GB2102996A

GB2102996A - Security system

Info

Publication number: GB2102996A
Application number: GB08216965A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kjeel Ingvar Jeppsson; Gunnar Oskar Persson
Original assignee: Securitas International AB
Current assignee: Securitas International AB
Priority date: 1981-07-01
Filing date: 1982-06-11
Publication date: 1983-02-09
Also published as: BE893723A; NO156663B; JPS5814299A; CA1181152A; FI822084A0; NO156663C; DK293782A; NO822150L; FI822084L; GB2102996B; FI72826C; DK153259B; DK153259C; FI72826B; SE423736B

Abstract

In a system for producing an operating signal for, for example, opening a lock (35) in a unit (27), for example a bank, there is included a central data processor (10) and a terminal (1) carried by a guard. The terminal (1) is provided with a code transmitter (6) including a code which is unique for the unit in question, this code being sent to the data processor (10) from the terminal together with a code personal to the guard. If the data processor accepts the received code upon comparison with stored information, the random signal generator (14) transmits a random code signal to the unit (27) and to the terminal (1). The random code signal is transmitted from the terminal to a code receiver (26) in the unit, and the two random code signals received are compared to cause the operating signal to be generated. The unit code may also be sent with the random code signal to enable the comparison of the random signals. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A system for producing an operating signal The present invention relates to a system for producing a signal in a circuit incorporated in a unit of property, hereinafter referred to as unit, such as a bank or office building, said system including an alarm centre having a data processor and a random signal generator for transmitting control signals, and a terminal in the form of a mobile signal unit arranged to produce a characteristic code signal.

The system is primarily intended for security companies, where the data processor, together with auxiliary equipment, is installed in the company's alarm centre, and the terminal, which can be made very light, is carried by the guard, In systems of this kind known hitherto, there is no direct relationship between the data processor and the terminal. The data processor has mainly been used for registering random code signals sent to the unit and for registering reply signals from said unit, while the terminal has been used to send directly to the unit a characteristic code which gives the guard entry to the unit, by activating, for example, a lock circuit in a lockopening mode through the code signal.

The prime object of the invention is to utilize a data processor, random signal generator and terminal in an integrated system which firstly affords optimum security and secondly, if so desired, enables measures taken by the guard or some other person equipped with a terminal, and the result of these measures, to be verified.

This optimum security is achieved by producing an operating signal for entry to the unit, or for activating a device in said unit, by means of a random code signal which is simultaneously transmitted from the alarm centre to the unit and to the terminal, and also from the terminal to the unit. Thus, the operating signal is obtained solely as a reply in two identical random code signals fed-in from two mutually separate pieces of equipment within one and the same time interval.

The random code signal is preferably fed in by means of a small hand-carried signal pen, arranged to send the random code signal in the form of light signals to a specific receiving location at, for example, an entrance to a bank.

This means that the guard must position the signal pen against, or closely adjacent an optical lens, for example, in a receiver, which constitutes a good safeguard against an intruder feeding in the random code signal from the terminal when, for example, overcoming the guard after the guard has sent his signal alarm centre.

Verification of the steps taken by the guard of the user, and the signals obtained is effected through the arrangement of a memory store in the terminal, said memory store, for example, being readout upon completion of an inspection round by the guard or upon completion of a working period, and the contents of said store written onto a recording sheet. In this way, the security company obtains proof that the guard in their employ has fulfilled his duty to the client.

The main characterizing features of the invention are set forth in the following claims, and the invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawing.

The drawing is a simplified view of an exemplary embodiment of a system according to the invention. The guard, or other person, who is to use the system to guard a unit, or to obtain entry thereinto, such as a factory, a bank, an alarm system or the like has been provided with a portable terminal 1 and a radio transmitter and receiver 2. The terminal 1 incorporates a pushbutton board 3 by means of which the guard can enter an allotted personal number or a code number given to him when leaving the terminal.

The push-button board 3 can be provided with a separate button or key 4 for generating an implementation signal. In the illustrated embodiment, the terminal comprises a clock 5, suitably a quartz clock, driven by batteries (not shown) arranged in the terminal, said batteries also being used to drive the electronic circuits in the terminal. The terminal 1 also incorporates a code transmitter 6 which receives the output signal from the push-button board 3 through a line 39, and contains a code which is fed in by the alarm centre 11 which has issued the terminal, and which is unknown to the user of said terminal.The code transmitter 6 contains a code number in binary form for the unit or units to which the user of the terminal has access, and the time expressed in day, month and year, and preferably also in which time period, the user of the terminal can activate the aforementioned device in said unit. The time period may comprise one or more minutes, or a full day. In order to be able to give correct information in this case, the clock 5 is arranged to produce signals relating to the day, month, year and the time of day. The signals produced by the clock 5 are fed through a line 7 to the code transmitter 6, either continuously or after pressing the button 4, and the code transmitter compares the time signals with the programmed time signal and is blocked when a comparison shows that the terminal 1 is used outside the permitted time period.The terminal 1 is also provided with a random-code signal receiver and random-code signal transmitter 8 and a registering memory store 8, in which the steps taken and the time at which the steps were taken etc. are registered, and which can be coupled to a data processing system when the duties of the attendant person have been carried out, for writing out this information.

