Method and system for indoor positioning

• US 8,400,359 B2
• Filed: 12/04/2009
• Issued: 03/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Institute For Information Industry
• Original Assignee: Institute For Information Industry
• Inventors: Liu, Yung-Chih, Teng, Chi-Wen, Liu, Wei-Chang
• Primary Examiner(s): Keith, Jack W
• Assistant Examiner(s): McGue, Frank J
• Application Number:
  US12/630,849
• Publication Number:
  US 20110090124A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,201 Days
• Field of Search: 342/463
• US Class Current: 342/463
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0289 of multiple transceivers, e.g. in ad hoc networks

Abstract

A method and a system for indoor positioning are provided. In the present method, a default positioning weight is defined at first. Then, a plurality of neighboring ranging devices near a target device is obtained from all wireless ranging devices deployed in an indoor space, and a current positioning weight of each of the neighboring ranging devices is calculated. Next, the current positioning weight of each of the neighboring ranging devices is respectively compared with the default positioning weight, so as to obtain a plurality of reference ranging devices from the neighboring ranging devices. After calculating at least one candidate coordinate according to a deploy coordinate of each of the reference ranging devices, a positioned coordinate represents the current location of the target device is estimated according to the at least one candidate coordinate.

Claims

1. A method for indoor positioning a target device in an indoor environment, wherein a plurality of wireless ranging devices are deployed in the indoor environment, the method comprising:

defining a default positioning weight with an electronic device;

scanning the wireless ranging devices for obtaining a plurality of neighboring ranging devices near the target device with the electronic device;

calculating a current positioning weight of each of the neighboring ranging devices with the electronic device;

comparing, with the electronic device, the default positioning weight respectively with the current positioning weight of each of the neighboring ranging devices so as to obtain a plurality of reference ranging devices by selecting a portion of the neighboring ranging devices as the reference ranging devices, wherein the difference between each of the current positioning weights respectively corresponding to the selected neighboring ranging devices and the default positioning weight is smaller than a predetermined value;

calculating at least one candidate coordinate with the electronic device according to a deploy coordinate of each of the reference ranging devices in the indoor environment by randomly selecting three of the reference ranging devices as selected devices while an amount of the reference ranging devices is larger than or equal to three, generating at least one of the at least one candidate coordinate according to the deploy coordinates respectively corresponding to the selected devices, and repeating the step of randomly selecting three of the reference ranging devices and the step of generating the candidate coordinate until all combinations of the three selected devices random selected from the reference ranging devices are used for generating the candidate coordinates; and

estimating a positioning coordinate at which the target device is located according to the at least one candidate coordinate with the electronic device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of defining the default positioning weight comprises:

obtaining a plurality of distances respectively between the target device and the wireless ranging devices through a packet exchange mechanism;

obtaining a plurality of receive-signal-strength indications (RSSI) received by the target device respectively from the wireless ranging devices;

calculating the default positioning weight according to the obtained distances and the obtained receive-signal-strength indications.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of calculating the current positioning weight of each of the neighboring ranging devices comprises:

obtaining a latest history positioning coordinate of the target device;

obtaining a plurality of latest history receive-signal-strength indications received by the target device respectively from the neighboring ranging devices; and

calculating the current positioning weight of each of the neighboring ranging devices according to the latest history positioning coordinate, the latest history receive-signal-strength indications respectively corresponding to the neighboring ranging devices and the deploy coordinate of each of the neighboring ranging devices.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

regarding all of the neighboring ranging devices as the reference ranging devices with the electronic device when the target device is positioned at the first time;

calculating the at least one candidate coordinate according to the deploy coordinate of each of the reference ranging devices in the indoor environment with the electronic device; and

estimating the positioning coordinate at which the target device is located with the electronic device according to the at least one candidate coordinate.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of estimating the positioning coordinate at which the target device is located according to the at least one candidate coordinate comprises:

processing the at least one candidate coordinate according to a filter algorithm to generate the positioning coordinate.

6. The method of claim 1, after the step of estimating the positioning coordinate of the target device according to the at least one candidate coordinate, further comprising:

regarding the positioning coordinate as a latest history positioning coordinate of the target device; and

storing the latest history positioning coordinate.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless ranging devices and the target device conform to a short-distance wireless communication standard.

