Tracking systems and methods for remotely tracking a location of a person on a map of a monitored premise

• US 9,813,992 B2
• Filed: 12/05/2014
• Issued: 11/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MCP LLC (Duke Energy Corporation)
• Original Assignee: MCP LLC (Duke Energy Corporation)
• Inventors: Peinhardt, Matthew, Bidwell, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Fang, Keith
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hannan, B. M. M
• Application Number:
  US14/562,235
• Publication Number:
  US 20150160328A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,068 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561-4563, 4554042, 4554142, 455440
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0036 of measured values, i.e. measurement on mobile and position calculation on base station
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0252 Radio frequency fingerprinting
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/14 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0251 using monitoring of local events, e.g. events related to user activity
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Techniques tracking, monitoring, updating, and displaying location and related information based on telemetry information received from mobile devices carried in the field. Each tracked entity (e.g., person, robot) carries or is associated with a mobile device. When a mobile device enters within range of a checkpoint associated with a known position, the mobile device notifies a central server or other system (e.g., a peer device), which then makes the received information (or information derived therefrom) available to other devices and/or systems. In some cases, the checkpoint devices are wireless network access points, such as Wi-Fi routers, access points, media device, or the like.

Claims

1. A method in a mobile device carried by a tracked person, the method comprising:

editing a map of a monitored premises that includes multiple checkpoint devices that are configured to communicate wirelessly with the mobile device, by;

presenting, on a screen of the mobile device, identifiers of multiple candidate checkpoint devices, each identifier presented with an associated signal strength;

receiving, based on a selection by a user of the mobile device of one of the presented checkpoint device identifiers, the selected checkpoint device identifier, a zone identifier, and a level identifier, wherein the checkpoint device identifier, the zone identifier, and the level identifier are specified by the user via a screen presented on the mobile device; and

transmitting to a remote tracking system the selected checkpoint device identifier with the zone identifier and the level identifier; and

tracking movement of the person about the monitored premises, by;

wirelessly receiving checkpoint data from multiple checkpoint devices, wherein the checkpoint data includes a network identifier of each of the checkpoint devices and a signal strength corresponding to each of the checkpoint devices;

determining whether or not the checkpoint data can be transmitted to the remote tracking system;

when it is determined that the checkpoint data can be transmitted, transmitting the checkpoint data to the remote tracking system, thereby causing the remote tracking system to determine, based on the signal strength corresponding to each of the multiple checkpoint devices, a location of the mobile device, by;

estimating the location of the mobile device as being on a first line that is perpendicular to a second line that runs from a first checkpoint device to a second checkpoint device;

estimating, based on a signal strength corresponding to the first checkpoint device and a signal strength corresponding to the second checkpoint device, a position along the first line with respect to the second line; and

calculating vector similarity between a first vector and a second vector, wherein the first vector represents a first pattern of signal strength information received from the multiple check point devices at a first time, and wherein the second vector represents a second pattern of signal strength information received from the multiple check point devices at a second time; and

when it is determined that the checkpoint data cannot be transmitted, locally storing the checkpoint data for later transmission to the remote tracking system.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving tracking information from the remote tracking system; and

presenting the received tracking information on a display of the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the monitored premises is a multistory building including multiple levels, and further comprising:

presenting a map that displays a present location and an indication of a current level of the person within the monitored premises.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

wirelessly receiving checkpoint data from a first and a second one of the checkpoint devices;

determining a nearest one of the first and second checkpoint devices; and

transmitting checkpoint data from the nearest one of the checkpoint devices to the remote tracking system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the wirelessly receiving checkpoint data includes:

receiving the checkpoint data via the Wi-Fi protocol.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the wirelessly receiving checkpoint data includes:

receiving a device identifier associated with the first checkpoint device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether or not the checkpoint data can be transmitted includes:

determining whether a network connection can be established for communicating with the remote tracking system.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether or not the checkpoint data can be transmitted includes:

determining whether the mobile device is in a power-saving mode.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting the checkpoint data to the remote tracking system includes:

transmitting multiple checkpoint identifiers along with associated time stamps that each indicate a time at which the mobile device communicated with a one of the multiple checkpoint devices.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the tracking movement of the person includes:

tracking the movement of at least one of;

a guard monitoring the premises, a maintenance worker operating at the premises, a janitorial worker operating at the premises, a family or group member visiting the premises, and a health care worker providing services within the premises.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating vector similarity includes calculating cosine similarity between the first vector and the second vector.

