Tag location, client location, and coverage hole location in a wireless network
First Claim
1. A method of determining location of a radio tag or client station of a wireless network, the method comprising:
- receiving from a plurality of wireless stations of the wireless network path loss information of the path loss of one or more location frames received at the respective wireless stations, the location frames transmitted by the radio tag or client station and having a pre-defined frame structure; and
determining the location of the wireless station or radio tag from the path loss information using a path-loss based location determining method,wherein the radio tag or client station uses for transmitting a location frame, a common infrastructure configured for radiolocation by path loss measurement, the common infrastructure including a pre-defined protocol common for both radio tags and client stations for transmitting information for reception by the plurality of stations of the wireless network for radiolocation, the pre-defined protocol including using the location frame having the pre-defined frame structure,wherein the pre-defined protocol includes a pre-assigned multicast address to be used by transmitting radio tags and client stations to transmit location frames, andwherein a location frame conforming to the pre-defined frame structure includes an identifier that provides for a receiving station to recognize the frame as a frame that includes location information, and wherein the identifier includes the multicast address.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Determining the location of a radio tag or client station of a wireless network, and the location of coverage holes by receiving from a plurality of wireless stations of the wireless network path loss information of the path loss of one or more location frames received at the respective wireless stations. The location frames transmitted by the radio tag or client station having a pre-defined frame structure. The radio tags and client stations use a common infrastructure for transmitting a location frame configured for radiolocation by path loss measurement. The common infrastructure includes a pre-defined protocol common for both radio tags and client stations for transmitting information for reception by the plurality of stations of the wireless network for radiolocation. The pre-defined protocol includes using the location frame having the pre-defined frame structure.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method of determining location of a radio tag or client station of a wireless network, the method comprising:
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receiving from a plurality of wireless stations of the wireless network path loss information of the path loss of one or more location frames received at the respective wireless stations, the location frames transmitted by the radio tag or client station and having a pre-defined frame structure; and determining the location of the wireless station or radio tag from the path loss information using a path-loss based location determining method, wherein the radio tag or client station uses for transmitting a location frame, a common infrastructure configured for radiolocation by path loss measurement, the common infrastructure including a pre-defined protocol common for both radio tags and client stations for transmitting information for reception by the plurality of stations of the wireless network for radiolocation, the pre-defined protocol including using the location frame having the pre-defined frame structure, wherein the pre-defined protocol includes a pre-assigned multicast address to be used by transmitting radio tags and client stations to transmit location frames, and wherein a location frame conforming to the pre-defined frame structure includes an identifier that provides for a receiving station to recognize the frame as a frame that includes location information, and wherein the identifier includes the multicast address.
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2. A method of determining location of a radio tag or client station of a wireless network, the method comprising:
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receiving from a plurality of wireless stations of the wireless network path loss information of the path loss of one or more location frames received at the respective wireless stations, the location frames transmitted by the radio tag or client station and having a pre-defined frame stmcture; and determining the location of the wireless station or radio tag from the path loss information using a path-loss based location determining method, wherein the radio tag or client station uses for transmitting a location frame, a common infrastructure configured for radiolocation by path loss measurement, the common infrastructure including a pre-defined protocol common for both radio tags and client stations for transmitting information for reception by the plurality of stations of the wireless network for radiolocation, the pre-defined protocol including using the location frame having the pre-defined frame structure, wherein the location frames having a pre-defined frame structure are configured to be receivable by one or more substantially standard wireless stations of a substantially standard wireless local area network (“
WLAN”
) that substantially conforms to the IEEE 802.11 standard or variants thereof, andwherein the predefined protocol includes one or more extensions to the IEEE 802.11 specifications that provide for client stations and radio tags the pre-defined frame structure for location frames, including an indication of the transmit power used to transmit the location frame.
