mobile networks and the Inter Application Communication via private MSMQ's; the said management station further comprising a web application which supports the functionality for vehicle tracking, with all its permutations and combinations and also supports Fleet Management with its different functionalities and personnel management.

The overview of the architecture is as seen in figure 2 in the drawing.

Product Architecture

The management station is either a stand-alone application or a web-based application. It connects to a GSM modem via a SMS Gateway. The SMS Gateway is another application that configures the GSM modem attached to the COM port to send and receive the SMS in text or PDU format via a connected mobile network. It receives HTTP request from another application to send a SMS and able to forward the SMS received to another application via HTTP.

The centralized management station consists of a remote management station and a GSM modem where the requests to unit are generated and it interprets the responses from the unit. The position of the vehicle (latitude, longitude and altitude) is captured by the GPS module using the GPS satellites. Each unit is incorporated with the provision for plurality of current SIM cards that is registered to the respective mobile service provider. For this there is the provision for plurality of SIM sockets. This is used as a failsafe mechanism. The unit application consists of the micro controller and the flashed firmware that initialises, activates, controls and monitors other modules available in the unit. Management station and unit communicate by GPRS through the existing mobile networks.

Inter Application Communication is via private MSMQ's.

The overview of the architecture is as seen in figure 2 in the drawing.

Salient Product Functions

• The system can be configured to automatically report vehicle's location, speed and fuel value, for single or dual tanks. Configuration interval can be between Minutes to several days.

• The system Management station displays the location of the vehicle in a digital map

• Plurality of SIM cards has been provided.
• The system can be configured to send an alert when a selected maximum speed has been exceeded.

• The system can be configured with different circular constraint regions so that when the vehicle moves outside or inside of the regions an alert is automatically sent to the centralized management station.

• Intrusion detection is present that can send an alert on this event

• Automatic dialling to a pre-defined emergency number to make phone calls

• Accept or reject phone calls

• Reporting of keys presses to a management station

• Sends the GSM communication notifying GPS link failure.

• Stores the positional and other parameters in the unit when the vehicle is in GSM shadow to ensure no missing information

• The system remembers the settings during the power cycle (Power on-off)

• Authentication before it gets the control of Unit.

• Sends alerts when it detects antenna removal or failure

• Spot the vehicle in a digital map with Zoom and Pan

• Door Ajar status,

• Seal monitoring.
• Trace the path of the vehicle travelled and back trace the path within a given period

• Report generation of the vehicle within a given period (Date, Time, Distance travelled, Idle time etc.)

• Management station handles multiple vehicle reports

• Export the information into Microsoft Excel ™ format for analysis

• Forward alerts to the predefined administrators mobile number and via email

• When the vehicle is moving through the shadow of the GSM network, it will neither be able to connect to the management station nor be able to receive the commands from the station. In such case, it has to preserve the messages and has to deliver it when it is in the light of the network.

• It is possible to immobilise the moving vehicle at any time or place as desired, from a remote location.

• Passenger count for public transport systems.

• Over speed control

• Passenger tracking

• The unit can be enabled and disabled at will remotely, ie it will stop and start sending co-ordinates as is desired.

• Supports License plate intrusion detection.

• Can be connected to any hand held computer and can be monitored.

Hardware of the system

The Vehicle Tracking System board design has many features like GPS/GSM communication, data transfer through USB port, internal flash memory to store data from the controller, serial communication port to connect with other processors. Other than these features VTS supports fuel monitoring, voltage monitoring, temperature monitoring, intrusion detection and battery back-up facility to work when vehicle battery is not available. This document describes the board design for the Falcon-I board.

Block diagram of the Vehicle Tracking System hardware design
The Vehicle Tracking System (VTS) has a wireless controller Q2686. This is the main unit in the board design. This controller is connected with all other modules like RPS Receiver, Universal Asynchronous Receive/Transmit (UART), GSM connectivity through dual SIM, USB device, a flash memory and other application.

