FORM 2
The Patent Act 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
The Patent Rules  2005

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(SEE SECTION 10 AND RULE 13)

TITLE OF THE INVENTION

“PASSENGER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM”
APPLICANT:
Name : HCL Technologies Limited
Nationality : Indian
Address : HCL Technologies Ltd.  50-53 Greams
Road Chennai – 600006  Tamil Nadu  India

The following Specification particularly describes and ascertains the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:
TECHNICAL FIELD

[001] The embodiments herein relate to user (passenger) management system and more particularly relates to tracking the location of users in an environment.

BACKGROUND

[002] Passenger management and their movement in airports  train stations  bus stations require an increasing amount of resources. Some large airports have a throughput of several million passengers per year. In airports  delays due to late arrival of checked in passengers at boarding gates  costs a lot to the airlines in terms of time  airport terminal costs and brand equity and also to passengers in terms of inconvenience and missed connecting flights. Presently  the airlines depend on the public address system inside the airport terminal to reach out to such passengers which is not very reliable. Once onboard the aircraft  it is imperative to track the movements of passengers. Currently  there are no mechanisms to track passenger movements which can be real critical piece of evidence in certain situations as accidents  sabotage or terrorist activities.
[003] In airport terminal  some of the problems arise in tracking passengers in order to locate passengers who have checked in and localize them to specific areas or zones inside the terminal. Also  the location  area or zone based passenger density sensitization helps the airport managers to react quickly to situations of clogging  queues. This often helps to mobilize passengers by an airline staff to move them to boarding gates or for other purposes. When it comes to international travel  the boarding aircraft will reach the destination with a stopover in some airport in between. In this scenario  the passenger has to be manually asked to leave the aircraft which is very time consuming and inefficient.
[004] Currently  the above problems are solved with public address system which is very ineffective. This often leads delays to flights and customer heart burn. Airport managers have a more crude visual method of identifying busy or dense areas within the terminal and often their remedial actions are reactive and not proactive. Also  airline staff has to manually check with passengers for their boarding cards if they need to track their passenger  which is impractical in modern  big airports and very expensive for the airline company to implement. Currently there is no automatic system is available for tracking on-board passengers and passengers in aircraft during stopover.
[005] The conventional system does not solve the abovementioned problems in bus station  train stations  shopping areas. In shopping areas  the authority can count the number of users in a particular time and provide them with value-added services and operate one or more elevators  escalators and so on.
[006] In light of above discussion  the existing system of passenger or user tracking fails to address the delay caused by the passenger and also in on-board aircraft count the passengers to prevent any accidents  sabotage or terrorist activities.

