KR100871235B1 - System and method for locating persons or assets using centralized computing of node location and displaying the node locations - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and method for providing location information of a mobile user terminal (103) in a portable voice and data wireless communication network, such as an ad-hoc wireless communication network (100). More specifically, the present invention uses a centralized computing device such as server 125 to calculate the location of each terminal 103 from each piece of information provided by terminal 103 relating to each location. It's about a location-finding system. Graphical display 121 receives location information from centralized server 125 and generates a graphical display 121 of the locations of all or selected terminals 103 based on the locations calculated by that server 125. do.

Ad-hoc wireless communication network, mobile user terminal, location information, centralized computing device, centralized server

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LOCATING PERSONS OR ASSETS USING CENTRALIZED COMPUTING OF NODE LOCATION AND DISPLAYING THE NODE LOCATIONS} Using Centralized Calculation of Node Locations

This application claims the benefit of US Provisional Application No. 60 / 591,616, filed July 28, 2004, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Cross Reference of Related Application

US Patent No. 7,167,715, entitled "A System And Method For Determining Relative Positioning In Ad-Hoc Networks," registered January 23, 2007 Related contents are disclosed, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Field of technology

The present invention relates to a system and method for providing location information of a mobile user terminal in a portable voice and data wireless communication network, such as an ad-hoc multi-hopping wireless communication network. More specifically, the present invention provides a centralized device that calculates each location of an asset based on each information provided by the asset and generates a display of the location of all or selected assets based on the calculated location. A system and method for locating a person or property by use.

Recently, a type of mobile communication network, for example known as an "ad-hoc" network, has been developed for military use. In this network type, each mobile node can act as a base station or router for other mobile nodes, thus eliminating the need for a fixed base station infrastructure. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, network nodes transmit and receive data packet communications in multiplexed formats, such as time division multiple access (TDMA) format, code division multiple access (CDMA) format, or frequency division multiple access (FDMA). .

In addition to allowing mobile nodes to communicate with each other as in conventional ad-hoc networks, mobile nodes access other fixed nodes by accessing fixed networks, such as in public switched telephone networks (PSTNs) and other networks, such as the Internet. Very sophisticated ad-hoc networks are also being developed, which enable them to communicate with each other. Details of the advanced ad-hoc network type are described in the ad hoc Peer-to-Peer mobile radio access system interfaced to the PSTN and cellular networks, registered July 4, 2006. Peer Mobile Radio Access System Interfaced to the PSTN and Cellular Networks, "US Patent No. 7,072,650, filed October 19, 2004, entitled" Integrated Channel Access to Shared Parallel Data Channels by Separate Reserved Channels. " U.S. Patent for "Time Division Protocol for an Ad-Hoc, Peer-to-Peer Radio Network Having Coordinating Channel Access to Shared Parallel Data Channels with Separate Reservation Channel" No. 6,807,165 and March 29, 2005, entitled "Prioritized-Routing for an Ad-Hoc, Peer-to-Peer" for an ad-hoc, peer-to-peer, mobile wireless access system. , Mobile R adio Access System, "US Pat. No. 6,873,839, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.

In either conventional or ad-hoc wireless communication network, it may be necessary or desirable to be able to determine or determine the geographical location of the mobile node. Details of location determination services and techniques for wireless communication networks are described in a Nokia White Paper entitled "Mobility Location Services", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

In particular, the Nokia document states that location identification servers are currently being supplied to wireless communication networks based on three main technologies. One of the three technologies uses cell identification that combines Round Trip Time (RTT), Timing Advance (TA) and measured signal level (RX level), Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) and Angle Of Arrival (AOA) techniques. The details can be understood by those skilled in the art. The second technique utilizes cellular signal timing based on code division multiple access (CDMA) and wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) methods. The third technique described in the Nokia document uses the Global Positioning System (GPS).

Another list of methods and techniques currently used in the wireless communications industry for providing location services is presented in monthly DISPATCH entitled "E911 Location Technology", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. have. Although GPS technology is the final technology mentioned in this list, it is generally considered more accurate than all other methods listed. In addition, details and techniques of GPS-based methods are described in J.J., entitled "Satellite Constellation and Geometric Dilution Precision," of the 1996 Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences "GPS-Theory and Applications." Publication by Spilker Jr., publication by P. Axelrad et al. Entitled "GPS Navigation Algorithms" of the 1996 American Aerospace Society "GPS-Theory and Applications," American Aerospace, 1996 Publication by Bradford W. Parkinson entitled "GPS Error Analysis" in the Society's "GPS-Theory and Applications," and "GPS-Theory and Applications" of the 1996 American Aerospace Society. A publication by N. Ashby et al. Entitled "Introduction to Relativistic Effects," the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.

GPS technology has been around for a considerable time and despite the fact that most of the world's navigation relies on it, GPS technology is very error-prone. Therefore, GPS technology can provide position determination results with very high accuracy only after relatively many measurements have been taken to eliminate such errors. The shortcomings of GPS are described in a document of the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) entitled "Global Positioning System (GPS) Challenge of Accuracy," the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. In addition, any other tests have demonstrated that GPS technology is inadequate for ground-based networks.

In addition, other methods and techniques that do not use GPS satellites to determine mobile station location in a wireless communication network typically include receiving signals from the mobile station by at least two cell sites capable of measuring and processing delays between incoming calls. And the direction of the signal based on the "path signature" and determine the distance between the mobile station and the cell tower.

In all these methods, the processing of information is typically performed in a designated central processing unit (CPU) located in a cell tower next to the base station (BTS). In addition, most of these methods are designed to comply with E911 requirements rather than requiring excessive changes to be made in existing wireless communication systems. Examples of other positioning techniques are described in a paper by Wendy J Woodbury Straight entitled "Exploring New Reference Systems" and a paper entitled "Introduction to GPS Technology Using Snaptrack Server-Information." It is incorporated herein by reference.

To overcome the problem of determining location information, ad-hoc networks have been developed that do not require either satellite or centralized computing facilities to determine location information. Further, details of such an ad-hoc network can be found in the invention entitled "A System and Method for Computing the Location of a Mobile Terminal in a Wireless Communication Network". US Pat. No. 6,728,545.

In addition, an ad-hoc network can be developed that uses an unfixed or mobile infrastructure component that can provide a user with geographic absolute location. For further details of a network using mobility access points and repeaters to minimize coverage and capacity constraints, the invention, published May 15, 2003, is entitled "Wireless Communication Networks." US Patent Publication No. "Movable Access Points and Repeaters for Minimizing Coverage and Capacity Constraints in a Wireless Communications Network and a Method for Using the Same" 20030091010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

As discussed above, in GPS and many other positioning systems, a real terminal that receives or measures a radio signal (TOF, TDOA, or similar signal) measures the propagation time or time difference of the incoming signal, or makes some other measurement. By calculating the position of the terminal. By performing four measurements, the x, y and z coordinates can be calculated.

However, it may be desirable for the system to calculate the position of the wireless terminal at a centralized location, such as a centralized server.

In the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals refer to the same or functionally similar elements throughout the respective drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification together with the following detailed description, and further illustrate various embodiments, It serves to explain all of the various principles and advantages according to the invention.

1 is a block diagram of an exemplary ad-hoc packet switched wireless communication network including a plurality of nodes in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram of an example of a mobile node used in the network shown in FIG.

3 is a diagram of an example of a wireless router used in the network shown in FIG.

4 is a diagram of an example of a wireless router as shown in FIG. 3 mounted on a portable structure, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

5 illustrates an example of how one embodiment of the present invention may be deployed in a fire / rescue scenario, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

6 illustrates an example of a mobile node displaying the deployed equipment and positions of crews according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Those skilled in the art will understand that the elements of the figures are shown for simplicity and clarity and need not necessarily be drawn to scale. For example, the size of some devices in the drawings may be exaggerated compared to other devices to help understand the embodiments of the present invention.

details

Prior to describing detailed embodiments in accordance with the present invention, embodiments are primarily a system for locating a person or property using a centralized device that calculates each location of the property based on each piece of information provided by the property. And method steps relating to the method and the device components. Accordingly, the device components and method steps may, for the benefit of the present disclosure, only have specific details that are suitable for understanding the embodiments of the invention in order to avoid obscuring the specification details that would be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art. In the drawings showing the same, it is indicated using conventional symbols.

In this specification, related terms such as first and second, upper and lower, and the like do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship or order between an entity or an action, but a single entity or action is derived from another entity or action. Can be used to distinguish. As the terms “comprises”, “comprising” or any other variation thereof are intended to include non-exclusive inclusions, a process, method, article or apparatus that includes a list of elements does not merely include the elements. And other elements that are not explicitly listed or unique to such processes, methods, articles, or devices.