In the illustrated embodiment, the memory store 9 is connected to the bank of push-buttons 3 by a line 17, and is opened, i.e. made available for registration, immediately the push-button board is activated, by entering the code number of the user or by activating the implementation button 4. In this way, the code number of the user is registered and also the time at which the pushbutton board or implementation button 4 was activated, since the clock 5 feeds its information into the memory store through a line 1 8.

The portable transmitter-receiver 2 carried by the user is connected to the output of the code transmitter 6 through a line 40, and is adapted to transmit code signals from the code transmitter 6 to a data processor 10 in the centre 11 which has issued the terminal 1 and inserted the code in the code transmitter 6 of the terminal. The signals transmitted to the data 10 by means of the antenna or aerial 12 are shown by the broken line 1 3. The receiver part of the transmitter-receiver 2 is arranged to receive wireless radio signals from a radio transmitter 24 in a random code signal generator 14 connected to the data processor 10, as indicated by the broken line 1 5, and these signals are transmitted to the random-code-signal receiver-transmitter 8 through a line 1 6.

Information received in the random-code-signal receiver-transmitter 8 is transmitted through a line 1 9 to the memory store 9, which also received, through a line 20, and stores code signal information transmitted from the code transmitter 6 to the transmitter part of the transmitterreceiver 2.

The central data processor 10 is arranged to receive by means of a radio receiver 21 the output signals from the transmitter part of the transmitter-receiver 2, and to compare the signals with stored information which is identical with the information in the code transmitter 6 combined with the code entered by the user of the terminal 1 through the push-button board 3.If the information stored in the data processor 10 coincides with the instructions or information in the code transmitter 6, the data processor 10 will send, through line 22, an opening signal to the random signal generator 14, which then transmits a completely randomly selected code signal on the output line 23, and in addition over the ratio transmitter 24 the same randomly selected signal which is received by the receiver part of the transmitter-receiver 2, which sends the signal further over line 1 6 to the random-code-signal receiver-transmitter 8. Should the information contained in the data processor 10 not coincide with the signal obtained from the transmitterreceiver 2, an alarm signal can be sent over a line 25, this alarm signal being arranged, for example, to activate an optical or acoustic device (not shown) in the alarm centre.

This lack of agreement between the signal from the code transmitter 6 and the code stored in the data processor 10 may be caused by the guard entering the wrong code number into the push-button board 3, or by the guard attempting to approach the unit at the wrong time etc, or by the terminal 1 being used by an unauthorized person. It is assumed here that there is agreement between said signal and said code and that consequently the random code generator, which may be of any known type, has transmitted a signal through the line 23 and the radio transmitter 24. The random code signal is received in a code receiver 26 in the unit 27 to be reached by the guard, the user of the terminal 1, with the guard being located at a check point outside or within the unit 27.The check point is provided with an optical receiver-transmitter 28, which is arranged to receive signals from an optical transmitter-receiver 29, which in the illustrated embodiment has the form of a rod or pen manipulated by the guard. As beforementioned, the signals produced by the random code generator 14 are received by the transmitter-receiver 2 coupled to the terminal 1, and are fed into the random code receivertransmitter 8, from where the signals are transmitted further to the optical transmitterreceiver 29, via a flexible cable 30. The pen 29 may also be incorporated in the housing or casing of the terminal 1, in which case the whole of the terminal is moved towards the optical receivertransmitter 28.The transmitter-receiver 29, which is of a kind known per se, is provided, for example, with a first light diode, which is pulsed with the random code signals and transmits light pulses to the optical receiver-transmitter 28, which converts these light pulses into corresponding electric pulses, i.e. to the code transmitted by the random signal generator 14.

The receiver 28 transmits the random signal pulses to the code receiver 26 through a line 30, said receiver also receiving the pulses directly from the random signal generator 14, as beforementioned. The two signals, i.e. the signals from the random signal generator 14 and from the receiver-transmitter 28 are sent from the code receiver 26, which contains a comparison circuit 31 in which the signals are compared. Since the signals obtained on the line 23 are the same as those obtained on the line 30, it is naturally possible to establish agreement, and an operating or clear signal is transmitted from the comparison circuit through line 32.This operating signal is transmitted through line 33 to the transmitter part of the receiver-transmitter 28, in which a second light diode (not shown) converts the electrical pulses to light pulses, which are received by a light-sensitive element in the transmitter-receiving 29, and are transmitted in the form of electrical pulses to the memory store 9 through cable 30. In the examplary embodiment of the invention, the memory store 9 is arranged to store the check number of the guard, the time at which an attempt to reach the data processor 10 has been made, the random code signal from the radio transmitter 24 of the random signal generator, the signal transmitted by the code transmitter 6 to the data processor 10, and the operating signal from the transmitter part of the receiver-transmitter 28. By registering this information there is obtained perfect verification of those signals transmitted and leaving the alarm centre 11 and the unit 27 respectively. As will be understood, however, certain signals can be excluded, for example the registration of the random signal generator 14, and that other signals can be included, as hereinafter described.

