Embodiments presented herein relate to determining passage of a portable wireless transceiver device, and particularly to methods, a server, a system, a computer program, and a computer program product for determining passage of a portable wireless transceiver device along a constrained path.
In communications networks, there may be a challenge to obtain good performance and capacity for a given communications protocol, its parameters and the physical environment in which the communications network is deployed.
More particularly, indoor positioning and localization for industrial may be more common as industrial processes continue to get more automated.
The technology evolution has recently provided inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors and radio technologies suitable for localization at a decreasing cost/performance ratio.
One promising method is to use measurements of radio frequency based parameters and to use measurements from at least three devices, such as radio access network nodes or access points, to triangulate the position of a portable wireless transceiver device.
Since an industrial plant may consist of both production areas and storage/transport areas, it is likely that the production areas will benefit and motivate the cost for highly accurate triangulation coverage, while e.g. the transport tunnels only may need a less accurate localization system. In certain scenarios it may thus be likely that high accuracy will be needed in some geographical areas, whereas some geographical areas may cope with less accuracy.
One example of lower accuracy would be longer transport corridors and tunnels where an accuracy of some meters may provide sufficient accuracy of the position of the portable wireless transceiver device.
One low accuracy localization mechanisms could be to use dead reckoning with input from sensors, e.g. an inertial measurement unit (IMU), which detects e.g. heading and acceleration. However, when using IMUs, it is necessary to synchronize the calculated position regularly since there is a drift in all types of sensors today.
High localization accuracy requires triangulation with at least three fixed network nodes and may provide sub meter accuracy.
Hence, there is still a need for improved passage determination of portable wireless transceiver devices.
An object of embodiments herein is to provide efficient passage determination of portable wireless transceiver devices.
According to a first aspect there is presented a method for determining passage of a portable wireless transceiver device along a constrained path. The method comprises acquiring at least one time of flight (ToF) measurement and auxiliary information, the at least one ToF measurement being measured between a portable wireless transceiver device and a single network node. The network node is mounted proximate a constrained path. The method comprises determining whether the portable wireless transceiver device has passed the network node along the constrained path or not based on the at least one ToF measurement and the auxiliary information.
Advantageously this enables efficient passage determination of portable wireless transceiver devices.
Advantageously this enables one radio communications network infrastructure, e.g. a wireless local area network (WLAN), for providing data communication, Voice over IP and proximity localization. Advantageously this may improve the accuracy of WLAN as a proximity mechanism.
Advantageously this can be used to clear sensor drift errors, such as IMU drift errors, in case of dead reckoning applications.
Advantageously ToF measurements may be used to determine the velocity of the portable wireless transceiver device, which can be used to further improve accuracy in case of dead reckoning.
According to a second aspect there is presented a server for determining passage of a portable wireless transceiver device along a constrained path. The server comprises a processing unit. The processing unit is configured to acquire at least one time of flight (ToF) measurement and auxiliary information, the at least one ToF measurement being measured between a portable wireless transceiver device and a single network node. The network node is mounted proximate a constrained path. The processing unit is configured to determine whether the portable wireless transceiver device has passed the network node along the constrained path or not based on the at least one ToF measurement and the auxiliary information.
According to a third aspect there is presented a computer program for determining passage of a portable wireless transceiver device along a constrained path, the computer program comprising computer program code which, when run on a processing unit of a server, causes the processing unit to perform a method according to the first aspect.
According to a fourth aspect there is presented a computer program product comprising a computer program according to the third aspect and a computer readable means on which the computer program is stored.
According to a fifth aspect there is presented a system for determining passage of a portable wireless transceiver device along a constrained path.
The system comprises a server according to the second aspect, at least one network node, and at least one portable wireless transceiver device.
It is to be noted that any feature of the first, second, third, fourth and fifth aspects may be applied to any other aspect, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of the first aspect may equally apply to the second, third, fourth, and/or fifth aspect, respectively, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, from the attached dependent claims as well as from the drawings.
Generally, all terms used in the claims are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly defined otherwise herein. All references to “a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc.” are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated.
The inventive concept is now described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The inventive concept will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain embodiments of the inventive concept are shown. This inventive concept may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the inventive concept to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the description. Any step or feature illustrated by dashed lines should be regarded as optional.
The embodiments disclosed herein relate to determining passage of a portable wireless transceiver device 12a along a constrained path 14. In order to obtain such determining of passage there is provided a server 11, methods performed by the server 11, a computer program comprising code, for example in the form of a computer program product, that when run on a processing unit of the server 11, causes the processing unit to perform the methods, and a system 10a, 10b comprising such a server 11, at least one network node 13a, 13b, and at least one portable wireless transceiver device 12a, 12b.
