Location data diffusion and location discovery
First Claim
1. A method of disseminating location information wherein location data items originating at known locations are passed to, and diffused between, entities by short-range communication, each location data item specifying the said known location at which it originated and including a distance quantity indicative of an upper bound value for the distance to the specified known location, each entity increasing the distance quantity of each location data item it handles to take account of additional travel of the location data item as perceived by the entity.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A location discovery method using location data items that originate at known locations (X,Y) and are passed to, and diffused between, entities (A,B) by short-range communication. Each location data item received by an entity (A,B) indicates a maximum distance of the entity from one of the known locations (X,Y). Each entity (A,B) prior to using a location data item for location determination or transferring it to another entity, is operative to increase the maximum distance indicated by the location data item to take account of movement of the mobile entity since receiving that item. A mobile entity (A) effects location determination by finding locations (40) simultaneously consistent with the maximum distances (31,36) it knows of and any applicable route constraints for how the location data items passed to the mobile entity.
51 Citations
83 Claims
- 1. A method of disseminating location information wherein location data items originating at known locations are passed to, and diffused between, entities by short-range communication, each location data item specifying the said known location at which it originated and including a distance quantity indicative of an upper bound value for the distance to the specified known location, each entity increasing the distance quantity of each location data item it handles to take account of additional travel of the location data item as perceived by the entity.
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48. An entity comprising:
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a short-range transceiver for exchanging, with currently-nearby entities, location data items that each specifies its originating location and includes a distance quantity indicative of an upper bound distance to its originating location; a memory for storing received location data items; an update arrangement for maintaining the received location data items by increasing the distance quantity of each location data item to take account of additional travel of the location data item as perceived by the entity; and a control arrangement for causing the short-range transceiver to pass on to a newly encountered entity, previously-received location data items the distance quantities of which have been updated by the update arrangement. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 77)
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62. A mobile entity provided with a location discovery system comprising:
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a short-range receiver for receiving location data items from currently nearby transmitting entities, each location data item specifying a known location and including a distance quantity indicative of an upper bound distance to that location; a memory for storing the received data items; a distance sub-system for measuring or estimating the distance travelled by the mobile entity; an update unit for updating the received data items by increasing the distance quantity of each data item by the distance measured or estimated by the distance sub-system since the item concerned was received or last updated; and a location determination unit operative to determine what locations are simultaneously consistent, or most nearly consistent, with the said upper bound distances known to the mobile entity. - View Dependent Claims (78)
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63. An entity provided with a location discovery system comprising:
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a short-range receiver for receiving location data items from currently nearby transmitting entities, each location data item specifying a known location and including a distance quantity indicative of an upper bound distance to that location; a memory for storing the received data items; an update unit for updating the received data items by increasing the distance quantity of each data item by an amount related to the transmission range of the transmitting entity in respect of one of receipt and transmission of the location data item by the entity; and a location determination unit operative to determine what locations are simultaneously consistent, or most nearly consistent, with said upper bound distances known to the mobile entity. - View Dependent Claims (79)
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- 64. A location discovery method wherein location data items originating at known locations are passed to, and diffused between, mobile entities by short-range communication, each location data item received by a mobile entity specifying a location and including a distance quantity indicative of a maximum distance of the entity from the specified location, and each mobile entity prior to using a location data item for location determination or transferring it to another mobile entity, increasing the maximum distance indicated by the distance quantity of the location data item to take account of movement of the mobile entity since receiving that item, the mobile entity effecting location determination by finding locations simultaneously consistent with the said maximum distances it knows of and any applicable route constraints for how the location data items passed to the mobile entity.
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65. A location discovery method in which a mobile entity:
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receives location data items from currently-nearby transmitting entities, each location data item specifying a location and including a distance quantity indicative of a maximum distance to that location; maintains the received data items by increasing the distance quantity of each data item by the actual or estimated movement of the mobile entity; and effects location determination by determining what locations are simultaneously within all the said maximum distances known to the mobile entity and satisfy any other constraints applied by the mobile entity. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 81)
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73. A mobile entity provided with a location discovery system comprising:
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a short-range receiver for receiving location data items from currently nearby transmitting entities, each location data item specifying a location and including a distance quantity indicative of a maximum distance to that location; a memory for storing the received data items; a distance sub-system for measuring or estimating the distance travelled by the mobile entity; an update unit for updating the received data items by increasing the distance quantity associated with each data item by the distance measured or estimated by the distance sub-system since the item concerned was received or last updated; and a location determination unit operative to determine what locations are simultaneously within all the said maximum distances known to the mobile entity and satisfy and any other constraints applied by the mobile entity. - View Dependent Claims (82)
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- 74. A method of disseminating location information, wherein location data, including a first component specifying a location and a second component indicative of the distance from the location specified by the first component, is passed between devices by short-range transceivers, said second component of the location data being increased, for each transmission hop between two devices, by an amount related to the transmission range of the transmitting device.
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75. A method of disseminating location information wherein location data items originating at known locations are passed to, and diffused between, entities by short-range communication, each location data item specifying the said known location at which it originated and including a distance quantity indicative, without computational combination with the specified known location, of an upper bound value for the distance travelled by the location data item from the specified known location, said entities increasing the distance quantity of each location data item it handles to take account of additional travel of the location data item as perceived by the entity.
Specification