It has been mentioned that the code transmitter 6 is arranged to transmit the code over an extremely limited time period, or preferably only once for each activation of the push-button board, and that the random-codesignal receiver-transmitter 8 is arranged to transmit the random code signal at the same time as, or practically at the same time as, it is generated by the random signal generator 14, which in turn is preferably arranged to transmit the signal only once. In practice, this means that the transmitter-receiver 29 must be in co-action with the receiver-transmitter 28 at the same time as, or immediately after the signal has left the code transmitter 6.If this co-action between the transmitter-receiver 29 and the receivertransmitter 28 has not been established, the random code signal from the terminal 1 will not reach the signal comparison circuit 31 at the same time as the signal is received through the line 23, and consequently an error signal will be sent from the signal comparison circuit through a line 34, this error signal being registered in the memory store 9. As will be understood, the operating signal will not be transmitted.

The operating signal on line 32 is transmitted to a control circuit incorporated, for example, in a factory-door locking device 35, a control circuit 36 arranged to initiate the sequence of events in a process in an unmanned factory, a control circuit 37 which disconnects an internal alarm system in the unit 27, so that the guard is able to move freely, etc. The completion of the requested function can also be registered in the memory store 9. Thus, when the locking device has been opened, the control circuit 35 can send a signal over line 38, this signal being transmitted to the memory store 9 in a manner not further shown.

The signal on line 38 may also be transmitted to the central data processor 10 over a signal link (not shown), for example a fixed signal line or a radio link, to be registered there. In this case, the data processor 10 is suitably arranged to compare this signal with a programme and to transmit an alarm signal when said signal is excluded. In certain cases, this signal is of extreme importance, for example when a valve in a process system is to be activated at a given point of time in order for the process to proceed normally. Such a signal can also given an indication that the guard is carrying out his work in a normal manner during his working period.

In the aforegoing it has been assumed that full security can be achieved by sending the random code signal from the alarm centre 11 and the terminal 11 to the unit 27. In order to eliminate the possibility of an operating signal being produced by sending a false random code signal to the unit 27 over line 23, and an identical false random code signal being fed into the receiver 28, it is highly advantageous to combine the random code signal sent from the alarm centre 11 with the unit code inserted in the code transmitter 6, this unit code being unknown to the user of the terminal and unique for the unit or units in question. As previously described, this unit code is sent from the terminal 1 and received by the data processor 10, from where it is transmitted by the data processor together with the random code signal and received by the unit and by the terminal.The unit code signal, which is received by the unit, precedes the random code signal and has the function of "opening" the comparison circuit 31 for receiving and comparing the two random code signals. The unit code signal can be fed to the unit 27 from the alarm centre 11 and/or from the terminal 1 and prevents an operating signal being generated by unauthorized signal transmission. In the case of unauthorized signal transmission, the signal on the line 38 is utilized, this signal being transmitted over a line or radio link (not shown) to the data processor, which when receiving the signal discovers that there is no unit signal in the programme for the unit in question, and therewith gives an alarm.In order for the unit to be identified in this case, the signal on the line 38 must contain a code which is characteristic of the unit in question and which can be incorporated in the clear signal on the line 32.

The described embodiment of the invention, and also the various circuits, devices and arrangements incorporated in said embodiment, can be modified in a number of ways. For example, the signals can be transmitted between the terminal 1 and the alarm centre 11 galvanically, in which case there is provided between the unit 27 and the alarm centre 11 a signal line on which the guard couples in the terminal 1. It is also possible to use a radio-link connection between the alarm centre 11 and the unit 27, instead of the described gulvanic connection.

Signals can be transmitted between the terminal and the unit 27 in a manner other than via the optically operating arrangement 28, 29.

For example, an electric plug arranged to co-act with a corresponding electric contact on the cable 30 can be mounted on or adjacent the unit, so as to produce a gulvanic connection between the cable 30 and the comparison circuit 31. This connection can also be produced magnetically or inductively if so desired. It is preferred, however, to use the described optical arrangement, since, among other things, this means that the only visible and accessible element on the unit will comprise a glass-covered window of very small dimensions, which is difficult to force.

