Location system with ultra-wideband (UWB) infrastructure and discovery infrastructure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12418321-B2
Application number	US-202218054552-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 11, 2022
Priority date	May 15, 2020
Publication date	Sep 16, 2025
Grant date	Sep 16, 2025

Abstract

A location system interacts with a localizing sensor operatable in an ultra-wideband (UWB) localization operation mode requiring computation of position information based on received UWB beacon signals received by the localizing sensor. The location system includes: an UWB infrastructure enabling the localizing for the UWB localization operation mode. The UWB infrastructure has: stationary transmitters emitting the UWB beacon signals into a localizing zone; discovery infrastructure wireless communicating infrastructure data about the UWB infrastructure to the localizing sensor, the discovery infrastructure having a discovery signal transceiver receiving a discovery advertisement signal from the localizing sensor and sending, in response, a provisioning signal with the infrastructure data. A data storage is configured to store the infrastructure data that is required to operate the localizing sensor in the UWB operation mode in accordance with a UWB framing protocol.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A location system for interacting with a localizing sensor operatable in an ultra-wideband localization operation mode requiring computation of position information based on received ultra-wideband beacon signals received by the localizing sensor, the location system comprising:
an ultra-wideband infrastructure configured to enable localization for the ultra-wideband localization operation mode, the ultra-wideband infrastructure comprising: a plurality of stationary transmitters configured to emit the ultra-wideband beacon signals into a localizing zone;
a discovery infrastructure configured to perform a wireless communication of infrastructure data to the localizing sensor, the discovery infrastructure comprising at least one discovery signal transceiver configured to:
receive a discovery advertisement signal emitted from the localizing sensor; and
in response to receiving the discovery advertisement signal, send a provisioning signal comprising the infrastructure data to the localizing sensor, wherein the infrastructure data comprises information on the plurality of stationary transmitters of the ultra-wideband infrastructure; and

a controller configured to control operation of the ultra-wideband infrastructure and the discovery infrastructure, wherein the controller comprises a processor, and a data storage, wherein:
the data storage is configured to store the infrastructure data that is required to operate the localizing sensor in the ultra-wideband localization operation mode in accordance with an ultra-wideband framing protocol, and
the processor is configured to control the at least one discovery signal transceiver to send the provisioning signal to the localizing sensor in response to the receiving the discovery advertisement signal.

2. The location system of claim 1 , wherein the infrastructure data comprises at least one of:
information of positions of the stationary transmitters within the localizing zone; or
timing information with respect to the ultra-wideband beacon signals emitted from the stationary transmitters, or
wherein the discovery infrastructure is further configured to receive information on the localizing sensor from the controller.

3. The location system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one discovery signal transceiver is configured to wirelessly receive or transmit at least one of:
an advertisement signal configured to initiate a first wireless communication with a specific one of a plurality of localizing sensors entering the localizing zone;
a first provisioning signal configured to provide the infrastructure data to the specific one of the plurality of localizing sensors; or
a closing signal configured to close an ultra-wideband communication when the specific one of the plurality of localizing sensors leaves the localizing zone.

4. The location system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one discovery signal transceiver is configured to wirelessly communicate in a frequency range around 2.4 GHz and is configured to use an exchange protocol based on Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy, or Zigbee.

5. The location system of claim 1 , wherein an area associated with the controller is divided into a plurality of zones,
wherein a first zone of the plurality of zones is associated with:
a first subgroup of the plurality of stationary transmitters; and
a first discovery signal transceiver for communicating first infrastructure data associated with the first zone, and

wherein a second zone of the plurality of zones is associated with:
a second subgroup of the plurality of stationary transmitters; and
a second discovery signal transceiver for communicating second infrastructure data associated with the second zone.

6. The location system of claim 5 , wherein the second discovery signal transceiver is configured to communicate to the first discovery signal transceiver that a localizing sensor acknowledged receipt of the infrastructure data associated with the second zone.

7. The location system of claim 1 , wherein the localizing sensor is one of a plurality of localizing sensors, the plurality of localizing sensors being operatable in at least one of a first mode requiring emission of ultra-wideband response signals from a respective localizing sensor, or a second mode requiring the computation of the position information based on the received ultra-wideband beacon signals received by a respective localizing sensor, wherein:
the ultra-wideband infrastructure further comprises:
a plurality of stationary receivers configured to receive the ultra-wideband beacon signals and the ultra-wideband response signals emitted from a first group of the plurality of localizing sensors operated in the first mode; and

the controller further comprises a data output, wherein:
the infrastructure data stored in the data storage is required to operate the plurality of localizing sensors in the first mode and the second mode, and
the processor is further configured to:
receive timing information for the ultra-wideband beacon signals and the ultra-wideband response signals, and calculate from the timing information position data of the first group of localizing sensors within the localizing zone; and
output the position data at the data output for use in at least one industrial application.

8. The location system of claim 7 , wherein the infrastructure data further comprises at least one of:
information of positions of the stationary receivers within the localizing zone;
a slot number associated with a respective one of the plurality of localizing sensors for being operated in the first mode;
a localization rate associated te a the respective one of the plurality of localizing sensors; or
the first mode or the second mode in which the respective one of the plurality of localizing sensors is to be operated.

9. The location system of claim 7 , wherein one of the plurality of stationary transmitters and one of the plurality of stationary receivers are configured as:
a transceiver stationary installed in the localizing zone at a fix position, or
a mobile transceiver forming a respective localizing sensor operated in the first mode, wherein the mobile transceiver is positioned in the localizing zone and does not move during an execution of an ultra-wideband localization operation.

10. The location system of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of stationary transmitters is configured to emit the ultra-wideband beacon signals in accordance with an ultra-wideband framing protocol that defines a superframe to include:
a predefined number of beacon slots,
a pre-predefined number of ranging slots separated from the beacon slots by a predefined number of banned slots, and
at least one rendezvous slot.

11. The location system of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of stationary transmitters is configured to emit the ultra-wideband beacon signals in accordance with an ultra-wideband framing protocol that includes up to several hundred time slots in a hyperframe structure, and wherein, based on the hyperframe structure, the first group of localizing sensors operated in the first mode is configured to emit the ultra-wideband response signals at a plurality of localization rates comprising rates at 8 Hz, 1 Hz, and 0.2 Hz.

12. The location system of claim 7 , wherein the second mode is set to perform a self-localization at a localization rate given by a time duration of the-a superframe or smaller.

13. The location system of claim 7 , wherein one of the plurality of stationary transmitters and one of the plurality of stationary receivers are implemented as a transceiver configured to receive the ultra-wideban

Assignees

• Trumpf Werkzeugmaschinen Se Co Kg

Inventors

• Wahl Eberhard

Classifications

• H04W64/00

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

• G01S5/0205

  Details · CPC title

• G01S5/0268

  by deriving positions from different combinations of signals or of estimated positions in a single positioning system · CPC title

• G01S5/0236

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

• H04W64/006

  with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination · CPC title