Voltage regulators are used to convert the input power supply to different voltage levels for the devices being used. A charger circuit & voltage monitor is being employed to support the back-up battery. Intrusion detection, Temperature sensor, Opto-isolated coupler & Fuel monitors are connected with the wireless controller. In this document details on the circuit used for the above mentioned application is described.

Please refer to Figure 4 in the drawing for the Block diagram of the system Regulator

The regulator circuit converts the power from the vehicle to 8V for the VTS unit. This regulates the power the incoming power supply. The LM1086 is a series of low dropout positive voltage regulators with a maximum dropout of 1.5V at 1.5A of load current. The LM1086 regulates the voltage that appears between its output and ground pins, or between its output and adjust pins. The LM1086 circuit includes a zener trimmed band-gap reference, current limiting and thermal shutdown. The LM1086 uses a single NPN. In order for stable operation, the loop must maintain negative feedback. The LM1086 requires a certain amount series resistance with capacitive loads. This series resistance introduces a zero within the loop to increase phase margin and thus increase stability.

Please refer to Figure 5 in the drawing for the Input Voltage regulator

The circuit converts 6V to 3.6V. This is used by the main controller, dual sim & intrusion detection circuit. The LM22679 switching regulator features ali of the functions necessary to implement an efficient high voltage regulator using a minimum of external components. This is easy to use regulator integrates 42V N-channel switch with an output current capability of 5A. The current regulator method is based on voltage mode control with input voltage feed forward. The loop compensation is integrated into LM22679, so that no external compensation components need to be selected. Voltage mode control offers short minimum on-times allowing short duty-cycles necessary in high input voltage applications. The operating frequency is fixed at 500 kHz to allow for small external components while avoiding excessive switching losses.

Please refer to Figure 6 in the drawing for the 6V to 3.6V voltage regulator

This circuit converts the 6V supply to 5V power. This is used in GPS receiver. The LM1086 is a series of low dropout positive voltage regulators with a maximum dropout of 1.5V at 1.5A of load current. The LM1086 regulates the voltage that appears between its output and ground pins, or between its output and adjust pins. The LM1086 circuit includes a zenner trimmed bandgap reference, current limiting and thermal shutdown. The LM1086 uses a single NPN. In order for stable operation, the loop must maintain negative feedback. The LM1086 requires a certain amount series resistance with capacitive loads. This series resistance introduces a zero within the loop to increase phase margin and thus increase stability.

Please refer to Figure 7 in the drawing for the 6V to 5V voltage regulator

This circuit contains a voltage regulator which converts 5V supply to 2.8V supply. This 2.8V supply will be used by flash memory, Watch dog timer & UART

The TPS73028 low-dropout (LDO) regulator has been optimized for use in noise-sensitive battery-operated equipment. The TPS73028 are low-dropout (LDO) low-power linear voltage regulators which features high power-supply rejection ratio (PSRR), ultra low-noise, fast start-up, and excellent line and load transient responses. This device is stable, with a small 2.2uF ceramic capacitor on the output. This device uses an advanced, proprietary BiCMOS fabrication process to yield low dropout voltages. Each device achieves fast start-up times (approximately 50us with a 0.001 uF bypass capacitor) while consuming low quiescent current (170uA typical). Moreover, when the device is placed in standby mode, the supply current is reduced to less than 1uA.

TPS73028, is required for stability and improves transient response, noise rejection, and ripple rejection. A higher-value input capacitor may be necessary if large, fast-rise-time load transients are anticipated or the device is located several inches from the power source. Like most low dropout regulators, the TPS73028 requires an output capacitor connected between OUT and GND to stabilize the internal control loop. The minimum recommended capacitance is 2.2uF. Any 2.2uF or larger ceramic capacitor is suitable, provided the capacitance does not vary significantly over temperature.

If load current is not expected to exceed 100mA, a 1.0uF ceramic capacitor can be used. In order for the regulator to operate properly, the current flow out of the NR pin must be at a minimum, because any leakage current creates an IR drop across the internal resistor thus creating an output error. Therefore, the bypass capacitor must have minimal leakage current. The bypass capacitor should be no more than 0.1uF to ensure that it is fully charged during the quick start time provided by the internal switch.

