WLAN-BASED POSITIONING SYSTEM

• US 20130028246A1
• Filed: 07/29/2011
• Published: 01/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gonikberg, Mark
• Granted Patent: US 9,125,165 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/47 the supplementary measurement being an inertial measurement, e.g. tightly coupled inertial
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02521 using a radio-map
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/14 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A technique to provide a WLAN-based positioning system to determine a location of a mobile wireless receiving device. A single access point is used to generate a plurality of beacons, in which each beacon of the plurality of beacons has a unique identifier. Each beacon is then transmitted in a different direction from other beacons. When the receiving device receives at least one of the transmitted beacons, signal strength or some other signal parameter is obtained from the at least one received beacon. The received signal parameter is used to determine the location of the mobile receiving device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

generating a plurality of beacons in a period of time from a single access point device, in which each beacon of the plurality of beacons has a unique identifier to differentiate each beacon from other beacons;

transmitting each beacon from the single access point device in a different direction from other beacons;

receiving at least one transmitted beacon at a mobile receiving device;

determining a received signal parameter from the at least one received beacon; and

using the received signal parameter to determine location of the mobile receiving device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting each beacon transmits the beacons using a wireless local access network protocol.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein transmitting each beacon transmits each beacon using 802.11 protocol.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein transmitting each beacon transmits each beacon at a frequency in a 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz or 60 GHz band.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein when generating the plurality of beacons, each unique identifier differentiates each beacon to operate as a separate virtual network.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the unique identifier is at least one of Service Set Identification and Media Access Control address.

7. A method comprising:

generating a plurality of beacons in a period of time from a single access point device, in which each beacon of the plurality of beacons has a unique identifier to differentiate each beacon from other beacons; and

transmitting each beacon from the single access point device in a different direction from other beacons, such that when a mobile receiving device receives at least one transmitted beacon, the mobile receiving device determines a received signal parameter from the at least one received beacon, and uses the received signal parameter to determine location of the mobile receiving device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the received signal parameter comprises a received signal strength of the at least one received beacon.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein transmitting each beacon transmits the beacons using a wireless local access network protocol.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein transmitting each beacon transmits each beacon using 802.11 protocol.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein transmitting each beacon transmits each beacon at a frequency in a 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz or 60 GHz band.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein when generating the plurality of beacons, each unique identifier differentiates each beacon to operate as a separate virtual network.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the unique identifier is at least one of Service Set Identification and Media Access Control address.

14. The method of claim 7 further comprising generating a second plurality of beacons from a second access point device, in which each beacon of the second plurality of beacons also has a unique identifier to differentiate each beacon from other beacons;

and transmitting each beacon of the second plurality of beacons of the second access point device in a different direction from other beacons of the second access point device, such that when the mobile receiving device receives at least one transmitted beacon of the second access point device, the mobile receiving device determines the received signal parameter based on reception of beacons from both access point devices, and uses the received signal parameters from both access point devices to determine location of the mobile receiving device.

15. An apparatus comprising:

a baseband module of an access point device to generate a plurality of unique identifiers in order for each beacon of a plurality of beacons to be assigned a different unique identifier to differentiate each beacon from other beacons;

a transmitter of the access point device coupled to the baseband module to receive the unique identifiers and to generate the beacons at a radio frequency; and

a directional antenna of the access point device coupled to the transmitter to transmit each beacon in a different direction from other beacons, such that when a mobile receiving device receives at least one transmitted beacon the mobile receiving device determines a received signal parameter from the at least one received beacon, and uses the received signal parameter to determine location of the mobile receiving device.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the received signal parameter comprises a received signal strength of the at least one received beacon.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the transmitter transmits the beacons using a wireless local access network protocol.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the transmitter transmits each beacon using 802.11 protocol.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the unique identifier is at least one of Service Set Identification and Media Access Control address.

20. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the plurality of beacons provide for a propagation pattern that covers an area defined by a boundary.