Technique for locating a target tag

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12007494-B2
Application number	US-201817292130-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 13, 2018
Priority date	Nov 13, 2018
Publication date	Jun 11, 2024
Grant date	Jun 11, 2024

Abstract

A technique for locating a target tag (110) using a short range radio based positioning system comprising a plurality of localization components (120) is provided, wherein the target tag (110) and the plurality of localization components (120) are configured to perform ranging measurements among each other using short range radio technology. A method implementation of the technique is performed by an orchestration component (100) of the positioning system and comprises sending, using long range radio technology, a ranging plan to the target tag (110) and one or more of the plurality of localization components (120), the ranging plan instructing the target tag (110) and the one or more of the plurality of localization components (120) to perform, using the short range radio technology, ranging measurements among each other enabling to locate the target tag (110).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for locating a target tag using a short range radio based positioning system comprising a plurality of localization components, the target tag and the plurality of localization components being configured to perform ranging measurements among each other using short range radio technology, the method comprising an orchestration component of the positioning system:
sending, using long range radio technology, a ranging plan to the target tag and one or more of the plurality of localization components, the ranging plan instructing the target tag and the one or more of the plurality of localization components to perform, using the short range radio technology, ranging measurements among each other enabling to locate the target tag;
receiving, using the long range radio technology, an indication of the localization components in range; and
determining the ranging plan based on the indication of the localization components in range.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ranging plan indicates at least one timeslot in which the ranging measurements are to be performed among the target tag and the one or more of the plurality of localization components.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending, prior to sending the ranging plan, a command to the target tag using the long range radio technology instructing the target tag to send out a ping using the short range radio technology to identify, among the plurality of localization components, localization components in range.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the command indicates a timeslot in which the ping is to be sent out by the target tag.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending, prior to sending the ranging plan, an indication of a listening timeslot to the plurality of localization components using the long range radio technology indicating a timeslot to listen for a ping sent out from the target tag using the short range radio technology.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the localization components in range includes, for each of the localization components in range, an indication of power at which a ping, sent by the target tag using the short range radio technology, was received by the respective localization component in range.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the ranging plan includes selecting the one or more of the plurality of localization components from the localization components in range.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ranging plan is determined based on at least one of:
minimizing the ranging measurements to be performed among the target tag and the one or more of the plurality of localization components;
minimizing energy consumption among the target tag and the one or more of the plurality of localization components when performing the ranging measurements;
sufficiency of power of each of the one or more of the plurality of localization components for performing the ranging measurements; or
preference of anchors over tags among the one or more of the plurality of localization components.

9. A method for locating a target tag using a short range radio based positioning system comprising a plurality of localization components, the target tag and the plurality of localization components being configured to perform ranging measurements among each other using short range radio technology, the method comprising the target tag:
receiving, using long range radio technology, a ranging plan from an orchestration component of the positioning system, the ranging plan instructing the target tag to perform, using the short range radio technology, ranging measurements with one or more of the plurality of localization components enabling to locate the target tag, wherein, upon receiving the ranging plan, the target tag switches into a sleep mode and wakes up at the at least one timeslot in which the ranging measurements are to be performed with the one or more of the plurality of localization components.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the ranging plan indicates at least one timeslot in which the ranging measurements are to be performed with the one or more of the plurality of localization components.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising receiving, prior to receiving the ranging plan, a command from the orchestration component using the long range radio technology instructing the target tag to send out a ping using the short range radio technology to identify, among the plurality of localization components, localization components in range.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the command indicates a timeslot in which the ping is to be sent out by the target tag.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein, upon receiving the command, the target tag switches into a sleep mode and wakes up at the timeslot in which the ping is to be sent out by the target tag.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising sending, to the orchestration component and using the long range radio technology, an indication of the localization components in range.

15. A method for locating a target tag using a short range radio based positioning system comprising a plurality of localization components, the target tag and the plurality of localization components being configured to perform ranging measurements among each other using short range radio technology, the method comprising a localization component of the plurality of localization components:
receiving, using long range radio technology, a ranging plan from an orchestration component of the positioning system, the ranging plan instructing the localization component to perform, using the short range radio technology, a ranging measurement with the target tag to be used in locating the target tag; and
receiving from the orchestration component, prior to receiving the ranging plan and using the long range radio technology, an indication of a listening timeslot to listen for a ping sent out from the target tag using the short range radio technology, wherein, upon receiving the indication of the listening timeslot, the localization component switches into a sleep mode and wakes up at the listening timeslot.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising receiving, using the short range radio technology, a ping sent out from the target tag using the short range radio technology.

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Veres András
• Kallus Zsófia
• Kenesi Zsolt
• Borsos Tamas
• Hága Péter
• Szebenyei Mate
• Vaderna Peter
• Gódor István
• Rácz András

Classifications

• G01S5/0236

  Assistance data, e.g. base station almanac · CPC title

• G01S5/0081

  Transmission between base stations · CPC title

• G01S5/0045

  Transmission from base station to mobile station (G01S5/009 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04W4/80

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title