Please refer to Figure 8 in the drawing for the 5V to 2,8V voltage regulator. Boost regulator

This circuit will present 12V to Relay, This circuit contains a voltage regulator which generates 12V from the input 6V for feature board.

The LM2698 is a general purpose PWM boost converter. The 1.9A, 18V, 0.2ohm internal switch enables the LM2698 to provide efficient power conversion to outputs ranging from 2.2V to 17V, It can operate with input voltages as low as 2.2V and as high as 12V. Current-mode architecture provides superior line and load regulation and simple frequency compensation over the device's 2.2V to 12V input voltage range. The LM2698 sets the standard in power density and is capable of supplying 12V at 400mA from a 5V input.

The diode in a boost converter such as the LM2698 acts as a switch to the output. During the first cycle, when the transistor is closed, the diode is reverse biased and current is blocked; the load current is supplied by the output capacitor. In the second cycle, the transistor is open and the diode is forward biased; the load current is supplied by the inductor. Observation of the boost converter circuit shows that the average current through the diode is the average load current, and the peak current through the diode is the peak current through the inductor. The diode should be rated to handle more than its peak current. To improve efficiency, a low forward drop Schottky diode is recommended.

The output capacitor in a boost converter provides all the output current when the switch is closed and the inductor is charging. As a result, it sees very large ripple currents. The output capacitor should be capable of handling the maximum RMS current.

Please refer to Figure 9 in the drawing for the 12V to 6V Boost regulator

The circuit in figure 10 in the drawing shows the power LED connection. Power LED glows whenever the 6V power is present.

Charger Circuit

This circuit is used to charge the internal 5-cell AAA NiMh Battery. This circuit will check the battery level & charge it back when battery is getting drained. Automatic charging when the battery pack voltage is sensed below threshold (below +1V par battery cell)

The DS2715 is well suited for cost-sensitive charger applications where the battery pack is either internal or external to the application. It has been optimized for safe and reliable charging of 1 to 10 NiMH cells in series. The DS2715 preconditions severely depleted cells before entering full charge mode. It terminates full charge using the dT/dt technique, which requires an external sensing thermistor. Over-temperature, under-temperature, and over-voltage detection prevents charging under unsafe conditions. Discharge mode allows the DS2715 to enter a low power sleep state while the cell pack is being discharged.

A charge cycle begins in one of two ways: with the application of power to the DS2715 while the cell pack is already inserted, or with the detection of cell insertion after power-up. After cell presence confirmation, PRECHARGE qualification occurs to prevent fast charging of deeply depleted cells or charging under extreme temperature conditions. Pre-charging is performed at a reduced rate of approximately V* the FAST-CHARGE current until each cell reaches 1V. The algorithm then proceeds to the FAST-CHARGE phase. Fast charging continues as long as the cell pack temperature is less than 50°C based on the THM voltage, and the cell voltage as measured at the VBATT pin in the middle of the resistor divider remains below 1.65V, indicating the cell pack is still present. Fast charging terminates normally by measuring the cell pack's thermal rate of change, dT/dt. When the cell pack's thermal rate of change exceeds 0.5°C per minute, the DS2715 enters TOPOFF. The DS2715 has an internal charge timer as secondary overcharge protection if the charge is not terminated properly by the dT/dt method. The charge termination timer duration is user selectable from 30 minutes up to 6 hours by an external resistor on the RT pin.

Following a normally terminated or timed-out FAST-CHARGE phase, the DS2715 enters TOPOFF. It remains in this state for one-half of the period of the FAST-CHARGE timeout as selected by the external resistor on RT. After the TOPOFF charge timer expires, the DONE phase continues indefinitely until the cell pack is removed from the charger or DISCHARGE mode is entered. For the standard application circuit configuration, when a load drawing at least Vdchg-set across the sense resistor is attached to the cell pack, the DS2715 switches to DISCHARGE mode. All charge functions are disabled and the regulation FET is driven on to allow the cell pack to discharge. Throughout the charging process, the open-drain LED1 output indicates the charge status to the user.

