Method and apparatus for locationing an object in a communication network
First Claim
1. A method for locationing an object in a communication network, the method comprising:
- transmitting by a wireless transceiver fixed to the object of unknown location, a radio frequency (RF) packet, to a plurality of locationing transceivers at known locations in the communication network;
determining by each of the plurality of locationing transceivers, the local time of arrival of the RF packet;
placing, by each of the plurality of locationing transceivers, a time stamp on the received RF packet based on the local time of arrival and a local clock of each of the plurality of locationing transceivers along with a packet identifier number,;
communicating by each of the plurality of locationing transceivers to an infrastructure device a list of time stamped and identified RF packets received by the identified locationing transceivers;
correlating the time stamps for each identified RF packet across all locationing transceivers; and
determining a spatial location of the object using a differential time-of-arrival triangulation.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for locationing an object in a communication network. The method includes transmitting by a wireless transceiver fixed to the object of unknown location a plurality of radio frequency (RF) packets to a plurality of locationing receivers (LRs) in the communication network. The method further includes determining by each locationing receiver the local time of arrival of the RF packet and places a time stamp on the received RF packet based on a corresponding local clock, wherein the local clocks of the locationing receivers are synchronized based on a plurality of RF beacon packets transmitted by at least one reference transmitter at a known location.
-
Citations
7 Claims
-
1. A method for locationing an object in a communication network, the method comprising:
-
transmitting by a wireless transceiver fixed to the object of unknown location, a radio frequency (RF) packet, to a plurality of locationing transceivers at known locations in the communication network; determining by each of the plurality of locationing transceivers, the local time of arrival of the RF packet; placing, by each of the plurality of locationing transceivers, a time stamp on the received RF packet based on the local time of arrival and a local clock of each of the plurality of locationing transceivers along with a packet identifier number,; communicating by each of the plurality of locationing transceivers to an infrastructure device a list of time stamped and identified RF packets received by the identified locationing transceivers; correlating the time stamps for each identified RF packet across all locationing transceivers; and determining a spatial location of the object using a differential time-of-arrival triangulation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. At least one locationing transceiver operable for locationing an object in a communication network, the at least one locationing transceiver comprising:
-
a receiver at a known location, coupled to an antenna, and configured to receive from a wireless transceiver fixed to the object of unknown location a radio frequency (RF) packet; a local clock operable to provide timing information; a processor coupled to the receiver and local clock and operable to determine the local time of arrival of the RF packet, and place a time stamp on the received RF packet based on the local time of arrival and the local clock along with a packet identifier number; and a transmitter coupled to the processor and operable to communicate to an infrastructure device a list of time stamped and identified RF packets such that the infrastructure device can correlate the time stamps for each identified RF packet across all locationing transceivers, and determine a spatial location of the object using a differential time-of-arrival triangulation.
-
Specification