SUMMARY
[007] Accordingly the invention provides a system for managing one or more users in an environment  wherein the system comprises a tag configured to include information about the one or more users  a management device configured to track the information of the one or more users with the tag  use the information to perform one or more activities  wherein the one or more activities comprises counting the one or more users in the environment and provide alert to the one or more users based on the one or more activities.
[008] Accordingly the invention provides a method for managing one or more users in an environment  wherein the method comprises including information of the one or more users in a tag  tracking the information of the one or more users with the tag  using the information to perform one or more activities  wherein the one or more activities comprises counting the one or more users in the environment and providing alert to the one or more users based on the one or more activities.
[009] These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood  however  that the following descriptions  while indicating preferred embodiments and numerous specific details thereof  are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit thereof  and the embodiments herein include all such modifications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0010] The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following detailed description with reference to the drawings  in which:
[0011] FIG. 1 illustrates an overview of tracking users in an environment  according to the embodiments disclosed herein;
[0012] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary user tracking system in the environment  according to the embodiments disclosed herein;
[0013] FIG. 3 illustrates the exemplary passenger tracking system in an airport  according to embodiments disclosed herein;
[0014] FIG. 4 illustrates the overview of tracking passengers in airport and in aircraft  according to embodiments disclosed herein;
[0015] FIG. 5 illustrates the flow diagram explaining the process of tracking passengers in airport and on-board aircraft  according to embodiments disclosed herein; and
[0016] FIG. 6 illustrates the computing environment implementing the passenger management system  according to embodiments disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0017] The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly  the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
[0018] The embodiments herein disclose a system and method to track the passengers in an environment and minimize the delay caused by the passengers in boarding the transport in the environment. The system can be implemented in the airport to quickly find out the density of passengers in real-time in various pre-marked zones within the terminal. This information can help take remedial actions like opening extra counters  doors for passage or any such action that allows easier movement. This way the passenger handling can be made efficient and customer satisfaction increases  thus enhancing brand equity of airport terminals.
[0019] At the boarding gate in the airport  the system allows an efficient counter check of the count of passengers who have moved into the aero bridge or towards the aircraft. Also  the boarding gate can get a feedback which part of the aircraft is denser with passengers and hence the boarding sequence can be managed.
[0020] When passenger gets on-board the aircraft the identification of seats is the first step. By using the proposed system the passengers can be confirmed of the seats identified with an audio and/or visual signal or by another means of message to the hand held device of the passenger.
[0021] Special flights with stopover (transit) can help improve their efficiency in tracking passengers who is exiting in the aircraft  who is entering the aircraft and who is left behind. This proposed system makes the process faster and more accurate. This is critical during international transfers where immigration and visa is involved.
[0022] In an embodiment  the environment comprises airport  aircraft  bus stations  train stations  shopping areas  departmental store or the like.
[0023] FIG. 1 illustrates an overview of tracking users in an environment  according to the embodiments disclosed herein. The figure depicts an environment 100 which comprises a management device 101 and plurality of tags such as tag 1  tag 2  tag 3 associated with user-1  user-2 and user-3 moving around the environment.
[0024] The management device 101 in the environment tracks the location of the users using the tag information. Initially  the tag is configured to store information about the user. In an embodiment  the information comprises location of users  a unique identifier of the users; boarding details of the users  travel itinerary  other personal details.
[0025] In an embodiment  the location of users is tracked using GPS chip embedded in the tag.
[0026] In an embodiment  the tag can be a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)  Near Field Communication (NFC)  Bluetooth or the like.
[0027] For example  in case of shopping area  plurality of users enters the shopping area and they will be given a tag. In an embodiment  the tag can be attached to the information card that comprises the shops in the shopping area  promotional card  gift coupon card or the like. In such a scenario  the number of users is tracked by the management device 101 in the shopping area using the tag and provides services. In an embodiment  the services comprise operating additional lifts  elevators  escalators  advertising  fire safety or the like.
[0028] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary user tracking system in the environment  according to the embodiments disclosed herein. The figure depicts the environment 100  the management device 101  a reader 200 installed in multiple places/zones in the environment. In an embodiment  the reader 200 can be a RFID reader  Bluetooth reader  NFC reader capable of reading the reading the information in the tag. The reader 200 communicates the user location or position in the environment to the management device 101 and the management device 101 allows the personal to provide to provide services to the users in the environment.
