Determining relative position with a BLE beacon

• US 9,955,303 B2
• Filed: 07/21/2016
• Issued: 04/24/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: IP Funding Group, LLC
• Inventors: Baker, Richard L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Beamer, Temica M
• Application Number:
  US15/216,343
• Publication Number:
  US 20170026794A1
• Time in Patent Office: 642 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561, 4554565, 4554566
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/04 using two or more spaced independent antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0048 Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver
• 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 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/244 using a network of reference devices, e.g. beaconing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A beacon uses a plurality of co-located, unidirectional antennas each to transmit angular and/or ranging reference signals from substantially the same point. In some embodiments, two such antennas transmit the reference signals in substantially opposite directions, and in some embodiments four such antennas transmit in directions that are substantially at right angles to each other. In some embodiments, the transmitted signals overlap so they can be received at a single receiver. Some implementations include a receiver that interprets the reference signals from two or more of the co-located antennas to determine the direction of the receiver is in relative to the beacon or the location of the receiver relative to the beacon. Another implementation uses an omnidirectional antenna to provide ranging information and a rotating, unidirectional antenna to provide directional information. In some of these implementations, the antennas are co-located, while in others, they are separated in space.

Claims

1. A location reference system, comprising:

a beacon comprising a plurality of co-located antennas, including a first antenna that selectively transmits a directional reference signal, and a second antenna that omnidirectionally transmits a ranging reference signal;

a controller; and

a memory in communication with the controller, the memory being programmed with instructions executable by the controller to compare data gathered from the first antenna and the second antenna to determine a position of a receiver.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the plurality of co-located antennas further comprises a third antenna that selectively transmits a directional reference signal;

the first antenna and the third antenna each have a center direction, and the center direction of the first antenna and the center direction of the third antenna are substantially opposite directions.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the plurality of co-located antennas further includes a third antenna and a fourth antenna; and

the first antenna, the second antenna, the third antenna, and the fourth antenna each have a center direction that is at a substantially right angle to the respective center directions of at least two other ones of the plurality of co-located antennas.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of co-located antennas has a center direction;

and the center directions of all of the plurality of co-located antennas are not substantially coplanar.

5. The signal of claim 1, wherein a signal transmitted by a first one of the plurality of antennas can be received in at least one location where the signal transmitted by a second one of the plurality of antennas can be received.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller selectively activates each of the plurality of co-located antennas so that the transmissions of the plurality of antennas are interleaved.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a receiver that includes:

a receiving antenna tuned to receive the reference signals transmitted by each of the plurality of antennas;

a processor in communication with the receiving antenna; and

a memory in communication with the processor, the memory being encoded with programming instructions executable by the processor to process one or more reference signals received from a corresponding one or more antennas in the plurality of antennas.

8. The system of claim 7, where the processing of the received reference signals yields a direction of the receiver relative to the plurality of co-located antennas.

9. The system of claim 7, where the processing of the received reference signals yields a position of the receiver relative to the plurality of co-located antennas.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of antennas transmit the reference signals using a Bluetooth protocol.

11. A method of providing location reference signals, comprising the steps of:

transmitting a first reference signal from a first antenna, the first reference signal being a directional reference signal;

transmitting a second reference signal from a second antenna, the second antenna being substantially co-located with the first antenna; and

processing data gathered from the first reference signal with data gathered from the second reference signal to determine a position of a receiver.

12. The method of providing location reference signals of claim 11, wherein the first reference signal has a first centerline and the second reference signal has a second centerline, further comprising:

transmitting a third reference signal from a third antenna having a third centerline; and

transmitting a fourth reference signal from a fourth antenna having a fourth centerline, wherein the third antenna and the fourth antenna are substantially co-located with the first antenna and the second antenna;

the third centerline and the fourth centerline are angularly spaced apart from each other and from the first centerline and the second centerline, and the third reference signal and the fourth reference signal each consist of one or more of a directional reference signal and a ranging reference signal.

13. The method of providing location reference signals of claim 12, wherein:

the first centerline and the second centerline are in substantially opposite directions from each other;

the third centerline and the fourth centerline are in substantially opposite directions from each other; and

the first centerline and the third centerline form a substantially right angle.

14. The method of providing location reference signals of claim 11, wherein the first reference signal has a first centerline and the second reference signal has a second centerline, and the first centerline and the second centerline are substantially coplanar.

15. The method of providing location reference signals of claim 11, wherein the first reference signal and the second reference signal can both be received by a receiver in at least one location.

16. The method of providing location reference signals of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving the first reference signal and the second reference signal at a receiver; and

processing one or more of the received first reference signal and the received second reference signal to yield the relative direction of the receiver from the common location of the first antenna and the second antenna.

17. The method of providing location reference signals of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving the first reference signal and the second reference signal at a receiver;

processing one or more of the first reference signal and the second reference signal to yield the relative position of the receiver relative to the common location of the first antenna and the second unidirectional antenna.

18. The method of providing location reference signals of claim 11, wherein the transmitting is performed using a Bluetooth protocol.

19. A location reference system, comprising:

a controller;

a beacon comprising an omnidirectional antenna and a unidirectional antenna, the omnidirectional antenna transmitting a ranging reference signal, and the unidirectional antenna being selectively activatable to transmit a directional reference signal; and

a memory in communication with the controller, the memory being programmed with instructions executable by the controller to activate the unidirectional antenna when the omnidirectional antenna detects the presence of a receiver.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising a turntable supporting the unidirectional antenna, and wherein the turntable sweeps the directional reference signal rotationally to generate directional information.