Personal navigation assistant system and apparatus

• US 20060135183A1
• Filed: 12/21/2004
• Published: 06/22/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Inventors: Maifeld, Mitchell J., Zavada, Joseph J., Garrison, Oliver A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,263,375 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/457
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/206 specially adapted for indoor navigation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A personal location system including signal-transmitting RFID tags associated with various landmarks, such as hallways of buildings. The system'"'"'s personal receiver is preloaded with information about the building, equivalent to a map, and receives the RFID signals. These signals, in conjunction with the stored map, allow the environment to be displayed, and the location of the user to be identified. The receiver may be loaded with the map information by means of a device(s) located at the entrance(s) of the building.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a transmitter unit at a known, fixed location within a building, transmitting a wireless signal unique to that location;

a portable receiver or receiver/reader/memory located with said building, for receiving said wireless signal transmissions from said transmitter unit;

a processor associated with said portable receiver, for storing information relating to the physical environment around at least said known location and information identifying said signal unique to said location, and for processing said signal unique to said location in conjunction with said information relating to the physical environment, for producing a human-sensible indication of said known location relative to said environment.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein said human-sensible indication comprises a map of said environment around at least said known location.

3. A feature according to claim 2 which, in addition to providing a map of the surrounding area, indicates a proposed direction of travel to progress to a destination.

4. A system according to claim 1, wherein the processor portion of the system is able to plot a route from the current location to a user-specified destination.

5. A system according to claim 1, wherein said processor is co-located with said portable receiver.

6. A system interface according to claim 1 where the receiver unit corresponds with the processor unit, communicating the identities of the signal(s) it receives

7. A system interface according to claim 6 where the communication between receiver and processor not only contain received signal identities, but also received signal strengths in a normalized, relative measurement.

8. A system according to claim 7, wherein said signal information representative of the strength of said wireless signal is processed to determine which signal of numerous signals is strongest and presumed to be within closest proximity, which is second, and so on until all sufficiently-received signals are ranked.

9. A memory segment log according to claim 1 which allocates space for storing signal identities provided to the processor together with the time that they were received and signal strength if applicable in the particular system'"'"'s design.

10. A system according to claim 1, wherein said transmitter unit comprises:

a memory for storing at least one of a static or selectable code representative of a particular fixed location of said transmitter unit;

an electromagnetic signal generator operating at a frequency in an Industrial, Scientific, and Medical band, for generating signals to be transmitted, modulated by said code;

a directive antenna arrangement coupled to said electromagnetic signal generator, for directing electromagnetic radiation in a manner to prevent overlapping of the radiated energy patterns with other corresponding transmitter units of said system; and

timing means coupled to at least one of said memory, said electromagnetic signal generator, and said antenna arrangement, for recurrently enabling transmission of said electromagnetic signals.

11. A system according to claim 1 wherein said transmitter unit comprises:

a memory for storing at least one of a static or selectable code representative of a particular fixed location of said transmitter unit;

an electromagnetic signal generator operating at a frequency in an Industrial, Scientific, and Medical band, for generating signals to be transmitted, modulated by said code;

a directive antenna arrangement coupled to said electromagnetic signal generator, for directing electromagnetic radiation in a manner such as to overlap with the electromagnetic radiation of adjacent ones of said transmitter units; and

timing means coupled to at least one of said memory, said electromagnetic signal generator, and said antenna arrangement, for recurrently enabling transmission of said electromagnetic signals.

12. A system according to claim 1, wherein said transmitter unit comprises:

a memory for storing at least one of a static or selectable code representative of a particular fixed location of said transmitter unit;

an electromagnetic signal generator operating at a frequency in an Industrial, Scientific, and Medical band, for generating signals to be transmitted, modulated by said code;

a directive antenna arrangement coupled to said electromagnetic signal generator, for directing electromagnetic radiation; and

timing means coupled to at least one of said memory, said electromagnetic signal generator, and said antenna arrangement, for recurrently enabling transmission of said electromagnetic signals;

wherein said transmitter produces said wireless signal with a particular Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP).

13. An electromagnetic signal transmitter unit, comprising:

a memory for storing at least one of a static or selectable code representative of a particular fixed location of said transmitter unit;

an electromagnetic signal generator operating at a frequency in an Industrial, Scientific, and Medical band, for generating signals to be transmitted, modulated by said code;

a directive antenna arrangement coupled to said electromagnetic signal generator, for directing electromagnetic radiation; and

timing means coupled to at least one of said memory, said electromagnetic signal generator, and said antenna arrangement, for recurrently enabling transmission of said electromagnetic signals.

14. A unit according to claim 13, wherein said timing means causes said recurrence more frequently than every ten seconds.

15. A unit according to claim 13, wherein said timing means causes said recurrence about every five seconds.

16. A unit according to claim 13, wherein the electromagnetic signal radiated by said antenna arrangement provides a strength of one of 50 millivolts per meter and 0.75 μ

watts EIRP at three meters.

17. A unit according to claim 13, wherein the power source used to provide said transmissions is supplemented or completely supplied by wired-power from the installation infrastructure.

18. A unit according to claim 13, wherein the power source used to provide said transmissions is supplemented or completely supplied by solar cells.

19. A portable unit for, in a building, receiving signals from a transmitter unit at a known, fixed location within said building, which transmitter unit transmits a wireless signal unique to that known fixed location, said portable unit comprising;

a processor/display/memory, for storing information relating to the physical environment around at least said known location and information identifying said signal unique to said location, and for processing said signal unique to said location in conjunction with said information relating to the physical environment, for producing a human-sensible indication of said known location relative to said environment.