Embodiments of the invention described herein provide a system and method for locating people or property using a centralized device that calculates respective locations of the property based on each information provided by the property described herein. It is to be understood that one or more of the conventional processors and specific stored program instructions that control the one or more processors may be implemented to implement some, most, or all of the functions of R with respect to any non-processor circuit. Nonprocessor circuits may include, but are not limited to, a wireless receiver, a wireless transmitter, a signal driver, a clock circuit, a power supply circuit, and a user input device. As such, these functions may be interpreted as steps in a method that will perform an operation for locating a person or property using a centralized device that calculates each location of the property based on each information provided by the property. have. Alternatively, some or all of the functions may be implemented by a state machine having no stored program statements, or in one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) in which any combination of functions or functions is implemented as custom logic. Can be. Of course, you can use a combination of the two approaches. Thus, methods and means for these functions have been described herein. Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art, for example, considerable effort and many design choices, motivated by available time, current technical and economic considerations, are guided in accordance with the concepts and principles disclosed herein. In such cases, it should be expected that such software statements, programs and ICs could be easily generated with minimal experimentation.

Thus, as will be discussed in detail below, the present invention provides a centralized system for calculating the location of an ad-hoc multi-hopping terminal or other terminal that communicates measurements to a centralized server using a wireless link. It provides a system and method using a centralized component such as a server. The system and method may produce a display of a wireless terminal, such as a wireless ad-hoc terminal, when calculating the location of the terminals in a centralized server based on measurements taken by the terminal and communicated to the server.

A wireless communication network includes a plurality of nodes that are adapted to send and receive signals to other nodes in the network. The network may be a wireless ad-hoc peer-to-peer multi-hopping network or any other wireless network. The system and method distributes a plurality of nodes in a deployment area and allows the nodes to obtain location information about themselves. The nodes are controlled to provide the acquired location information to the computing device. The computing device is then controlled to calculate respective positions of the nodes based on the respective position information. It is also possible to produce a display indicative of respective positions of the nodes calculated by the computing device.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication network 100 employing a mobility access terminal in an example communication structure in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a network 100, which may be referred to as a “portable network,” is an access, which may be collectively referred to as an access point 101, a wireless router 102, and a mobile node 103. A plurality of terminals including branches 101-1 through 101-n, wireless routers 102-1 through 102-n, mobile nodes 103-1 through 103n, and network management system 104-1. Include. For purposes of this description, a terminal may also be referred to collectively as terminal 101, 102 or 103 or node 101, 102 or 103, with the term “reference terminal” applying to both a wireless router and an access point. Network management system 104-1 is a network selection member that provides improved network management and control functions. These functions include, but are not limited to, mobile node registration, authentication and configuration, data logging, and system alarms.

The systems and methods of the preferred embodiments described below each comprise at least one transceiver adapted to send and receive communication signals to other wireless routers, mobile nodes and other mobile access points, the mobility access point, the wireless router, and the mobile. The node is adopted. Each access point may be mounted on a moving vehicle and receive substantially constant power from the vehicle. The access point can optionally be connected to a network management system that allows for improved network monitoring and control. The wireless router can be mounted on a portable stand for easy deployment and is typically connected to a portable power source. Mobile nodes are battery-powered and attached to equipment or individuals for tracking purposes. Each network node is either an absolute node location where the node includes latitude, longitude, and altitude information about itself, a relative node location including the distance and angle between itself and other nodes, or absolute and The method further includes a technique for collecting information belonging to the combination of the relative position data.

The network management system 104-1 may, for example, provide core nodes with access to other networks, such as other ad-hoc networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), and the Internet. network), an optional absence of a fixed network that may include a plurality of servers and a gateway router. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the nodes 101, 102, 103 are inter-nodes, as described in US Pat. Nos. 7,072,650, 6,807,165 and 6,873,839, directly or above. It may communicate via one or more other nodes 101, 102, 103 that act as routers or routers for transmitted packets. Although an example of such a communication link is shown in FIG. 1, there may be any number of communication structures in the network 100 of FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, each access point 101, wireless router 102, and mobile node 103 include at least one transceiver 105 coupled to an antenna 108. The transceiver 105 is adapted to transmit and receive data packets over any frequency band, such as in the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) field. However, the frequency and modulation scheme used by the transceiver 105 do not have a strong impact on the implementation of access points, routers or nodes.

Each of the access point 101, wireless router, and mobile node 103 further includes at least one processor or controller 106 and a memory module 107 used to process and store information such as location and routing information. do. As further shown in FIG. 2, any mobile node 103 may comprise a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant, a mobile data unit, or any other suitable device.

The mobility access point 101 of FIG. 1 may be physically configured to be very small and therefore mounted inside and outside a vehicle, such as a car, truck, bus, train, taxi, police car, fire truck, or any other suitable mobility vehicle. have. The antenna 108 of the mobility access point 101 may be mounted inside or outside the vehicle and may have a higher gain than the gain of the antenna 108 employed in the mobile node 103 as well. The importance of this antenna gain change is described in more detail below.

