Environmental location system
First Claim
1. A transportable localization system for use in an environment, comprising:
- (a) a plurality of information devices, each information device having an information code, passively communicating said information code, and being placed at a predetermined location;
(b) a receiver, for receiving a communication of said information code;
(c) a first memory, storing a plurality of communicated information codes;
(d) a second memory, storing a map relating, for the plurality of information devices, a location of an information device with said information code of the information device;
(e) an analyzer, for determining, based on the information in said first memory and said information in said second memory, a path of locations of said receiver through the environment.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for determining a location. The system employs encoded information devices dispersed through the environment, each having a non-unique code associated therewith. The codes from the encoded information devices are acquired as a reading device passes nearby, and stored. The codes from a proximate set of information devices are correlated with a map or mapping relation to determine one or more consistent positions within the environment. The information devices are preferably passive acoustic wave transponders, and the mapping relation may be a pseudorandom sequence or a defined map.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A transportable localization system for use in an environment, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of information devices, each information device having an information code, passively communicating said information code, and being placed at a predetermined location;
(b) a receiver, for receiving a communication of said information code;
(c) a first memory, storing a plurality of communicated information codes;
(d) a second memory, storing a map relating, for the plurality of information devices, a location of an information device with said information code of the information device;
(e) an analyzer, for determining, based on the information in said first memory and said information in said second memory, a path of locations of said receiver through the environment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 15)
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7. A localization system, comprising:
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(a) a receiver, adapted for receiving information content signals from nearby devices having predetermined locations, the information signal from any device having an information content insufficient to uniquely identify that device, said devices being distributed in a nonsequential fashion with respect to a relation between respective information content signals and device position; and
(b) an analyzer, for analyzing a plurality of information content signals received in temporal proximity, with respect to stored representations of locations and respective corresponding device information content, and outputting a probable location of said receiver. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20)
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12. A localization system comprising:
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an information device reader;
a memory for storing mapping information;
a memory for storing sets of proximate information device codes received by the reader; and
a search engine, for searching the stored mapping information for map regions consistent with the sets of proximate information codes.
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16. An environmental location system, comprising:
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a distributed set of information devices, each device having a non-unique code, said devices having said codes being distributed having a pseudorandom or random relation of device code and respective device location in the environment space; and
a medium, storing position information for the distributed set of information devices in conjunction with a respective non-unique code.
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18. A data storage medium, storing thereon mapping information describing identification codes of a distributed set of information devices in conjunction with position information therefore.
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21. A method for determining a location, comprising:
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dispersing through an environment space a set of encoded information devices, each having an ambiguous encoding, in a random or pseudorandom pattern;
storing a mapping of codes for encoded information devices in conjunction with a location thereof in the environment space;
receiving codes from a set of proximately disposed information devices; and
searching the mapping to identify a location having consistent set of proximate information devices. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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26. A passive radio frequency transponder comprising a module having a housing, said housing having an optically retroreflective portion thereof, a radio frequency antenna system within the housing, and a passive radio frequency transponder element, receiving a radio signal through the antenna system and transmitting a modified radio frequency signal through the antenna system.
Specification