Navigation apparatus and method using RFID

• US 7,978,066 B2
• Filed: 02/27/2008
• Issued: 07/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology
• Original Assignee: Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology
• Inventors: Lim, Hyuk, Jang, Jae-Hyung, Kim, Yung-Kwan
• Primary Examiner(s): Swarthout, Brent
• Application Number:
  US12/038,703
• Publication Number:
  US 20080266106A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,231 Days
• Field of Search: 3405721-5728, 34053911-53921, 340/286.05, 340/988, 342/420, 342/465, 455/456.1, 455/457, 700/245
• US Class Current: 340/539.13
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/82 wherein continuous-type signals are transmitted
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9329 cooperating with reflectors or transponders

Abstract

Disclosed is a navigation apparatus and method using RFID that is capable of providing information on a current position and a moving direction to the destination. An antenna unit has directivity in a predetermined direction and receives at least one radio signal transmitted from at least one RFID tag. An RFID reader converts the at least one radio signal provided by the antenna unit into information on the at least one RFID tag in a digital form, measures the reception strength of the at least one radio signal, and provides the information on the at least one RFID tag and information on the received strength. A control unit determines the current position and moving direction on the basis of the information on the at least one RFID tag and the information on the reception strength provided from the RFID reader. Accordingly, it is possible to accurately recognize the current position and the moving direction of the navigation apparatus and guide the moving direction to the destination.

Claims

1. A navigation apparatus using RFID, comprising:

an antenna unit that has directivity in a predetermined direction, and is configured to receive at least one radio signal transmitted from at least one RFID tag;

an RFID reader that is configured to convert the at least one radio signal provided by the antenna unit into information on the at least one RFID tag in a digital form, to measure a reception strength of the at least one radio signal, and to provide the information on the at least one RFID tag and information on the reception strength; and

a control unit that is configured to determine a current position and a moving direction on the basis of the information on the at least one RFID tag and the information on the reception strength provided by the RFID reader,

wherein the control unit is configured to interlock the current position and the moving direction, with GIS (Geographic Information System) information corresponding to the current position and the moving direction, and to display the current position and the moving direction together with the GIS information.

2. The navigation apparatus of claim 1,

wherein the control unit is configured to extract the distance between the at least one RFID tag and the navigation apparatus and a direction where the at least one RFID tag is disposed on the basis of the information on the reception strength and to determine the current position based on the extracted distance and direction and positional information of the at least one RFID tag included in the information on the at least one RFID tag.

3. The navigation apparatus of claim 1,

wherein the control unit is configured to compare the information on the at least one RFID tag with a list of RFID tags provided on a moving path to a destination, to read RFID tag information matched with the list of RFID tags among the information on the at least one RFID tag, and to determine the moving direction on the basis of a direction where the RFID tag corresponding to the read RFID tag information is installed.

4. The navigation apparatus of claim 1,

wherein the information on the reception strength indicates the reception electric field strength of the at least one radio signal received from the antenna unit.

5. The navigation apparatus of claim 1,

wherein the antenna unit includes three directional antennas that are respectively installed to have directivity in different directions at the front of the navigation apparatus and at an angle in a range of 45 to 90 degrees with respect to the front.

6. The navigation apparatus of claim 1,

wherein the antenna unit is one of an antenna having a beam-forming function capable of radiating radio waves in a desired direction or receiving the radio waves from the desired direction, or a smart antenna.

7. The navigation apparatus of claim 1,

wherein the information on the at least one RFID tag includes at least one of unique identification information of the RFID tag, installation position information thereof, and GIS (Geographic Information System) information.

8. The navigation apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a display unit that is configured to receive the current position and the moving direction from the control unit, and to display the current position and the moving direction;

a storage unit that is configured to store a list of RFID tags installed on a moving path to a destination and GIS (Geographic Information System) information corresponding to the list of RFID tags; and

a communication interface that is configured to establish connection with an external apparatus, and to provide data received from the external apparatus to the control unit.

9. The navigation apparatus of claim 8,

wherein the list of RFID tags includes at least one of positional information and topologic information of each of the RFID tags, data used to interlock the information of each of the RFID tags with its corresponding GIS information, and information used to describe a position of each of the RFID tags.

10. A navigation method using RFID that guides a current position and a moving direction to the destination, the navigation method comprising:

recognizing at least one RFID tag using an antenna unit and an RFID reader;

recognizing the current position of the navigation apparatus on the basis of information on the at least one RFID tag and information on the reception strength of a radio signal transmitted from the at least one RFID tag using the antenna unit and the RFID reader;

comparing the information from the at least one RFID tag with a list of RFID tags installed on a moving path to a destination using a control unit; and

determining the moving direction of the navigation apparatus using the control unit,

wherein the recognizing of the current position includes simultaneously displaying the recognized current position and GIS (Geographic Information System) information corresponding to the recognized current position.

11. The navigation method of claim 10,

wherein the recognizing of the current position includes extracting the distance between the at least one RFID tag and the navigation apparatus and a direction where the at least one RFID tag is disposed on the basis of the information on the reception strength, and using the extracted distance and direction and positional information of the at least one RFID tag included in the information on the at least one RFID tag to recognize the current position.

12. The navigation method of claim 10,

wherein the determining of the moving direction includes comparing the information on the at least one RFID tag with the list of RFID tags provided on the moving path to the destination, reading RFID tag information matched with the list of RFID tags among the information on the at least one RFID tag, and determining the moving direction on the basis of a direction where the RFID tag corresponding to the read RFID tag information is installed.

13. The navigation method of claim 10,

wherein the determining of the moving direction includes simultaneously displaying the determined moving direction and GIS (Geographic Information System) information corresponding to the determined moving direction.

14. The navigation method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving a list of RFID tags in a predetermined area and GIS (Geographic Information System) information from an external apparatus.

15. The navigation method of claim 10,

wherein, when an error occurs in recognizing the at least one RFID tag, the error is corrected on the basis of error determination and control measures stored in advance, and the recognizing of the at least one RFID tag is performed again.