Earth positioning system

• US 9,301,092 B2
• Filed: 09/27/2013
• Issued: 03/29/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Mobile IOT Corp
• Original Assignee: International Mobile IOT Corp
• Inventors: Huang, Jung-Tang
• Primary Examiner(s): Nealon, William
• Application Number:
  US14/038,775
• Publication Number:
  US 20140094136A1
• Time in Patent Office: 914 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.2, 455/456.3, 340/572.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/04 Details
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/68 Marker, boundary, call-sign, or like beacons transmitting signals not carrying directional information
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0258 by combining or switching between measurements derived from different systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information

Abstract

An earth positioning system (EPS) is provided. The EPS includes a plurality of fixed LED lights with communication functions and a mobile communications device. A cloud computer and at least one map marked with world coordinates of the fixed LED lights may be further included. The LED light includes a substrate, at least one LED die, a power supply, a wireless communication module, a control unit and a housing. The LED lights may be arranged in indoor and outdoor environments, with coordinates represented in longitude, latitude and altitude. The coordinates are included in a map data of the cloud computer. When the mobile communication device moves with its carrier, the world coordinates of the mobile communication device can be located based on the coordinates of the LED lights nearby or based on the unique IDs of the LED lights together with the aforementioned map.

Claims

1. An earth positioning system, comprising:

a plurality of fixed positioning landmarks with wireless communication functions, each of the positioning landmarks being configured to wirelessly transmit coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the positioning landmark, wherein each said positioning landmark is an outdoor light, an indoor light or a fixed electric household appliance;

a mobile communication device configured to receive the coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude and a received signal-strength indicator (RSSI) value or channel response of at least one of the positioning landmarks,

wherein the plurality of positioning landmarks are arranged in an indoor environment or an outdoor environment, and when the mobile communication device moves along with a user, the mobile communication device obtains coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the mobile communication device by constantly scanning the coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude and the RSSI values or the channel responses of the positioning landmarks nearby and calculating the coordinates of the mobile communication device directly in the mobile communication device,

wherein the coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of positioning landmarks written into the positioning landmarks by the mobile communication device are obtained previously from a Google map or an Apple map or an indoor map, and the wireless communication functions of the plurality of fixed positioning landmarks and a communication function of the mobile communication device are respectively comprising communication functions of Bluetooth 4.0 and above.

2. The earth positioning system of claim 1, wherein each said positioning landmark is a light-emitting diode (LED) light and comprises:

a substrate;

at least one LED die fixed on the substrate;

a control unit fixed on the substrate, electrically connected to the LED die, and storing the coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the positioning landmark;

a wireless communication module fixed on the substrate, electrically connected to the control unit, and configured to wirelessly transmit the coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the positioning landmark;

a power supply fixed on the substrate, and configured to supply power to the LED die, the control unit and the wireless communication module; and

a housing.

3. The earth positioning system of claim 2, wherein the wireless communication module includes at least one of a BLUETOOTH module, a BLUETOOTH low energy (BLE) module, a WIFI module, an ANT module, an ANT+ module, and a Zigbee module.

4. The earth positioning system of claim 1, further comprising:

a cloud computer, wherein the mobile communication device transmits the coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the mobile communication device to the cloud computer, and the coordinates of the mobile communication device are incorporated into a map of the cloud computer, and the coordinates and the map are provided to devices connected to the cloud computer for browsing and using.

5. The earth positioning system of claim 4, wherein the cloud computer sends the coordinates back to the user for navigation or to related caregivers or monitoring personnel for remote care or monitoring.

6. The earth positioning system of claim 4, wherein the mobile communication device further comprises:

at least one microphone providing an input interface for speech recognition and an output interface, wherein the cloud computer performs cloud speech recognition based on the speech recognition, wherein the mobile communication device is configured to send a request for help based on the speech recognition or the mobile communication device includes a sound recording function.

7. The earth positioning system of claim 1, wherein the mobile communication device is worn by a user and a communication function of the mobile communication device includes at least one of BLUETOOTH, BLUETOOTH low energy, WIFI, ANT, ANT+, and Zigbee.

8. The earth positioning system of claim 7, wherein the mobile communication device is a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a wrist-type mobile communication device or a wearable mobile communication device.

9. The earth positioning system of claim 7, wherein the user is a human, an animal, a plant, a fixed appliance, a moving appliance or a robot.

