Room association device conveying sector data for in-room position and facing determinations

• US 8,218,971 B2
• Filed: 01/08/2010
• Issued: 07/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Inventors: Preston, Steven, Kaprocki, Edward S., Penner, Thomas H.
• Primary Examiner(s): SINGH, DALZID E
• Application Number:
  US12/684,712
• Publication Number:
  US 20120070152A1
• Time in Patent Office: 914 Days
• Field of Search: 398/118, 398126-128, 398/135, 398/137
• US Class Current: 398/135
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 33/02 Light- or radiation-emitting guns ; Light- or radiation-sensitive guns; Cartridges carrying light emitting sources, e.g. laser
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 27/00 Planetaria; Globes
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 9/003 for military purposes and tactics
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 9/006 for locating or ranging of objects

Abstract

A processor can determine a relative position within a room of a person wearing a force-on-force device based exclusively upon sensed optical signals detected by optical sensors connected to the force-on-force device. Each of the sensed optical signals is geographically focused within a spatially constrained zone. Each sensed optical signal can further include digitally encoded data indicating an optical source that emitted the sensed optical signal and a spatially constrained zone of the sensed optical signal. The relative position can be determined based on determining a grid within the room within which the person is located. The grid can be defined by overlapping ones of the spatially constrained zones of the sensed optical signals.

Claims

1. A method for determining a position of a mobile device in a room comprising:

determining via a processor a position within a room of a mobile device based upon sensed optical signals detected by optical sensors connected to the mobile device, where each of the sensed optical signals is geographically focused within a spatially constrained zone, each of the sensed optical signals comprising digitally encoded data indicating an optical source that emitted a corresponding one of the sensed optical signals and a spatially constrained zone of the corresponding one of the sensed optical signals, wherein said determining of the position is based on determining a grid within the room within which the mobile device is located, said grid being defined by overlapping ones of spatially constrained zones that the sensed optical signals are focused within; and

determining a facing direction within the room of a person wearing said mobile device based upon the sensed optical signals received by the optical sensors and based upon which of the sensors detected the sensed optical signals, wherein the optical sensors move when a head of the person moves.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a force-on-force device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting a plurality of optical signals from a plurality of different optical transmitters positioned in stationary positions within the room, said transmitted plurality of optical signals comprising said sensed optical signals received by the optical sensors; and

each of said optical transmitters repetitively transmitting a sequence of a plurality of different spatially constrained zones of emissions, each sequence covering a sequence angle of space in the room relative to the optical transmitter producing the emission, said sequence angle being greater than sixty degrees of space and being less than one-hundred and eighty degrees of space, wherein each spatially constrained zone of each discrete emission of the sequence covers a zone angle of the room relative to the optical transmitter, said zone angle being an angle less than twenty five degrees, wherein each zone angle of emissions in the sequence is different than other zone angles of other emissions in the sequence, wherein a combination of the zone angles results in the sequence angle.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving at least two different optical signals emitted from different optical sources, each having a stationary position in the room, wherein said at least two different optical signals are two of the sensed optical signals;

for each of the two different optical signals, decoding via a processor content contained within each of the two different optical signals, said content comprising an indicator of the optical source and the spatially constrained zone of a corresponding one of the two different optical signals;

querying a tangible storage medium of the mobile device for a unique identifier of the mobile device; and

transmitting at least one radio frequency signal, comprising digitally encoded RF data, the digitally encoded RF data comprising the indicator of the optical source and the spatially constrained zone of each of the two different optical signals as well as a sensor identifier of a sensor that received a corresponding one of each of the two different optical signals, said RF data also comprising the unique identifier of the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

a remote device remotely located from the room receiving a network transmission over an IP network, wherein said network transmission comprises digitally encoded data, which comprises identifiers for at least two specific ones of the sensed optical signals, wherein said digitally encoded data comprises, for each of the two specific sensed optical signals, data of an identifier of an optical source and a spatially constrained zone that was originally encoded within a corresponding one of the two specific sensed optical signals, said digitally encoded data also comprising a unique identifier of the mobile device; and

said remote device processing, via an included processor, the digitally encoded data to perform the determining of the position within the room of the mobile device.

