DISTRIBUTION AND UTILIZATION OF ANTENNA INFORMATION FOR LOCATION DETERMINATION OPERATIONS

• US 20160255603A1
• Filed: 08/26/2015
• Published: 09/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: VENKATRAMAN, Sai Pradeep, MARRI SRIDHAR, Subash, DAS, Saumitra Mohan, ALDANA, Carlos Horacio
• Granted Patent: US 9,781,698 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 29/10 Radiation diagrams of antennas
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0252 Radio frequency fingerprinting
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• 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 64/003 locating network equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

Disclosed are methods, devices, systems, apparatus, servers, computer-/processor-readable media, and other implementations, including a method, performed at a processor-based device, that includes obtaining antenna information for one or more wireless nodes, and generating based, at least in part, on the antenna information for the one or more wireless nodes, a heatmap representative of values measurable at a plurality of locations from signals transmitted by the one or more wireless nodes.

Claims

1. A method comprising, at a processor-based device:

obtaining antenna information for one or more wireless nodes; and

generating based, at least in part, on the antenna information for the one or more wireless nodes, a heatmap representative of values measurable at a plurality of locations from signals transmitted by the one or more wireless nodes.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the values measureable at the plurality of locations comprise one or more of:

signal strength values, round trip signal propagation time (RTT) values, or any combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the antenna information comprises:

receiving at the processor-based device the antenna information in at least one message transmitted to the processor-based device, the at least one message including one of;

a beacon frame message configured according to IEEE 802.11 standard, a fine timing measurement (FTM) protocol-based message, an assistance data message transmitted from a remote central repository of information, or any combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the heatmap comprises:

determining a propagation model for at least one of the one or more wireless nodes based, at least in part, on antenna orientation and antenna type obtained for the at least one of the one or more wireless nodes, the propagation model being representative of expected measurable values at multiple locations for corresponding signals transmitted from the at least one of the one or more wireless nodes.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the heatmap comprises:

measuring at multiple locations signal characteristic values for the signals transmitted by the one or more nodes; and

determining, based on antenna gain pattern information for at least one of the one or more wireless nodes and on the signal characteristic values measured at the multiple locations, interpolated signal characteristic values at locations different from the multiple locations at which the signal characteristics values for the signals transmitted by the one or more wireless nodes were measured.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the interpolated signal characteristic values comprises:

deriving antenna orientation for the at least one of the one or more wireless nodes based on the signal characteristic values measured at the multiple locations for the signals transmitted by the one or more wireless nodes, and on antenna gain pattern information for the one or more nodes; and

performing interpolation operations, constrained by one or more of the antenna gain pattern information or the derived antenna orientation, on the measured signal characteristic values to determine the interpolated signal characteristic values at the locations different from the multiple locations at which the signal characteristics values for the signals transmitted by the one or more wireless nodes were measured.

7. A device comprising:

at least one transceiver to communicate with one or more remote devices;

memory; and

one or more processors coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver;

the device configured to;

obtain antenna information for one or more wireless nodes; and

generate based, at least in part, on the antenna information for the one or more wireless nodes, a heatmap representative of values measurable at a plurality of locations from signals transmitted by the one or more wireless nodes.

8. The device of claim 7, wherein the values measureable at the plurality of locations comprise one or more of:

signal strength values, round trip signal propagation time (RTT) values, or any combination thereof.

9. The device of claim 7, wherein the device configured to obtain the antenna information is configured to:

receive at the device the antenna information in at least one message transmitted to the device, the at least one message including one of;

a beacon frame message configured according to IEEE 802.11 standard, a fine timing measurement (FTM) protocol-based message, an assistance data message transmitted from a remote central repository of information, or any combination thereof.

10. The device of claim 7, wherein the device configured to generate the heatmap is configured to:

determine a propagation model for at least one of the one or more wireless nodes based, at least in part, on antenna orientation and antenna type obtained for the at least one of the one or more wireless nodes, the propagation model being representative of expected measurable values at multiple locations for corresponding signals transmitted from the at least one of the one or more wireless nodes.

11. The device of claim 7, wherein the device configured to generate the heatmap is configured to:

measure at multiple locations signal characteristic values for the signals transmitted by the one or more nodes; and

determine, based on antenna gain pattern information for at least one of the one or more wireless nodes and on the signal characteristic values measured at the multiple locations, interpolated signal characteristic values at locations different from the multiple locations at which the signal characteristics values for the signals transmitted by the one or more wireless nodes were measured.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the device configured to determine the interpolated signal characteristic values is configured to:

derive antenna orientation for the at least one of the one or more wireless nodes based on the signal characteristic values measured at the multiple locations for the signals transmitted by the one or more wireless nodes, and on antenna gain pattern information for the one or more nodes; and

perform interpolation operations, constrained by one or more of the antenna gain pattern information or the derived antenna orientation, on the measured signal characteristic values to determine the interpolated signal characteristic values at the locations different from the multiple locations at which the signal characteristics values for the signals transmitted by the one or more wireless nodes were measured.