10. The earth positioning system of claim 7, wherein a triangulation is performed for the user carrying the mobile communication device to obtain a distance between the user and a slave node appliance nearby, and a gateway determines whether the slave node appliance is turned off, warm booted or turned on according to the distance and a type of the slave node appliance.

11. The earth positioning system of claim 7, wherein the mobile communication device carried by the user obtains an RSSI value or channel response of a slave node appliance nearby by scanning the slave node appliance, and whether the slave node appliance is turned off, warm booted or turned on is determined according to the RSSI value or the channel response and a type of the slave node appliance.

12. The earth positioning system of claim 7, wherein the mobile communication device carried by the user is positioned by triangulation, so that a distance between the user and a said positioning landmark nearby is obtained, and whether the positioning landmark is turned off, brightened or color-changed is determined according to at least one of the distance, a sunrise time and a sunset time of a location of the positioning landmark.

13. The earth positioning system of claim 7, wherein the mobile communication device carried by the user obtains the RSSI value or the channel response of a said positioning landmark nearby by scanning the positioning landmark, and whether the positioning landmark is turned off, brightened or color-changed according to at least one of the RSSI value or the channel response, a sunrise time and a sunset time of a location of the positioning landmark.

14. The earth positioning system of claim 1, wherein a wireless sensor network system is composed of the mobile communication device reading and collecting data from a wearable sensor on the user through wireless communication, together with the coordinates, wherein the wearable sensor on the user includes a communication function of BLUETOOTH 4.0 or above or WIFI.

15. The earth positioning system of claim 14, wherein the wearable sensor includes at least one of a plantar pressure sensor, a triaxial accelerometer, a gyro, a digital compass, an electroencephalogram sensor, an electrocardiography, a transdermal sensor, an implantable sensor, an oximeter, a glucose meter, an electromyography (EMG) and a sphygmomanometer.

16. The earth positioning system of claim 1, wherein a wireless sensor network system is composed of the mobile communication device reading and collecting data from an environment sensor mounted on a said positioning landmark near the user, together with the coordinates.

17. The earth positioning system of claim 16, wherein the environment sensor includes at least one of a gas sensor, a sensor for airborne pathogens, a thermometer, a hygrometer, a manometer, an illuminometer, a flowmeter or a hydrometer.

18. The earth positioning system of claim 1, wherein the mobile communication device further comprises:

at least one speaker providing an interface for transmitting human voice received through a cloud and a wireless network, wherein the speaker transmits the human voice through a wireless earphone.

19. The earth positioning system of claim 1, wherein each said positioning landmark is a floor light, a solar energy floor light, a road light, a solar energy road light, or an electric household appliance that is fixed in a house and the electric household appliance is a refrigerator, a television, a washing machine, a dishwasher, a printer, a microwave oven, a baking oven, or an electronic device incorporated with a built-in BLUETOOTH/WIFI communication module.

20. The earth positioning system of claim 1, wherein the mobile communication device is fixed on an indoor location or an outdoor location, where movements of people or objects are not blocked, wherein a WIFI module of a gateway and a WIFI module of the fixed mobile communication device communicate with and link to each other through Internet and a cloud remotely, wherein every device having a wireless node is monitored and controlled by a wireless dual-mode node of the fixed mobile communication device.

21. The earth positioning system of claim 1, wherein the mobile communication device automatically records current time and embedded data in audio files, photos and videos obtained by utilizing functions of the mobile communication device including sound recording, photo taking and video recording, wherein the embedded data includes at least one of accurate coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude obtained from calculation based on scanning the fixed positioning landmarks, an environment sensing data scanned and obtained from the positioning landmarks, and the data of the wearable sensor worn by the user of the mobile communication device.

22. The earth positioning system of claim 1, wherein the mobile communication device includes a lower energy consumption communication module that supports at least one of BLUETOOTH 4.0, WIFI, ANT, ANT+, and Zigbee, the lower energy consumption communication module is configured to alternately switch its role between a master node and a slave node;

after the master node calculates the coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the mobile communication device, the master node converts into the slave node to broadcast the coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the mobile communication device to outside; and

the low energy consumption communication module or a WIFI COMBO module scans the slave node so as to obtain the coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the mobile communication device and send the coordinates to a cloud through WIFI.

23. The earth positioning system of claim 1, wherein the mobile communication device includes a lower energy consumption communication module that supports at least one of BLUETOOTH 4.0, WIFI, ANT, ANT+, and Zigbee, the lower energy consumption communication module is configured to alternately switch its role between a master node and a slave node;

after the master node calculates the coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the mobile communication device, the master node converts into the slave node to broadcast the coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the mobile communication device to outside; and

the low energy consumption communication module or a gateway scans the slave node so as to obtain the coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the mobile communication device and send the coordinates directly to a cloud.

24. An earth positioning system, comprising:

a plurality of fixed positioning landmarks with wireless communication functions, each of the positioning landmarks being configured to wirelessly transmit a unique identification code of the positioning landmark, wherein each said positioning landmark is an outdoor light, an indoor light or a fixed electric household appliance;

at least one mobile communication device configured to receive the unique identification code of at least one of the positioning landmarks; and

a cloud computer storing at least one map marked with coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the fixed positioning landmarks;

wherein the plurality of positioning landmarks are arranged in an indoor environment or an outdoor environment, and when the at least one mobile communication device moves along with its carrier, the at least one mobile communication device constantly scans and obtains the unique identification codes and received signal-strength indicator (RSSI) values or channel responses of wireless communication modules of the positioning landmarks nearby, and the at least one mobile communication device wirelessly uploads the unique identification codes and the RSSI values or the channel responses to the cloud computer, and the cloud computer calculates coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the at least one mobile communication device based on the unique identification codes and the RSSI values or the channel responses, and the cloud computer provides the coordinates to devices connected to the cloud computer for browsing and using,

wherein the at least one mobile communication device writes the RSSI values to the positioning landmarks, the positioning landmarks collect the written RSSI values from the at least one mobile communication device nearby to perform a dimming control, and each of the positioning landmarks performs the dimming control according to a RSSI value with the highest signal strength of the RSSI values collected from the at least one mobile communication devices within a period of time.

25. The earth positioning system of claim 24, wherein each said positioning landmark is a light-emitting diode (LED) light and comprises:

a substrate;

at least one LED die fixed on the substrate;

a control unit fixed on the substrate, electrically connected to the LED die, and storing the unique identification code of the positioning landmark;

a wireless communication module fixed on the substrate, electrically connected to the control unit, and configured to wirelessly transmit the unique identification code of the wireless communication module;

a power supply fixed on the substrate, and configured to supply power to the LED die, the control unit and the wireless communication module; and

a housing.

26. An earth positioning system, comprising:

a plurality of fixed positioning landmarks with wireless communication functions, each of the positioning landmarks being configured to wirelessly transmit coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the positioning landmark, wherein each said positioning landmark is an outdoor light, an indoor light or a fixed electric household appliance;

a moving slave node, configured to broadcast data including a wireless communication module identification code and a measured value of a sensor;

wherein the plurality of positioning landmarks are arranged in an indoor environment or an outdoor environment and are configured to scan the moving slave node when the moving slave node is nearby, so as to obtain the wireless communication module identification code, the measured value of the sensor and a received signal-strength indicator (RSSI) value or channel response of the moving slave node, and send the wireless communication module identification code, the measured value, the RSSI value or the channel response and the coordinates to a gateway and a cloud through WIFI, wherein the cloud is configured to integrate data transmitted from the positioning landmarks after the positioning landmarks scan the moving slave node, and calculate coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the slave node by triangulation and positioning and tracking the moving slave node based on the calculated coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude,

wherein the coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of positioning landmarks written into the positioning landmarks by the moving slave node are obtained previously from a Google map or an Apple map or an indoor map, and the wireless communication functions of the plurality of fixed positioning landmarks and a communication function of the moving slave node are respectively comprising communication functions of Bluetooth 4.0 and above.

27. An earth positioning system, comprising:

a plurality of fixed positioning landmarks with wireless communication functions, wherein each of the positioning landmarks is configured to alternately switch its role between a master node and a slave node, and is further configured to wirelessly transmit coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the positioning landmark, wherein each said positioning landmark is an outdoor light, an indoor light or a fixed electric household appliance;

a moving slave node, configured to broadcast data including a wireless communication module identification code and a measured value of a sensor;

wherein the plurality of positioning landmarks are arranged in an indoor environment or an outdoor environment and are configured to scan the moving slave node when the moving slave node is nearby, so as to obtain the wireless communication module identification code, the measured value of the sensor and a received signal-strength indicator (RSSI) value or channel response of the moving slave node, and the positioning landmarks are configured to transmit a package composed of the wireless communication module identification code, the measured value of the sensor, the received signal-strength indicator (RSSI) value or channel response of the moving slave node and the coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the positioning landmarks via a gateway to a cloud or receive the package via the gateway from the cloud through the master nodes utilizing a mechanism of multi-hop relay, wherein the cloud is configured to integrate data transmitted from the positioning landmarks after the positioning landmarks scan the moving slave node, and calculate the coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the slave node by triangulation and positioning and tracking the moving slave node based on the calculated coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude,

wherein the mechanism of multi-hop relay comprising;

(a) each of the master node of fixed positioning landmarks scans the moving slave nodes nearby and determines whether the moving slave nodes has entered its range;

(b) after a first master node of the fixed positioning landmarks scans a first moving slave node entered the range, the first master node scans and identifies the slave nodes of the fixed positioning landmarks nearby to obtain the MAC address, the coordinates of longitude and latitude and the RSSI value of the slave nodes of the fixed positioning landmarks nearby;

(c) the first master node obtains and calculates the distances of the slave nodes of the fixed positioning landmarks to the gateway and obtains a first slave node having a distance closer than a distance of the first master node to the gateway;

(d) the first master node connects to the first slave node and writes data of the first moving slave node into the first slave node;

(e) after the first slave node receives the written data from the first master node, the first slave node convert into the first master node of the fixed positioning landmarks, and executing the steps (c)-(e) until a second slave node having the closest distance to the gateway receives the data of the first moving slave node;

(f) after the second slave node receives the written data from the first master node, the second slave node convert into a second master node of the fixed positioning landmarks, and the second master node transmit the data to the gateway.

28. An earth positioning system, comprising:

a plurality of fixed positioning landmarks with wireless communication functions, wherein each of the positioning landmarks is configured to alternately switch its role between a master node and a slave node, and is further configured to wirelessly transmit coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the positioning landmark, wherein each said positioning landmark is an outdoor light, an indoor light or a fixed electric household appliance;

a moving slave node, configured to broadcast data including a wireless communication module identification code and a measured value of a sensor;

wherein the plurality of positioning landmarks are arranged in an indoor environment or an outdoor environment and are configured to scan the moving slave node when the moving slave node is nearby, so as to obtain the wireless communication module identification code, the measured value of the sensor and a received signal-strength indicator (RSSI) value or channel response of the moving slave node, and the positioning landmarks are configured to transmit a package composed of the wireless communication module identification code, the measured value of the sensor, the received signal-strength indicator (RSSI) value or channel response of the moving slave node and the coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the positioning landmarks via a gateway to a cloud or receive the package via the gateway from the cloud through the master nodes utilizing a mechanism of multi-hop relay, wherein the cloud is configured to integrate data transmitted from the positioning landmarks after the positioning landmarks scan the moving slave node, and calculate the coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of the slave node by triangulation and positioning and tracking the moving slave node based on the calculated coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude,

wherein the coordinates of longitude, latitude and altitude of positioning landmarks written into the positioning landmarks by the mobile communication device are obtained previously from a Google map or an Apple map or an indoor map,

wherein the mechanism of multi-hop relay comprising;

(a) each of the master node of fixed positioning landmarks scans the moving slave nodes nearby and determines whether the moving slave nodes has entered its range;

(b) after a first master node of the fixed positioning landmarks scans a first moving slave node entered the range, the first master node scans and identifies the slave nodes of the fixed positioning landmarks nearby to obtain the MAC address, the coordinates of longitude and latitude and the RSSI value of the slave nodes of the fixed positioning landmarks nearby;

(c) the first master node obtains and calculates the distances of the slave nodes of the fixed positioning landmarks to the gateway and obtains a first slave node having a distance closer than a distance of the first master node to the gateway;

(d) the first master node connects to the first slave node and writes data of the first moving slave node into the first slave node;

(e) after the first slave node receives the written data from the first master node, the first slave node convert into the first master node of the fixed positioning landmarks, and executing the steps (c)-(e) until a second slave node having the closest distance to the gateway receives the data of the first moving slave node;

(f) after the second slave node receives the written data from the first master node, the second slave node convert into a second master node of the fixed positioning landmarks, and the second master node transmit the data to the gateway.