[0029] For example  in the bus station environment  the passengers are given a tag attached to the boarding pass. Then the passengers may move around the environment. In this scenario  when the bus authority wants to track the passengers within the environment 100  there are multiple readers 200 placed in and around the environment 100. There is a reader 200 located in the entry and exit points of the bus station and there can be a reader placed inside the bus station. Whenever  passengers pass by the reader 200  the reader reads the tag and send the tracked information to the management device 101. In an embodiment  the management device 101 provides graphical user interface (GUI) to the authority to track the location of the passengers and provide services.
[0030] In an embodiment  when the passenger is making a delay in boarding the bus. Then the management device 101 with the help of reader 200 tracks the location of passenger in the environment 100 and send messages  alerts to the passenger to board the bus.
[0031] FIG. 3 illustrates the exemplary passenger tracking system in an airport  according to embodiments disclosed herein. The figure depicts an overview of a typical airport environment. The airport terminal is divided into zones and sub-zones. Zone comprises a check-in desk  followed by a security check counter. After the security check there is shopping area  public area  airport lounge  a boarding gate. Then an aero bridge is used to connect the boarding gate to the aircraft. At times  buses are also used to commute the passengers from boarding gate to the aircraft.
[0032] When the passengers enter the airport  a tag is issued to the passenger. The tag enabled boarding passes  frequent flyers cards or an add-on sticker is issued at check-in desk. The tag comprises unique information about the passenger such as PNR number  date of journey  airline name  boarding details or the like.
[0033] Based on the various geo-tag readers placed in different zones of the airport  the passengers can be tracked to a particular ‘zone’ within the airport terminal. The tag input is mapped to the corresponding passenger or person and can be tagged as passenger  employee or the like. A management device 101 combines this information along with a graphical user interface and communication channel to various devices  allows the airport manager to visually map the zones with the density of people or passengers or employees. This will enable them to react to building queues or denser zones for example to open additional pathways or operate the lifts and elevators efficiently.
[0034] The zone based view of passengers can be integrated with the airline systems so that the airline staff can then monitor  if these passengers  based on their current locations will reach their boarding gates on time based on the distance from their current position to the boarding gate. This will also allow the airline staff to pin point the location where the passengers are in case they are delaying a flight and hence can mobilize them from that location.
[0035] Whenever the passenger is making delay to board the aircraft and if the detected passenger has a registered mobile number the management device 101 is configured to give a call or message to inform and mobilize the passenger towards the terminal.
[0036] Once the passenger is detected in a zone the airline agent or staff can approach that passenger to move to the boarding gate.
[0037] In some cases a local display can show the message on screen when the passenger is shopping in a particular shop in the airport lounge.
[0038] In an embodiment  the passengers are informed about their delays using corresponding displays in the air lounges and shops where the passenger is located.
[0039] FIG. 4 illustrates the overview of tracking passengers in airport and in aircraft  according to embodiments disclosed herein. The figure depicts a schematic representation of implementing the invention in the airport and aircraft environment. In the airport environment there is an airport management device 101 which tracks the location or position of the passengers using multiple reader placed in different zones of the airport. The proposed system track passengers on a zone basis within the airport terminal. These zones are scalable to increase or decrease the area per zone or the total terminal can be expanded. At the boarding gate the system allows an efficient counter check of the count of passengers who have moved in to the aero bridge or towards the aircraft. Also the boarding gate can get a feedback which part of the aircraft is denser with passengers and hence the boarding sequence can be managed.
[0040] The figure also depicts an airline management device 101 which gets the exact location of passengers they want to trace within the airport terminal. Passengers can be notified in multiple ways to increase the chances of getting their attention and hence avoid delays and associated costs. If there is a delay by a passenger  the airline management device 101 tracks the location of the passenger in the zone and the management device 101 calculates the distance from the tracked location to the aero bridge in order to board the aircraft. This even helps the airline staff to reach the passenger and mobilize the passengers towards the aero bridge. By this airline receives better brand image due to better services and on time departures.
[0041] The figure also depicts an aircraft management device on-board. The readers can be present within the management device or near the seats in the aircraft. When a passenger gets on-board  the identification of seats is the first step. By using the proposed system the passengers can be confirmed of the seats identified with an audio and/or visual signal or by another means of message such as Bluetooth based communication to the hand held device of the passenger.
[0042] During the course of air travel  the movement of passengers within the aircraft can be tracked by the aircraft management device on-board. This information can be critical during special cases as sabotage or terrorism based attacks. Even during accidents people can be tracked as to where they were at given points of time. This can serve as a passenger side black box.