13. An apparatus comprising:

means for obtaining antenna information for one or more wireless nodes; and

means for generating based, at least in part, on the antenna information for the one or more wireless nodes, a heatmap representative of values measurable at a plurality of locations from signals transmitted by the one or more wireless nodes.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the values measureable at the plurality of locations comprise one or more of:

signal strength values, round trip signal propagation time (RTT) values, or any combination thereof.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the means for obtaining the antenna information comprises:

means for receiving at the apparatus the antenna information in at least one message transmitted to the apparatus, the at least one message including one of;

a beacon frame message configured according to IEEE 802.11 standard, a fine timing measurement (FTM) protocol-based message, or an assistance data message transmitted from a remote central repository of information, or any combination thereof.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the means for generating the heatmap comprises:

means for determining a propagation model for at least one of the one or more wireless nodes based, at least in part, on antenna orientation and antenna type obtained for the at least one of the one or more wireless nodes, the propagation model being representative of expected measurable values at multiple locations for corresponding signals transmitted from the at least one of the one or more wireless nodes.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the means for generating the heatmap comprises:

means for measuring at multiple locations signal characteristic values for the signals transmitted by the one or more nodes; and

means for determining, based on antenna gain pattern information for at least one of the one or more wireless nodes and on the signal characteristic values measured at the multiple locations, interpolated signal characteristic values at locations different from the multiple locations at which the signal characteristics values for the signals transmitted by the one or more wireless nodes were measured.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the means for determining the interpolated signal characteristic values comprises:

means for deriving antenna orientation for the at least one of the one or more wireless nodes based on the signal characteristic values measured at the multiple locations for the signals transmitted by the one or more wireless nodes, and on antenna gain pattern information for the one or more nodes; and

means for performing interpolation operations, constrained by one or more of the antenna gain pattern information or the derived antenna orientation, on the measured signal characteristic values to determine the interpolated signal characteristic values at the locations different from the multiple locations at which the signal characteristics values for the signals transmitted by the one or more wireless nodes were measured.

19. A non-transitory computer readable media programmed with a set of instructions, executable on a processor, to:

obtain antenna information for one or more wireless nodes; and

generate based, at least in part, on the antenna information for the one or more wireless nodes, a heatmap representative of values measurable at a plurality of locations from signals transmitted by the one or more wireless nodes.

20. The computer readable media of claim 19, wherein the values measureable at the plurality of locations comprise one or more of:

signal strength values, round trip signal propagation time (RTT) values, or any combination thereof.

21. The computer readable media of claim 19, wherein the set of instructions to obtain the antenna information comprises computer instructions to:

receive the antenna information in at least one message transmitted to a device including the processor, the at least one message including one of;

a beacon frame message configured according to IEEE 802.11 standard, a fine timing measurement (FTM) protocol-based message, an assistance data message transmitted from a remote central repository of information, or any combination thereof.

22. The computer readable media of claim 19, wherein the set of instructions to generate the heatmap comprises computer instructions to:

determine a propagation model for at least one of the one or more wireless nodes based, at least in part, on antenna orientation and antenna type obtained for the at least one of the one or more wireless nodes, the propagation model being representative of expected measurable values at multiple locations for corresponding signals transmitted from the at least one of the one or more wireless nodes.

23. The computer readable media of claim 19, wherein the set of instructions to generate the heatmap comprises computer instructions to:

measure at multiple locations signal characteristic values for the signals transmitted by the one or more nodes; and

determine, based on antenna gain pattern information for at least one of the one or more wireless nodes and on the signal characteristic values measured at the multiple locations, interpolated signal characteristic values at locations different from the multiple locations at which the signal characteristics values for the signals transmitted by the one or more wireless nodes were measured.

24. The computer readable media of claim 23, wherein the computer instructions to determine the interpolated signal characteristic values comprise instructions to:

derive antenna orientation for the at least one of the one or more wireless nodes based on the signal characteristic values measured at the multiple locations for the signals transmitted by the one or more wireless nodes, and on antenna gain pattern information for the one or more nodes; and

perform interpolation operations, constrained by one or more of the antenna gain pattern information or the derived antenna orientation, on the measured signal characteristic values to determine the interpolated signal characteristic values at the locations different from the multiple locations at which the signal characteristics values for the signals transmitted by the one or more wireless nodes were measured.