Dual-satellite emergency locator beacon and method for registering, programming and updating emergency locator beacon over the air

摘要

A dual-satellite emergency locator beacon and method for programming and updating such emergency locator beacons over the air. The system uses a second commercial satellite as the carrier for the data back to the beacon together with the means of coupling these parts together. The system can be manually updated or can be part of a registration system that gets automatically updated. In a second embodiment a method and apparatus for implementing emergency locator beacon registration is provided. The system provides data concerning the user into a backend service which can be utilized to provide all necessary information needed to register the emergency beacon.

主权项

1. An emergency communications beacon, comprising:
a first satellite communications transmitter, a second satellite communications transmitter, a first microprocessor and a second microprocessor; wherein said first microprocessor controls said first transmitter and said second microprocessor controls said second transmitter; wherein said first transmitter is configured to communicate over a Cospas-Sarsat satellite communications system and said second transmitter is configured to communicate over a commercial satellite communications system; wherein said first and second microprocessors are interconnected to permit data transfer therebetween; wherein said second microprocessor is connected to a display interface, said display interface is connected to a display, whereby said display interface processes signals and instructions sent from said second microprocessor to said display.