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3. A method of determining location of a radio tag or client station of a wireless network, the method comprising:
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receiving from a plurality of wireless stations of the wireless network path loss information of the path loss of one or more location frames received at the respective wireless stations, the location frames transmitted by the radio tag or client station and having a pre-defined frame structure; and determining the location of the wireless station or radio tag from the path loss information using a path-loss based location determining method, wherein the radio tag or client station uses for transmitting a location frame, a common infrastructure configured for radiolocation by path loss measurement, the common infrastructure including a pre-defined protocol common for both radio tags and client stations for transmitting information for reception by the plurality of stations of the wireless network for radiolocation, the pre-defined protocol including using the location frame having the pre-defined frame structure, wherein the location frames having a pre-defined frame structure are configured to be receivable by one or more substantially standard wireless stations of a substantially standard wireless local area network (“
WLAN”
), andwherein the plurality of wireless stations are access points of the WLAN, the access points having the ability to measure the received signal power of received signal to a pre-defined level of accuracy, and wherein the location frame transmitted by the radio tag or clients includes an indication of transmit power, such that the path loss from the transmitting radio tag or client to any receiving access point is available at the access point. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of determining location of a radio tag or client station of a wireless network, the method comprising:
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receiving from a plurality of wireless stations of the wireless network path loss information of the path loss of one or more location frames received at the respective wireless stations, the location frames transmitted by the radio tag or client station and having a pre-defined frame structure; and determining the location of the wireless station or radio tag from the path loss information using a path-loss based location determining method, wherein the radio tag or client station uses for transmitting a location frame, a common infrastructure configured for radiolocation by path loss measurement, the common infrastructure including a pre-defined protocol common for both radio tags and client stations for transmitting information for reception by the plurality of stations of the wireless network for radiolocation, the pre-defined protocol including using the location frame having the pre-defined frame structure, wherein the location frames having a pre-defined frame structure are configured to be receivable by one or more substantially standard wireless stations of a substantially standard wireless local area network (“
WLAN”
),wherein the plurality of receiving stations are access points of the wireless network, wherein the common infrastructure is also for determining gaps in the coverage area of the access points of the wireless network without requiring a map, wherein the pre-defined protocol provides a mechanism to set a radio tag or client to periodically transmit frames conforming to the pre-defined frame format on a single channel, or periodically transmit on a number of channels in succession to a pre-assigned multicast address, the protocol providing a set of parameters for the transmitting by the radio tag or client, including setting at least one parameter of the set consisting of the single transmission channel or channels for transmitting, a transmit power or powers, one or more intervals between transmissions, and a length or lengths of time of transmissions, and wherein the method further comprises; determining the gaps in the coverage area including, at an entity of the wireless network; setting up client stations and/or radio tags to transmit location frames at their respective maximum power; receiving reports sent by one or more access points that receive the transmitted location frames, the reports including information about received location messages and further about from which clients and/or radio tags the communication was unreliable; and determining the location of the client stations and/or radio tags that transmitted location frames and from which frames were received at one or more access points. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
in the case that it is ascertained that the particular client is in a coverage gap, ascertaining which access point is serving the client station, and instructing the ascertained access point to instruct the particular client station to transmit location frames at the highest power and lowest data rate to provide for more accuracy in determining location.
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23. A method in a client station of a wireless station or a radio tag, the client station or radio tag including a transmitter of frames that conform to a wireless network standard, the method comprising:
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transmitting location frames having a pre-defined frame structure and including information for reception by a plurality of stations of the wireless network, the location frames substantially conforming to frames of the wireless network standard, wherein the predefined frame structure is designed for conveying information needed to locate radio tags and clients using path loss measurements, wherein the pre-defined protocol includes a pre-assigned multicast address to be used by transmitting radio tags and client stations to transmit location frames, and wherein a location frame conforming to the pre-defined frame structure includes an identifier that provides for a receiving station to recognize the frame as a frame that includes location information, and wherein the identifier includes the multicast address, such that the radio tags or client station can be located using radiolocation by path loss measurement between the radio tag or client station and the receiving stations.
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24. A method in a client station of a wireless station or a radio tag, the client station or radio tag including a transmitter of frames that conform to a wireless network standard, the method comprising:
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transmitting location frames having a pre-defined frame structure and including information for reception by a plurality of stations of the wireless network, the location frames substantially conforming to frames of the wireless network standard, wherein the predefined frame structure is designed for conveying information needed to locate radio tags and clients using path loss measurements, wherein the location frames having a pre-defined frame structure are configured to be receivable by one or more substantially standard wireless stations of a substantially standard wireless local area network (“
WLAN”
) that substantially conforms to the IEEE 802.11 standard or variants thereof,wherein the predefined frame structure forms one or more extensions to the IEEE 802.11 specifications, such that the radio tags or client station can be located using radiolocation by path loss measurement between the radio tag or client station and the receiving stations.
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25. A method in a client station of a wireless station or a radio tag, the client station or radio tag including a transmitter of frames that conform to a wireless network standard, the method comprising:
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transmitting location frames having a pre-defined frame structure and including information for reception by a plurality of stations of the wireless network, the location frames substantially conforming to frames of the wireless network standard, wherein the predefined frame structure is designed for conveying information needed to locate radio tags and clients using path loss measurements, wherein the location frames having a pre-defined frame structure are configured to be receivable by one or more substantially standard wireless stations of a substantially standard wireless local area network (“
WLAN”
), andwherein the locating includes receiving at one or more access points of the WLAN at least one location frame transmitted by the radio tag or client, the access points having the ability to measure the received signal power of received signal to a pre-defined level of accuracy, and wherein the location frame transmitted by the radio tag or clients includes an indication of transmit power, such that the path loss from the transmitting radio tag or client to any receiving access point is available at the access point, such that the radio tags or client station can be located using radiolocation by path loss measurement between the radio tag or client station and the receiving stations. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification