Millimeter wave ranging with six degrees of freedom

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10887723-B2
Application number	US-201715853253-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 22, 2017
Priority date	Dec 22, 2017
Publication date	Jan 5, 2021
Grant date	Jan 5, 2021

Abstract

Various aspects of the disclosure relate to millimeter wave ranging with six degrees of freedom. For example, a multi-gigabyte link (e.g., an IEEE 802.11ad link or an 802.11ay link) and RF/Antenna diversity modules can be used to conduct round trip time (RTT) distance measurements between an anchor point and a station. Relative location information (e.g., degrees of freedom) between the wireless devices can then be determined based on the distance measurements.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for communication, comprising:
an interface configured to obtain a plurality of signals received by a first plurality of antennas associated with the apparatus, wherein the first plurality of antennas is configured to receive the plurality of signals from a second plurality of antennas associated with another apparatus; and
a processing system coupled to the interface and configured to:
estimate, based on the plurality of signals obtained by the interface, a plurality of distances between the first plurality of antennas and the second plurality of antennas,
determine six degrees of freedom between the apparatus for communication and the other apparatus based on the plurality of distances, and
generate an indication of the six degrees of freedom,

wherein the interface is further configured to output the indication.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of signals comprises millimeter wave signals.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the determination of the six degrees of freedom comprises:
determining at least one relative translation parameter and at least one relative rotation parameter from the plurality of distances.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the determination of the six degrees of freedom further comprises:
solving a system of equations based on the at least one relative translation parameter and the at least one relative rotation parameter.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the estimation of the plurality of distances comprises conducting a plurality of round-trip-time (RTT) measurements.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the six degrees of freedom comprise: up-down, right-left, back-forward, roll, yaw, and pitch.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein any separation between any two antennas of the second plurality of antennas is greater than or equal to a distance measurement resolution.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein any separation between any two antennas of the second plurality of antennas is greater than or equal to at least one wavelength of the plurality of signals.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the processing system is further configured to determine at least one angle of arrival based on the plurality of signals; and
the determination of the six degrees of freedom is further based on the at least one angle of arrival.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the processing system is further configured to determine at least one angle of departure based on the plurality of signals; and
the determination of the six degrees of freedom is further based on the at least one angle of departure.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the determination of the six degrees of freedom comprises:
determining a first estimate of the six degrees of freedom based on the plurality of distances;
determining a second estimate of the six degrees of freedom; and
determining the six degrees of freedom based on the first estimate and the second estimate.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the second estimate is based on inertia-based sensing, light-based sensing, or a combination thereof.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the processing system is further configured to determine a first set of distances between the first plurality of antennas;
the processing system is further configured to determine a second set of distances between the second plurality of antennas; and
the determination of the six degrees of freedom is further based on the first set of distances and the second set of distances.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the processing system is further configured to determine at least one calibration parameter based on a known six degrees of freedom; and
the determination of the six degrees of freedom is further based on the at least one calibration parameter.

15. A method of communication, comprising:
obtaining a plurality of signals;
estimating a plurality of distances between a first plurality of antennas and a second plurality of antennas based on the plurality of signals;
determining six degrees of freedom between an apparatus and another apparatus based on the estimated plurality of distances;
generating an indication of the six degrees of freedom; and
outputting the indication.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of signals comprises millimeter wave signals.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the determination of the six degrees of freedom comprises:
determining at least one relative translation parameter and at least one relative rotation parameter from the plurality of distances.

18. A wireless node, comprising:
a first plurality of antennas;
a receiver configured to receive a plurality of signals via the first plurality of antennas;
a processing system configured to:
estimate a plurality of distances between the first plurality of antennas and a second plurality of antennas based on the plurality of signals,
determine six degrees of freedom between the wireless node and another wireless node based on the estimated plurality of distances, and
generate an indication of the six degrees of freedom; and

an interface configured to output the indication.

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Sanderovich Amichai
• Frydman Javier
• Eitan Alecsander Petru

Classifications

• G01S5/0247 Primary

  Determining attitude · CPC title

• G01S13/878

  Combination of several spaced transmitters or receivers of known location for determining the position of a transponder or a reflector (G01S13/874 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01S13/874

  Combination of several systems for attitude determination (in general G01C, control of attitude G05D1/49) · CPC title

• H04W4/023 Primary

  using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds · CPC title

• G01S13/765

  with exchange of information between interrogator and responder · CPC title