SYSTEM FOR RELATIVE POSITIONING OF ACCESS POINTS IN A REAL TIME LOCATING SYSTEM

• US 20110037571A1
• Filed: 07/30/2010
• Published: 02/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture Global Services GmbH (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: Johnson, Ernest K. JR., Davisson, Mark J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,451,120 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.5
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/0004 Gaseous mixtures, e.g. polluted air gaseous biological material G01N33/497; exhaust gas of internal combustion engines G01M15/102
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/0006 Calibrating gas analysers
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/0075 for multiple spatially distributed sensors, e.g. for environmental monitoring transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0095 Testing the sensing arrangement, e.g. testing if a magnetic card reader, bar code reader, RFID interrogator or smart card reader functions properly testing of electrical circuits G01R31/28
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/12 responsive to undesired emission of substances, e.g. pollution alarms
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/14 Toxic gas alarms G08B21/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/12 Manually actuated calamity alarm transmitting arrangements emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm, activators, e.g. details of alarm push buttons mounted on an infrastructure
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 21/00 Systems for transmitting the position of an object with respect to a predetermined reference system, e.g. tele-autographic system
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings

Abstract

A system is described for relative positioning of access points in a real time locating system. The system may include a memory, interface, and processor. The memory may store layout information for a work area which includes architectural and infrastructure attributes. The processor may determine a number of access points to position in the work area based on the architectural attributes. The processor may determine a placement of a test tag in the work area based on the infrastructure attributes. The processor may determine a positioning of the access points in the work area which substantially maximizes coverage and accuracy of locating the test tag in the work area. The processor may determine a repositioning of one of the access points when the coverage and accuracy do not satisfy a threshold. The processor may provide a graphical representation of the positioning of the access points, when the threshold is satisfied.

Claims

1. A method for relative positioning of access points in a real time locating system, the method comprising:

receiving layout information of a work area, wherein the layout information comprises architectural attributes and infrastructure attributes of the work area;

determining a number of a plurality of access points to position in the work area, wherein the determining is based on the architectural attributes of the work area;

determining a placement in the work area of at least one test radio frequency tag, wherein the determining is based on the infrastructure attributes of the work area;

determining, by a processor, a positioning of the plurality of access points in the work area, wherein the positioning substantially maximizes a coverage and an accuracy of locating the at least one test radio frequency tag in the work area; and

determine a repositioning of at least one of the plurality of access points when the coverage and accuracy do not satisfy a threshold, and providing a graphical representation of the positioning of each of the plurality of access points in the work area, relative to one another, when the coverage and the accuracy satisfy the threshold.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the architectural attributes comprise at least one of a number of levels of the work area, a height of a level, an average amount of foot traffic in portions of the work area, a wireless frequency of the work area, or a square footage of the work area.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein determining the placement in the work area of the at least one test radio frequency tag further comprises:

determining a high traffic area based on the average amount of foot traffic in portions of the work area; and

determining the placement of the at least one test radio frequency tag as proximal to the high traffic area.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein determining the number of the plurality of access points to position in the work area further comprises determining the number of the plurality of access points to position in the work area based the square footage of the work area.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the infrastructure attributes comprise at least one of a location of power outlets or a location of wired Ethernet outlets.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the threshold is satisfied when the at least one test radio frequency tag receives coverage from at least three of the plurality of access points.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving an indication of an actual physical location of the at least one test radio frequency tag in the work area.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

determining an expected location of the at least one test radio frequency tag based on readings of the plurality of access points; and

determining the accuracy of locating the at least one test radio frequency tag by comparing the actual physical location of the at least one test radio frequency tag to the expected location of the at least one test radio frequency tag.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the threshold is satisfied when the expected location of the at least one test radio frequency tag is within a distance of the actual physical location of the at least one test radio frequency tag.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising adding additional access points to the work area when the coverage and the accuracy of locating the at least one test radio frequency tag do not satisfy the threshold.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

testing the positioning of the plurality of access points in the work area to determine the coverage and the accuracy of locating the at least one radio frequency test tag in the work area; and

determining whether the positioning of the coverage and the accuracy of locating the at least one radio frequency test tag satisfies the threshold.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the positioning of the plurality of access points in the work area further comprises determining the positioning of the plurality of access points in the work area based on the architectural attributes, the infrastructure attributes, and the placement of the at least one test radio frequency tag.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising performing one or more verification tests to verify the positioning of the plurality of access points.

14. A method for re-using mobile access points to determine a relative positioning of access points in a real time locating system, the method comprising:

receiving layout information of a work area, wherein the layout information comprises architectural attributes and infrastructure attributes of the work area;

partitioning the work area into a plurality of partitions based on the architectural attributes and the infrastructure attributes;

determining a placement of at least one test radio frequency tag in each of the plurality of partitions, wherein the determining is based on the architectural attributes;

determining, by a processor, a number and a positioning of a plurality of access points for each of the plurality of partitions, wherein the determining is based on the architectural attributes, the infrastructure attributes, and the placement of the at least one test radio frequency tag in each of the plurality of partitions;

positioning a plurality of mobile access points in the determined positioning of the plurality of access points for each of the plurality of partitions;

testing a coverage and an accuracy of each of the plurality of partitions, wherein the plurality of partitions are tested serially and the plurality of mobile access points are re-used for testing each of the plurality of partitions; and

providing a graphical representation of the positioning of each of the plurality of access points in each of the plurality of partitions of the work area.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the mobile wireless access point comprises a battery capable of independently powering the mobile wireless access point.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the architectural attributes comprise at least one of a number of levels of the work area, a height of a level, an average amount of foot traffic in a portion of the work area, a wireless frequency of the work area, or a square footage of the work area.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein the infrastructure attributes comprise at least one of a location of power outlets or a location of wired Ethernet outlets.

18. A system for relative positioning of access points in a real time locating system, the system comprising:

a memory to store layout information of a work area, wherein the layout information comprises architectural and infrastructure attributes of the work area;

an interface operatively connected to the memory, the interface operative to receive the layout information of the work area; and

a processor operatively connected to the memory and the interface, the processor operative to receive, via the interface, the layout information of the work area, determine a number of a plurality of access points to position in the work area based on the architectural attributes of the work area, determine a placement in the work area of at least one test radio frequency tag based on the infrastructure attributes of the work area, determine a positioning of the plurality of access points in the work area, wherein the positioning substantially maximizes a coverage and an accuracy of locating the at least one test radio frequency tag in the work area, determine a repositioning of at least one of the plurality of access points when the coverage and accuracy do not satisfy a threshold, and provide a graphical representation of the positioning of each of the plurality of access points in the work area, relative to one another, when the coverage and the accuracy satisfy the threshold.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the architectural attributes comprise at least one of a number of levels of the work area, a height of a level, an average amount of foot traffic in portions of the work area, a wireless frequency of the work area, or a square footage of the work area.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the processor determines a high traffic area based on the average amount of foot traffic in portions of the work area, and determines the placement of the at least one test radio frequency tag as proximal to the high traffic area.

21. The system of claim 19 wherein the processor determines the number of the plurality of access points to position in the work area based the square footage of the work area.

22. The system of claim 18 wherein the infrastructure attributes comprise at least one of a location of power outlets or a location of wired Ethernet outlets.

23. The system of claim 18 wherein the processor determines the positioning of the plurality of access points in the work area based on the architectural attributes, the infrastructure attributes, and the placement of the at least one test radio frequency tag.

24. The system of claim 18 wherein the processor performs one or more verification tests to verify the positioning of the plurality of access points.