WIRELESS MOBILE INDOOR/OUTDOOR TRACKING SYSTEM

• US 20090046005A1
• Filed: 08/15/2008
• Published: 02/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cybernet Systems Corporation
• Original Assignee: Cybernet Systems Corporation
• Inventors: Jacobus, Charles J., Namineni, Pavan K., Siebert, Gary, Davey, Trevor
• Granted Patent: US 7,852,262 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/357.310
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/48 by combining or switching between position solutions derived from the satellite radio beacon positioning system and position solutions derived from a further system
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/014 Identifying transitions between environments
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0289 of multiple transceivers, e.g. in ad hoc networks

Abstract

This invention is a wireless mobile indoor/outdoor tracking system. It is designed to track the absolute position of all nodes in a network indoors and outdoors. The system uses GPS positioning when a signal is available and RF ranging when it is unavailable. When indoors, a minimum of three network nodes must receive a GPS signal to determine absolute position. A mesh network is used to make the system mobile and to create an avenue for data to be transmitted to a remote base station.

Claims

1. A indoor/outdoor positioning system, comprising:

three or more outdoor geo telemetry units (GTUs) functioning to determine their position based upon a global positioning system (GPS) signal;

one or more indoor GTUs functioning to determine the position of a person or object within a building or other structure without the use of GPS; and

circuitry within both the indoor and outdoor GTUs enabling the position of the person or object within the building or other structure to be communicated to a remote location.

2. The outdoor positioning system of claim 1, wherein each GTU can independently determine its absolute position.

3. The indoor positioning system of claim 1, wherein each GTU requires the presence of a minimum of three other GTUs to determine its relative position.

4. The indoor/outdoor positioning system of claim 1, wherein requires a minimum of three known reference positions to determine absolute position of the indoor GTUs. The known reference positions will be provided by outdoor GTUs with access to a GPS signal.

5. The indoor/outdoor positioning system of claim 1, wherein the indoor and outdoor GTUs are identical and self-configure based upon sensed conditions.

6. The indoor/outdoor positioning system of claim 1, wherein is a mobile system. As long as a GTU is within the range of one networked GTU then its data can be communicated.

7. The GTU device of claim 1, further comprising:

a global positioning system (GPS) receiver;

a radio frequency (RF) transceiver; and

a serial interface.

8. The GTU device of claim 7, further comprising a GPS receiver to provide absolute position data. It will be used whenever the GPS signal is available to the device.

9. The GTU device of claim 7, further comprising a RF transceiver to be used to determine absolute position based on a received signal strength from other GTUs in the network with known position. It will be used whenever the GPS signal is not available to the device.

10. The GTU device of claim 7, further comprising a RF transceiver that is also used to provide mesh networking to the indoor/outdoor tracking system. It will be used to effectively communicate positioning information to a remote location.

11. The GTU device of claim 7, further comprising a serial interface that can be used to collect data from a sensor module. The data can then be stamped with a position and communicated through the network.

12. The GTU device of claim 7, further comprising a serial interface that can be used to provide data to a sensor module.

13. The GTU device of claim 7, further comprising a serial interface that can also be used to connect to a computer. It will be used as a bridge between the network and a computer to upload the data for further analysis.

14. The GTU device of claim 7, wherein the device is independently battery powered.