Please refer to Figure 11 in the drawing for the Charger Circuit
Voltage Monitor for the Charger circuit

This circuit contains a voltage comparator chip which checks the input voltage level to the internal battery. If the input voltage is below 8V, charging will not be allowed; else charging will be allowed with the input voltage.

The LM239 comparators are designed for use in level detection, low-level sensing and memory applications in consumer, automotive, and industrial electronic applications. These quad comparators feature high gain, wide bandwidth characteristics. This gives the device oscillation tendencies if the outputs are capacitive coupled to the inputs via stray capacitance. To alleviate this situation input resistors < 10 k_ should be used.

Please refer to Figure 12 in the drawing for the Voltage monitor for charger circuit VTS Controller

This is the main controller for the VTS unit. The Q2686 chip has been used for this design. This circuit describes the connectivity of the controller with all other modules in the design. Quad Band GSM and GPRS is obtained using Q2686 chip. This connects dual SIM, Watch dog timer, voltage monitor for battery, Serial flash, UART, Opto couplers, Relays & two way voice communications.
Mobile Communication Activity LED & GPS Activity LED's are connected to the controller.

Please refer to Figure 13 in the drawing for the Wireless Controller circuit

The wireless controller equipped with up to 44 GPIOs, the Q2686 is especially suited to applications which require a high number of connections. The Q2686 has ARM9 32 bit processor which operates at 104 MHz running Open AT® RTOS. It has internal memory, supports up to 128Mb Flash and 128 MB PSRAM. It can support up to 44 GPIO, 2 INT, 2 SPI, 1 I2C, 5x5 keyboards. Also has 2 UART, USB 2.0 for digital communication. It has 2 Analog interfaces (ADC). It supports GSM standard SMS. It has 1 UFL connector for GSM FR, 1 RF connection which allows supporting board to board solution, 100 I/O Pins connector.

Watch dog timer

Reset signal to the Wireless CPU gets generated from the Watch Dog Timer Reset generation chip. This circuit is used to reset the main controller when there is no data transaction for more than 60-180 seconds. GPI013 is used as an enable for Watch-dog timer. WDIJN is the input to the Watch-dog timer.

The MAX6369 is pin-selectable watchdog timers that supervise microprocessor activity and signal when a system is operating improperly. During normal operation, the microprocessor should repeatedly toggle the watchdog input (WDI) before the selected watchdog timeout period elapses to demonstrate that the system is processing code properly. If the microprocessor does not provide a valid watchdog input transition before the timeout period expires, the supervisor asserts a watchdog (WDO) output to signal that the system is not executing the desired instructions within the expected time frame. The watchdog output pulse can be used to reset the microprocessor or interrupt the system to warn of processing errors. The MAX6369 is a flexible watchdog timer supervisor that can increase system reliability through notification of code execution errors.

Please refer to Figure 14 in the drawing for the 3Watch dog timer circuit

GSM connectivity through Sim

This circuit is used for GSM connectivity for the Vehicle Tracking System. This circuit has option of using either single Sim card or dual sim cards. Among the two sim cards from dual configuration, active sim will be chosen by main controller through firmware. The 2nd SIM is an assembly option. This feature is to save roaming fee. This circuit uses LTC4558 chip which helps in selecting the two sims. All Smart Card pins can withstand over 10kV of human body model ESD in-situ. In order to ensure proper ESD protection chips ESDA6V1SC6 & DALC208SC6 are used.

The LTC4558 features two independent SIM/Smart Card channels. Only one of these channels may be open for communication at a time however both channels can be enabled and made ready for communication using the ENABLEA and ENABLEB pins. This allows faster transition from one channel to the other.

Activation and deactivation sequencing is handled by built-in circuitry. Each channel may be activated or deactivated independently of the other. The activation sequence for each channel is initiated by bringing the ENABLEA,B pin HIGH. The deactivation sequence is initiated by bringing the ENABLEA.B pin LOW. The activation or deactivation sequences will take place every time a card channel is enabled or disabled. When a channel is deselected using the CSEL pin, the RSTA.B state is latched, the l/OA.B channel becomes high impedance and CLKA.B is brought LOW after a maximum of two clock cycles. The VCCA,B, l/OA,B, RSTA.B, CLKA.B and DATA pins are all protected against short-circuit faults. While there are no logic outputs to indicate that a fault has occurred, these pins will be able to tolerate the fault condition until it has been removed.