The system 10a comprises at least one network node 13a, 13b. As the skilled person understands, the system 10a may comprise a plurality of such network nodes 13a, 13b. Each one of the at least one network nodes 13a, 13b is mounted proximate a path 14. In this respect, proximate the path may imply that the network node 13a, 13b is mounted directly above the path, or directly below the path, or directly besides the path. For example, if the path has a ceiling, the network node 13a, 13b may be mounted in the ceiling. For example, if the path has a roadway, the network node 13a, 13b may be mounted in the roadway. For example, if the path has walls, the network node 13a, 13b may be mounted in one of the walls. Since the path 14 is assumed to be known, the path 14 will hereinafter be denoted a constrained path 14. As the skilled person understands, the system 10a may comprise a plurality of such constrained paths 14, as in the system 10b of
The system 10a further comprises a server 11. As the skilled person understands, the system 10a may comprise a plurality of such servers 11. The server 11 may be operatively connected to at least one portable wireless device 12a, 12b. The connection between the server 11 and each one of the at least one portable wireless devices 12a, 12b may at least partly utilize a wireless radio communications network. Examples of such wireless radio communications networks and how they may operatively connect at least one portable wireless device 12a, 12b to a server 11 is well known in the art and further description thereof is therefore omitted. The server 11 may, additionally or alternatively, be operatively connected to the at least one network node 13a, 13b. The connection between the server 11 and each one of the at least one network nodes 13a, 13b may be wired and/or wireless. How to operatively connect at least one network node 13a, 13b to a server 11 is well known in the art and further description thereof is therefore omitted. The server 11 may be operatively connected to an optional end-user terminal 19.
The herein disclosed embodiments overcome the drawbacks of obtaining high accuracy indoor positioning and localization information as mentioned above by using Time of Flight (ToF) measurements between a single network node 13a and a portable wireless device 12a, 12b. By measuring and monitoring the ToF between a fixed mounted network node 13a and a portable wireless device 12a, possibly using auxiliary information such as further ToF measurements and/or distance information, a local ToF-minimum can be identified. This local minimum is a good approximation of that the portable wireless device is passing the network node 13a along the constrained path 14. A detailed description of methods for determining passage of a portable wireless transceiver device 12a along a constrained path 14 will now be presented.
Reference is now made to
The passage of the portable wireless transceiver device 12a relative the network node 13a is based on at least one time of flight (ToF) measurement between the portable wireless transceiver device 12a and a single network node 13a. The server 11 is therefore configured to, in a step S102, acquire at least one ToF measurement 15 and auxiliary information. The at least one ToF measurement is measured between a portable wireless transceiver device 12a and a single network node 13a. The network node 13a is mounted proximate a constrained path 14. The auxiliary information is associated with a relation, or measurement, between the portable wireless transceiver device 12a and the single network node 13a. Examples of the auxiliary information will be provided below.
The server 11 is configured to, in a step S106, determine whether the portable wireless transceiver device 12a has passed the network node 11a along the constrained path 14 or not. The determination is based on the at least one ToF measurement and the auxiliary information.
ToF may be determined from time of arrival (ToA) information. ToF may be defined as the travel time of a signal from a single transmitter to a remote single receiver. The transmitter may be mounted in the network node 13a and the receiver in the portable wireless transceiver device 12a, or vice versa.
In more detail, ToF may encompass a variety of methods that measure the time that it takes for an object, particle or acoustic, electromagnetic or other wave to travel a distance through a medium. This measurement can be used for a time standard (such as an atomic fountain), as a way to measure velocity or path length through a given medium. ToF may use the absolute time of arrival at a certain receiver rather than the measured time difference between departing from the transmitter and arriving at the receiver. Using the absolute time may require the transmitter and the receiver to be time synchronized. The distance can be directly calculated from the ToF as the signals are assumed to travel with a known velocity.
Embodiments relating to further details of determining location of a portable wireless transceiver device 12a along a constrained path 14 will now be disclosed.
There may be different examples of the auxiliary information and how the auxiliary information may be used to, together with the at least one ToF measurement, determine whether the portable wireless transceiver device 12a has passed the network node 13a along the constrained path 14 or not, as in step S106.
For example, the passage of the portable wireless transceiver device 12a may be based on at least three ToF measurements between the portable wireless transceiver device 12a and the single network node 13a. As illustrated in
For example, the passage of the portable wireless transceiver device 12a may be based on distance information. Particularly, the auxiliary information may represent a first distance. In such a case the at least one ToF measurement may be translated into a second distance. The step S106 of determining whether the portable wireless transceiver device 12a has passed the network node 13a along the constrained path 14 or not may then be based on comparing the second distance to the first distance. For example, let the first distance be denoted Δ1 and the second distance Δ1. It may then be determined that the portable wireless transceiver device 12a has passed the network node 13a if |Δ1−Δ2|<ε, where ε is a threshold distance. The threshold distance ε may, for example, depend on Δ1. For example, ε may be one order of magnitude smaller than Δ1. In turn, Δ1 may correspond to the minimum distance between the portable wireless transceiver device 12a and the network node 13a as measured when the portable wireless transceiver device 12a passes the network node 13a along the constrained path 14.
There may be different ways to perform the at least two ToF measurements. Different embodiments relating thereto will now be described in turn.
