Method, apparatus, and system for outdoor target tracking

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11397258-B2
Application number	US-202016790627-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 13, 2020
Priority date	Jul 17, 2015
Publication date	Jul 26, 2022
Grant date	Jul 26, 2022

Abstract

Methods, apparatus and systems for outdoor target tracking are described. In one example, a described system comprises: a transmitter, a receiver, and a processor. The transmitter is configured for transmitting a first wireless signal through a wireless multipath channel. The receiver is configured for receiving a second wireless signal through the wireless multipath channel. One of the transmitter and the receiver is a located device at a known location. The other of the transmitter and the receiver is a moving device. The second wireless signal differs from the first wireless signal due to the wireless multipath channel which is impacted by a movement of the moving device. The processor is configured for: obtaining a plurality of time series of channel information of the wireless multipath channel based on the second wireless signal, computing a spatial-temporal information (STI), and tracking the moving device based on the STI.

First claim

We claim:

1. A tracking system, comprising:
a transmitter configured for transmitting a first wireless signal through a wireless multipath channel;
a receiver configured for receiving a second wireless signal through the wireless multipath channel between the transmitter and the receiver, wherein:
the transmitter is a located device at a known location,
the receiver is a moving device,
the second wireless signal differs from the first wireless signal due to the wireless multipath channel which is impacted by a movement of the moving device,
at least one of the transmitter and the receiver comprises a number of antennas,
the number is larger than or equal to a threshold that is at least two; and

a processor physically coupled to the moving device and configured for:
obtaining a plurality of time series of channel information (CI) of the wireless multipath channel based on the second wireless signal received from the transmitter, wherein each CI of the wireless multipath channel is one of: a channel state information (CSI), a channel impulse response (CIR), or a channel frequency response (CFR),
computing an intermediate quantity (IQ) comprising a moving distance of a current movement of the moving device, wherein the moving distance is computed based on the plurality of time series of CI (TSCI) and a beam strength, wherein the beam strength is a function of a radial distance along a beam axis, wherein the beam axis is orthogonal to an antenna axis associated with the number of antennas,
computing a spatial-temporal information (STI) of the moving device based on at least one of: the IQ or a past IQ, and
tracking the moving device based on the STI.

2. The tracking system of claim 1 , wherein:
the threshold is one of: 10, 16, 20;
each of the plurality of TSCI is associated with a pair of a transmit antenna on the transmitter and a receive antenna on the receiver; and
the located device is stationary at a fixed location or moving at locations known to the processor.

3. The tracking system of claim 1 , wherein the STI comprises at least one of:
a location, coordinate, horizontal location, map coordinate, vertical location, height, map location, locationing, relative location, navigation, guidance,
a direction, angle, bearing, base distance, distance, directional distance, radial distance, range, length, area, region, volume, capacity, displacement, movement, speed, velocity, acceleration, rotational speed, angular speed, rotational acceleration, angular acceleration, motion cycle, motion appearance, motion re-appearance, gait cycle, presence, period, frequency, count, quantity, rhythm, breathing rate, heart rate, motion type, motion classification, motion characteristics, motion signature, motion state, fall, danger, intrusion, gesture, expression, target motion, body expression, activity, motion sequence, event, timed event, sudden motion, transient motion, impulsive motion, periodic motion, period of the periodic motion, frequency of the periodic motion, occurrence rate, occurrence timing,
a timing, timestamp, starting time, ending time, time period, time window, sliding time window, time trend, daily trend, history, frequency trend, spatial-temporal trend, change, spatial-temporal change, and another analytics.