The DALC208SC6 diode array is designed to protect components which are connected to data and transmission lines from over-voltages caused by electrostatic discharge (ESD) or other transients. It is rail-to-rail protection devices also suited for overshoot and undershoot suppression on sensitive logic inputs. The low capacitance of the DALC208SC6 prevents from significant signal distortion.

The ESDA6V1SC6 is a monolithic voltage suppressors designed to protect components which are connected to data and transmission lines against ESD. It clamps the voltage just above the logic level supply for positive transients and to a diode drop below ground for negative transient.

Please refer to Figure 15 in the drawing for the Dual SIM circuit.

UART

This circuit describes the UART connection with the main controller. This can be used to connect between GPS receiver & wireless controller, Q2686 Serial Port interface is used for downloading software and it can also communicate with Console unit.

Please refer to Figure 16 in the drawing for the UART connection diagram GPS Receiver

This connector will be used to connect the GPS receiver. This is connected with main controller. A PS/2 style connector on the board is used to connect Standard integrated GPS antenna with GPS receiver (Sirf Star-3), The receiver is built-in with the antenna. So less noise prone as compared to a solution have a cable between GPS antenna and the GPS receiver. Communication with the Wireless CPU through RS232 COM port and hence there could be long cable length between the Main VTS unit and the GPS Antenna.

Please refer to Figure 17 in the drawing for the PS/2 Connector diagram

USB interface

The USB is not a serial port, it is a serial bus, a fact that enables a single port on the computer to be a link for a myriad of devices, (up to 127 devices in a USB system). We can easily chain one device to another and use one port as a connecting point of many devices by using a hub. All this enables us to look at the USB system as a small network of devices. The Universal Serial Bus (USB) makes connecting devices to your computer faster, easier and virtually limitless. High-Speed USB devices are capable of communicating at speeds up to 12 megabits without shutting down and without having to open your computer.

This circuit is used for USB interface. USB device can be used for data transfer & firmware download. The STF202 device is designed for applications requiring Line Termination, EMI Filtering and ESD Protection. The STF202 device from ON Semiconductor provides upstream termination, EMI Filtering and ESD Protection to IEC6100-4-2 (Level 4) in an integrated solution placed in a small and single package.

The LP2985 regulator converts 5V to 3.3 V suitable for the USB interface. The LP2985 family of fixed-output, low-dropout regulators offers exceptional, cost-effective performance for both portable and non-portable applications. A minimum value of 1 mF is required at the input of the LP2985, The LP2985 permits the use of low-ESR capacitors at the output, including ceramic capacitors that can have an ESR as low as 5 mQ, The LP2985 allows for low-noise performance with the use of a bypass capacitor that is connected to the internal band-gap reference via the BYPASS pin.

Please refer to Figure 18 in the drawing for the USB interface diagram

Fuel Monitor

This circuit contains a instrumentation amplifier chip, which measures the fuel level in the primary tank and it gives the value to the controller. Here one ADC channel is provided with filtering and isolation. A 3-pin RIA connector is provided to connect across the car Fuel Gauge with a shield. The gain achieved by this instrumentation amplifier is 1/6* of the input.

LM224 consist of four independent high-gain frequency-compensated operational amplifiers that are designed specifically to operate from a single supply over a wide range of voltages. The low supply-current drain is independent of the magnitude of the supply voltage.

The term "instrumentation amplifier" is properly used to describe a category of true differential input amplifiers that emphasize high common mode rejection (CMR) and accuracy.

Please refer to Figure 19 in the drawing for the Fuel monitor circuit diagram

Fuel Monitor for second fuel tank

This circuit uses a fuel monitor which measures the fuel level present in the second fuel tank. Fuel level is presented to the main controller. This chip also used to check the battery voltage level by selecting the GPlO32.