According to a first embodiment any ToF measurements are based on radio signalling between the portable wireless transceiver device and the network node. Hence, the portable wireless transceiver device 12a may be a portable wireless radio transceiver device, and the network node 13a is a radio access network (RAN) node. The RAN node may be a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point.
According to a second embodiment any ToF measurements are based on light signalling between the portable wireless transceiver device and the network node. The light signalling may involve transmitting and receiving laser beams between the portable wireless transceiver device 12a and the network node 13a.
Reference is now made to
There may be different ways to determine how many, how often, and/or when to acquire ToF measurements. Different embodiments relating thereto will now be described in turn.
For example, the number of ToF measurements may be adapted based on the estimated distance of the portable wireless transceiver device 12a to network node 13a. The server 11 may therefore be configured to, in an optional step S108, adapt the number of ToF measurements to be acquired depending on the (thus far) determined passage of the portable wireless transceiver device 12s relative the network node 13a. This may allow for more ToF measurements to be performed and acquired by the server 11 when the portable wireless transceiver device 12a is closer to the network node 13a. There may be different ways for the server 11 to adapt the number of ToF measurements. According to one embodiment the server 11 is configured to adapt how often the ToF measurements are performed. According to another embodiment the server 11 is configured to adapt how often it acquires the ToF measurements.
The acquired ToF measurements may be utilized to determine a velocity of the portable wireless transceiver device 12a. Also the distance between the portable wireless transceiver device 12a and the network node 13a may be utilized to determine the velocity. This distance may be determined from the minimum of the ToF measurements. Particularly, the server 11 may be configured to, in an optional step S110, acquire a time duration indication 16a, 16b for measuring at least two ToF measurements between the portable wireless transceiver device 12a and the single network node 13a; and, in an optional step S112, determine the velocity 17 of the portable wireless transceiver device 12a based on the acquired time duration indication, see
There may be different examples of the constrained path 14. For example, the constrained path 14 may be an indoor passageway 14a. The indoor passageway 14a may represent a tunnel.
Further, the constrained path 14 may be part of infrastructure information 18. Hence, the server 11 may be configured to, in an optional step S104, acquire infrastructure information 18 comprising the constrained path 14. The passage of the portable wireless transceiver device 12a may also be based on the acquired infrastructure information. Hence, the server 11 may be configured to, in an optional step S106a, determine whether the portable wireless transceiver device 12a has passed the network node 13a along the constrained path 14 or not also based on the infrastructure information 18.
There may be different examples of infrastructure information 18. For example, the infrastructure information 18 may be a roadmap 18a. The roadmap 18 may be a roadmap of a mining site. Hence the tunnel may be a transport tunnel in a mining site.
The portable wireless transceiver device 12a may be vehicle mounted. The vehicle may be a vehicle for land transportation. Hence the portable wireless transceiver device 12a may be mounted on a vehicle that travels in a transport tunnel in a mining site. The vehicle may be an unmanned vehicle. However, the portable wireless transceiver device 12a may alternatively be mounted to other devices, units, etc. For example, the portable wireless transceiver device 12a may be mounted to a piece of clothing, a tool, etc.
ToF measurements from also a least one further portable wireless transceiver device 12b may be acquired. Hence, the server 11 may be configured to, in an optional step S114, acquire further ToF measurements between a further portable wireless transceiver device 12b and the network node 13a or a further single network node 13b.
ToF measurements from two portable wireless transceiver devices 12a, 12b may be utilized in order to determine whether or not the two portable wireless transceiver device 12a, 12b are approaching each other along the constrained path 14. Particularly, the server 11 may be configured to, in an optional step S116, determine that the portable wireless transceiver device 12a and the further portable wireless transceiver device 12b are proximate each other. In order to do so the server 11 may, for example, compare the ToF measurements from the network node 13a or the further single network node 13b for the two portable wireless transceiver devices 12a, 12b. In this respect the actual distance between the portable wireless transceiver device 12a and the further portable wireless transceiver device 12b may depend on the distance between the network node 13a to the further single network node 13b, how often ToF measurements are acquired, and/or how many ToF measurements that are acquired.
That the portable wireless transceiver device 12a and the further portable wireless transceiver device 12b are proximate each other may indicate that they are moving towards each other. The server 11 may therefore be configured to, in an optional step S118, generate a notification that the portable wireless transceiver device 12a and the further portable wireless transceiver device 12b are proximate each other. The notification may be sent to the end-user terminal 19. In order to further determine whether the portable wireless transceiver device 12a and the further portable wireless transceiver device 12b are moving towards each other also ToF measurements from further network nodes and/or further measurements from the single network nodes 13a, 13b may be used. Such ToF measurements may be used to determine movement directions of the portable wireless transceiver device 12a and the further portable wireless transceiver device 12b.
In the example of
The inventive concept has mainly been described above with reference to a few embodiments. However, as is readily appreciated by a person skilled in the art, other embodiments than the ones disclosed above are equally possible within the scope of the inventive concept, as defined by the appended patent claims.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/EP2014/070198 | Sep 2014 | US |
Child | 15467752 | US |