4. The tracking system of claim 1 , wherein:
the moving device is moving with an object;
the processor is further configured for tracking an object based on tracking the moving device; and
tracking at least one of the object and the moving device comprises at least one of:
determining a map location, tracking the location, tracking another analytics, navigating, guiding movement along a trajectory, guiding the movement to avoid an obstacle,
tracking motion, tracking behavior, identifying behavior, detecting presence, detecting motion, recognizing motion, detecting vital sign, detecting periodic motion, detecting breathing, detecting heartbeat, monitoring breathing, monitoring heartbeat, detecting event, detecting fall-down, detecting intrusion, counting, recognizing gesture, recognizing activity, recognizing state, detecting deviation of regular activity, detecting anomaly, monitoring timing, monitoring trends,
generating a presentation of at least one of: the IQ, the STI, the map location, the location, the analytics, the navigation, the trajectory, the guidance, the obstacle, the movement, the behavior, the identification, the presence, the motion, the vital sign, the periodic motion, the breathing, the heartbeat, the event, the fall-down, the intrusion, the counting, the gesture, the activity, the state, the deviation, the anomaly, the timing, the trends, generating a presentation of the location, displaying graphically on a user device, and generating another presentation.

5. The tracking system of claim 1 , wherein the IQ comprises at least one of:
a time stamp, starting time, ending time, time code, timing, time period, time duration, frequency, period, cycle, rhythm, pace, count, indicator, occurrence, state, set,
a location, distance, displacement, direction, speed, velocity, acceleration, angular distance, angular speed, angular acceleration, change of location, change of direction, change of speed, change of acceleration, proximity, presence, absence, appearance, disappearance, location, statistics, motion statistics, breathing statistics, distance statistics, speed statistics, acceleration statistics, metric, l_k distance metric, l_0 distance metric, l_1 distance metric, absolute distance metric, l_2 distance metric, Euclidean distance metric, l_infinity distance metric, path, volume, mass, surface area, shape, posture, energy, trend, time sequence, label, tag, class, category, time profile, time quantity, frequency quantity, transient quantity, incremental quantity, instantaneous quantity, averaged quantity, locally averaged quantity, filtered quantity, quantity change, repeating quantity, an event, recognized event, recognized motion sequence, gesture, hand gesture, finger gesture, wrist gesture, elbow gesture, arm gesture, shoulder gesture, head gesture, facial gesture, neck gesture, waist gesture, leg gesture, foot gesture,
a maximum, minimum, constrained maximum, constrained minimum, local maximum, local minimum, first local maximum, first local minimum, k-th local maximum, k-th local minimum, average, weighted average, percentile, mean, median, mode, trimmed mean, conditional mean, conditional statistics, ordered statistics, variance, skewness, kurtosis, moment, high order moment, cumulant, correlation, covariance, co-skewness, co-kurtosis, first order statistics, second order statistics, third order statistics, high order statistics, robust quantity, argument associated with another quantity,
a feature of CI, complex component of CI, magnitude of the complex component, phase of the complex component, function of the complex component of the CI, polynomial of the magnitude of the complex component, square of the magnitude of the complex component, time series of the feature of CI, autocorrelation function of the feature of CI, and a function of another quantity.

6. The tracking system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured for:
obtaining a supplementary quantity (SQ), wherein the SQ comprises at least one of:
an additional IQ of the current movement of the moving device computed based on an additional plurality of TSCI extracted from an additional wireless signal transmitted between an additional transmitter and an additional receiver,
an additional quantity (AQ) of the current movement of the moving device needed for STI computation but not in IQ, wherein the AQ comprises at least one of: a direction, distance, speed, acceleration, map, movement constraint, boundary,
a sensor quantity from at least one of: a sensor, inerti

Assignees

• Zeng Xiaolu
• Zhang Feng
• Wang Beibei
• Liu K J Ray
• Au Oscar Chi Lim
• Wu Chenshu
• Origin Wireless Inc

Inventors

• Zeng Xiaolu
• Zhang Feng
• Wang Beibei
• Liu K J Ray
• Au Oscar Chi-Lim
• Wu Chenshu

Classifications

• G01S7/006 Primary

  using shared front-end circuitry, e.g. antennas (G01S13/765, G01S13/825 take precedence) · CPC title

• H04B7/06

  at the transmitting station · CPC title

• G01S13/723 Primary

  by using numerical data · CPC title

• G01S7/415

  Identification of targets based on measurements of movement associated with the target · CPC title

• G01S13/72

  for two-dimensional [2D] tracking, e.g. combination of angle and range tracking, track-while-scan radar · CPC title