Systems and methods for electronic signature tracking
View Patent ↗A system and method to identify and track one or more targets of interest. The system may include a plurality of collection systems to capture information related to visual identifiers and/or electronic signatures associated with targets in selected locations. The system may further include an intelligence system to determine a target of interest based on the information related to visual identifiers and/or electronic signatures and to track the target of interest.
1 . A system for collecting and correlating identifying information for surveillance and tracking, comprising:
a plurality of collection systems located within a geographic area, one or more of the plurality of collection systems comprising visual ID collection systems having one or more sensors configured to capture visual identifiers of a plurality of targets, and one or more of the plurality of collection systems comprising electronic signal collection systems having one or more sensors configured to capture electronic signatures, wherein the electronic signatures are based on electronic signals emanating from one or more types of electronic devices carried by or associated with one or more targets of the plurality of targets;
wherein each of the plurality of collection systems is configured to determine GPS or other location data, a time of capture, or combinations thereof, for each capture of an electronic signature or a visual identifier; and
an intelligence system in communication with the plurality of collection systems, the intelligence system configured to:
receive, from the plurality of collection systems, the information related to the visual identifiers and the electronic signatures;
determine a relationship between one or more of the visual identifiers captured by one or more of the visual ID collection systems for at least one target of the plurality of targets and at least one electronic signature from the electronic devices carried by or associated with the one or more targets captured by one or more of the electronic signal collection systems;
wherein the relationship is based on a correlation of a frequency of capture and amount of captures of one or more of the visual identifiers and the one or more electronic signatures, and a selected proximity of capture of the one or more of the visual identifiers and one or more identified electronic signatures to one or more selected collection systems;
determine, based on the relationship, one or more of a previous location or a frequent location within a prescribed area at which a visual indicator and a correlated electronic signal are matched to enable tracking of targets;
search for captures of electronic signatures of at least one of the one or more electronic devices and related visual identifiers associated with one or more targets of interest by one or more of the electronic signal collection systems and visual ID collection systems;
search for captures of the electronic signatures of the at least one of the one or more electronic devices by at least one electronic signal collection system where one or more visual identifiers associated with the one or more targets of interest are not captured by a visual ID collection system; and
generate a record of movement or location patterns of the one or more targets of interest, a verification of the one or more targets of interest at a location, or combinations thereof, within the prescribed area and within an inputted time period.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the plurality of collection systems comprise an automated license plate reader.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the plurality of collection systems comprise an array of sensors each configured to detect and capture one or more electronic signals associated with the electronic devices.
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the array of sensors includes one or more of a Bluetooth® antenna, a Wifi antenna, a RFID antenna, or other RF antenna.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of collection systems further comprise one or more cameras, configured to capture the visual identifiers.
6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the visual identifiers include one or more of license plates, stickers, patterns, position(s) of component parts, after-market added parts, damage, and various other markings relating to a vehicle.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the intelligence system further comprises a classification and search engine configured to determine relationships between an identified electronic device generating captured electronic signals and one or more visual identifiers of a vehicle, and a location and time of receipt of at least one electronic signature for the vehicle.
8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein each of the plurality of collection systems is configured to transmit the GPS or other location data, the time of capture, or combinations thereof for each capture with the information related to visual identifiers and at least one electronic signal transmitted to the intelligence system.
9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the intelligence system further comprises a user interface.
10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the user interface comprises one or more displays configured to display one or more of visual identifiers and electronic signatures associated with at least one identified vehicle, relationships between the at least one identified vehicle and one or more electronic devices associated with the electronic signatures, or routes or predicted routes of the at least one identified vehicle.
11 . A method of identifying and tracking targets, comprising:
capturing, via a plurality of collection systems, one or more visual identifiers of a plurality of vehicles and one or more electronic signatures of one or more electronic devices carried by at least one target associated with each of the plurality of vehicles;
wherein the plurality of collection systems includes a plurality of visual ID collection systems configured to capture the visual identifiers of the vehicles, and a plurality of electronic signal collection systems configured to capture the electronic signals of the one or more electronic devices;
wherein each of the plurality of collection systems is configured to determine GPS or other location data, a time of capture, or combinations thereof, for each capture of the one or more visual identifiers and the one or more electronic signatures;
transmitting the one or more visual identifiers and the one or more electronic signatures to an intelligence system, wherein the intelligence system is configured to:
correlate at least one of the one or more visual identifiers with at least one electronic signature of the one or more electronic signatures and a location and time of capture of the at least one electronic signature;
wherein the correlation is based on amount of captures of the one or more visual identifiers and the one or more electronic signatures within a selected proximity; and
determine associations between each of the vehicles with one or more electronic devices identified with one or more of real-time captures of the visual identifiers and electronic signatures;
using the intelligence system, performing convoy searches to identify one or more electronic devices with at least one vehicle of the one or more of the vehicles based the associations between the one or more vehicles and at least one electronic device of the one or more electronic devices;
determine, based on the associations, one or more locations within prescribed area at which a visual identifier of the at least one vehicle associated with the target of interest and a correlated electronic signature of the at least one electronic device are matched to enable tracking of targets, location of targets, verification of targets at a location, or combinations thereof;
search for captures of the correlated electronic signature of the at least one electronic device and one or more visual identifiers of a vehicle associated with one or more targets of interest by one or more collection systems within the prescribed area; and
when one or more visual identifiers associated with the one or more targets of interest are not captured by a visual ID collection system, search for captures of the correlated electronic signature of the at least one electronic device by at least one electronic signal collection system to enable tracking, placement, or combinations thereof of the one or more target of interests at one or more locations where a visual identifier of the vehicle is not captured by a visual ID collection system.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the real-time updated captures comprise captures of the visual identifiers and electronic signatures from electronic devices associated therewith at successive times and locations.
13 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising displaying, via a user interface in communication with the intelligence system, real-time geographic locations of the identified vehicles.
14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising displaying, via the user interface in communication with the intelligence system, the associations between the visual identifiers and electronic signatures from electronic devices.
15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein capturing the visual identifiers and electronic signatures of a plurality of electronic devices comprises capturing an image of a vehicle license plate with a license plate reader; and capturing transmitted electronic signals with a Bluetooth® antenna, a Wifi antenna, a RFID antenna, RF antenna, or combinations thereof.
16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one target comprises one or more vehicles and one or more people.
17 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of targets comprises one or more vehicles and one or more people.
18 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the user interface comprises one or more displays configured to display a user selectable alarm to create an alert for a specific electronic signature, and the intelligence system is further configured to: generate an alarm when the specific electronic signature is captured at one or more of the plurality of collection systems to alert of a presence of the target.
19 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the user interface comprises one or more displays configured to display one or more of a previous location or a frequent location of one or more targets about a prescribed location or area.
20 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the intelligence system is configured to:
determine two or more targets are associated based on a proximity of at least two electronic signatures from the electronic devices carried by or associated with two or more targets captured by the plurality of collection system.