Method and apparatus for selecting reference tag used for positioning

• US 9,202,088 B2
• Filed: 11/28/2012
• Issued: 12/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Chen, Ai, Pan, Lujia
• Primary Examiner(s): YANG, JAMES J
• Application Number:
  US13/687,823
• Publication Number:
  US 20130088334A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,098 Days
• Field of Search: 340 101- 106, 3405721-5729
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0284 Relative positioning
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/00 Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns methods or arrangements for marking the record carrier in digital fashion G06K1/00; pattern recognition G06F18/00; arrangements for image or video recognition or understanding G06V10/00; character recognition, recognising digital ink or document-oriented image-based pattern recognition G06V30/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for selecting a reference tag used for positioning are provided. The method includes: obtaining first signal strength emitted by a reference tag and second signal strength emitted by a tag to be positioned, where the first signal strength and the second signal strength are detected by each radio frequency reader; comparing the first signal strength with the second signal strength to determine a boundary of the radio frequency readers, and dividing a network into a first area and a second area with the boundary; determining an estimated direction of the tag to be positioned relative to the reference tag according to a relative position of the reference tag and the boundary; and according to the estimated direction and according to the specified number of reference tags, selecting a valid reference tag group as the reference tag used for positioning.

Claims

1. A method for selecting a reference tag used for positioning, the method comprising:

obtaining a first signal strength of a signal emitted by a reference tag of a plurality of reference tags and a second signal strength of a signal emitted by a tag to be positioned, wherein the first signal strength and the second signal strength are detected by each radio frequency reader of a plurality of radio frequency readers;

comparing the first signal strength with the second signal strength detected by each of the plurality of radio frequency readers to produce a corresponding signal strength difference and to determine a boundary of each radio frequency reader, and dividing a network into a first area and a second area with the boundary, wherein the reference tag is disposed within the first area and the first area includes a first plurality of radio frequency readers having a positive signal strength difference value, and the tag to be positioned is disposed within the second area and the second area includes a second plurality of radio frequency readers having a negative signal strength difference value;

determining an estimated direction of the tag to be positioned relative to the reference tag according to a relative position of the reference tag and the boundary; and

according to the estimated direction and a number of reference tags used to form a reference tag group, selecting a valid reference tag group from the plurality of reference tags and using the selected valid reference tag group for positioning the tag to be positioned.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein in response to multiple valid reference tag groups existing, selecting the valid reference tag group for positioning comprises:

selecting the valid reference tag group according to a Euclidean distance between every two reference tags in each of the multiple valid reference tag groups.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein in response to the valid reference tag group not existing, selecting the valid reference tag group for positioning comprises:

reducing the number of reference tags in the reference tag group, and according to the reduced number of reference tags in the reference tag group, selecting the valid reference tag group for positioning.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the number of reference tags in a pre-selected valid reference tag group is greater than or equal to three, selecting the valid reference tag group according to the estimated direction and the number of reference tags comprises:

according to the number of the reference tags in the pre-selected valid reference tag group, selecting reference tags and forming a reference tag group to be determined; and

determining whether an estimated direction determined for each reference tag in the reference tag group to be determined points to the inside of a polygon using each reference tag as a vertex, and if yes, determining the reference tag group to be determined as the valid reference tag group.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the number of reference tags in a pre-selected valid reference tag group is two, selecting the valid reference tag group according to the estimated direction and the specified number of reference tags comprises:

computing a weight of each reference tag relative to the tag to be positioned; and

selecting two reference tags with weights satisfying a preset condition to form the valid reference tag group.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein when the number of the reference tags in the pre-selected valid reference tag group is two, determining a position of the tag to be positioned according to the following manner:

solving

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the estimated direction of the tag to be positioned relative to the reference tag according to the relative position of the reference tag and the boundary comprises:

determining a direction perpendicular to the boundary and pointing to the second area as the estimated direction of the tag to be positioned relative to the reference tag.

8. An apparatus for selecting a reference tag used for positioning, the apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

memory coupled to the processor including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to;

obtain a first signal strength of a signal emitted by a reference tag of a plurality of reference tags and a second signal strength of a signal emitted by a tag to be positioned, wherein the first signal strength and the second signal strength are detected by each radio frequency reader of a plurality of radio frequency readers;

compare the first signal strength with the second signal strength detected by each of the plurality of radio frequency readers to produce a corresponding signal strength difference and to determine a boundary of each radio frequency reader, and divide a network into a first area and a second area with the boundary, wherein the reference tag is disposed within the first area and the first area includes a first plurality of radio frequency readers having a positive signal strength difference value, and the tag to be positioned is disposed within the second area and the second area includes a second plurality of radio frequency readers having a negative signal strength difference value;

according to a relative position of the reference tag and the boundary, determine an estimated direction of the tag to be positioned relative to the reference tag; and

according to the estimated direction and a number of reference tags used to form a reference tag group, select a valid reference tag group from the plurality of reference tags and use the selected valid reference tag group for positioning the tag to be positioned.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, further including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to, in response to multiple valid reference tag groups existing:

select the valid reference tag group according to a Euclidean distance between every two reference tags in each of the multiple valid reference tag groups.

10. The apparatus according to claim 8, further including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to, in response to the valid reference tag group not existing:

reduce the number of reference tags in the reference tag group, and according to the reduced number of reference tags in the reference tag group, select a valid reference tag group for positioning.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, further including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to, when the number of reference tags in a pre-selected valid reference tag group is greater than or equal to three:

according to the number of the reference tags in the pre-selected valid reference tag group, select reference tags to form a reference tag group to be determined; and

determine whether an estimated direction determined for each reference tag in the reference tag group to be determined points to the inside of a polygon using each reference tag as a vertex, and if yes, determine the reference tag group to be determined as the valid reference tag group.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10, further including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to, when the number of reference tags in a pre-selected valid reference tag group is two:

compute a weight of each reference tag relative to the tag to be positioned; and

select two reference tags with weights satisfying a preset condition to form the valid reference tag group.

13. The apparatus according to claim 10, further including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to determine a direction perpendicular to the boundary and pointing to the second area as the estimated direction of the tag to be positioned relative to the reference tag.