In applications where the access point 101 is fixed to a vehicle, the access point may also include a connection to a substantially constant external power source, such as a 12V DC power supply provided by the attached vehicle. In so doing, each mobility access point 101 is in communication with a network management system 104-1 that provides improved network management and control functions implemented through mobile nodes, other access points, and the network 100. can do.

The mobility access point 101, the wireless router 102 and the mobile node 103 may be configured with global positioning system (GPS), as described in US Pat. No. 6,728,545, referenced above, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. positioning functions such as positioning systems, differential navigation systems, or other positioning systems, as well as various other techniques. These and other similar systems allow each access point and wireless router to determine the relative and actual geographic location, which is when any mobile node attempts to use the mobility access point as an access point in the network 100. May be provided to other elements of the network 100 during operation. Further details of such a positioning system may be found in the system and method for efficiently performing bidirectional ranging to determine the position of a wireless node in a communication network. -Way Ranging to Determine the Location of a Wireless Node in a Communication Network, "US Patent No. 6,768,730, filed Jul. 27, 2004, US Patent Application No. 09, filed November 30, 2001, referenced above. / 996,603, and US Pat. No. 6,728,545, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.

3 is a diagram of an example wireless router 102 used in the network 100 of FIG. 1. The router comprises a housing 110 having a top surface 111 mechanically coupled to a bottom surface 112, for example, each of which may be configured as a rectangular box having a size of approximately 3 inches by 4 inches. The top and bottom are separated by one inch by four perimeters forming the total volume for a 3 inch by 4 inch wireless router. These sizes are shown as examples for use in this embodiment, but alternative embodiments may use sizes suitable for any particular installation or use.

The first circumferential surface 113 can be used to mount the operator interface controls and indicators in a series of openings. These controls and indicators include a simple to use on-off switch 114 and router status indicator 115. As is known to those skilled in the art, portable wireless router 102 may be connected to a power source (not shown) that may be internal or external to the device, and the router may be portable as shown in FIG. 4. It may include a mounting mechanism (not shown) that allows it to be mounted on the structure. 4 is a conceptual diagram of the wireless router as shown in FIG. 3 mounted on a portable structure, such that the antenna of the router 102 operates at approximately 5-6 feet level from the deployment surface.

5 is a conceptual diagram of how one embodiment of the present invention may be deployed, such as in a fire rescue scenario, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In a typical fire rescue scenario, some rescue vehicles, such as fire truck 119-n, may be in a location where many personal firefighters 120-n can work. Upon arrival, or at locations where fire rescue requests are known to occur frequently, multiple routers 102-n and portable structures 116-n may be deployed relative to the work area. 5 shows that the access point 101 and the network management system 104-1 are located with respect to the rescue vehicles 119-1 and 119-2, respectively, and the wireless routers 102-1, 102-2 and 102-are shown. 3) is deployed with respect to the areas on the portable structures 116-1, 116-2, 112-3, respectively, and the personal crews 102-1, 102-2 are mobile nodes 103-1, 103-2. Shows an example of deployment with each of them. As shown in FIG. 5, each mobile node 103 communicates with other mobile nodes, directly or indirectly, using a wireless router 102, an access point 101, or a network management system 104-1. can do. Each mobile node may also communicate with network management system 104-1 directly or indirectly in a similar fashion. Since multiple routers 102 are distributed over an area, a communication link between mobile nodes can be handed off from one device to another when the mobile node moves about that area.

As described above, nodes may be provided to the antenna and the corresponding communication control of variable gain. For example, in FIG. 1, mobility access point 101 may have a gain higher than that of mobile node 103. In addition, each node may include an "emergency power boost button" that increases the transceiver's gain or power output for increased range, indoor wall / floor signal penetration. Normally, the router 102 and mobile nodes 103 operate within the limits of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), but in emergency mode may output at the normal battery operation set to maximize normal FCC limit levels or battery life. Can be.

As can be appreciated, embodiments of the invention described herein can be applied to a number of scenarios, but for purposes of explanation, the following description represents embodiments that apply to emergency service deployment scenarios. Its main purpose is to allow individual or team-level emergency contacts to locate other emergency individuals and property in an emergency deployment environment. In the illustrated embodiment, the emergency team takes all the required systems and equipment with them, which can then be deployed and operated quickly and then removed. As mentioned above, in alternative embodiments where deployments occur regularly or assets are managed and stored, such equipment may be deployed and deployed in place.

In the development described below, this embodiment does not require absolute positioning for tracking individuals and property, since only relative positioning is sufficient. In other words, the firefighter needs to know where he is associated with the entrance to the building and other firefighters and equipment, but does not need to know whether the location is New York or Los Angeles.

