Location of Cooperative Tags with Personal Electronic Device
First Claim
1. A method for determining the relative position of a cooperative transponder by the use of a software defined radio transceiver in a personal electronic device, wherein the primary function of the software defined radio set is that of a cellular telephone, the method comprising:
- receiving a user initiated input that is indicative of a mode selection to a locator mode in the personal electronic device;
executing a radio set configuration logic with a processor in the personal electronic device such that the processor reconfigures the software defined radio transceiver from a cellular telephone mode to a locator mode, wherein the software defined radio set and the processor in the personal electronic device are arranged to operate the locator mode by;
selecting a target ID associated with the cooperative transponder;
coding a sequence for the selected target ID;
initiating the transmission of a structured multi-frame transmission to the cooperative transponder over a first time interval with the software defined radio set;
capturing sample of a signal spectrum over a second time interval that is subsequent to the first time with the software defined radio set;
correlating the captured samples over a third time interval with the software defined radio set;
detecting a valid reply from the cooperative transponder device when the captured samples correlate to a structured reply transmission from the cooperative transponder with a reply cadence and frequency that substantially matches the expected reply cadence and frequency based on the internal clock of the personal electronic device; and
determining a round-trip time-of-flight between the transmission of the structure multi-frame transmission and the detected valid reply.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to location and communication systems that can be utilized for locating people, pets and other objects with a software defined radio set. A personal electronic device (PED) such as a cellular telephone, personal data assistant (PDA) or other device that include a software defined radio set can be configured for operation as a locator device. The PED transmits a signal A transponder or micro-transponder (MT) that is tagged to an object is arranged to reply to a transmission received from the PED. The PED based locator is arranged to calculate a distance between the PED and the MT using the time-of-flight (TOF) between the transmission and the receipt of a reply. The absolute geographic position of the PED can be determined using satellite navigation information, while the position of the MT relative to the PED can be determined from the TOF information.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for determining the relative position of a cooperative transponder by the use of a software defined radio transceiver in a personal electronic device, wherein the primary function of the software defined radio set is that of a cellular telephone, the method comprising:
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receiving a user initiated input that is indicative of a mode selection to a locator mode in the personal electronic device; executing a radio set configuration logic with a processor in the personal electronic device such that the processor reconfigures the software defined radio transceiver from a cellular telephone mode to a locator mode, wherein the software defined radio set and the processor in the personal electronic device are arranged to operate the locator mode by; selecting a target ID associated with the cooperative transponder; coding a sequence for the selected target ID; initiating the transmission of a structured multi-frame transmission to the cooperative transponder over a first time interval with the software defined radio set; capturing sample of a signal spectrum over a second time interval that is subsequent to the first time with the software defined radio set; correlating the captured samples over a third time interval with the software defined radio set; detecting a valid reply from the cooperative transponder device when the captured samples correlate to a structured reply transmission from the cooperative transponder with a reply cadence and frequency that substantially matches the expected reply cadence and frequency based on the internal clock of the personal electronic device; and determining a round-trip time-of-flight between the transmission of the structure multi-frame transmission and the detected valid reply. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for determining the relative position of a cooperative transponder with a software configured radio transceiver in a personal electronic device that also includes a satellite navigation system, the method comprising:
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activating a locator mode in the personal electronic device in response to a user initiated input; identifying a target ID associated with the transponder; configuring the radio transceiver for communication with the transponder in the locator mode via software control logic; transmitting a structured multi-frame sequence to the transponder with the radio transceiver when configured in the locator mode, where the sequence is coded for the identified target ID; capturing samples of a radio spectrum with the transceiver at an expected time for receipt of a reply from the transponder when configured in the locator mode; retrieving velocity vectors from the satellite navigation system that are mapped to the time of receipt for the captured samples; extracting apparent velocities associated with the captured samples and the transponder; correlating the retrieved velocity vectors with the apparent velocities; and determining a time-of-flight between the transmission of the structured multi-frame sequence and the correlated receipt of the reply from the transponder and at least one of the direction, distance, and exact location of the transponder from the locator to the transponder using the correlation. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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17. A method for determining the relative position of a cooperative transponder with a software configured radio transceiver in a plurality of personal electronic devices that also each include a satellite navigation system, the method comprising:
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initiating a transponder search process in response to a user initiated input; identifying a target ID associated with the cooperative transponder; sending a message to a location process requesting a search for the cooperative transponder associated with the target ID; identifying the plurality of personal electronic devices with the location process; sending a location request to each of the identified personal electronic devices; receiving a location and distance measurement from each of the identified personal electronic devices after sending the location request; and calculating an exact location associated with the cooperative transponder from at least a portion of the received location and distance measurements by; centering a circle for each received distance measurement at a geographic position associated with the corresponding received location; adjusting the radius of each circle according to a corresponding one of the received distance measurements; identifying at least three circles that overlap near a common point; and identifying the location and distance to the cooperative transponder based on the identified common point. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for determining the relative position of a cooperative transponder with a software configured radio transceiver in a personal electronic device, the method comprising:
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activating a locator mode in the personal electronic device in response to a user initiated input; identifying a target ID associated with the transponder; and configuring the radio transceiver for communication with the transponder as a spin-around locator via software control logic such that the personal electronic device is configured for; transmitting a structured transmission to the transponder over a first time interval when an initial acquisition mode is active, wherein the structured transmission is coded for the selected target ID, and wherein the structured transmission has a transmit cadence and frequency that is determined by an internal high frequency clock of the identified personal electronic device; capturing samples of a radio spectrum with the radio transceiver at an expected time for receipt of a reply from the transponder during the first time interval; changing from the initial acquisition mode to a spin-around mode when the captured samples correlate with the selected target ID; notifying the user to rotate the portable remote locator device through at least a partial arc about the centerline of the user when the operating mode corresponds to the spin-around mode; repeatedly transmitting the structured transmission to the transponder over a second time interval when the spin-around mode is active; capturing samples with the radio transceiver and corresponding directional readings from an electronic compass in the personal electronic device during the second time interval; evaluating the captured samples from the second time interval; determining a directional heading from the personal electronic device to the transponder by evaluating directional readings from the electronic compass for at least one captured sample from the transceiver during the second time interval that correlates to the target ID; and updating a user direction indicator on the personal electronic device when the valid directional reading is identified.
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Specification