Method and apparatus for location determination using mini-beacons
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for using wireless communication devices, comprising:
- one or more mini-beacons transmitting signals including identifying information of the mini-beacons and controlling a location coverage area of a volumetric 3-dimensional space by controlling shapes of ranges of the signals, including one or more shapes of sphere, ellipsoid, hemisphere, quarter sphere, cone, donut, or cuboid, or any combinations thereof, using one or more of radiation pattern according to any antenna parameter including type and/or gain, an antenna enclosure, transmission power, or intensity of the signal to cover a the volumetric 3-dimensional space, or any combinations thereof; and
a target device determining a location of the target device based upon receiving the transmitted signals, discriminating between the received signals, and determining which of the received signals best satisfies a specified criteria,wherein deployed two or more of the mini-beacons are capable of shaping ranges of the signals by having same symbolic location name, providing a coverage for the location coverage area of the volumetric 3-dimensional space by union of coverages identifiable by the same symbolic location name of the two or more mini-beacons, and one of the specified criteria includes the same symbolic location name of the plurality of mini-beacons when determining which of the received signals best satisfies the specified criteria.
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Abstract
A system and method uses wireless communication devices as beacons to determine the relative location of another target wireless communication device. The beacons transmit identifying information that the target device can use to determine the identity of the beacon. The target device can measure the received intensity of the beacon transmissions and determine an associated beacon that best satisfies a specified criteria (e.g., largest signal strength) using a procedure of the present invention that discriminates between multiple beacons.
151 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A system for using wireless communication devices, comprising:
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one or more mini-beacons transmitting signals including identifying information of the mini-beacons and controlling a location coverage area of a volumetric 3-dimensional space by controlling shapes of ranges of the signals, including one or more shapes of sphere, ellipsoid, hemisphere, quarter sphere, cone, donut, or cuboid, or any combinations thereof, using one or more of radiation pattern according to any antenna parameter including type and/or gain, an antenna enclosure, transmission power, or intensity of the signal to cover a the volumetric 3-dimensional space, or any combinations thereof; and a target device determining a location of the target device based upon receiving the transmitted signals, discriminating between the received signals, and determining which of the received signals best satisfies a specified criteria, wherein deployed two or more of the mini-beacons are capable of shaping ranges of the signals by having same symbolic location name, providing a coverage for the location coverage area of the volumetric 3-dimensional space by union of coverages identifiable by the same symbolic location name of the two or more mini-beacons, and one of the specified criteria includes the same symbolic location name of the plurality of mini-beacons when determining which of the received signals best satisfies the specified criteria. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of using wireless communication devices, comprising:
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controlling a location coverage area of a volumetric 3-dimensional space by controlling shapes of ranges of signals, including one or more shapes of sphere, ellipsoid, hemisphere, quarter sphere, cone, donut, or cuboid, or any combinations thereof, transmitted by one or more mini-beacons using one or more of radiation pattern according to any antenna parameter including type and/or gain, an antenna enclosure, transmission power, or intensity of the signal to cover the volumetric 3-dimensional space, or any combinations thereof; and receiving, by a target device, the transmitted signals, discriminating between the received signals, and determining which of the received signals best satisfies a specified criteria, wherein the ranges of the signals are shapeable by deploying two or more of the mini-beacons having same symbolic location name, providing coverage for the location coverage area of the volumetric 3-dimensional space by union of coverages identifiable by the same symbolic location name of the two or more mini-beacons, and one of the specified criteria includes the same symbolic location name of the plurality of mini-beacons when determining which of the received signals best satisfies the specified criteria. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A computer-readable medium storing a program causing a computer system executing the program to execute operations comprising:
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transmitting, by one or more mini-beacons, signals including identifying information of the mini-beacons; controlling a location coverage area of a volumetric 3-dimensional space by controlling shapes of ranges of the signals, including one or more shapes of sphere, ellipsoid, hemisphere, quarter sphere, cone, donut, or cuboid, or any combinations thereof, using one or more of radiation pattern according to any antenna parameter including type and/or gain, an antenna enclosure, transmission power, or intensity of the signal to cover the volumetric 3-dimensional space, or any combinations thereof; and receiving, by a target device, the transmitted signals, discriminating between the received signals, and determining which of the received signals best satisfies a specified criteria, wherein the ranges of the signals are shapeable using two or more of the mini-beacons by; assigning same symbolic location name to the deployed two or more mini-beacons; and providing coverage for the location coverage area of the volumetric 3-dimensional space by union of coverages identifiable by the same symbolic location name of the two or more mini-beacons and one of the specified criteria includes the same symbolic location name of the plurality of mini-beacons when determining which of the received signals best satisfies the specified criteria. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification