Content delivery based on a light positioning system

• US 8,964,016 B2
• Filed: 02/08/2012
• Issued: 02/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ABL IP Holding LLC (Acuity Brands, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Bytelight, Inc. (Acuity Brands, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ganick, Aaron, Ryan, Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): WONG, ALLEN C
• Application Number:
  US13/369,147
• Publication Number:
  US 20130141555A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,112 Days
• Field of Search: 348/61, 701/208, 701/201, 455/456.1, 340/531, 315/294
• US Class Current: 348/61
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0264 at least one of the systems being a non-radio wave positioning system
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/16 using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/116 Visible light communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/60 Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/4902 Pulse width modulation; Pulse position modulation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/661 Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/531 by controlling rolling shutters in CMOS SSIS
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/76 Addressed sensors, e.g. MOS or CMOS sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/183 for receiving images from a single remote source
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds

Abstract

Systems an methods are provided that disclose providing a positioning service for devices based on light received from one or more light sources. This light based positioning service uses light information transmitted by each light source to determine the position of the device. The positioning information can include three dimension position information in a building that can then be used to deliver services and information to a mobile device. The content delivered to a mobile device can include multimedia, text, audio, and/or pictorial information. The positioning information along with other location or positioning information can be used in providing augmented reality or location aware services. The light sources can be independent beacons that broadcast information in visible light at a rate that is undetectable by the human eye. Content can be retrieved from a server over a communications connection.

Claims

1. A method of determining a position of a mobile device when the mobile device is at a location remote from a server, the remote server using one or more identifiers each broadcast from one of a plurality of asynchronous light sources in modulated light, each of the plurality of asynchronous light sources corresponding to one of a plurality of locations, the method comprising:

receiving at the remote server geo-location information of the mobile device from the mobile device, wherein the geo-location information (i) comprises an approximate geographical location of the mobile device, and (ii) is not derived from visible light received at the mobile device;

determining, based on the geo-location information, a group of the plurality of asynchronous light sources in a location of the plurality of locations, the location corresponding to the approximate geographical location of the mobile device;

receiving at the remote server the one or more identifiers from the mobile device, the one or more identifiers having been acquired with the mobile device;

determining, based on the one or more identifiers and the geo-location information received from the mobile device, a map that identifies positions of light sources of the group of the plurality of asynchronous light sources in the location;

calculating, based on the one or more identifiers and the map, position information that identifies the position of the mobile device within the location; and

sending the position information and the map to the mobile device, the map enabling the mobile device to locate the position of the mobile device within the location,

wherein the one or more identifiers each correspond to a different pattern of distortions within an image acquired by the mobile device, each pattern of distortions being related to a modulation frequency of the modulated light emitted by an asynchronous light source.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting location specific content based on the position information calculated at the server of the mobile device within the location.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending location specific content to the mobile device that provides information based on the location of the mobile device, wherein the location specific content relates to items that are near the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising triggering an application to launch on the mobile device based on the position of the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a request from the mobile device for information regarding an item and sending the mobile device location specific content based on the position information of the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting location specific content to send to the mobile device based on criteria associated with the mobile device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving directional information from the mobile device that is used in conjunction with the identifier to determine the location specific content to select to send to the mobile device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein each asynchronous light source emits modulated light at a different frequency of modulation.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein each asynchronous light source is a single-color light source.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein each asynchronous light source comprises one or more phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes that all emit light of approximately the same color.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the position information is calculated based on relative positions, within a single image captured by the mobile device, of a plurality of the asynchronous light sources.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device acquires different portions of the image at different times, thereby forming each pattern of distortions on the image.

13. A method of providing position information and associated selected content to a mobile device from a server when the mobile device is at a location remote from the server based on one or more light source identifiers each broadcast from one of a plurality of asynchronous light source in modulated light, each of the plurality of asynchronous light sources corresponding to one of a plurality of locations, the method comprising:

receiving at the remote server geo-location information of the mobile device from the mobile device, wherein the geo-location-information (i) comprises an approximate geographical location of the mobile device, and (ii) is not derived from visible light received at the mobile device;

determining, based on the geo-location information, a group of the plurality of asynchronous light sources in a location of the plurality of locations, the location corresponding to the approximate geographical location of the mobile device;

