Patent Application
20130058196
The present invention relates ultrasound positioning systems, and in particular to ultrasound positioning systems that utilize at least one stationary array-based ultrasound transmitter in combination with portable receivers to provide a safe and robust positioning system.
Ultrasound in a positioning system is usually associated with high accuracy in the cm-range, but a rather low range and often low robustness to external disturbances. Therefore, it is seldom used alone, but combined with other technologies. The largest family of hybrid systems is based on combination with RF. Several such systems have been described.
The Active Bat system [1] uses ultrasonic receivers in the ceiling. Each portable tag is polled over a 433 MHz radio channel and then emits an ultrasonic pulse which is used for a time-of-flight measurement. It requires finding the distance to a minimum of three reference nodes and then uses them to compute the position with an accuracy of a few cm. The Cricket system [2] has a similar accuracy, but the direction of ultrasound transmission is reversed. Its portable tags are ultrasound receivers that measure time-of-arrival based on the RF trigger pulse. The measurement is then returned over RF for computation of position. In the Dolphin system, each node has both ultrasound and RF receivers and transmitters. It also features a distributed algorithm to lower configuration costs. In [3] an accuracy of around 15 cm was reported.
All of these systems combine ultrasound and RF and are based on estimating time-of-flight based on the slow travel time of ultrasound compared to RF. A requirement of such systems is line of sight. This is their first disadvantage. In addition, there is another, often more serious shortcoming with ultrasound time-of-flight systems. In order to get accuracy, one must find time-of-flight within a few wavelengths (at 40 kHz the wavelength is 8.5 mm). Depending on the signal to noise ratio, such an estimator may require several kHz of bandwidth and this makes it very sensitive to the background noise. For this reason [4] indicates the failure to design purely acoustic trackers that do not ‘go berserk’ when keys are jingled. The analysis of the link budget in [5] shows why this is so. The best designed ultrasound systems may not be as bad as ‘go berserk’, but they will just stop working. A well-designed hybrid system may then fall back to the alternative technology for positioning. This goes in particular for inertial sensors, but potentially also RF. Also note that in principle one could have just increased the output power, but this would come in conflict with allowable exposure level of humans to ultrasound, see next section.
Thus, the systems based on ultrasound time-of-flight are fine for applications which require very high location accuracies, and where one can live with the short range and the drop-outs. But for applications requiring larger ranges and high reliability, such as when positions are required for an entire building other approaches must be pursued.
It turns out that in many applications, it is not really required with accuracy in the cm range, but rather longer range and more robustness. Ultrasound shares the property with audible sound that normal rooms and offices are well isolated for it. Like speech in a closed room in a well-designed building, ultrasound cannot be detected outside of the room. This is a unique property of ultrasound that is not shared with RF.
This has given rise to ultrasound systems that are used for indoors positioning with room-level accuracy. This can also be called positioning by confinement. In the analysis of [5], it is shown that this makes the system much more robust as time-delay estimation is no longer needed. Instead one needs to establish communications and transfer a short message with identity information. This can be done in a bandwidth of a few tens of Hz rather than kHz. Hence the much larger tolerance to realistic background noise levels. Also, due to the reflecting properties of the walls, the floors, and the ceiling, line-of-sight is not required.
This first generation of ultrasound room-level accuracy indoors positioning systems used ultrasound transmitters which were portable (U.S. Pat. No. 7,535,796, 19 May 2009, U.S. Pat. No. 7,362,656, 22 Apr. 2008, U.S. Pat. No. 7,352,652, 1 Apr. 2008, U.S. Pat. No. 7,336,563, 16 Feb. 2008; each of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety). Such systems have proven to be useful in e.g. tracking of assets and of personnel. Still they have several shortcomings which limit their usage. First among them is a low update rate. This leads to a relatively large probability of missed items if several objects are to be located in a room within a short time frame.
One of the main differences from the ultrasound indoor positioning system of [6], [7] and our own US patents, is that the direction of flow of ultrasound is reversed, so the need for humans to wear an ultrasound transmitter is eliminated. This makes it possible to increase the distance between humans and the high-level ultrasound transmitter to several meters. Although there is no clear consensus on the value of ultrasound exposure limits, the proposed system is more in accordance with the ALARA (As Low as Reasonably Achievable) principle with respect to exposure.
There does not seem to be international consensus on safety of airborne ultrasound [8] and there are several guidelines regarding exposure levels such as [9], [10], and [11]. The latter forms the basis for the US Dept. of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Adm. Document [12].
The 1984 [9] and the Canadian 1991 [10] recommendations give 110 dB SPL as the maximum level for occupational exposure in a ⅓ octave band centered on 40 kHz. In addition [9] allows for an increase if the occupational exposure is intermittent. If the exposure of a worker is as little as 1 hour or less per day, it allows an increase up to 119 dB SPL. This is not allowed in the Canadian limits, arguing that subjective effects can occur almost immediately. The most restrictive guideline is [9] in the case of public exposure, when the limit is lowered to 100 dB SPL.