6. A system comprising:

a plurality of room association devices, each comprising an optical signal transmitter, a radio frequency (RF) receiver, and a network transmitter, each of said room association devices for emitting via the optical signal transmitter spatially constrained optical signals along a plurality of different zones, each zone having a zone specific identifier encoded within the optical signal and having an identifier of the room association device encoded within the optical signal;

at least one mobile device comprising a plurality of optical sensors and a radio frequency (RF) transmitter, said mobile device for detecting via one of the optical sensors optical signals emitted from the room association devices, for encoding data detected within the optical signals into at least one radio frequency signal transmitted via the radio frequency transmitter, wherein said radio frequency receiver of each of the room association devices is for receiving radio frequency signals transmitted by the mobile device; and

a computing device comprising a processor and a network receiver, wherein said network transmitter of each of the room association devices is for transmitting data to the computing device, wherein the data transmitted by the room association device is received by the room association device from a mobile device, wherein the processor of the computing device executes a computer program product for determining a position within a room of the mobile device, wherein said determining of the position is based on which of the different zones the mobile device is in, wherein the different zones are the zones defined by spatially constrained optical signals received by the mobile device.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the processor of the computing device executes a computer program product for determining a facing direction within the room of a person wearing the mobile device based upon optical signals received by the optical sensors of the mobile device and based upon which of the plurality of optical sensors detected the optical signals, wherein the optical sensors of the mobile device move when a head of the person moves.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein each of said optical transmitters of each of said room association devices repetitively transmits a sequence of a plurality of different spatially constrained zones of emissions, each sequence covering a sequence angle of space in the room relative to the optical transmitter producing the emission, said sequence angle being greater than sixty degrees of space and being less than one-hundred and eighty degrees of space, wherein each spatially constrained zone of each discrete emission of the sequence covers a zone angle of the room relative to the optical transmitter, said zone angle being an angle less than twenty five degrees, wherein each zone angle of emissions in the sequence is different than other zone angles of other emissions in the sequence, wherein a combination of the zone angles results in the sequence angle.

9. The system of claim 8, said computing device further comprising:

a volatile memory comprising a tangible storage medium;

a non-volatile memory comprising a tangible storage medium;

a bus for communicatively linking said processor, said volatile memory, said non-volatile memory, and said network receiver; and

at least one computer program product stored in the non-volatile memory and executable by said processor, said at least one computer program product comprising;

a location determination unit configured to determine a position within the room of a person wearing a mobile device based upon the data received via the network receiver;

a facing direction unit configured to determine a facing direction within the room of a person wearing the mobile device based upon the sensed optical signals received by the optical sensors of the mobile device and based upon which of the plurality of sensors of the mobile device detected the sensed optical signals; and

an operating system upon which the location determination unit and said facing unit execute.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said computer program product further comprises:

a simulation manager configured to manage locations of a plurality of people wearing a plurality of mobile devices that are positioned in a plurality of different rooms, said locations being determined at least in part by computations performed by the location determination unit, and to display positions of the plurality of different people within a graphical user interface, which is dynamically updated during a simulation exercise as locations of the people change.

11. The system of claim 6, said optical signal transmitter of each of said room association devices for emitting optical signals in a plurality of different spatially constrained zones, each optical emission comprising digitally encoded data comprising a unique transmitter key associated with the room association device and a unique sector key that uniquely identifies which of the different spatially constrained zones is associated with each of the optical signals from a corresponding one of the room association devices, each of said room association devices comprising:

a processor for processing programmatic instructions;

a memory comprising a tangible storage medium;

a bus for communicatively linking said processor, said memory, said optical signal transmitter, said RF signal receiver, and said network transceiver; and

a logic unit comprising at least one computer program product stored in said memory and executable by said processor, wherein execution of at least one computer program product of the logic unit causes the room association device to;

receive content digitally encoded in the RF communications received by the RF signal receiver, said received content comprising data uniquely identifying the mobile device that conveyed a corresponding one of the RF communications, data identifying one of a plurality of optical sensors of the mobile device, where said identified optical sensor is one that detected at least one optical emission transmitted by the optical signal transmitter, data identifying the unique transmitter key and the sector key encoded within the identified optical sensor; and

transmit a digitally encoded message via said network transmitter, said digitally encoded message comprises encoded information based at least in part on the received content for determining a triangulated relative position of said mobile device, wherein the determining of the triangulated relative position is based on optical signals detected by the mobile device from the room association devices.