12. A method in a tracking system in communication with a mobile device carried by a tracked person, the method comprising:

editing a map of a monitored premises that includes multiple checkpoint devices that are configured to communicate wirelessly with the mobile device, wherein at least some of the checkpoint devices are Wi-Fi network access devices, by;

presenting, on a screen of the mobile device, identifiers of multiple candidate checkpoint devices, each identifier presented with an associated signal strength; and

receiving, based on a selection by a user of the mobile device of one of the presented checkpoint device identifiers, the selected checkpoint device identifier, a zone identifier, and a level identifier, wherein the checkpoint device identifier, the zone identifier, and the level identifier are specified by the user via a screen presented on the mobile device; and

tracking movement of the person about the monitored premises, by;

receiving checkpoint data from the mobile device, the checkpoint data based on a wireless interaction between the mobile device and multiple checkpoint devices, wherein the checkpoint data includes a network identifier of each of the checkpoint devices and a signal strength corresponding to each of the checkpoint devices;

storing checkpoint data received from the mobile device;

determining, based on the signal strength corresponding to each of the multiple checkpoint devices, a location of the mobile device, by;

estimating the location of the mobile device as being on a first line that is perpendicular to a second line that runs from a first checkpoint device to a second checkpoint device;

estimating, based on a signal strength corresponding to the first checkpoint device and a signal strength corresponding to the second checkpoint device, a position along the first line with respect to the second line; and

calculating vector similarity between a first vector and a second vector, wherein the first vector represents a first pattern of signal strength information received from the multiple check point devices at a first time, and wherein the second vector represents a second pattern of signal strength information received from the multiple check point devices at a second time; and

presenting tracking information including the determined location based on the received checkpoint data.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the tracking movement of the person includes:

receiving multiple checkpoint identifiers;

for each of the multiple checkpoint identifiers, receiving a corresponding location indicator; and

associating each of the multiple checkpoint identifiers with its corresponding location indicator.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein calculating vector similarity includes calculating cosine similarity between the first vector and the second vector.

15. A system for tracking movement of a tracked person about a monitored premises, the system comprising:

a checkpoint device;

a mobile device;

a tracking server;

wherein the mobile device is configured to edit a map of the monitored premises, by;

presenting, on a screen of the mobile device, identifiers of multiple candidate checkpoint devices, each identifier presented with an associated signal strength;

receiving, based on a selection by a user of the mobile device of one of the presented checkpoint device identifiers, the selected checkpoint device identifier, a zone identifier, and a level identifier, wherein the checkpoint device identifier, the zone identifier, and the level identifier are specified by the user via a screen presented on the mobile device; and

transmitting to a remote tracking system the selected checkpoint device identifier with the zone identifier and the level identifier;

wherein the mobile device is configured to track movement of the person about the monitored premises, by;

wirelessly receiving checkpoint data from multiple checkpoint devices, wherein the checkpoint data includes a network identifier of each of the checkpoint devices and a signal strength corresponding to each of the checkpoint devices;

determining whether or not the checkpoint data can be transmitted to the tracking server;

when it is determined that the checkpoint data can be transmitted, transmitting the checkpoint data to the tracking server; and

when it is determined that the checkpoint data cannot be transmitted, locally storing the checkpoint data for later transmission to the remote tracking system; and

wherein the tracking server is configured to track movement of the person about the monitored premises, by;

receiving the checkpoint data from the mobile device;

storing checkpoint data received from the mobile device;

determining, based on the signal strength corresponding to each of the multiple checkpoint devices, a location of the mobile device, by;

estimating the location of the mobile device as being on a first line that is perpendicular to a second line that runs from a first checkpoint device to a second checkpoint device;

estimating, based on a signal strength corresponding to the first checkpoint device and a signal strength corresponding to the second checkpoint device, a position along the first line with respect to the second line; and

calculating vector similarity between a first vector and a second vector, wherein the first vector represents a first pattern of signal strength information received from the multiple check point devices at a first time, and wherein the second vector represents a second pattern of signal strength information received from the multiple check point devices at a second time; and

calculating vector similarity between a first vector and a second vector, wherein the first vector represents a first pattern of signal strength information received from the multiple check point devices at a first time, and wherein the second vector represents a second pattern of signal strength information received from the multiple check point devices at a second time; and

presenting tracking information including the determined location based on the received checkpoint data, the presented information including a map that depicts the location of the tracked person with respect to the premises.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the tracking server is further configured to:

determine the location of the mobile device, based on the received checkpoint data and based on an association between checkpoint identifiers and locations.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the checkpoint device is a Wi-Fi capable device, including one of a router, an access point, or a media device, and wherein the checkpoint device transmits its MAC address and/or SSID to the mobile device.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein calculating vector similarity includes calculating cosine similarity between the first vector and the second vector.