Apparatus and method for radio frequency silencing in oil and gas operations, excavation sites, and other environments

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a location tracking device, a request to identify the location tracking device;

transmitting a response identifying the location tracking device;

receiving, via a wireless communication, a silence command at the location tracking device, the silence command instructing the location tracking device to stop all wireless transmissions;

transmitting a message indicating that the location tracking device entered a radio silence mode at a certain time;

stopping all wireless transmissions from the location tracking device for a pre-specified period of time in response to the silence command;

determining at the location tracking device that the pre-specified period of time has elapsed; and

resuming wireless transmissions from the location tracking device in response to the determination that the pre-specified period of time has elapsed.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pre-specified period of time comprises a length of time defined by the silence command.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the length of the pre-specified period of time is identified by the location tracking device prior to the pre-specified period of time elapsing.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pre-specified period of time comprises a length of time stored in a memory of the location tracking device.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the response identifying the location tracking device is transmitted prior to receiving the silence command.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the message indicating that the location tracking device entered a radio silence mode at a certain time comprises:

transmitting a notification indicating that the silence command has been received prior to stopping all wireless transmissions.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the notification includes an identity of the location tracking device, an identity of a user or device that issued the silence command, a location of the location tracking device, a timestamp and a verification of the silence command.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the silence command comprises receiving the silence command over one of: a cellular communication network, a satellite communication network, and a WiFi communication network.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

during the specified period of time, receiving at the location tracking device an incoming communication attempting to elicit a response from the location tracking device; and

refraining from transmitting the response from the location tracking device to thereby verify that the location tracking device is operating in a silent mode.

10. An apparatus comprising:

a location tracking device configured to be associated with an asset, the location tracking device configured to track a location of the location tracking device to thereby track a location of the asset, the location tracking device comprising:

at least one wireless transceiver configured to communicate wirelessly; and

a control unit configured to:

receive a request to identify the location tracking device;

transmit a response identifying the location tracking device;

receive via the at least one wireless transceiver, a silence command instructing the location tracking device to stop all wireless transmissions;

transmit a message indicating that the location tracking device entered a radio silence mode at a certain time;

stop all wireless transmissions from the at least one wireless transceiver for a pre-specified length of time in response to the silence command;

determine that the pre-specified length of time has elapsed; and

automatically resume wireless transmissions by the at least one wireless transceiver in response to the determination that the pre-specified length of time has elapsed.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the control unit is configured to identify the pre-specified length of time using the silence command.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the control unit is configured to extract the pre-specified length of time from a memory of the location tracking device.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein, prior to the pre-specified length of time elapsing, the control unit is configured to identify the pre-specified length of time in a duration comprising at least one of: minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the control unit is configured to transmit the message indicating that the location tracking device entered the radio silence mode at the certain time by initiating transmission of a notification indicating that the silence command has been received prior to stopping all wireless transmissions.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the notification includes an identity of the location tracking device, an identity of a user or device that issued the silence command, the location of the location tracking device, a timestamp and a verification of the silence command.

16. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the location tracking device further comprises:

a global positioning system (GPS) engine configured to identify the location of the location tracking device.

17. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the at least one wireless transceiver comprises:

at least one shorter-range transceiver comprising one or more of: a BLUETOOTH Low Energy transceiver, a WiFi transceiver, a ZIGBEE transceiver, and a Radio Frequency identification (RFID) transceiver; and

at least one longer-range transceiver comprising one or more of: a cellular network transceiver and a satellite network transceiver.