[0043] In an embodiment  in case of special flights with stopover improves their efficiency in tracking who is exiting the aircraft  who is entering the aircraft and who is left behind.
[0044] For example  when a passenger wants to travel Munich from New York. The aircraft in which the passenger travels will reach the destination Munich through Dubai (transit). There can be some passengers in the aircraft who have to get down at Dubai. In the case  the aircraft management device through the reader tracks the tag information of all the passengers and easily identifies the destination place of the passengers. This helps to know the passengers who are suppose to get down at Dubai and passengers who should stay in the same aircraft to reach Munich.
[0045] FIG. 5 illustrates the flow diagram explaining the process of tracking passengers in airport and on-board aircraft  according to embodiments disclosed herein. As depicted in the flow diagram 500  initially at the check-in desk the tag is issued (501) to the passengers. The tag can be attached to the boarding pass  travel itinerary or the like. Now  the movement of the passengers in the airport is tracked (502) using the readers placed in different zones of the airport and communicated to the management device 101 located either in the airport or airline environment. Further  the airline staff checks (503) whether all the passengers of the particular aircraft are ready to board is in the aerobridge. This is detected using the reader placed in the aerobridge and the reader communicates this to the airline management device. Once the airline staff knows that all the passengers are in the aerobridge  then all the passengers are boarded (504) into the aircraft. If the airline staff finds that one or more passengers are not in the aero-bridge  then the airline staff informs (505) the one or more passengers about the boarding time. From the airline management device 101 the airline staff also knows the distance from the location of the passenger to the aero bridge. In this case  the airline staff can move to the passenger and mobilize the passenger to the aerobridge. The information (alert) may be sent to the passengers in several means.
[0046] In an embodiment  the alert can be sent to the passenger mobile number  audio alert  and visual alert in the display held by shops in airline lounge or the like.
[0047] After the passengers board onto the aircraft  the first step is to find their respective seat. The management device 101 on-board checks (506) whether the passenger identified their respective seat. If the passenger identifies their respective seat  then they move (507) to their respective seat. If the passenger did not identify their respective seat then an alert is sent (508) from the management device 101 on-board to the passenger mobile device about the seat. During ticket booking  if the passenger registers his/her mobile number with the airline  then an audio alert informing the direction to reach their respective seat  or the visual alert is sent to the passenger mobile device. The various actions in method 500 may be performed in the order presented  in a different order or simultaneously. Further  in some embodiments  some actions listed in FIG. 5 may be omitted.
[0048] FIG. 6 illustrates the computing environment implementing the passenger management system  according to embodiments disclosed herein. As depicted the computing environment 601 comprises at least one processing unit 604 that is equipped with a control unit 602 and an Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) 603  a memory 605  a storage unit 606  plurality of networking devices 708 and a plurality Input output (I/O) devices 607. The processing unit 604 is responsible for processing the instructions of the algorithm. The processing unit 604 receives commands from the control unit in order to perform its processing. Further  any logical and arithmetic operations involved in the execution of the instructions are computed with the help of the ALU 603.
[0049] The overall computing environment 601 can be composed of multiple homogeneous and/or heterogeneous cores  multiple CPUs of different kinds  special media and other accelerators. The processing unit 604 is responsible for processing the instructions of the algorithm. Further  the plurality of processing units 704 may be located on a single chip or over multiple chips.
[0050] The algorithm comprising of instructions and codes required for the implementation are stored in either the memory unit 605 or the storage 606 or both. At the time of execution  the instructions may be fetched from the corresponding memory 605 and/or storage 606  and executed by the processing unit 604.
[0051] In case of any hardware implementations various networking devices 608 or external I/O devices 607 may be connected to the computing environment to support the implementation through the networking unit and the I/O device unit.
[0052] The embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented through at least one software program running on at least one hardware device and performing network management functions to control the network elements. The network elements shown in Fig. 1  2  4 and 6 include blocks which can be at least one of a hardware device  or a combination of hardware device and software module.
[0053] The embodiment disclosed herein specifies a system and method for user/passenger management in an environment. Therefore  it is understood that the scope of the protection is extended to such a program and in addition to a computer readable means having a message therein  such computer readable storage means contain program code means for implementation of one or more steps of the method  when the program runs on a server or mobile device or any suitable programmable device.
[0054] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can  by applying current knowledge  readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept  and  therefore  such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore  while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments  those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the claims as described herein.

