Locating and tracking a user in a wireless network through environmentally profiled data
US6799047B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 25, 2000 |
| Grant date | Sep 28, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 25, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01S5/02521
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method for locating a user in a wireless network is disclosed. A mobile computer which seeks to determine its location within a building detects the signal strength of one or more wireless base stations placed at known locations throughout the building. An environmentally profiled table of known locations within the building and the base station signal strength at those locations is searched to find the stored signal strength most similar to the signal strength detected. The location corresponding to the most similar stored signal strength is determined to be the current location of the mobile computer. The table can be derived empirically, by placing a mobile computer at the known locations and measuring the signal strength of the wireless base stations at those locations, or it can be derived mathematically by taking into account a reference signal strength, the distance between the reference point and the known location, and the number of intervening walls between the reference point and the known location. As an alternative, the base stations can measure the signal strength of the mobile computer. In such a case, the table would relate a known position of the mobile computer …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.