The CD4052B analog multiplexer are digitally-controlled analog switches having low ON impedance and very low OFF leakage current. These multiplexer circuits dissipate extremely low quiescent power over the full VDD-VSS and VDD-VEE supply-voltage ranges, independent of the logic state of the control signals. When logic "1" is present at inhibit input terminal, all channels are off. The CD4052B is a differential 4-Channel multiplexer having two binary control inputs, A and B( and an inhibit input. The two binary input signals select 1 of 4 pairs of channels to be turned on and connect the analog inputs to the outputs.

Please refer to Figure 20 in the drawing for the diagram for Fuel monitor circuit for second fuel tank

Flash memory

This circuit describes the connectivity of 32 Mb serial flash with the controller. We use AT25DF321 flash chip in this circuit This will be used to storing the GPS tracking Data in GSM shadow region.

The AT25DF321 is a serial interface Flash memory device designed for use in a wide variety of high-volume consumer based applications in which program code is shadowed from Flash memory into embedded or external RAM for execution. The flexible erase architecture of the AT25DF321, with its erase granularity as small as 4-Kbytes, makes it ideal for data storage as well, eliminating the need for additional data storage EEPROM devices.

Please refer to Figure 21 in the drawing for the Flash memory circuit

Two way voice communication

This circuit is used for connectivity for microphone & speaker.

This filers the signal from microphone & send it to the controller.

The audio signals for speaker also get filtered here.

Please refer to Figure 22 and 23 in the drawing for the Microphone filtering circuit and Speaker filtering circuit

Intrusion detection

This circuit is used to intrusion detection of the VTS gadget. If the door of the gadget is opened, it will intimate it to the main controller. There is an IR LED & a sensor which performs this operation. If door is opened, the sensor cannot sense the light from LED & gives intrusion intimation. This intrusion detection can be used to sense whether the door of the gadget has been opened or tried to be tampered by driver. Intrusion detection can be implemented to check when the number plate of the vehicle has been tried to remove.

The CM3602 is an advanced proximity sensor with I2C protocol interface. The CM3602 is a highly integration design for the distance detection and ambient light sensing solution. It incorporates the photodiode, amplifiers, and analog / digital circuits in a single chip by CMOS process. The CM3602 has excellent temperature compensation capability for keeping the output stable under various temperature configurations. The best spectral sensitivity for Ambient Light is used to be close to human eyes. A 20Hz digital low pass filter for Ambient Light Sensor (ALS) is present in the chip. It is immune to fluorescent light flickering. This chip has integrated IR LED driver. It is intelligent in background light rejection. Excellent linear 12bits resolution for ALS (0 -1K Lux range) is obtained from CM3602. The PS terminal gives digital output (detect threshold 2cm).

The CM3650 is a high intensity infrared emitting diode (850nm). It had excellent matched with the CM3602 proximity sensor application with a smallest package size. It has low forward voltage.

Please refer to Figure 24 in the drawing for the Intrusion detection circuit

Temperature Sensor

This circuit is used to connect the main controller with the temperature sensor connector. Engine Temperature Monitoring can be done if we connect a temperature sensor with this connector. SDA & SCL are the I2C pins connected to the controller, Please refer to Figure 25 in the drawing for the Connector for temperature sensor

ADC Connector

I2C ADC is connected with a connector to support new device to interface with the VTS board for future purpose. SDA & SCL are the I2C pins connected to the controller which helps in programming the device connected to it.

Please refer to Figure 26 in the drawing for the ADC port diagram
Relay Circuit

This circuit contains two relays which are used for immobilisation of the vehicle. Output from the wireless controller is given as input to relay circuit which operates in 12V. The signal levels of these signals are low; hence need to be strengthened by the Darlington array.

Please refer to Figure 27 in the drawing for the Relay Circuit diagram

Darlington array

Darlington pair transistor is used to boost the signal strength of the input. The signal strength levels of the signals from the wireless controller are low & are being strengthened by the Darlington array.

Please refer to Figure 28 in the drawing for the Darlington pair Diagram

Opto couplers

This contains 2 pair of opto couplers. Among these four Opto isolated couplers, two are input & other two are output. This circuit is being used in ignition system of the engines.

