SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND APPARATUS TO DETERMINE PHYSICAL LOCATION AND ROUTING WITHIN A FIELD OF LOW POWER BEACONS
First Claim
1. A position location system, comprising:
- a receiver to receive a plurality of broadcast signals, each of the plurality of received signals characterized by data that identifies an originating one of a plurality of beacons;
a processor that;
determines an initial receiver location relative to locations of at least some of the plurality of beacons;
determines a vector quantity associated with each of the plurality of received broadcast signals to provide a respective plurality of vector quantities; and
sum the resultant plurality of vector quantities to determine an updated receiver location relative to the locations of the at least some of the plurality of beacons; and
generate an output indicative of the updated receiver location.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A non-time of flight or time of arrival position location system for accurate determination of a user'"'"'s location in an enclosed, indoor, or covered environment can include a number of beacons mounted in an arrangement within the environment. Each of the beacons is mounted in a known location and transmits a broadcast signal containing a unique identifier that identifies the originating beacon. A handheld electronic device including a receiver and a communicably coupled processor can receive broadcast signals from at least some of the number of beacons, iteratively determine a vector quantity corresponding to each of the received signals, and sum the resultant vector quantities to determine an updated position. The iterative process can be repeated until consecutive iterations yield an updated position that falls within a defined threshold.
10 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A position location system, comprising:
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a receiver to receive a plurality of broadcast signals, each of the plurality of received signals characterized by data that identifies an originating one of a plurality of beacons; a processor that; determines an initial receiver location relative to locations of at least some of the plurality of beacons; determines a vector quantity associated with each of the plurality of received broadcast signals to provide a respective plurality of vector quantities; and sum the resultant plurality of vector quantities to determine an updated receiver location relative to the locations of the at least some of the plurality of beacons; and generate an output indicative of the updated receiver location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method, comprising:
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receiving by a receiver communicably coupled to a processor a plurality of broadcast signals, each of the plurality of received signals identifying an originating one of a plurality of terrestrial radio frequency beacons positioned in locations in an indoor environment; determining by the processor an initial receiver location relative to the locations of at least some of the plurality of beacons; determining an updated receiver location relative to the locations of at least some of the plurality of beacons by; determining a plurality of vector quantities by the processor, each vector quantity in the plurality of vector quantities being associated with the signal received from each of a plurality of originating beacons; and summing the plurality of vector quantities by the processor to determine the updated receiver location; and generating at least one output indicative of the updated receiver location. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A position location system, comprising:
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a receiver to receive a plurality of broadcast signals, each of the plurality of received signals characterized by data that uniquely identifies an originating one of a plurality of beacons; a processor communicably coupled to the receiver, wherein the processor; determines an initial receiver location relative to locations of at least a portion of the plurality of beacons; determine a signal strength of at least one of the received signals and detecting the data that uniquely identifies a respective originating beacon; determine a vector quantity associated with at least a portion of the plurality of received signals to provide a plurality of vector quantities, the vector quantity comprising; a direction coincident with a distance between the processor and the respective originating beacon; and a magnitude based at least in part on a signal strength of the broadcast signal and the distance separating the processor from the respective originating beacon; and sum the plurality of vector quantities, by the processor, to determine an updated receiver location; and generate at least one output indicative of the updated receiver location. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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Specification