Wireless position location and tracking system
First Claim
1. An apparatus for locating and tracking at least one mobile object within an indoor facility, the indoor facility including a plurality of beacon emitters positioned therein, a plurality of removable network monitors, and a tag associated with the at least one mobile object, each beacon emitter generating a radiofrequency signal, each network monitors attached to a wall outlet at a known location of the indoor facility and generating a first plurality of measurements comprising data including signal strength from each of the plurality of beacon emitters received by at least one of the removable network monitors, the tag generating a second plurality of measurements comprising data including signal strength from each of the plurality of beacon emitters received by the tag, the apparatus comprising:
- a database storing a mapped space of the indoor facility, wherein the mapped space comprises a function and one or more parameters, the function returning a location estimate in response to one or more measurements and the one or more parameters, the parameters being adjusted in response to the first plurality of measurements, wherein the function is selected from a Kalman filter, a Bayesian filter or a neural network;
a memory for storing known location information for each of the plurality of removable network monitors;
a receiver for receiving the first plurality of measurements from one or more network monitors and the second plurality of measurements from the tag associated with the at least one mobile object; and
a processor for updating the mapped space in response to the received first plurality of measurements, the processor updating the mapped space by;
computing a location estimate of a removable network monitor in accordance with the respective first plurality of measurements and the mapped space;
comparing the location estimate with the respective known location information for the removable network monitor to generate a location error estimate; and
adjusting one or more parameters in accordance with the location error estimate,wherein the processor generates an object position location estimate for the object from the received second plurality of measurements and the mapped space and wherein the processor generates a removable network monitor position location estimate for the plurality of removable network monitors in response to the first plurality of measurements and generates one or more error estimates for the plurality of removable network monitors, each error estimate generated in accordance with a difference between the known location information and generated network monitor position location for the respective removable network monitor.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques for accurate position location and tracking suitable for a wide range of facilities in variable environments are disclosed. In one aspect, a system for position location comprises a plurality of sensors (e.g. a network monitor, an environment sensor) for generating measurements of a plurality of sources, a plurality of objects or tags, each object generating measurements of the plurality of sources, and a processor for receiving the measurements and generating a position location for one or more objects in accordance with the received measurements. In another aspect, a position engine comprises a mapped space of a physical environment, and a processor for updating the mapped space in response to received measurements. The position engine may receive second measurements from an object within the physical environment, and generate a position location estimate for the object from the received second measurements and the mapped space.
54 Citations
7 Claims
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1. An apparatus for locating and tracking at least one mobile object within an indoor facility, the indoor facility including a plurality of beacon emitters positioned therein, a plurality of removable network monitors, and a tag associated with the at least one mobile object, each beacon emitter generating a radiofrequency signal, each network monitors attached to a wall outlet at a known location of the indoor facility and generating a first plurality of measurements comprising data including signal strength from each of the plurality of beacon emitters received by at least one of the removable network monitors, the tag generating a second plurality of measurements comprising data including signal strength from each of the plurality of beacon emitters received by the tag, the apparatus comprising:
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a database storing a mapped space of the indoor facility, wherein the mapped space comprises a function and one or more parameters, the function returning a location estimate in response to one or more measurements and the one or more parameters, the parameters being adjusted in response to the first plurality of measurements, wherein the function is selected from a Kalman filter, a Bayesian filter or a neural network; a memory for storing known location information for each of the plurality of removable network monitors; a receiver for receiving the first plurality of measurements from one or more network monitors and the second plurality of measurements from the tag associated with the at least one mobile object; and a processor for updating the mapped space in response to the received first plurality of measurements, the processor updating the mapped space by; computing a location estimate of a removable network monitor in accordance with the respective first plurality of measurements and the mapped space; comparing the location estimate with the respective known location information for the removable network monitor to generate a location error estimate; and
adjusting one or more parameters in accordance with the location error estimate,wherein the processor generates an object position location estimate for the object from the received second plurality of measurements and the mapped space and wherein the processor generates a removable network monitor position location estimate for the plurality of removable network monitors in response to the first plurality of measurements and generates one or more error estimates for the plurality of removable network monitors, each error estimate generated in accordance with a difference between the known location information and generated network monitor position location for the respective removable network monitor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. The apparatus of 4 wherein the processor produces a weighted average of the one or more error estimates, the weights being selected in accordance with the proximity in signal space of each removable network monitor to the object.
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6. A method of locating and tracking at least one object within an indoor facility, the indoor facility including a plurality of beacon emitters positioned therein, a plurality of removable network monitors, and a tag associated with the at least one mobile object, each beacon emitter generating a radiofrequency signal, each removable network monitor removably attached to a wall outlet at a known location of the indoor facility and generating a first plurality of measurements comprising data including signal strength from each of the plurality of beacon emitters received by at least one of the removable network monitors, the tag generating a second plurality of measurements comprising data including signal strength from each of the plurality of beacon emitters received by the tag, the method comprising:
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receiving the first plurality of measurements from the plurality of removable network monitors; receiving the second plurality of measurements from the tag associated with the at least one mobile object; updating a mapped space in response to the received first plurality of measurements; storing known location information for each of the plurality of removable network monitors; computing a location estimate of a removable network monitor in accordance with the received first plurality of measurements and the mapped space; comparing the location estimate with the respective known location information for the removable network monitor to generate a location error estimate; adjusting the mapped space in accordance with the location error estimate; and generating a position location response for the at least one mobile object, determined in accordance with one or more of the second plurality of measurements and the mapped space. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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Specification