Method, system and computer program product for positioning and synchronizing wireless communications nodes
First Claim
1. A method of determining the location of communications nodes in a distributed network, comprising the steps of:
- creating, at a first node, a transmit timestamp for a message as said message is transmitted by said first node to a second node;
creating, at said second node, a receive timestamp as said message is received by said second node;
storing, at said second node, a measurement tuple corresponding to said message, wherein said storing includes recording an identifier for said first node, said transmit timestamp from said first node and said receive timestamp from said second node;
exchanging, by said second node, said measurement tuple with said first node, so that said first node and said second node each have a record of all measurement tuples stored therein; and
analyzing said record of measurement tuples to determine the location of said first node and said second node with respect to each other.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An asset positioning method and system (700) rapidly and accurately determine the special location of wireless nodes distributed in three-dimensional space. Furthermore, as a by-product, every node also determines the relative offset and drift of every other node'"'"'s clock, so that it is possible for all nodes to carry out a precise synchronized action (708). The positioning and synchronization protocol has significant implications for a broad range of wireless networking infrastructure and applications. For instance, the rapid availability of accurate location information greatly simplifies and optimises the implementation of ad-hoc networks and sensor-based applications (716). Additionally, the synchronized node operations facilitate the development of new applications, such as phase-locked arrays, in which several low power transmitters coordinate to form a powerful group transmitter. Since the positioning protocol yields rapid responses and positional accuracy in the range of a few centimeters, the positioning protocol permits mobile nodes to be tracked while they are moving.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method of determining the location of communications nodes in a distributed network, comprising the steps of:
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creating, at a first node, a transmit timestamp for a message as said message is transmitted by said first node to a second node; creating, at said second node, a receive timestamp as said message is received by said second node; storing, at said second node, a measurement tuple corresponding to said message, wherein said storing includes recording an identifier for said first node, said transmit timestamp from said first node and said receive timestamp from said second node; exchanging, by said second node, said measurement tuple with said first node, so that said first node and said second node each have a record of all measurement tuples stored therein; and analyzing said record of measurement tuples to determine the location of said first node and said second node with respect to each other. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification