System for selective accuracy of an indoor positioning system

• US 10,070,265 B1
• Filed: 04/03/2017
• Issued: 09/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Current Lighting Solutions, LLC (f/k/a GE Lighting Solutions, LLC) (American Industrial Partners)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Maricic, Danijel, Hershey, John Erik, Hartman, Michael James
• Primary Examiner(s): Bataille, Frantz
• Application Number:
  US15/477,849
• Time in Patent Office: 519 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings

Abstract

A beacon location system includes a plurality of first broadcasters configured to broadcast first broadcasts to be received by a registered receiver device, and includes one or more second broadcasters configured to broadcast second broadcasts to be received by the registered receiver device. The beacon location system includes a controller communicatively and operatively coupled to the plurality of first broadcasters, and the one or more second broadcasters, wherein the controller comprises a memory and a processor configured to execute instructions stored on the memory. The instructions include generating one or more masked correspondences between the first broadcasts and locations of the plurality of the first broadcasters, wherein the one or more masked correspondences comprise one or more levels of accuracies. The beacon location system also includes a website accessible to the registered receiver device to obtain the one or more masked correspondences.

Claims

1. A beacon location system comprising:

a plurality of first broadcasters configured to broadcast first broadcasts to be received by a registered receiver device;

one or more second broadcasters configured to broadcast second broadcasts to be received by the registered receiver device;

a controller positioned external to the plurality of first broadcasters and the one or more second broadcasters and communicatively and operatively coupled to the plurality of first broadcasters, and the one or more second broadcasters, wherein the controller comprises a memory and a processor configured to execute instructions stored on the memory comprising instructions for;

generating one or more masked correspondences between the first broadcasts and locations of the plurality of the first broadcasters, wherein the one or more masked correspondences comprise one or more levels of accuracies;

controlling operation of the plurality of first broadcasters; and

controlling operation of the one or more second broadcasters; and

a website accessible to the registered receiver device to obtain the one or more masked correspondences.

2. The beacon location system of claim 1, wherein the registered receiver device selects one of the one or more levels of accuracies upon registration with the website, wherein a higher level of accuracy corresponds to more precise navigation.

3. The beacon location system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of first broadcasters comprise location beacons, and the first broadcasts comprise optical signals, radio frequency (RF) signals, audio signals, or a combination thereof.

4. The beacon location system of claim 1, wherein the one or more second broadcasters comprise short range wireless (srw) broadcast devices, and the second broadcasts comprise optical signals, RF signals, audio signals, or a combination thereof.

5. The beacon location system of claim 1, wherein the second broadcasts each comprises a data sequence used in forming the one or more masked correspondences.

6. The beacon location system of claim 5, wherein the data sequence is generated by the controller using a hardware random signal generator and/or a software pseudorandom generator.

7. The beacon location system of claim 1, wherein the one or more masked correspondences comprise one or more present masked correspondences or one or more subsequent masked correspondences, wherein the one or more present masked correspondences are effective within a time interval and are replaced by the subsequent masked correspondences upon a notification broadcasted by the one or more second broadcasters.

8. The beacon location system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of first broadcasters, the one or more second broadcasters, and the controller are located within an indoor facility.

9. The beacon location system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of first broadcasters is disposed in a ceiling or on a light fixture.

10. The beacon location system of claim 1, wherein the registered device is a mobile phone.

11. A method for providing location comprising:

providing a plurality of location beacons configured to broadcast first signals to be received by one or more registered receiver devices;

providing one or more broadcasters configured to broadcast second signals to be received by the one or more registered receiver devices;

providing a controller positioned external to the plurality of location beacons and the one or more broadcasters and operatively coupled to the plurality of location beacons and the one or more broadcasters;

providing a website communicatively coupled to the controller and accessible to the one or more registered receiver devices; and

generating one or more masked correspondences between the first signals and locations of the plurality of location beacons, wherein the one or more masked correspondences comprise one or more levels of accuracies and are obtainable by the one or more registered receiver devices through the website.

12. The method of claim 11, comprising providing a key obtainable by the one or more registered receiver devices through the website based on a user selected one or more levels of accuracies, wherein the key enables to recover the one or more masked correspondences.

13. The method of claim 11, comprising using the controller to generate a data sequence via at least one hardware random signal generator and a software pseudorandom generator, to form the one or more masked correspondences.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more masked correspondences comprise a present masked correspondence and a subsequent masked correspondence.

15. The method of claim 14, comprising replacing the present masked correspondence with the subsequent masked correspondence upon expiration of an effective time interval of the present masked correspondence.

16. The method of claim 11, comprising generating a notification using the one or more broadcasters when one of the one or more masked correspondences expires.

17. A location beacon controller, comprising:

a memory encoding one or more processor-executable routines; and

a processor positioned external to a plurality of first broadcasters and one or more second broadcasters and programmed to access and execute the one or more routines encoded by the memory, wherein the routines, when executed, cause the processor;

to broadcast first broadcasts via the plurality of first broadcasters;

to broadcast second broadcasts via the one or more second broadcasters; and

to generate one or more masked correspondences between the first broadcasts and the locations of the plurality of the first broadcasters, wherein the one or more masked correspondence comprise a present masked correspondence that is effective within a time interval and is replaced by a subsequent masked correspondence upon a notification broadcasted by the one or more second broadcasters when the time interval expires, wherein the one or more masked correspondences comprise one or more levels of accuracies.

18. The location beacon controller of claim 17, wherein the location beacon controller is located within an indoor facility.

19. The location beacon controller of claim 17, wherein the location beacon controller is communicatively coupled to a website to provide the one or more masked correspondences to one or more registered receiver devices based on a user selected one or more levels of accuracies.

20. The location beacon controller of claim 17, wherein the processor is programmed to generate a data sequence used in forming the one or more masked correspondences, wherein the data sequence is generated using a hardware random signal generator and/or a software pseudorandom generator.