Year
1990
Abstract
The Universal Authenticated Item Monitoring System (AIMS) will provide the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with a convenient method of monitoring movement of selected items. The system consists of a number of small, battery-powered Sensor/Transmitter (ASTX) packs and a remote Receiver. Each ASTX pack, firmly attached to a selected item, contains a sensitive motion sensor that, when activated, causes the pack to transmit an authenticated RF message to the Receiver. In addition to monitoring item movements, an ASTX pack can be easily converted to detect and report a variety of sensor \"Events\" including valve actuations, switch closures for door openings, container openings, etc. Periodically, each ASTX pack is required to transmit \"State of Health (SOH)\" messages to the Receiver, thereby providing assurance that all ASTX packs are operational, and have not been tampered with. The occurrence of motion (or optional switch activations), ASTX enclosure tampering, or missing SOH messages, each comprising an event, is timetagged and stored by the Receiver for later retrieval during an inspection. The event history can be collected in a stand-alone mode utilizing an internal Receiver printer, or by using an IBMcompatible PC that can further process, sort and store the event history for later analysis and archival purposes. The PC provides the Inspector with a user-friendly, interactive, menu-driven system for use during installation and collection periods.