As shown in FIG. 5, the access point 101 is located in a fire truck or other vehicle 119 located at various locations around the deployment area 118. Multiple wireless routers 102 mounted on the embossed device 116 are placed away from the access point 101 to allow for accurate location and radio frequency (RF) coverage for that area. Mobile nodes 103 are used by each emergency personnel 120 and other assets (not shown) to allow tracking and positioning throughout deployment area 118. Since the mobile nodes 103 are deployed, communication can be established between the mobile node 103, the wireless router 102, the access point 101, and the network management system 104-1. As described in more detail below, the network management system 104-1 may manage the overall deployment, such as locating and tracking all personnel, equipment, and vehicles in the field.

In an example implementation of one embodiment of the present invention, deployment area 118 is first identified and emergency vehicles 119-1 and 119-2 arrive. Emergency personnel 120-1 and 120-2 deploy multiple wireless routers 102-1, 102-2 and 102-3 to provide area coverage as shown in FIG. 5. Each personal fire personnel 120 and property (not shown) are accompanied by a mobile node 103 and deployed wireless routers 102 either directly or using the mobile node 103 and associated attached host device 109. ), You can freely enter any building on site with full voice and data communication set up and maintained between each other. Each mobile node 103 also allows communication performance by the network management system 104-1 located in the vehicle 119-2 in the deployment area. As discussed in more detail below, the network management system 104-1 provides a relative location of each device 101, 102, 103, and 104-1 by showing the location of personnel, vehicles, and wireless routers in the portable network. Will be displayed respectively. If the access point 101 and the wireless router 102 have positioning capabilities such as GPS, absolute location may also be displayed. Such relative and / or actual location information may be sent to nodes 101, 102, 103 for display.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, buildings present additional challenges for wireless communication, and the coverage within a building in deployment area 118 shown in FIG. 5 may or may not be limited in some circumstances. have. In the case where building conditions are taking difficulties in the scope of application, the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 5 can provide a very simple and cost effective solution. Since the wireless router 102 is a small device as shown in FIG. 3, it can be easily carried by firefighters to any location, floor or stairwell in a building. As firefighters reach the limits of communication coverage between the interior and exterior of the building, they also serve as extended coverage into three-dimensional bridging communication links, or "bread crumbs" and inside the building. Wireless router 102 may be deployed. The connection of these extended firefighters outside the building can now be “daisy-chained” through one or more wireless routers 102 deployed throughout the site and building. Moreover, according to the deployment of wireless routers, three-dimensional position determination may be performed and provided to the network management system 104-1.

In the firefighting scenario or the fire and rescue scenario as described above, the location of the missing firefighter can be found, for example, by measuring the distance to the other nodes 102, 103. According to one embodiment of the invention, the mobile nodes 103 do not calculate their location, but instead use the network 100 to present their measurement information using a centralized server 125, e.g., management. Communicate to system 104-1 to collect measurements from all nodes 101, 102, 103. However, the centralized server 125 may be located at any other actual location. These measurements are made between all nodes that are part of the positioning task.

For example, in a firefighting or fire and rescue scenario, all nodes in the site (eg, nodes 101, 102, 103) report a distance to all other nodes 101, 102, 103 and The measurement is transmitted to the centralized server 125 using a wireless link or other links of the network 100. The centralized server 125 calculates the actual x, y, z coordinates of all or selected nodes 101, 102, 103 by using the reported measurements. Therefore, because all measurements are collected at one location, centralized server 125, a very efficient algorithm can be used to reduce the measurement of location information in Cartesian polar coordinates or other coordinate systems. If a node, for example mobile node 103, needs to know its location, it makes a request to centralized server 125 which reports back the calculated coordinates using the communication link of network 100 as described above. send. Again, in this embodiment, no nodes know their coordinates without requesting the coordinates from server 125.

In this embodiment, the communication with the server 125, which calculates the actual position from the measurements, can be unidirectional or bidirectional. For example, each node may have acquired distance or time-of-flight measurements or any other wireless signal to the centralized server 125 using the wireless link of the network 100, as described above. Report the measurements. In addition, network 100 need not be an ad-hoc peer-to-peer multi-hopping network as described above, but may be any form of communication network that communicates measurements using a wireless link.