The, FOD050L opto-couplers consist of an AIGaAs LED optically coupled to a high speed photo-detector transistor. These devices are specified for operation at a 3.3V supply voltage. A separate connection for the bias of the photodiode improves the speed by several orders of magnitude over conventional phototransistor opto*couplers by reducing the base collector capacitance of the input transistor.

Please refer to Figure 28, 29 and 30 in the drawing for the Output, input Opto Coupler! and input Opto Coupler2 diagrams

Ignition monitoring
The diagram in figure 38 typically explains about Ignition Monitoring. This application is used to detect intruders into a vehicle. The unit is configured by the owner, such that when the ignition is turned on by anyone other than him, he would get an alarm. The unit would be connected through the ignition switch via its fuse. Now the unit will receive power only if the ignition is turned on. Once it is on, i.e the "Ignition Monitoring" option, is set, the software monitors the vehicle Ignition status from the Hardware interface as intrusion detection until the "Ignition Monitoring" option has been reset by the user.

Door Ajar monitoring

The diagram in figure 39 typically explains about the monitoring the status of a car door. A potential free momentary contact switch will be fitted between the car door and the car chassis on the pivot axis. Upon the door closed event, the switch gets depressed and makes contact. Upon the door open event, the switch gets released and the contact is broken. The switch contacts are connected electrically as shown in the figure 39.

The unit senses the switch contact make or break status. The software in the vehicle unit will send alerts upon anyu unexpected door open status. The end user can set the monitoring ON / OFF remotely.

Connectors for Opto couplers

There are two connectors for the opto isolated couplers. J7 is the input connector which carries input from the device. J8 is the output connector which carries the digital output from the opto-couplers.

Please refer to Figures 31 and 32 in the drawing for the input and output connectors for the Opto-couplers.
Berg Header

This Connector is used to connect RS232 cable with the controller for data transfer, This connector transfers and receives data serially with the wireless controller.

Please refer to Figure 33 in the drawing for the Berg header connector

HDMI Connector

This Connector is used to connect HDMI cable with the controller. This connector can be used to connect with the HMI for voice communication. Also it carries serial port data between wireless controller and console unit.

Please refer to Figure 34 in the drawing for the HDMI Connector Diagram

Board to board connector

There are two board to board connectors used to communicate between feature board & the lite board. Figure-33 shows the board to board connector for GPIO pins. Figure-34 shows the board to board connector for power supply.

Please refer to Figure 35 in the drawing for the Board to Board Connector for GPIO Pins.

Please refer to Figure 36 in the drawing for the Board to Board Connector for power supply.

Various scenarios where the system can be used

• Fleet Management: Fleet Management is the most utilized aspect of the system. Fleet Management is the means by which those organizations that have transportation in their business to remove or minimize the risks associated with vehicle investment, improving efficiency, productivity and reducing their overall transportation costs. The most basic function in all fleet management systems is the vehicle tracking component. This component is usually GPS based. Once vehicle location, direction and speed are determined from the GPS components, additional tracking capabilities transmit this information to a Fleet Management software application, Details of fuel consumed, fuel available are also transmitted. Methods for data transmission include both GSM and satellite.

• Asset Tracking: Companies needing to track valuable assets for insurance or other monitoring purposes can now plot the real-time asset location on a map and closely monitor movement and operating status.

• Field Service Management: Companies with a field service workforce for services such as repair or maintenance, must be able to plan field workers' time, schedule subsequent customer visits and be able to operate these departments efficiently. Vehicle tracking allows companies to quickly locate a field engineer and dispatch the closest one to meet a new customer request or provide site arrival information.

• Field Sales: Mobile sales professionals can access real-time locations. For example, in unfamiliar areas, they can locate themselves as well as customers and prospects, get driving directions and add nearby last-minute appointments to itineraries. Benefits include increased productivity, reduced driving time and increased time spent with customers and prospects.

• Trailer Tracking: Haulage and Logistics companies often operate Lorries with detachable load carrying units. The part of the vehicle that drives the load is known as the cab and the load carrying unit is known as the trailer. There are different types of trailer used for different applications, e.g., flat bed, refrigerated, curtain sider, box container.