8. An indoor positioning system, comprising:

a plurality of wireless ranging devices deployed in an indoor environment;

a target device, wherein when the target device is located in the indoor environment, the target device is coupled to the wireless ranging devices through a wireless sensing network, and a plurality of neighboring ranging devices are obtained by scanning the wireless ranging devices; and

a positioning server coupled to a storage unit and a display unit,

wherein the positioning server defines a default positioning weight, and the positioning server calculates a current positioning weight of each of the neighboring ranging devices after obtaining the neighboring ranging devices and compares the default positioning weight respectively with the current positioning weight of each of the neighboring ranging devices so as to obtain a plurality of reference ranging devices by selecting a portion of the neighboring ranging devices as the reference ranging devices, wherein the difference between each of the current positioning weights respectively corresponding to the selected neighboring ranging devices and the default positioning weight is smaller than a predetermined value,

and the positioning server calculates at least one candidate coordinate according to a deploy coordinate of each of the reference ranging devices in the indoor environment, and the positioning server estimates a positioning coordinate at which the target device is located according to the at least one candidate coordinate, wherein when an amount of the reference ranging devices is larger than or equal to three, the positioning server random selects three of the reference ranging devices as selected devices, and the positioning server generates at least one of the at least one candidate coordinate according to the deploy coordinates respectively corresponding to the selected devices, and the positioning server repeats the step of random selecting three of the reference ranging devices and the step of generating the candidate coordinate until all combinations of the three selected devices random selected from the reference ranging devices are used for generating the candidate coordinates.

9. The indoor positioning system of claim 8, wherein the target device obtains a plurality of distances respectively between the target device and the wireless ranging devices through a packet exchange mechanism, and the target device receives a plurality of receive-signal-strength indications respectively from the wireless ranging devices, and, after receiving the distances and the receive-signal-strength indications from the target device, the positioning server calculates the default positioning weight according to the received distances and the received receive-signal-strength indications.

10. The indoor positioning system of claim 8, wherein the positioning server obtains a latest history positioning coordinate of the target device, and the positioning server obtains a plurality latest history receive-signal-strength indications received by the target device respectively from the neighboring ranging devices, and the positioning server calculates the current positioning weight of each of the neighboring ranging devices according to the latest history positioning coordinate, the latest history receive-signal-strength indications respectively corresponding to the neighboring ranging devices and the deploy coordinate of each of the neighboring ranging devices.

11. The indoor positioning system of claim 8, wherein when the positioning server positions the target device at the first time, the positioning server regards all of the neighboring ranging devices as the reference ranging devices, and the positioning server calculates the at least one candidate coordinate according to the deploy coordinate of each of the reference ranging devices in the indoor environment, and the positioning server estimates the positioning coordinate at which the target device is located according to the at least one candidate coordinate.

12. The indoor positioning system of claim 8, wherein the positioning server processes the at least one candidate coordinate according to a filter algorithm so as to generate the positioning coordinate.

13. The indoor positioning system of claim 8, wherein the positioning server regards the positioning coordinate as a latest history positioning coordinate of the target device, and the positioning server stores the latest history positioning coordinate in the storage unit.

14. The indoor positioning system of claim 8, wherein the wireless ranging devices and the target device conform to a short-distance wireless communication standard.

15. An indoor positioning system, comprising:

a plurality of wireless ranging devices deployed in an indoor environment; and

a target device including a storage unit and a display unit,

wherein the target device defines a default positioning weight, and when the target device is located in the indoor environment, the target device is coupled to the wireless ranging devices through a wireless sensing network, and the target device obtains a plurality of neighboring ranging devices by scanning the wireless ranging devices, and the target device calculates a current positioning weight of each of the neighboring ranging devices and compares the default positioning weight and the current positioning weight of each of the neighboring ranging device so as to obtain a plurality of reference ranging devices by selecting a portion of the neighboring ranging devices as the reference ranging devices, wherein the difference between each of the current positioning weights respectively corresponding to the selected neighboring ranging devices and the default positioning weight is smaller than a predetermined value, and the target device calculates at least one candidate coordinate according to a deploy coordinate of each of the reference ranging devices in the indoor environment, and the target device estimates a positioning coordinate at which the target device is located according to the at least one candidate coordinate,

wherein when an amount of the reference ranging devices is larger than or equal to three, the target device random selects three of the reference ranging devices as selected devices, and the target device generates at least one of the at least one candidate coordinate according to the deploy coordinates respectively corresponding to the selected devices, and the target device repeats the step of random selecting three of the reference ranging devices and the step of generating the candidate coordinate until all combinations of the three selected devices random selected from the reference ranging devices are used for generating the candidate coordinates.

16. The indoor positioning system of claim 15, wherein when the target device is positioned at the first time, all of the neighboring ranging devices are regarded as the reference ranging devices, and the at least one candidate coordinate is calculated according to the deploy coordinate of each of the reference ranging devices in the indoor environment, and the positioning coordinate at which the target device is located is estimated according to the at least one candidate coordinate.