Measurements may also be sent by nodes using broadcast. In this case, there may be a plurality of servers 125 in which each server receives the broadcast measurement signal, and may independently calculate the position of nodes (eg, node 103) that reported the measurement. Likewise, any individual node may request its coordinates from any of the multiple servers 125. The server 125 advertises their presence by sending a message over the radio or other link of the network 100 belonging to their respective MAC, IP or other address. Nodes 101, 102, 103 may then use that information to access the desired server or servers 125. In addition, the server 125 may be accessed using any type of Ethernet, WAN, LAN, cellular data or other data link.

Further, according to one embodiment of the invention, if one node (e.g., node 103) is able to obtain information belonging to its absolute coordinates, e. By using translation and rotation calculations, it is possible to send the known coordinates to a centralized server or servers 125 that can calculate the coordinates of other devices. If well known coordinates have been sent to the centralized server or servers 125, the server or servers 125 may represent absolute coordinates for all nodes 101, 102, 103 for the known coordinate system, for example. The GPS coordinate system can be calculated.

The centralized server or servers 125 may also report the coordinates of all nodes 101, 102, 103 to the user interface 130, as shown in FIG. 6 which graphically displays the coordinates. As shown, any interface 130 that may itself be a mobile or fixed node of the type described above, or any other form of suitable device, such as a personal computer (PC), laptop or notebook, PDA, or the like, may be a portable network 100. A graphics window 121 for displaying the device's location, a backtrack button 122 for the user to step back, and a status window 123 for character information. Alternative operator interface controls may be included in other embodiments, or may simply be attached to the property to provide minimal control. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, only relevant positions are displayed. For example, the deployment of nodes 101, 102, 103 of FIG. 5 is shown through the graphical window 121 of the mobile node 103 including respective distances and directions. In another embodiment, access point 101 and wireless router 102 may also be displayed, including respective absolute location information, latitude, longitude, and altitude. In addition, access point 101, wireless router 102, and network management system 104-1 may also include this display feature and function.

The user interface 130 may display other devices using different displays or colors. For example, a missing person or property may be different in color or display from known devices. In addition, a node used as a reference such as the node 101 or 102 may be displayed using a different color. In addition, the user interface 130 may be used to name nodes by having the user type the name of a person or property to be displayed on the screen. The user can also add parameters to the list of nodes displayed in graphical or textual form, for example, to enter the location of the nodes relative to other nodes, and to enter the meaning of the location. . For example, one node (e.g., node 102) may be selected as the origin, other nodes 102 may be x-axis points relative to the origin, and third nodes 102 may be y-axis points relative to the origin. The relationship between the node positions can be input and displayed as well.

The user interface 130 may further be used to find a person or property that is closer than another person or property, for example, to display the person or property closest to the user interface graphically differently than some other person or property. have. Additional information related to location calculation may be sent to centralized server 125. For example, a sensor is present on mobile node 103 and can be used to determine if node 103 is moving. As the node 103 moves, it can communicate this information to the server 125 and process the measurements differently from measurements from fixed nodes such as nodes 101 and 102. The moving speed of node 103 can be used to filter the location information, for example, if information is available that node 103 does not change too rapidly, i.e. if node 103 does not move too fast. Average, or Kalman filtering known in the art (eg, in TR 95-041 of the University of North Carolina, April 2004, see “An Introduction to the Kalman Filter” by the authors Greg Welch and Gary Bishop) or any Other suitable filtering processes can be used to improve accuracy. In addition, an acceleration sensor may be placed at each node 103 or selected nodes 103 to determine if the nodes 103 are moving and to estimate their respective moving speeds. A priori acceleration information known to indicate normal acceleration or movement with respect to the type of property monitored, in adjusting the Kalman filtering or any other suitable form of filtering that may be performed by server 125, or It should be understood that measured acceleration information on the movement of the property is available.

Graphical user interface 130 may also be used to depict additional information related to nodes and their respective surroundings. For example, temperature or other measurements related to the location may be sent to the centralized server or servers 125. The centralized server or servers 125 determine the measurement position based on the measured time flight, TDOA, Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) or similar measurements in the manner described above, and additional locations such as temperature to the display position. You can add information.

Another example of the use of relative positioning in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is the "backtracking" or path documenting using mobile node 103 and deployed wireless routers, or the "Breadcrumbs" described above. breadcrumbs). If enabled, this feature will be maintained up to three-dimensional tracking of the firefighter's movement from the first starting point, such as the vehicle or home location, to the current point. In doing so, the firefighter may use route documentation or "Breadcrumbs" traces, assuming that mobile node 103 has display capabilities, an interface that the application can provide to mobile node 103 for display. When replaying this information back on the display features of 130, he can get him back to the fire truck. Another feature of the embodiments of the present invention described above is the ability to locate disabled personnel. In a manner similar to the path documentation feature described above, the central server or servers 125 may be used to determine and communicate the location of the disabled mobile node user at the deployment site, and the direction, distance and path from other mobile nodes. This allows the disabled user to be electronically located.

Additional applications of this embodiment relate to other emergency services. Small and relatively inexpensive mobile nodes 103 can be used to track any deployment of personnel and property. This may include within the sorting unit personnel such as property or patients, such as generators or cardiac defibrillators. Still other applications may include deployments where police dogs track suspects and various police equipment is undertaken, each of which can be easily detected, located and referenced.

An important advantage of this embodiment is that the property can be quickly tracked and located without a GPS system. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, a GPS system has the disadvantage of being slow at first synchronization and requires normal line communication. Such devices are often inefficient in crowded or "built-in" areas. The above described embodiments do not require the cost and complexity of the GPS or absolute location provided by such a system.

In summary, according to one embodiment of the present invention described above, all nodes 101, 102, 103 or at least selected nodes 101, 102, 103 may measure their measurements on a centralized server or servers 125. Report. The measurements may be communicated from nodes 101, 102, 103 to a centralized server or servers 125 by a single respective radio link or multiple links. The reporting is done over a wireless link or links in the network 100, which can be unidirectional or bidirectional from the node to the server or servers 125. The wireless network may be the wireless ad-hoc peer-to-peer multihopping network described above, but may alternatively be any suitable wireless network. The centralized server or servers 125, which may generally be referred to as a computing device, calculate location information from measurements, and the graphical user interface 130 requests location information of the selected device from the server 125 to obtain that information. Display. Graphical user interface 130 may be used to enter information about the relevant locations of the nodes, which information is sent to a centralized computing server or servers 125. Graphical user interface 130 may also be used to select the nodes displayed, and may be used to select nodes used for position calculation.

In addition, the graphical user interface 130 may be used to inform the location calculation server 125 of the parameters of the nodes, for example, whether or not the node is moving, the type of the node, the display mode, and the like. . The node movement parameters are communicated to the centralized server 125, and the node movement speed can be measured using an acceleration sensor as described above. In addition, each node or selected nodes may include a compass that informs the centralized server or servers 125 in the direction indicated by the nodes, which information may be used to determine the direction of movement or how to filter data from the node. Can be. Further, the node movement speed may be used to determine how to filter or process the node measurements or the calculated position information, and the graphical user interface 130 may provide additional information such as temperature, compass heading, and the like. It can be used to add.

In addition, if the nodes 101, 102, 103 need to know the location, they request the calculated location information from the centralized location server 125. Also, although each location server 125 can be executed at each node, each server 125 must use the same set of measurements obtained from the nodes so that the calculated locations are the same.

In the foregoing detailed description, certain embodiments of the invention have been described. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of present invention. Benefits, advantages Solutions to the problem, and any element (s) that allow any benefit, advantage or solution to be further manifested may be an important, necessary or necessary feature or element of some or all of the claims. It should not be interpreted as The present invention is defined only by the appended claims, which contain any amendments made until all equivalents of the present application and claims are patented.

While some exemplary embodiments of the invention have been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many variations are possible in the exemplary embodiments without substantially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention.

Claims (26)

