System and method for indoor localization using beacons

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11067664-B2
Application number	US-202016746608-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 17, 2020
Priority date	Mar 27, 2015
Publication date	Jul 20, 2021
Grant date	Jul 20, 2021

Abstract

Systems and methods are described for determining positions of indoor localization beacons without requiring a physical site survey. In a coarse positioning method, a mobile node receives beacon signals that identify rooms (such as stores in a shopping mall) in which the beacons are located. The mobile node obtains floor plan information relating to the building and estimates beacon locations based on the floor plan and beacon signal strength. The estimated beacon locations may be arranged in a predetermined geometric pattern based on the number of beacons in a room. In a fine positioning method, a mobile node recognizes its proximity to a beacon and responsively measures the distance to other beacons. Estimated beacon positions may be used to estimate the location of the mobile node using trilateration or other techniques.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed on the processor, are operative to cause the system to:
receive, at a mobile node, beacon messages from a plurality of beacon devices comprising at least a first beacon message from a first beacon device in a room, the beacon messages comprising a room identifier and a beacon identifier;
based on the received beacon messages, determine a number of detected beacon devices in the room; and
set an initial estimated position of the first beacon device in the room, the initial estimated position being determined at least in part by the number of detected beacon devices in the room.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the initial estimated position of the first beacon device is based on a geometric pattern selected based on the number of detected beacon devices in the room.

3. The system of claim 2 ,
wherein the initial estimated position of the first beacon device is a selected position within a geometric pattern comprising a plurality of positions, and
wherein the selected position within the geometric pattern is based at least in part on a received signal strength of at least the first beacon message at the mobile node.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed on the processor, are further operative to cause the system to refine the initial estimated position based at least in part on a received signal strength of the first beacon device.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed on the processor, are further operative to cause the system to:
calculate a plurality of estimated locations of the mobile node based on beacon signal strengths received from the plurality of beacon devices by the mobile node and based on estimated positions of the plurality of beacon devices, wherein the plurality of beacon devices comprises the first beacon device;
based on the estimated locations, determine an estimated region of movement of the mobile node;
compare the region of movement to a floor plan of the room comprising the plurality of beacon devices; and
change the estimated position of at least one of the beacon devices based on the comparison of the region of movement to the floor plan.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein determining the estimated region of movement of the mobile node comprises determining the smallest convex polygon that comprises all calculated estimated locations of the mobile node.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein changing the estimated position of at least one of the beacon devices comprises repositioning a centroid of at least one of the beacon devices.

8. The system of claim 5 ,
wherein the room is in a place of business,
wherein the instructions, when executed on the processor, are further operative to cause the system to determine whether the mobile node is associated with an employee of the place of business, and
wherein changing the estimated position of at least one of the beacon devices is performed after a determination that the mobile node is associated with an employee.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein determining whether the mobile node is associated with an employee comprises determining whether at least some of the estimated locations of the mobile node are in an employee-only area.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein determining whether the mobile node is associated with an employee comprises determining whether the mobile node is located in the place of business during an employee-only period.

11. The system of claim 5 , wherein changing the estimated position of at least one of the beacon devices is performed using partial centroid repositioning.

12. The system of claim 5 , wherein changing the estimated position of at least one of the beacon devices is performed using total centroid repositioning.

13. The system of claim 5 , wherein the instructions, when executed on the processor, are further operative to cause the system to:
use a camera to determine a plurality of positions of at least one individual in the room; and
obtain a plurality of distance measurements between a mobile node associated with the at least one individual and a beacon device in the plurality of beacon devices; the distance measurements being based at least in part on receive signal strength of beacon signals received by the mobile device from the beacon device,
wherein changing the estimated position of at least one of the beacon devices is further based at least in part on the determined positions of the at least one individual and on the plurality of distance measurements.

14. A system comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed on the processor, are operative to cause the system to:
obtain floor plan information of a building, wherein the floor plan information identifies locations of a plurality of rooms comprising a first room;
receive, at a mobile node, a plurality of beacon signals from a respective plurality of beacon devices;
calculate a plurality of estimated locations of the mobile node based on beacon signal strengths received from the plurality of beacon devices by the mobile node and based on estimated positions of the plurality of beacon devices;
based on the plurality of estimated locations of the mobile node, determine an estimated region of movement of the mobile node;
compare the region of movement to the floor plan information of the first room comprising the plurality of beacon devices; and
change the estimated position of at least one of the beacon devices based on the comparison of the region of movement to the floor plan information.

15. The system of claim 14 ,
wherein the first room is in a place of business,
wherein the instructions, when executed on the processor, are further operative to cause the system to determine whether the mobile node is associated with an employee of the place of business, and
wherein changing the estimated position of at least one of the beacon devices is performed after a determination that the mobile node is associated with an employee.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein determining whether the mobile node is associated with an employee comprises determining whether at least some of the estimated locations of the mobile node are in an employee-only area.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein determining whether the mobile node is associated with an employee comprises determining whether the mobile node is located in the place of business during an employee-only period.

18. The system of claim 14 , wherein changing the estimated position of at least one of the beacon devices is performed using partial centroid repositioning.

19. A system comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed on the processor, are operative to cause the system to:
receive, at a mobile node, a first beacon signal from a first beacon device and a second beacon signal from a second beacon device;
based on a first received signal strength of the first beacon signal, determine whether the mobile node is proximate to the first beacon device;
based on a second received signal strength of the second beacon signal, determine a distance from the mobile node to the second beacon device; and
in response to a determination that the mobile node is proximate to the first beacon device, update an estimated position of at least one of the first beacon

Assignees

• Pcms Holdings Inc

Inventors

• Oh hyun oh
• Son Juhyung
• Kwak Jin Sam
• Ko Geonjung

Classifications

• G01S5/0242

  Determining the position of transmitters to be subsequently used in positioning (G01S5/0289 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04W4/33 Primary

  for indoor environments, e.g. buildings · CPC title

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title

• H04W64/00

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

• G01S1/06

  Means for providing multiple indication, e.g. coarse and fine indications · CPC title