BEACON AND ASSOCIATED COMPONENTS FOR A RANGING SYSTEM

• US 20140302869A1
• Filed: 06/05/2012
• Published: 10/09/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Corvus Technologies Corp.
• Original Assignee: Corvus Technologies Corp.
• Inventors: Rosenbaum, Glen Var, Laughlin, Gordon J., Doerrse, Don
• Granted Patent: US 8,868,133 B1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/878 Combination of several spaced transmitters or receivers of known location for determining the position of a transponder or a reflector G01S13/874 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/02 Indoor
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02 using radio waves using satellite radio beacon systems for determining position G01S19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/08 Position of single direction-finder fixed by determining direction of a plurality of spaced sources of known location
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/14 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/28 using beam steering
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/026 using orientation information, e.g. compass
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A beacon for a ranging system includes an electronic scanned array (ESA) antenna and a transceiver. The ESA antenna is configured to emit a separate radio frequency (RF) phased-array narrow beam for each of a plurality of segments of an arc, and receive from an end user node a response signal based on at least one of the RF phased-array narrow beam. Each segment of the arc is scanned at a specified time interval. The transceiver is configured to transmit a pulsed signal via the RF phased-array narrow beam, and receive the response signal.

Claims

1. A beacon for a ranging system, comprising:

an electronic scanned array (ESA) antenna configured to emit a separate radio frequency (RF) phased-array narrow beam for each of a plurality of segments of an arc, and configured to receive from an end user node a response signal based on at least one of the RF phased-array narrow beam, wherein each segment of the arc is scanned at a specified time interval; and

a transceiver configured to transmit a pulsed signal via the RF phased-array narrow beam, and receive the response signal.

2. The beacon of claim 1, further comprising:

a processing module configured to calculate at least one of an angle-of-arrival (AOA) and a time-of-flight (TOF) from the response signal and generate a location of the end user node relative to a location of the beacon.

3. The beacon of claim 2, wherein the processing module is further configured to determine an absolute location of the end user node by information selected from the group consisting of GPS coordinates, horizontal level adjustments, rotational face direction of the ESA antenna, angle adjustment of the ESA antenna, and combinations thereof.

4. The beacon of claim 2, wherein the processing module is further configured to measure a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) from the received response signal.

5. The beacon of claim 1, further comprising:

a node networking antenna configured to communicate with other beacons and a control module via a local area network (LAN).

6. The beacon of claim 1, further comprising

a node networking antenna configured to communicate with at least one end user node upon interrogation, wherein the at least one end user node provides at least one of navigation information, biometric information, an acknowledgement signal, and end user node status information via the node networking antenna.

7. The beacon of claim 1, The beacon of claim 1, wherein the ESA antenna includes components selected from the group consisting of a beam controller, a plurality of radiator apertures, a phase shifter, a splitter or a summer, and combinations thereof.

8. The beacon of claim 7, wherein the ESA antenna includes a plurality of radiator apertures configured in at least an array of a row or a column.

9. The beacon of claim 1, wherein the ESA antenna includes a right hand circularly polarized (RHCP) antenna or a left hand circularly polarized (LHCP) for reducing multi-path reflections.

10. The beacon of claim 1, wherein the beacon uses a modified Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.4 standard or modified ZigBee protocol for signal transmissions, wherein the modified IEEE 802.15.4 or modified ZigBee protocol reduces scanning time by reducing a number of messages or by reducing a dwell time in a handshaking protocol via messaging including received signal strength indicator (RSSI) information.

11. A method for communicating between an end user node and a control station controller used in determining a location of the end user node relative to a beacon, comprising:

transmitting an inquiry message from the controller to the end user node with minimum received signal strength indicator (RSSI) message, wherein the minimum RSSI message includes a RSSI threshold for transmitting a reply message from the end user node; and

receiving a reply message at the controller from the end user node including a measured RSSI of the inquiry message at the end user node when the measured RSSI of the inquiry message exceeds the RSSI threshold.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

incrementing to a next segment in a plurality of segments of a scan after a maximum segment time, wherein each segment of the plurality of segments uses a different radio frequency (RF) phased-array narrow beam for transmitting an inquiry message and receiving the reply message, and the maximum segment time provides a specified dwell time interval for transmitting the inquiry message and receiving the reply message; and

transmitting the inquiry message and receiving the reply message for the next segment.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising after receiving the reply message:

measuring the RSSI of the reply message; and

determining at least one of an angle-of-arrival (AOA) and a time-of-flight (TOF) of the reply message or the inquiry message fed back in the reply message.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising after receiving the reply message:

determining at least one of an AOA and a TOF of the end user node relative to the beacon from a greatest RSSI strength of a plurality of reply messages, wherein at least one of a RSSI of the reply message and a RSSI of inquiry message fed back in the reply messages has a greatest RSSI strength relative to other reply messages or inquiry messages.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising after receiving the reply message:

determining a shortest TOF between the end user node and the beacon from a plurality of reply messages, wherein the shortest TOF is at least one of a TOF of the reply messages and a TOF of the inquiry messages relative to other reply messages or inquiry messages.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein transmitting the inquiry message and receiving the reply message uses a radio frequency (RF) phased-array narrow beam via an electronic scanned array (ESA) antenna of a beacon.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein communicating between the end user node and the control station controller uses a modified Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.4 standard or modified ZigBee protocol for signal transmissions, wherein the modified IEEE 802.15.4 or modified ZigBee protocol reduces scanning time by reducing a number of messages or by reducing a dwell time in a handshaking protocol via messaging including received signal strength indicator (RSSI) information.

18. At least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium comprising a plurality of instructions adapted to be executed to implement the method according to claim 11.

19. An end user node for a ranging system, comprising:

a receiving module configured to receive an inquiry message from a controller with minimum received signal strength indicator (RSSI) message, wherein the minimum RSSI message includes a RSSI threshold for transmitting a reply message;

a measurement module configured to measure a RSSI of the inquiry message; and

a transmitting module configured to transmit a reply message to the controller including the measured RSSI of the inquiry message at the end user node when the measured RSSI of the inquiry message exceeds the RSSI threshold.

20. The end user node of claim 19, wherein the end user node uses an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.4 standard or a ZigBee protocol for signal transmissions.