Independent beacon based light position system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10024949-B2
Application number	US-201615007692-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 27, 2016
Priority date	Jul 26, 2011
Publication date	Jul 17, 2018
Grant date	Jul 17, 2018

Abstract

Systems an methods are provided that disclose providing a positioning service for devices based on light received from one or more light sources. This light based positioning service uses light information transmitted by each light source to determine the position of the device. The positioning information can include three dimension position information in a building that can then be used to deliver services and information to a mobile device. The content delivered to a mobile device can include multimedia, text, audio, and/or pictorial information. The positioning information along with other location or positioning information can be used in providing augmented reality or location aware services. The light sources can be independent beacons that broadcast information in visible light at a rate that is undetectable by the human eye. Content can be retrieved from a server over a communications connection.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
a database, comprising:
indoor location information including identification codes related to lighting devices installed in an indoor location, items in the indoor location, and content related to the indoor location and specific locations in the indoor location, and position information of mobile devices within a distance of the indoor location; and
a server, comprising:
a network interface;
a memory,
one or more logic modules stored in the memory,
a processor coupled to the network interface, the database, and the memory,
wherein when the processor is running the logic modules stored in the memory, the server is configured to perform functions, including functions to:
receive, via the network interface, position information corresponding to a location of a mobile device within a light positioning system enabled area of the indoor location, the position information provided by a source alternative to the light-based positioning system;
estimate, based on the received position information, a current approximate position of the mobile device within the indoor location;
maintain a record of the estimated current approximate position of the mobile device in the database;
receive, from the mobile device via the network interface, light source identifiers corresponding to visible light sources in the indoor location;
search the database for light source identifiers matching the received light source identifiers;
calculate position coordinates of the mobile device within the indoor location based on the results of the database search; and
based on the calculated position coordinates of the mobile device, update the record of the estimated current approximate position of the mobile device.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the alternative positioning information is provided by positioning sources alternative to the light-based positioning system and to a satellite-based positioning system.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the server is further configured by the logic modules running on the processor, to search the database by performing functions of:
retrieve the current approximate position information of the mobile device from the database;
constrain the database search space to light source identifiers within a specific radius of the current approximate position of the mobile device; and
determine that each received light source identifier matches a light source identifier of a lighting device within the constrained database search space.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the server is further configured by the logic modules running on the processor, to calculate the position coordinates of the mobile device by performing functions to:
retrieve physical location coordinates of the lighting devices associated with the received light source identifiers; and
use the physical location coordinates of the lighting devices during the calculation of the position coordinates of the mobile device.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the server is further configured by the logic modules running on the processor, to calculate the position coordinates of the mobile device by performing functions to:
retrieve from the database location specific content data associated with the calculated position coordinates of the mobile device; and
based on the calculated position coordinates of the mobile device within the indoor location, deliver, via the network interface, location specific content related to the indoor location to the mobile device.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the location specific content maintained in the database includes multimedia, text, audio, and/or pictorial information related to items near the calculated position coordinates of the mobile device within the indoor location.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the location specific content includes content based on user preferences, user age, user gender, or user purchasing habits, or dynamic content that changes on a temporal basis.

8. The system of claim 5 , wherein the location specific content includes point of purchase information usable by the mobile device to establish and complete a transaction within the indoor location.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the database includes web services programming; and
the server is further configured by the web services programming running on the processor, to perform functions, including a function to:
in response to a request from the mobile device, provide to the mobile device web services corresponding to the indoor location.

10. A method, comprising:
receiving, at a server via a network connection, alternative positioning information related to a mobile device, the alternative positioning information comprising information provided by a positioning source other than an indoor location light-based positioning system;
based on the received alternative positioning information, estimating a current approximate position of the mobile device relative to a light positioning enabled area;
maintaining a record of the estimated current approximate position of the mobile device in the database;
receiving, from the mobile device via the network connection, light source identifiers corresponding to visible light sources in the indoor location;
searching the database for light source identifiers matching the received light source identifiers;
calculating position coordinates of the mobile device within the indoor location based on the results of the database search; and
based on the calculated position coordinates of the mobile device, updating the record of the estimated current approximate position of the mobile device.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the alternative positioning information is provided by positioning sources alternative to the light-based positioning system and to a satellite-based positioning system.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
retrieving the current approximate position information of the mobile device from the database;
constraining the database search space to light source identifiers within a specific radius of the current approximate position of the mobile device; and
determining that each received light source identifiers matches a light source identifier of a lighting device within the constrained database search space.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
retrieving physical location coordinates of the lighting devices associated with the received light source identifiers; and
using the physical location coordinates of the lighting devices during the calculation of the position coordinates of the mobile device.

14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
based on the calculated position coordinates of the mobile device, initiating web services programming corresponding to the indoor location and associated with calculated position coordinates; and
in response to a request from the mobile device, providing web services to the mobile device.

15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
retrieving from the database location specific content data associated with the calculated position coordinates of the mobile device; and
based on the calculated position coordinates of the mobile device within the indoor location, delivering, via the network interface, location specific content associated with the calculated position coordinates of the mobile device.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the delivered location specific content includes multimedia, text, audio, and/or pictorial information related to items near the calculated po

Assignees

• Abl Ip Holding Llc

Inventors

• Ganick Aaron
• Ryan Daniel

Classifications

• G01S5/16 Primary

  using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves · CPC title

• H04N25/531

  by controlling rolling shutters in CMOS SSIS · CPC title

• H04N25/76

  Addressed sensors, e.g. MOS or CMOS sensors · CPC title

• H04N23/661

  Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet · CPC title

• H04N7/183

  for receiving images from a single remote source · CPC title