SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ACCURATELY SENSING USER LOCATION IN AN IOT SYSTEM

• US 20190075424A1
• Filed: 08/06/2018
• Published: 03/07/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Afero, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Afero, Inc.
• Inventors: ZAKARIA, Omar
• Granted Patent: US 10,798,523 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72415 for remote control of appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

A system and method are described for accurately detecting a location of a wireless device. For example, one embodiment of a method comprises: collecting signal strength data indicating signal strength between a wireless device and a plurality of IoT devices and/or IoT hubs in a user'"'"'s home; associating the signal strength data with locations in the user'"'"'s home and storing the association in a location database; and determining a current location of the wireless device by comparing the signal strength data in the database with current signal strength data indicating current signal strength between the wireless device and the plurality of IoT devices and/or IoT hubs.

Claims

1. (canceled)

2. A system comprising:

a system calibration module to collect signal strength data indicating signal strength between a wireless device of a user and a plurality of Internet of Things (IoT) devices within the user'"'"'s home or business responsive to an interaction between the user and a first IoT device of the plurality of IoT devices, the system calibration module to associate the signal strength data with a location of the first IoT device and store the association in a location database.

3. The system as in claim 2, wherein the first IoT device comprises an appliance, a lighting system, an audiovisual equipment, or a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment.

4. The system as in claim 2, wherein the first IoT device comprises a refrigerator and the interaction comprises the user opening or closing a door of the refrigerator.

5. The system as in claim 2, wherein the first IoT device comprises a lighting system and the interaction comprises the user adjusting one or more lights in different rooms of the user'"'"'s home or business.

6. The system as in claim 2, wherein the location of the first IoT device to be associated with the signal strength data is provided by a global positioning system (GPS) of the wireless device.

7. The system as in claim 6, wherein the location database comprises GPS data and a plurality of signal strength values associated with the location of the first IoT device.

8. The system as in claim 7, wherein the plurality of signal strength values comprise received signal strength indicator (RSSI) values measured between the wireless device and the plurality of IoT devices at the location of the first IoT device.

9. The system as in claim 2, further comprising:

a signal strength analysis module to determine a current location of the wireless device by comparing the signal strength data in the location database with current signal strength data indicating current signal strength between the wireless device and one or more of the plurality of IoT devices.

10. The system as in claim 9, further comprising:

an IoT hub on which the system calibration module and the signal strength analysis module are executed.

11. The system as in claim 9, wherein the signal strength analysis module is to receive a current set of signal strength values and compare those values with the signal strength data in the location database to determine the current location of the wireless device.

12. The system as in claim 11, wherein the signal strength analysis module is to determine that the wireless device is in a particular location if the current signal strength values are within a specified range of the signal strength values specified in the location database.

13. A method comprising:

collecting signal strength data indicating signal strength between a wireless device and a plurality of Internet of Things (IoT) devices within a user'"'"'s home or business responsive to an interaction between the user and a first IoT device of the plurality of IoT device; and

associating the signal strength data with a location of the first IoT device and storing the association in a location database.

14. The method as in claim 13, wherein the first IoT device comprises an appliance, a lighting system, an audiovisual equipment, or a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment.

15. The method as in claim 13, wherein the first IoT device comprises a refrigerator and the interaction comprises the user opening or closing a door of the refrigerator.

16. The method as in claim 13, wherein the first IoT device comprises a lighting system and the interaction comprises the user adjusting one or more lights in different rooms of the user'"'"'s home or business.

17. The method as in claim 13, wherein the location of the first IoT device to be associated with the signal strength data is provided by a global positioning system (GPS) of the wireless device.

18. The method as in claim 17, wherein the location database comprises GPS data and a plurality of signal strength values associated with the location of the first IoT device.

19. The method as in claim 18, wherein the plurality of signal strength values comprise received signal strength indicator (RSSI) values measured between the wireless device and the plurality of IoT devices at the location of the first IoT device.

20. The method as in claim 13, further comprising:

determining a current location of the wireless device within the home or business by comparing the signal strength data in the location database with current signal strength data indicating current signal strength between the wireless device and the plurality of IoT devices.

21. The method as in claim 20, further comprising:

receiving a current set of signal strength values and compare those values with the signal strength data in the location database to determine the current location of the wireless device.

22. The method as in claim 21, wherein determining a current location further comprises determining that the wireless device is in a particular location if the current signal strength values are within a specified range of the signal strength values specified in the location database.