Method and system for localizing spatially separated wireless transmitters

• US 9,820,157 B1
• Filed: 03/20/2017
• Issued: 11/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wipro Limited
• Original Assignee: Wipro Limited
• Inventors: Rajendran, Surendran, Budihal, Ramachandra, Tamma, Venkata Prabhakar
• Primary Examiner(s): Arevalo, Joseph
• Application Number:
  US15/464,035
• Time in Patent Office: 239 Days
• Field of Search: 455433, 455418, 455436, 4554351, 455 451, 4554221, 455453, 455438, 455447
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/042 Transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0242 Determining the position of transmitters to be subsequently used in positioning G01S5/0289 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02521 using a radio-map
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02524 Creating or updating the radio-map
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/18 Monitoring during normal operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/27 for locating or positioning the transmitter
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/12 Fixed resource partitioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A technique is provided for localizing a plurality of wireless transmitters. The technique includes retrieving Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) values measured by one or more sensors, corresponding to the plurality of wireless transmitters distributed in a region in which the sensors are located. The technique further comprises generating, a plurality of clusters based on the retrieved RSSI values. The technique further comprises generating a binary image based on the generated clusters. The binary image comprises one or more white regions and one or more black regions. The technique further comprises localizing position of each of the plurality of wireless transmitters, based on a determination of contours of the one or more white regions present in the binary image.

Claims

1. A method of localizing of wireless transmitters, the method comprising:

retrieving, by a localization device, one or more Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) values measured by one or more sensors, corresponding to a plurality of wireless transmitters distributed in a region in which the one or more sensors are located;

generating, by the localization device, a plurality of clusters based on the retrieved one or more RSSI values, wherein the generation of the plurality of clusters is based on a K-means clustering algorithm;

generating, by the localization device, a binary image based on the generated plurality of clusters, wherein the binary image comprises one or more white regions and one or more black regions; and

localizing, by the localization device, a position of each of the plurality of wireless transmitters, based on a determination of contours of the one or more white regions present in the binary image, wherein the one or more white regions in the binary image are indicative of a region in which one of the plurality of wireless transmitters is present.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the generation of the plurality of clusters comprises:

creating a data structure having the one or more RSSI values measured by each of the one or more sensors, wherein each element of the data structure corresponds to a location of a sensor, from the one or more sensors, in the region; and

determining a plurality of centroids of the data structure having the one or more RSSI values, based on a random selection of the one or more RSSI values from the data structure, wherein each centroid in the plurality of centroids corresponds to a cluster from the plurality of clusters.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a count of clusters in the plurality of clusters is based on a maximum range of transmission of the plurality of wireless transmitters and a recommended minimum distance between the one or more sensors located in the region;

and

wherein a difference in the maximum range of transmission of the plurality of wireless transmitters is less than a predefined threshold.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination of the contours of the one or more white regions is based on Moore-Neighbour Tracing algorithm.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the position of each of the plurality of wireless transmitters are stored in a transmitter table database.

6. A localization device, comprising at least one processor and a memory having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform steps comprising:

retrieving one or more Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) values measured by one or more sensors, corresponding to a plurality of wireless transmitters distributed in a region in which the one or more sensors are located;

generating a plurality of clusters based on the retrieved one or more RSSI values, wherein the generation of the plurality of clusters is based on a K-means clustering algorithm;

generating a binary image based on the generated plurality of clusters, wherein the binary image comprises one or more white regions and one or more black regions; and

localizing a position of each of the plurality of wireless transmitters, based on a determination of contours of the one or more white regions present in the binary image, wherein the one or more white regions in the binary image are indicative of a region in which one of the plurality of wireless transmitters is present.

7. The localization device of claim 6, wherein the generation of the plurality of clusters comprises:

creating a data structure having the one or more RSSI values measured by each of the one or more sensors, wherein each element of the data structure corresponds to a location of a sensor, from the one or more sensors, in the region; and

determining a plurality of centroids of the data structure having the one or more RSSI values, based on a random selection of the one or more RSSI values from the data structure, wherein each centroid in the plurality of centroids corresponds to a cluster from the plurality of clusters.

8. The localization device of claim 6, wherein a count of clusters in the plurality of clusters is based on a maximum range of transmission of the plurality of wireless transmitters and a recommended minimum distance between the one or more sensors located in the region;

and

wherein a difference in the maximum range of transmission of the plurality of wireless transmitters is less than a predefined threshold.

9. The localization device of claim 6, wherein the determination of the contours of the one or more white regions is based on Moore-Neighbour Tracing algorithm.

10. The localization device of claim 6, wherein the position of each of the plurality of wireless transmitters are stored in a transmitter table database.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for localizing of wireless transmitters, wherein upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors, the processors perform operations comprising:

retrieving one or more Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) values measured by one or more sensors, corresponding to a plurality of wireless transmitters distributed in a region in which the one or more sensors are located;

generating a plurality of clusters based on the retrieved one or more RSSI values, wherein the generation of the plurality of clusters is based on a K-means clustering algorithm;

generating a binary image based on the generated plurality of clusters, wherein the binary image comprises one or more white regions and one or more black regions; and

localizing a position of each of the plurality of wireless transmitters, based on a determination of contours of the one or more white regions present in the binary image, wherein the one or more white regions in the binary image are indicative of a region in which one of the plurality of wireless transmitters is present.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the generation of the plurality of clusters comprises:

creating a data structure having the one or more RSSI values measured by each of the one or more sensors, wherein each element of the data structure corresponds to a location of a sensor, from the one or more sensors, in the region; and

determining a plurality of centroids of the data structure having the one or more RSSI values, based on a random selection of the one or more RSSI values from the data structure, wherein each centroid in the plurality of centroids corresponds to a cluster from the plurality of clusters.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein a count of clusters in the plurality of clusters is based on a maximum range of transmission of the plurality of wireless transmitters and a recommended minimum distance between the one or more sensors located in the region;

and

wherein a difference in the maximum range of transmission of the plurality of wireless transmitters is less than a predefined threshold.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the determination of the contours of the one or more white regions is based on Moore-Neighbour Tracing algorithm.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the position of each of the plurality of wireless transmitters are stored in a transmitter table database.