12. A room association device (RAD) comprising;

a processor for processing programmatic instructions;

a memory comprising a storage medium;

an optical signal transmitter for emitting optical signals in a plurality of different spatially constrained zones, each optical emission comprising digitally encoded data comprising a unique transmitter key associated with the room association device and a unique sector key that uniquely identifies which of the different spatially constrained zones is associated with the optical signals;

a radio frequency signal receiver for receiving radio frequency communications;

a network transmitter for conveying data digitally encoded within carrier waves over a network to a remotely located computing device;

a bus for communicatively linking said processor, said memory, said optical signal transmitter, said RF signal receiver, and said network transceiver; and

a logic unit comprising at least one computer program product stored in said memory and executable by said processor, wherein execution of at least one computer program product of the logic unit causes the room association device to;

receive content digitally encoded in the radio frequency communications received by the radio frequency signal receiver, said received content comprising data uniquely identifying a mobile device, data identifying one of a plurality of optical sensors of the mobile device, where said identified optical sensor is one that detected at least one of the optical signals transmitted by the optical signal transmitter, data identifying the unique transmitter key and the sector key encoded within the identified optical sensor; and

transmit a digitally encoded message Via said network transmitter, said digitally encoded message comprising encoded information based at least in part on the received content for determining a triangulated relative position of said mobile device, wherein the determining of the triangulated relative position is based on a set of optical signals detected by the mobile device.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein each of said optical transmitters of each of said room association devices repetitively transmits a sequence of a plurality of different spatially constrained zones of emissions, each sequence covering a sequence angle of space in the room relative to the optical transmitter producing the emission, said sequence angle being greater than sixty degrees of space and being less than one-hundred and eighty degrees of space, wherein each spatially constrained zone of each discrete emission of the sequence covers a zone angle of the room relative to the optical transmitter, said zone angle being an angle less than twenty five degrees, wherein each zone angle of emissions in the sequence is different than other zone angles of other emissions in the sequence, wherein a combination of the zone angles results in the sequence angle.

14. The device of claim 12, wherein each of the optical signals has a wavelength of approximately 904 nm and is a digitally encoded in a format compliant with a Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) defined standard.

15. The device of claim 12, wherein said optical transmitter is a scanning laser, wherein each of the optical signals is a digitally encoded in a format compliant with a Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) defined standard, wherein said radio frequency communication received by the radio frequency signal receiver is a digitally encoded in a format compliant with a Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) defined standard.

16. The device of claim 12, wherein said optical signal transmitter further comprises:

a signal emitter configured to produce each of said optical signals;

a signal focus mechanism configured to focus energy generated by the signal emitter into said spatially constrained zones; and

a signal encoder configured to digitally encoded information into said optical signals produced by said signal emitter.

17. The device of claim 12, further comprising:

logic unit comprising a plurality of computer program products stored in said memory and executable by said processor, said logic unit comprising;

an event handler configured to detect occurrences of definable events and to respond to detected occurrences by triggering an execution of previously defined computer program products; and

conflict avoidance logic configured to prevent optical signals produced within a common room from interfering with each other.

18. A mobile device comprising:

a processor for processing programmatic instructions;

a memory comprising a storage medium;

a plurality of optical sensors for detected optical energy emissions comprising digitally encoded data;

an RF signal transmitter for transmitting content encoded within carrier waves within the RF spectrum;

a bus for communicatively linking said processor, said memory, said optical sensors, and said RF signal transmitter;

a logic unit comprising at least one computer program product stored in said memory an executable by said processor, wherein execution of at least one computer program product of the logic unit causes the mobile device to;

receive at least two different optical signals emitted from different optical transmitters;

for each received optical signal, decode via a processor content contained within the at least two different optical signals, said content comprising an indicator of an optical source that transmitted the corresponding one of the at least two different optical signals and the spatially constrained zone of the corresponding one of the at least two different optical signals;

query a tangible storage medium of the mobile device for an unique identifier of the mobile device; and

transmit at least one radio frequency signal, comprising digitally encoded RF data, said RF data comprising, for each of the at least two different optical signals, the identifier of the optical source associated the corresponding one of the at least two different optical signals and the spatially constrained zone associated with the corresponding one of the at least two different optical signals, and a sensor identifier of a sensor that received the corresponding one of the at least two different optical signals, said RF data also comprising the unique identifier of the mobile device.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein each of the optical signals has a wavelength of approximately 904 nm and is a digitally encoded in a format compliant with a Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) defined standard.