Apparatus and Method for Using a Wireless Mobile Handset Application to Locate Beacons
First Claim
1. An apparatus for providing a determination of direction between a beacon and a wireless mobile handset comprising:
- a removable external case comprising means for accommodating the wireless mobile handset,a first plurality of antennas disposed in the case;
a second plurality of antennas disposed in the beacon;
a circuit coupled to the first plurality of antennas and disposed in the case to determine the signal strength of a location signal received at the first plurality of antennas transmitted from the second plurality of antennas and to determine by comparison of the received location signal at the first plurality of antennas a probable relative direction between the beacon and the wireless mobile handset; and
a software application stored within an internal memory of a controller disposed within the wireless mobile handset that comprises means for displaying on a display screen of the wireless mobile handset the signal strength and the probable relative direction between the beacon and wireless mobile handset as determined by the circuit.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for adding functionality to wireless mobile handsets, mobile phones, smart phones and other portable wireless devices which allows the devices to report the direction and distance of a wireless beacon that is attached to objects in need of being tracked or found. An external protective case is coupled to an existing mobile handset which comprises a plurality of directional antennas and associated RF circuitry. The electronics of the case are coupled to the electronics of the handset and with assistance of downloaded software of an associated application program, the handset may used to track or find one more beacons that have been previously paired with it.
49 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus for providing a determination of direction between a beacon and a wireless mobile handset comprising:
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a removable external case comprising means for accommodating the wireless mobile handset, a first plurality of antennas disposed in the case; a second plurality of antennas disposed in the beacon; a circuit coupled to the first plurality of antennas and disposed in the case to determine the signal strength of a location signal received at the first plurality of antennas transmitted from the second plurality of antennas and to determine by comparison of the received location signal at the first plurality of antennas a probable relative direction between the beacon and the wireless mobile handset; and a software application stored within an internal memory of a controller disposed within the wireless mobile handset that comprises means for displaying on a display screen of the wireless mobile handset the signal strength and the probable relative direction between the beacon and wireless mobile handset as determined by the circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for providing a determination of direction between a beacon and a wireless mobile handset comprising:
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removably coupling a WPAN transceiver and SSSI disposed within a case to the wireless mobile handset; selecting a beacon from a plurality of beacons displayed on the wireless mobile handset through a menu provided by a software application stored on an internal memory device within the wireless mobile handset; scanning for the location of the selected beacon through a short-range WPAN channel with a plurality of antennas disposed within the case; scanning for the location of the selected beacon through a wireless data network; analyzing the location signals received from the selected beacon via an algorithm contained within the software application stored on a memory device within the wireless mobile handset; and displaying the direction and distance of the beacon relative to the wireless mobile handset on a display of the wireless mobile handset. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification