Wireless Position Location And Tracking System

• US 20080036661A1
• Filed: 10/16/2007
• Published: 02/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Clinical Patents, LLC (Halma PLC)
• Original Assignee: Awarepoint Corporation
• Inventors: Adams, James, Baker, Joseph, Smith, Derek, Nierenberg, Nicolas
• Application Number:
  US11/872,720
• Publication Number:
  US 20080036661A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/464
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/021 Calibration, monitoring or correction G01S5/0252 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02525 Gathering the radio frequency fingerprints
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Techniques for accurate position location and tracking suitable for a wide range of facilities in variable environments are disclosed. In one aspect, a system for position location comprises a plurality of sensors (e.g. a network monitor, an environment sensor) for generating measurements of a plurality of sources, a plurality of objects or tags, each object generating measurements of the plurality of sources, and a processor for receiving the measurements and generating a position location for one or more objects in accordance with the received measurements. In another aspect, a position engine comprises a mapped space of a physical environment, and a processor for updating the mapped space in response to received measurements. The position engine may receive second measurements from an object within the physical environment, and generate a position location estimate for the object from the received second measurements and the mapped space.

Claims

1. A method for real-time position location of an object within an indoor multiple floor facility, the method comprising:

generating a plurality of radiofrequency signals at a tag of each object of a plurality of objects within the indoor multiple floor facility, a plurality of radiofrequency signals comprising a first plurality of data;

providing a plurality of network monitors positioned within the indoor multiple floor facility, each of the plurality of network monitors attached to a wall outlet of the indoor multiple floor facility;

wirelessly receiving the plurality of radiofrequency signals from each tag of each object of the plurality of objects at least one of a plurality of network monitors using a 802.15.4 communication link;

wirelessly transmitting the first plurality of data from each of the plurality of network monitors to at least one of a plurality of access points utilizing a 802.11 communication link, the at least one of the plurality of access points located within the indoor multiple floor facility;

receiving at a location positioning engine through the plurality of access points the first plurality of data from the tag of each object of the plurality of objects; and

generating a real-time position location in an X-Y-Z coordinate for at least one of the plurality of objects in accordance with the received data of the second plurality of measurements and the real-time mapped space of the radiofrequency environment of the multiple-floor indoor facility.

2. A system real-time position location of an object within an indoor multiple floor facility, the system comprising:

a plurality of sensors, each sensor for generating a first plurality of measurements, the first plurality of measurements including data from a plurality of sources, each source of the plurality of sources generating a radiofrequency signal, the plurality of sources comprising a plurality of beacon emitters;

a plurality of objects, each object of the plurality of objects comprising a tag for generating a second plurality of measurements, the second plurality of measurements comprising data from the plurality of sources, the tag of each object of the plurality of objects receiving and measuring the characteristics of the radiofrequency signal of each source of the plurality of sources to generate the date of the second plurality of measurements; and

a processor for receiving from each of the plurality of sensors at least one of the first plurality of measurements and from each of the plurality of objects at least one of the second plurality of measurements, and generating a real-time position location for at least one of the plurality of objects in accordance with the received first plurality of measurements and the respective, received second plurality of measurements.

3. The system of claim 2 further comprising at least one access point for receiving measurements form one or more of the plurality of objects and the plurality of sensors, and for transmitting the received measurements to the processor.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the at least one the access point includes a beacon emitter, the beacon emitter generating radiofrequency signal.

5. The system of claim 3 wherein the at least one access point receives measurements via a wireless interface.

6. The system of claim 3 wherein the at least one access point receives measurements via a wired interface.

7. The system of claim 2 wherein the plurality of sources further comprises at least one of the group including noise sources, jammers and network monitors, each of which generates a radiofrequency signal.

8. A system real-time position location of an object within an indoor multiple floor facility, the system comprising:

a plurality of sensors, each sensor of the plurality of sensors for generating a first plurality of measurements, the first plurality of measurements comprising data form a plurality of sources, each source of the plurality of sources generating a radiofrequency signal, the plurality of sources comprising a plurality of beacon emitters, a plurality of jammers and a plurality of noise sources, each sensor of the plurality of sensors wirelessly transmitting the date of the first plurality of measurements;

a plurality of objects, each object of the plurality of objects comprising a tag for generating a second plurality of measurements, the second plurality of measurements comprising data from the plurality of sources, the tag of each object of the plurality of objects receiving and measuring the characteristics of the radiofrequency signal of each source of the plurality of sources to generate the date of the second plurality of measurements; and

means for receiving from each of the plurality of sensors at least one of the first plurality of measurements and from each of the plurality of objects at least one of the second plurality of measurements and generating a position location for at least one of the plurality of objects in accordance with the received first plurality of measurements and the respective, received second plurality of measurements.

9. A system for real-time position location of an object within an indoor multiple floor facility, the system comprising:

a plurality of beacon emitters, each of the plurality of beacon emitters having means for generating a radiofrequency signal comprising data from the beacon emitter, wherein the data comprises signal strength from the beacon emitters

a plurality of network monitors, each of the plurality of network monitors attached to a wall outlet of the indoor multiple floor facility, each of the plurality of network monitors having means for wirelessly transmitting data received from the first plurality of beacon emitters utilizing a 802.11 communication link;

a plurality of access points positioned in the indoor facility, each of the plurality of access points having means for receiving and transmitting data received from each of the plurality of network monitors;

a plurality of mobile objects within the indoor multiple floor facility, each of the plurality of mobile objects having a tag for transmitting data to at least one of a plurality of network monitors using a 802.15.4 communication link;

a location positioning engine in communication with the plurality of access points, the location positioning engine having means for generating and continuously updating a real-time mapped space of a radiofrequency environment of the multiple-floor indoor facility based on the data from the plurality of access points, and having means for generating a real-time position location in an X-Y-Z coordinate for at least one of the plurality of objects in accordance with the received data.

10. The system according to claim 9 wherein the tag of each of the plurality of mobile objects comprises a processor, a transceiver, a motion detector and a power supply, wherein the tag operates in a low power state and a high power state.