More accurate asset tag locating of radio frequency devices
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- receiving, by an asset tag, a radio signal transmitted from each of three or more radio frequency-enabled nodes within a space, each respective received radio signal including a unique node identifier of the respective radio frequency-enabled node that transmitted the respective received radio signal, wherein each unique node identifier is associated with a specific node location in the space of the respective radio frequency-enabled node;
measuring a received signal strength of each respective received radio signal;
obtaining a respective transmitting node identifier from each of at least three of the respective received radio signals whose measured received signal strengths are strongest;
generating a tuple containing an ordered list of at least three transmitting obtained node identifiers sorted by the respective measured received signal strengths;
forwarding the tuple and the respective measured signal strengths to a tag location estimating application; and
estimating, by the tag location estimating application, based on the generated tuple and the specific node locations associated with the obtained transmitting node identifiers, a location of the asset tag with respect to the specific node locations of the nodes associated with the obtained node identifiers, wherein the estimating includes;
for each pair of the respective measured signal strengths, calculating a respective delta value ratio; and
decreasing or increasing a respective area of a respective region of a set of regions that segment a triangle or other polygon area of the space that the asset tag is located based on the respective delta value ratio.
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Abstract
Disclosed are examples of a method, system and asset tag that enables general, coarse and fine estimates of a location of the asset tag. The asset tag receives a signal transmitted from radio frequency (RF)-enabled nodes within a space. Each respective received signal includes a unique node identifier of the respective RF node that transmitted the respective received radio signal. Each RF node has a physical node location in the space that is associated with the unique node identifier. The tag measures the received signal strength of each respective received signal that is associated with the node identifier of the RF node that transmitted the respective received signal. The strongest measured received signal strengths are selected, and a tuple containing the node identifiers for the selected strongest signal strengths is forwarded for estimating a location of the asset tag by a computing device.
70 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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receiving, by an asset tag, a radio signal transmitted from each of three or more radio frequency-enabled nodes within a space, each respective received radio signal including a unique node identifier of the respective radio frequency-enabled node that transmitted the respective received radio signal, wherein each unique node identifier is associated with a specific node location in the space of the respective radio frequency-enabled node; measuring a received signal strength of each respective received radio signal; obtaining a respective transmitting node identifier from each of at least three of the respective received radio signals whose measured received signal strengths are strongest; generating a tuple containing an ordered list of at least three transmitting obtained node identifiers sorted by the respective measured received signal strengths; forwarding the tuple and the respective measured signal strengths to a tag location estimating application; and estimating, by the tag location estimating application, based on the generated tuple and the specific node locations associated with the obtained transmitting node identifiers, a location of the asset tag with respect to the specific node locations of the nodes associated with the obtained node identifiers, wherein the estimating includes; for each pair of the respective measured signal strengths, calculating a respective delta value ratio; and decreasing or increasing a respective area of a respective region of a set of regions that segment a triangle or other polygon area of the space that the asset tag is located based on the respective delta value ratio. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system, comprising:
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a plurality of radio frequency-enabled nodes located within a space, each of the plurality of nodes being configured to emit a node-unique radio frequency signal including a unique node identifier of the radio frequency-enabled node, wherein each unique node identifier is associated with a specific node location in the space; an asset tag within the space, the asset tag comprising; logic circuitry, a memory coupled to the logic circuitry, radio frequency receiver circuitry, and radio frequency transmitter circuitry; and a server coupled via a radio frequency communication data link provided by one of the plurality of nodes to the asset tag, wherein the logic circuitry configures the asset tag to perform functions, including functions to; receive, via the radio frequency receiver circuitry, a node-unique radio signal transmitted from at least three of the radio frequency-enabled nodes of the plurality of nodes within a space; measure a received signal strength of each respective received node-unique signal; obtain a respective transmitting node identifier whose measured received signal strength is from the measured received signal strengths that are strongest; generate a tuple containing at least three of the obtained transmitting node identifiers; and forward the generated tuple and the respective measured signal strengths to the server, wherein the server is configured to; receive the generated tuple forwarded and the respective measured signal strengths from the asset tag; and estimate, based on the generated tuple and the specific node locations associated with the obtained transmitting node identifiers, a location of the asset tag with respect to a respective specific node location of each of the obtained transmitting node identifiers in the generated tuple, wherein the estimating includes; for each pair of the respective measured signal strengths, calculating a respective delta value ratio; and decreasing or increasing a respective area of a respective region of a set of regions that segment a triangle or other polygon area of the space that the asset tag is located based on the respective delta value ratio. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method, comprising:
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receiving, from an asset tag coupled to a data communication network, a tuple containing at least three wireless node identifiers; retrieving data indicating a node location for the wireless nodes identified by the at least three wireless node identifiers included in the received tuple, the retrieved data including measured signal strengths; and estimating a location of the asset tag with respect to the node locations of the at least three node identifiers based on the order of the at least three wireless node identifiers in the received tuple and the retrieved data indicating the node location for each wireless node associated with the at least three node identifiers, wherein the estimating includes; for each pair of the respective measured signal strengths, calculating a respective delta value ratio; and decreasing or increasing a respective area of a respective region of a set of regions that segment a triangle or other polygon area of the space that the asset tag is located based on the respective delta value ratio; and forwarding the estimated asset tag location to an output device for presentation to a user. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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Specification