Method for localizing the position of a wireless device
First Claim
1. A method for localizing the position of a wireless device comprising:
- providing a plurality of directional antennas capable of receiving signals from the wireless device, wherein each directional antenna produces a scan beam using an adaptive beamformer;
scanning a volume for a signal from the wireless device using the scan beams of the antennas;
using a controller to electronically steer the scan beams to converge at a specified location in the volume;
receiving a signal from the wireless device at a minimum number of antennas;
determining a time of arrival of the signal for each antenna that received the signal;
determining the position of the wireless device based on the determined time of arrival data;
applying robust inversion techniques to the position determination to minimize error in the position determination; and
controlling the adaptive beamformer of each antenna to ignore or substantially attenuate off-angle delayed multipath signals that fall outside of the scan beams.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for localizing the position of a wireless device using a plurality of coordinated highly directional or adaptive antennas to detect signals from the wireless device. Because of the directional nature and/or adaptive processing of the antennas, off-angle multipath signals resulting from reflection and scattering as the wireless signal propagates through a cluttered environment are rejected by the antennas and processing. As a result, the antennas pass primarily direct path signals from the wireless device to the location estimator. The time of arrival of the signal and the angle of arrival at each antenna are used to in the location estimator to calculate the position of the wireless device. Various robust inversion techniques may also be applied to the data to minimize the effect of residual multipath-corrupted detections. Furthermore, the systems and methods include specialized wireless devices that provide locating signals and signals related to the biological condition of their owner.
105 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A method for localizing the position of a wireless device comprising:
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providing a plurality of directional antennas capable of receiving signals from the wireless device, wherein each directional antenna produces a scan beam using an adaptive beamformer; scanning a volume for a signal from the wireless device using the scan beams of the antennas; using a controller to electronically steer the scan beams to converge at a specified location in the volume; receiving a signal from the wireless device at a minimum number of antennas; determining a time of arrival of the signal for each antenna that received the signal; determining the position of the wireless device based on the determined time of arrival data; applying robust inversion techniques to the position determination to minimize error in the position determination; and controlling the adaptive beamformer of each antenna to ignore or substantially attenuate off-angle delayed multipath signals that fall outside of the scan beams. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A system for localizing the position of a wireless device comprising:
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a plurality of directional antennas capable of receiving signals from the wireless device, wherein each antenna produces a scan beam using an adaptive beamformer; and a control system electronically linked to each of the antennas, wherein the control system is adapted to; control the scan beam of each of the antennas to scan a volume; electronically steer the scan beams to converge at a specified location in the volume; determine a time of arrival at each antenna of a signal from the wireless device; determine the position of the wireless device based on the time of arrival at each antenna; and apply robust inversion techniques to the position determination to minimize error in the position determination, wherein the control system is further adapted to control the adaptive beamformer of each antenna to ignore or substantially attenuate off-angle delayed multipath signals that fall outside of the scan beams. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of localizing the position of a wireless device within a volume comprising:
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providing a control system; providing a plurality of directional antennas, wherein each antenna is capable of creating a scan beam and is linked electronically to the control system, wherein the scan beam of each antenna is produced using an adaptive beamformer; arranging the plurality of directional antennas near the volume in which the wireless device is located; determining the position and orientation of each of the directional antennas; using the control system to electronically steer the scan beams to converge at a specified location in the volume; scanning the volume with the coordinated beams; receiving a signal from the wireless device; determining a time of arrival of the signal at each directional antenna; and controlling the adaptive beamformer of each antenna to ignore or substantially attenuate off-angle delayed multipath signals that fall outside of the scan beams. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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Specification