A method for identifying and distributing node locations in a wireless communication network comprising a plurality of nodes transmitting and receiving signals to and from each other, the method comprising: Deploying a plurality of nodes in a deployment area, wherein each node of the plurality of nodes acquires measurement information and transmits the acquired measurement information to a centralized server; Providing the measurement information to a computing device in the centralized server; Manipulating the calculating device to calculate position coordinates of each node of the plurality of nodes using the received measurement information; And Providing the calculated position coordinates of at least one node in the wireless communication network to at least one other node of the wireless communication network. How to include. The method of claim 1, Generating a display showing respective place locations of physical place locations corresponding to each node of the plurality of nodes based on coordinates calculated by the computing device. The method of claim 2, The generating step, Manipulating the centralized server to provide data representing the calculated coordinates corresponding to at least one node location to a user interface; And Manipulating the user interface to display the physical locations corresponding to the nodes based on the received coordinates. The method of claim 1, The plurality of nodes includes at least one non-fixed node, Deploying a plurality of fixed nodes; And Each node of the plurality of nodes and the at least one non-fixed node to obtain the measurement information about the nodes themselves based on interactions with the fixed nodes and at least one other node selected from the non-fixed nodes. Further comprising the step of manipulating. The method of claim 1, Manipulating the at least one of the plurality of nodes to request coordinates corresponding to a physical location of at least one of the plurality of nodes from the central server. The method of claim 1, Manipulating the calculation device, Filtering the measurement information corresponding to each node of the corresponding nodes based on a known behavior corresponding to the corresponding node. The method of claim 1, Manipulating the calculation device, Filtering the measurement information corresponding to the corresponding nodes based on corresponding measurement information about the movement of nodes themselves provided by each node of the corresponding nodes. In an adhoc wireless communications network, A plurality of nodes that transmit and receive signals to each other, are deployed in a deployment area, operable to obtain measurement information about the nodes themselves, and transmit the acquired measurement information to a centralized server. Including; The centralized server Means for receiving corresponding measurement information obtained from each node of the nodes, a computing device for calculating position coordinates corresponding to each node of the nodes based on the received measurement information, and the ad hoc wireless communication network Means for providing the calculated position coordinates of at least one node in at least one other node of the ad hoc wireless communication network. The method of claim 8, And a display device for generating a display showing physical locations corresponding to the nodes based on the coordinates calculated by the computing device. The method of claim 9, The centralized server provides data representing the calculated coordinates corresponding to at least one node location to the display device, the display device receiving the physical locations corresponding to the nodes based on the received coordinates. Displaying, an ad hoc wireless communication network. The method of claim 8, The plurality of nodes includes at least one non-fixed node, the ad hoc wireless communication network further comprises a plurality of fixed nodes, the interaction with the fixed nodes and at least one node selected from the non-fixed nodes. Based on the plurality of nodes to obtain the measurement information for the nodes themselves. The method of claim 8, At least one node of the plurality of nodes requests coordinates corresponding to the physical location of the at least one node of the plurality of nodes from the centralized server. The method of claim 8, And the computing device filters the measurement information corresponding to the corresponding nodes based on a known movement corresponding to the corresponding node. The method of claim 8, The computing device filters the corresponding measurement information of the corresponding nodes based on corresponding measurement information of the movement of the nodes themselves provided by the respective nodes of the corresponding nodes. Identify node locations within an ad hoc wireless communication network comprising a plurality of nodes transmitting and receiving signals to one another, deployed in a deployment area, operable to obtain measurement information about the nodes themselves, and transmitting the obtained measurement information; As a system for A transceiver for receiving corresponding measurement information obtained from corresponding nodes; And A computing device in the centralized server for calculating position coordinates corresponding to each node of the plurality of nodes based on the received measurement information Including; And the transceiver provides the calculated position coordinates of at least one node in the ad hoc wireless communication network to at least one other node of the ad hoc wireless communication network. The method of claim 15, And a display device for generating a display showing physical locations corresponding to each node of the plurality of nodes based on coordinates calculated by the computing device. The method of claim 16, The transceiver provides data representing the calculated coordinates corresponding to at least one node location to the display device, the display device displaying the physical locations corresponding to the nodes based on the received coordinates. , system. The method of claim 15, The computing device sends the position coordinates corresponding to the node requesting the corresponding coordinates from the computing device through the transceiver. The method of claim 15, And the computing device filters the measurement information corresponding to each node of the corresponding nodes based on a known movement corresponding to the corresponding node. The method of claim 15, And the computing device filters the measurement information corresponding to the corresponding nodes based on corresponding measurement information about the movement of nodes themselves provided by each node of the corresponding nodes. The method of claim 1, Wherein the measurement information comprises a distance between nodes induced by unidirectional or budirectional measurement and coordinates of the node performing the measurement in association with a coordinate system. The method of claim 21, The coordinate system includes a latitude, longitude and elevation system of coordinates, a geocentric three dimensional Cartesian system of coordinates, a local two dimensional Cartesian system of coordinates, coordinates Corresponding to at least one of a group comprising a three-dimensional polar system and a planar two dimensional polar system of coordinates. The method of claim 8, The measurement information The measurement information comprises a distance between nodes derived by unidirectional or bidirectional measurements and coordinates of the node that performs the measurement in association with a coordinate system. The method of claim 23, wherein The coordinate system includes a latitude, longitude and elevation system of coordinates, a geocentric three dimensional Cartesian system of coordinates, a local two dimensional Cartesian system of coordinates, An ad hoc wireless communication network corresponding to at least one of a group comprising a three-dimensional polar system and a planar two dimensional polar system of coordinates. The method of claim 15, The measurement information The measurement information includes a distance between nodes derived by unidirectional or bidirectional measurements and coordinates of the node that performs the measurement in association with a coordinate system. The method of claim 25, The coordinate system includes a latitude, longitude and elevation system of coordinates, a geocentric three dimensional Cartesian system of coordinates, a local two dimensional Cartesian system of coordinates, At least one of a group comprising a three-dimensional polar system and a planar two dimensional polar system of coordinates.

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