It is also possible to exclude the manual insertion of the personal code number of the guard or user, in which case the push-button board 3 can be reduced to a single means, for example the button 4, for energising the code transmitter 6 and transmitting a signal to the data processor 10 together with a code characteristic of the terminal 1. As will also be understood, the described transmitter-receiver 2 can be incorporated as an integral part of the terminal 1.

When the terminal is carried by a guard whose duty is to guard a plurality of mutually independent units, which thus have mutually different unit codes, the code transmitter of the terminal will contain these different unit codes, which are made available for transmission to the alarm centre within the time intervals over which the guard is instructed to visit respective units in accordance with a given programme.

A positive signalling is obtained from the security aspect by generating the random signal code directly from an alarm centre and transmitting said code to the unit and to the terminal. The terminal is preferably provided with a memory store for enabling the steps taken by the guard at different times, and the result of these steps etc., to be verified at any point in time whatsoever, it being possible to use the memory store for registering, for example, a bar code or magnetic code, which is read-off by means of the optic pen 29 or by means of a magnetic-code reader respectively. These bar codes are placed at different locations within the unit and registration of the code indicates that the guard has completed a given inspection round within the unit. Such a bar code can also be arranged on the inside of the door of a safe or the like, and if the door is opened or unlocked the security company is able to prove that internal security rules have not been complied with.

Claims

1. A system for sending an operating signal to a circuit (35, 36, 37) located in a unit of property (27), for example a bank or an office building, said system including an alarm centre (11) provided with a data processor (10) and a random signal generator (14) for transmitting control signals, and a terminal in the form of a mobile signal unit (1) arranged to transmit a characteristic code signal, characterized in that the terminal (1) includes a code transmitter (6) for electric signals with a stored unit code characteristic of said unit (27); means (3) for energising the code transmitter (6) and transmitting the unit code and a terminal code characteristic of said terminal to the alarm centre (11); a signal receiving device (21) in the alarm centre for transmitting the received unit code to the data processor (10), which is arranged to compare the received unit code with an identical unit code stored in the data processor together with the terminal code, and that when there is agreement between the received and the stored unit code and the terminal code to cause a random signal generator (14) to transmit a random code signal to a random-code-signal receiver-transmitter (8) in the terminal and to a code receiver (26) in the unit (27); a signal transmitting device (29, 30) which is connected to the terminal (1) and arranged to transmit from the random-code-signal receivertransmitter (8) the random code signal received by the terminal to the code receiver (26), said code receiver (26) being arranged to compare the two received random code signals in a comparison circuit (31) and, when there is agreement between said signals to produce said operating signal.

2. A system according to Claim 1, characterized in that the code transmitter is arranged to be connected to a radio transmitterreceiver (2) for transmitting the unit code and the terminal code to the alarm centre (1) and for receiving the random code signal from the alarm centre respectively.

3. A system according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, characterized in that a clock (5) in the terminal (1) is arranged to produce time signals corresponding to the time at which the unit code was transmitted from the terminal, said time signals being included in the terminal code.

4. A system according to any one of Claims 1-3, characterized in that the terminal (1) includes a memory store (9) arranged to receive the terminal code transmitted from the code transmitter (6), and to store said code.

5. A system according to Claim 4, characterized in that the memory store (9) is arranged to receive the obtained random code signal from the random-code-signal receivertransmitter (8).

6. A system according to Claim 4 or Claim 5, characterized in that the signal transmission arrangement (29, 30) is arranged to receive the operating signal from the code receiver (31) and to transmit said signal to the memory store (9) for storage therein.

7. A system according to any one of Claims 1-6, characterized in that the code receiver (26) of the unit (27) is connected to a signal transmitting-receiving device (28) arranged to coact with the signal transmission means (29, 30) of the terminal (1).

8. A system according to Claim 7, characterized in that the signal transmittingreceiving means (28) of the alarm centre is arranged to convert received electric signals to optical pulses; and in that the signal transmission means (29, 30) of the terminal (1) is arranged to convert electric pulses received from the terminal (1) to light pulses, and to convert light pulses received from the signal transmitting-receiving means (28) of the alarm centre into electric signals.

9. A system according to any one of Claims 1-8, characterized in that the comparison circuit (1) of the the code receiver is arranged to produce an alarm signal when there is no agreement between the two random code signals received, or when one of the random code signals has been excluded.

1 0. A system according to Claim 9, characterized in that the signal transmitting means (29, 30) of the terminal is arranged to receive the alarm signal and to transmit said signal to the memory store (9) of the terminal (1) for storage.

11. A system according to any one of Claims 1-10, characterized in that the signal transmitting means (29, 30) is arranged to be moved manually into co-action with a signal receiving location associated with the unit (27).

1 2. A system according to Claim 7 and Claim 11, characterized in that the signal receiving location comprises the code receiver (26).