• Intrusion detection: The intrusion detection system is used to detect several types of malicious behaviours that can occur on a vehicular asset. These can be used for detection of pilferage of container assets like fuel, milk etc.

The system can be used to effortlessly perform or all of the following tasks:

Monitor location of a vehicle
Monitor speed of a vehicle
Monitor the distance traveled
What is the idle time of a vehicle
Define geofencing
Define preferred area
Define restricted area
Backtracking and monitoring
Plurality of SIM cards has been provided
Tow way communication between the driver and control room
Fuel monitoring
Dual tank fuel monitoring
Immobilizer
ignition status
licence plate intrusion detection support
door ajar status

The essence of the invention comprises a unit that resides in each and every vehicle to be monitored, a centralized management station where centralized control and monitoring is possible over every unit and a communication system between the management station and unit; the said unit basically consisting of a GSM module, a GPS module which captures the position of the vehicle (latitude, longitude and altitude) using the GPS satellites, a control module; the said control module comprising a micro controller and flashed firmware that initialises, activates, controls and monitors other modules available in the unit and a GSM modem that handles mobile communication with the centralized management station; a provision for plurality of SIM cards that is registered to the respective mobile service provider which is used as a failsafe mechanism; the said centralized management station consisting of a remote management station and a GSM modem where the requests to unit are generated and the responses from the unit are interpreted, the said centralized management station which further initializes the communication between the unit and the management station, configures and receives the responses from unit and is connected to a database so that all responses are logged into it and wherein the said Management station and unit communicate by GPRS through the existing mobile networks and the Inter Application Communication via private MSMQ's; the said management station further comprising a web application which supports the functionality for vehicle tracking, with all its permutations and combinations and also supports Fleet Management with its different functionalities and personnel management While the present invention has been described and illustrated in terms of certain specific embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand and appreciate that it is not so limited. Additions to, deletions from and modifications to these specific embodiments may be effected without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the claims. Furthermore, features and elements from one specific embodiment may be likewise applied to another embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention as defined herein. Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to the mind of one skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed, and that modifications and embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

We Claim;

1. A vehicle tracking system comprising a unit that resides in each and every vehicle to be monitored, a centralized management station where centralized control and monitoring is possible over every unit and a communication system between the management station and unit; the said unit basically consisting of a GSM module, a GPS module which captures the position of the vehicle (latitude, longitude and altitude) using the GPS satellites, a control module; the said control module comprising a micro controller and flashed firmware that initialises, activates, controls and monitors other modules available in the unit and a GSM modem that handles mobile communication with the centralized management station; a provision for plurality of SIM cards that is registered to the respective mobile service provider which is used as a failsafe mechanism; the said centralized management station consisting of a remote management station and a GSM modem where the requests to unit are generated and the responses from the unit are interpreted, the said centralized management station which further initializes the communication between the unit and the management station, configures and receives the responses from unit and is connected to a database so that all responses are logged into it wherein the said Management station and unit communicate by GPRS through the existing mobile networks and the Inter Application Communication via private MSMQ's; the said management station further comprising a web application which supports the functionality for vehicle tracking, with all its permutations and combinations and also supports Fleet Management with its different functionalities and personnel management.

2. A vehicle tracking system as claimed in claim 1, which further includes a fuel monitor which measures the fuel level in the primary tank and the secondary tank and gives the value to the controller.

3. A vehicle tracking system as claimed in claim 1, which further includes a Intrusion detection system wherein if the number plate is intruded or if the door of the gadget is opened, it will be intimated to the main controller.

4. A vehicle tracking system as claimed in claim 1, wherein among the two sim cards from dual configuration, active sim will be chosen by main controller through firmware, and wherein the said circuit uses LTC4558 chip which helps in selecting the two sims and wherein activation and deactivation sequencing is handled by built-in circuitry and each channel may be activated or deactivated independently of the other,

5. A vehicle tracking system substantially described as herein with reference to the accompanying figures of the drawings.