receiving at the remote server the one or more identifiers from the mobile device, the one or more identifiers having been acquired with the mobile device;

calculating, based on the one or more identifiers and on the group of the plurality of asynchronous light sources, position information that identifies the position of the mobile device within a location;

selecting location specific content based on the position of the mobile device within the location; and

sending the location specific content to the mobile device,

wherein the one or more identifiers each correspond to a different pattern of distortions within an image acquired by the mobile device, each pattern of distortions being related to a modulation frequency of the modulated light emitted by an asynchronous light source.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the location specific content relates to items that are near the mobile device.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising receiving directional information from the mobile device, and determining the location specific content to select to send to the mobile device, based on the directional information and the identifier.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising receiving a request for locating a specific item from the mobile device and calculating based on the position information and on a coordinate location of the specific item directions to the specific item and sending the direction along with content information regarding specific item to the mobile device.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising selecting location specific content to send to the mobile device based on criteria associated with the mobile device.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the criteria associated with the mobile device include information about a user of the mobile device including at least one of an age, a gender, and a previous history.

19. The method of claim 13, further comprising selecting different location specific content to send to the mobile device based on time of a request.

20. The method of claim 13, further comprising triggering an application to launch on the mobile device based on the position of the mobile device.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein each asynchronous light source emits modulated light at a different frequency of modulation.

22. The method of claim 13, wherein each asynchronous light source is a single-color light source.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein each asynchronous light source comprises one or more phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes that all emit light of approximately the same color.

24. The method of claim 13, wherein the position information is calculated based on relative positions, within a single image captured by the mobile device, of a plurality of the asynchronous light sources.

25. The method of claim 13, wherein the mobile device acquires different portions of the image at different times, thereby forming each pattern of distortions on the image.

26. A server configured to determine a position of a mobile device when the mobile device is at a location remote from the server based on one or more identifiers each broadcast from one of a plurality of asynchronous light sources in modulated light, each of the plurality of asynchronous light sources corresponding to one of a plurality of locations, the server comprising:

a memory configured to store a plurality of maps, each of the plurality of maps corresponding to a group of the plurality of asynchronous light sources in a location of the plurality of locations;

an interface configured to;

receive the one or more identifiers and geo-location information from the mobile device, wherein the geo-location information (i) comprises an approximate geographical location of the mobile device, and (ii) is not derived from visible light received at the mobile device, and wherein the one or more identifiers each correspond to a different pattern of distortions within an image acquired by the mobile device, each pattern of distortions being related to a modulation frequency of the modulated light emitted by an asynchronous light source, and

transmit position information and one of the plurality of maps to the mobile device; and

a module running on a processor, the module being configured to;

communicate with the memory and the interface to determine, based on the geo-location information received from the mobile device, one of the plurality of maps identifying positions of light sources in a location corresponding to the geo-location information,

determine, based on the one or more identifiers and the one of the plurality of maps identifying positions of light sources, position information related to the position of the mobile device within the location, and

using the interface, transmit the position information and the one of the plurality of maps to the mobile device, the map enabling the mobile device to locate the position of the mobile device within the location.

27. The server of claim 26, wherein the interface is configured to send location specific content to the mobile device that provides information based on the position of the mobile device, wherein the location specific content relates to items that are near the mobile device.

28. The server of claim 26, wherein the interface is configured to send a message to the mobile device to trigger an application to launch on the mobile device based on the position of the mobile device.

29. The server of claim 26, wherein the interface is configured to receive a request from the mobile device for information regarding an item and is configured to send the mobile device location specific content based on the position of the mobile device.

30. The server of claim 26, wherein the interface is configured to receive directional information from the mobile device that is used in conjunction with the identifier and the geo-location information at the module to determine location specific content to select to send to the mobile device.

31. The server of claim 26, wherein each asynchronous light source emits modulated light at a different frequency of modulation.

32. The server of claim 26, wherein each asynchronous light source is a single-color light source.

33. The server of claim 32, wherein each asynchronous light source comprises one or more phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes that all emit light of approximately the same color.

34. The server of claim 26, wherein the module is configured to determine position information based on relative positions, within a single image captured by the mobile device, of a plurality of the asynchronous light sources.

35. The server of claim 26, wherein the different patterns of distortions within the image result from different portions of the image being acquired by the mobile device at different times.