CLAIMS
We claim:
1. A system for managing one or more users in an environment  wherein said system comprises:
a tag configured to include information about said one or more users;
a management device configured to:
track said information of said one or more users with said tag;
use said information to perform one or more activities  wherein said one or more activities comprises counting said one or more users in said environment; and
provide alert to said one or more users based on said one or more activities.

2. The system as in claim 1  wherein said one or more activities further comprises at least one of: calculating distance of said one or more users from one or more points of said environment to determine the delay made by said one or more users in reaching said environment  identifying seat of said one or more users in said environment  monitoring movement of said one or more users in said environment.

3. The system as in claim 2  wherein said environment comprises at least one of: airport  aircraft  bus stations  train stations  shopping areas  departmental store.

4. The system as in claim 3  wherein said management device is configured to track said information of said one or more users with said tag using a reader  wherein said information comprises: location of said one or more users  a unique identifier of said one or more user  boarding details of said environment  travel itinerary  other personal details of said one or more users.

5. The system as in claim 1  wherein said management device is configured to visually map said location in said environment and provide services  wherein said services comprises at least one of: pathways  lifts  escalators.

6. The system as in claim 2  wherein said management device is configured to provide alert to said one or more users in said environment using at least one of: display  audio signal  video signal to notify said one or more users about said seat  said delay.

7. The system as in claim 6  wherein said management device is configured to provide alert to a wireless device with said one or more users.

8. The system as in claim 3  wherein said management device is implemented as an on-board device in said aircraft and configured to identify said seat of said one or more users using said information in said tag.

9. A method for managing one or more users in an environment  wherein said method comprises:
including information of said one or more users in a tag;
tracking said information of said one or more users with said tag;
using said information to perform one or more activities  wherein said one or more activities comprises counting said one or more users in said environment; and
providing alert to said one or more users based on said one or more activities.

10. The method as in claim 9  wherein said one or more activities further comprises at least one of: calculating distance of said one or more users from one or more points of said environment to determine the delay made by said one or more users in reaching said environment  identifying seat of said one or more users in said environment  monitoring movement of said one or more users in said environment.

11. The method as in claim 10  wherein said environment comprises at least one of: airport  aircraft  bus stations  train stations  shopping areas  departmental store.

12. The method as in claim 11  wherein said method tracks said information of said one or more users with said tag using a reader  wherein said information comprises: location of said one or more users  a unique identifier of said one or more users  boarding details of said environment  travel itinerary  other personal details of said one or more users.

13. The method as in claim 9  wherein said method further comprises visually mapping said location in said environment and provide services  wherein said services comprises at least one of: pathways  lifts  escalators.

14. The method as in claim 10  wherein said method provides alert to said one or more users in said environment using at least one of: display  audio signal  video signal to notify said one or more users about said seat  said delay.

15. The method as in claim 14  wherein said method provides alert to a wireless device with said one or more users.

16. The method as in claim 11  wherein said method comprises an on-board device in said aircraft and configured to identify said seat of said one or more users using said information in said tag.

Dated: 4th December 2012 Signature:

Dr Kalyan Chakravarthy
(Patent Agent)

ABSTRACT

A system and method for passenger/user management in an environment is disclosed. The system provides tag enabled material to the passengers and multiple readers are located in the environment to track the location of the passengers within the environment. The reader communicates the tracked location to the management device in the environment. The system provides a simple and efficient way to track passengers within an airport terminal and on-board. The system offers better airport operations and passenger experience and provides cost savings to airlines due to reduced number of flight delays. The management device tracks the passengers using Wi-Fi  GSM  Personal Address  Displays to provide alert to the passenger for any services.
FIG. 2