Method and apparatus for locating wireless access point

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10215838-B2
Application number	US-201715664148-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 31, 2017
Priority date	Jan 31, 2015
Publication date	Feb 26, 2019
Grant date	Feb 26, 2019

Abstract

Embodiments disclose a method and an apparatus for locating a wireless access point. M APs are deployed in a physical area, the M APs include N first reference APs and L to-be-located APs, and physical locations of the first reference APs and a first distance between any two first reference APs are determinate. The method includes obtaining a first electromagnetic wave signal received by a first to-be-located AP of the L to-be-located Aps, where the first electromagnetic wave signal includes an electromagnetic wave signal sent by each first reference AP. The method also includes determining a second distance between the first to-be-located AP and each first reference AP according to the first electromagnetic wave signal, and determining a physical location of the first to-be-located AP according to the first distance, the second distance, and the physical locations of all the N first reference APs.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
obtaining a first electromagnetic wave signal received by a first to-be-located access point (AP) of L to-be-located APs, wherein M APs are deployed in a physical area, the M APs comprise N first reference APs and the L to-be-located APs, physical locations of the N first reference APs and a first distance between any two first reference APs are determinate, N is an integer that is greater than or equal to 3 and less than M, a sum of N and L equals M, and L is an integer, and wherein the first electromagnetic wave signal comprises an electromagnetic wave signal sent by each first reference AP;
determining a second distance between the first to-be-located AP and each first reference AP according to the first electromagnetic wave signal; and
determining a physical location of the first to-be-located AP according to the first distance, the second distance, and the physical locations of all the N first reference APs.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the L to-be-located APs are disposed on different floors of a building, and a first vertical distance between each of the N first reference APs and ground of a specified floor is less than a first threshold, and wherein determining the physical location of the first to-be-located AP comprises:
determining a second vertical distance between the first to-be-located AP and the ground of the specified floor according to the first distance and the second distance; and
determining whether the second vertical distance is not greater than the first threshold;
and when the second vertical distance is not greater than the first threshold, determining the physical location of the first to-be-located AP using the ground of the specified floor as a reference.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the second vertical distance is greater than the first threshold, and determining the physical location of the first to-be-located AP comprises:
determining, according to the second vertical distance, a target floor on which the first to-be-located AP is located, and determining the physical location of the first to-be-located AP using ground of the target floor as a reference.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein, after it is determined that at least three to-be-located APs are physically located on the target floor, the method further comprises:
determining a third distance between any two to-be-located APs of the at least three to-be-located APs according to physical locations of the at least three to-be-located APs, and using the at least three to-be-located APs as second reference APs of the target floor;
obtaining a second electromagnetic wave signal received by a second to-be-located AP of the L to-be-located APs whose physical location has not been determined, wherein the second electromagnetic wave signal comprises an electromagnetic wave signal sent by each second reference AP;
determining a fourth distance between the second to-be-located AP and each second reference AP according to the second electromagnetic wave signal; and
determining the physical location of the second to-be-located AP using a physical location of the second reference AP, the third distance, and the fourth distance.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, after the determining a physical location of the first to-be-located AP, the method further comprises:
obtaining building drawing information of the physical area; and
adding information about determined physical locations of the M APs to the building drawing information, so that any physical location in a building is provided with the to-be-located AP, and an identifier of the to-be-located AP is set at a location, corresponding to the any physical location, in the building drawing.

6. An apparatus, comprising:
an obtaining module, configured to obtain a first electromagnetic wave signal received by a first to-be-located access point (AP) of L to-be-located APs, wherein M access points APs are deployed in a physical area, the M APs comprise N first reference APs and the L to-be-located APs, physical locations of the N first reference APs and a first distance between any two first reference APs are determinate, N is an integer that is greater than or equal to 3 and less than M, a sum of N and L equals to M, and L is an integer, and wherein the first electromagnetic wave signal comprises an electromagnetic wave signal sent by each first reference AP;
a distance calculation module, configured to determine a second distance between the first to-be-located AP and each first reference AP according to the first electromagnetic wave signal; and
a locating module, configured to determine a physical location of the first to-be-located AP according to the first distance, the second distance, and the physical locations of all the first reference APs.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the L to-be-located APs are disposed on different floors of a building, a first vertical distance between each of the N first reference APs and ground of a specified floor is less than a first threshold, and the locating module is further configured to:
determine a second vertical distance between the first to-be-located AP and the ground of the specified floor according to the first distance and the second distance; and
determine whether the second vertical is not greater than the first threshold, and when the second vertical is not greater than the first threshold, determine the physical location of the first to-be-located AP by using the ground of the specified floor as a reference.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein, when the second vertical distance is greater than the first threshold, the locating module is further configured to: determine, according to the second vertical distance, a target floor on which the first to-be-located AP is located, and determine the physical location of the first to-be-located AP using ground of the target floor as a reference.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein, after it is determined that at least three to-be-located APs are physically located on the target floor, the locating module is further configured to:
determine a third distance between any two to-be-located APs of the at least three to-be-located APs according to physical locations of the at least three to-be-located APs, and use the at least three to-be-located APs as second reference APs of the target floor;
obtain a second electromagnetic wave signal received by a second to-be-located AP, whose physical location has not been determined, of the L to-be-located APs, wherein the second electromagnetic wave signal comprises an electromagnetic wave signal sent by each second reference AP;
determine a fourth distance between the second to-be-located AP and each second reference AP according to the second electromagnetic wave signal; and
determine the physical location of the second to-be-located AP using a physical location of the second reference AP, the third distance, and the fourth distance.

10. The apparatus according to claim 6 , further comprising an information adding module, the information adding module being configured to:
obtain building drawing information of the physical area; and
add information about determined physical locations of the M APs to the building drawing information, so that any physical location in a building is provided with the to-be-located AP, and an identifier of the to-be-located AP is set at a location, corresponding to the any physical location, in the building drawing.

11. An apparatus, comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory memory storing instructions, the processor being configured to execute the

Assignees

• Huawei Tech Co Ltd

Inventors

• Huang Shukai
• Gu Jianguo

Classifications

• G01S5/14 Primary

  Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location · CPC title

• H04W88/08

  Access point devices · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title

• H04W64/00

  Locating users or terminals {or network equipment} for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management · CPC title

• H04L61/6022

  Electricity · mapped topic