On the other hand, the most liberal guideline is the US one [11] which allows for a level of 115 dB SPL. Interestingly, in recent years it has also allowed for an increase of 30 dB when there is no possibility that the ultrasound can couple with the body. The recommendations [9] and [10] only allow to exceed the levels in the previous paragraph if ear protection is worn by workers. But the 145 dB US limits are not generally accepted. As an example, the review of exposure limits in [13] states that the ACGIH may have pushed its acceptable exposure limits to the very edge of potentially injurious exposure in commenting on a 1998 version of [11] with the same limits.
It should also be noted that systems like Walrus [13] operating at near audio frequencies, fall under even stricter output level limits. Again, the US limits are the most lenient ones with the maximum level being 105 dB at 20 kHz [11] vs. 115 (possibly +30) dB at 40 kHz. The occupational limit of [9], [10] has been reduced from 110 dB to 75 dB and the public limit of [9], is 70 dB rather than 100 dB. Thus in the worst case, the limits may be 30-35 dB lower at 20 kHz than at 40 kHz. The rough square-frequency dependency of attenuation in air will compensate for this to some extent. Still the range will easily be too restricted for guaranteed performance in a noisy environment.
The present invention relates ultrasound positioning systems, and in particular to ultrasound positioning systems that utilize at least one stationary array-based ultrasound transmitter in combination with portable receivers to provide a safe and robust positioning system.
Accordingly, in some embodiments, the present invention provides systems for determining the location of a portable tag in a distinct zone comprising: at least a first array based ultrasound transmitter, wherein the array based ultrasound transmitter is configured to transmit ultrasound signals to two or more distinct sectors within the zone; a portable tag comprising a radio frequency transmitter that transmits a radio frequency signal and an ultrasound receiver configured to communicate with the first array based ultrasound transmitter; a radio frequency receiver configured to communicate with the radio frequency transmitter via the radio frequency signal; and a processor in communication with the first array based ultrasound transmitter and the radio frequency receiver, wherein the processor is configured to determine the location of the portable tag within the two or distinct sectors based on information transmitted from the radio frequency transmitter on the portable tag via the radio frequency signal to the radio frequency receiver. In some embodiments, the first array based ultrasound transmitter is configured to transmit ultrasound signals to five or more distinct sectors within the zone. In some embodiments, the first array based ultrasound transmitter is configured to transmit ultrasound signals to from five to 20 distinct sectors within the zone. In some embodiments, the first array based ultrasound transmitter is stationary.
In some embodiments, the systems further comprise at least a second array based ultrasound transmitter within the zone, the second array based ultrasound transmitter is configured to transmit ultrasound signals to two or more distinct sectors within the zone. In some embodiments, the second array based ultrasound transmitter is configured to transmit ultrasound signals to five or more distinct sectors within the zone. In some embodiments, the second array based ultrasound transmitter is configured to transmit ultrasound signals to from five to 20 distinct sectors within the zone. In some embodiments, the second array based ultrasound transmitter is stationary. In some embodiments, the second array based ultrasound transmitter is arranged to transmit ultrasound signals on an axis that is approximately perpendicular to the first array based ultrasound transmitter so that the first and second array based transmitters establish an z axis and a y axis.
In some embodiments, the distinct zone has a top portion and the array based ultrasound transmitter is positioned on the top portion of the distinct zone. In some embodiments, the array based ultrasound transmitter is a two-dimensional array based ultrasound transmitter. In some embodiments, the two-dimensional array based ultrasound transmitter is stationary.
In some embodiments, the systems further comprise a plurality of array based ultrasound transmitters in a plurality of distinct zones. In some embodiments, the array based ultrasound transmitter comprises a one dimensional array of ultrasound transmitters. In some embodiments, the array based ultrasound transmitter comprises a two dimensional array of ultrasound transmitters. In some embodiments, the distinct zone corresponds to a room in a building. In some embodiments, the array based ultrasound transmitter is configured to allow detection in a zone of about less than 1 m2. In some embodiments, the portable tag is associated with a unique identification code and wherein is the unique identification code is transmittable by the radio frequency transmitter as part of a radio frequency signal. In some embodiments, the systems further comprise a plurality of portable tags, each of the portable tags associated with a unique identification code and wherein the unique identification code is transmittable by the radio frequency transmitter as part of a radio frequency signal.
In some embodiments, the present invention provides for the use of the foregoing systems to locate a portable tag. In some embodiments, the present invention provides for the use of the foregoing systems to locate objects. In some embodiments, the present invention provides for the use of the foregoing systems to locate persons.
In some embodiments, the present invention provides processes for locating a portable tag in a predetermined zone comprising: transmitting an ultrasound signal from at least one array based ultrasound transmitter in the discreet zone to at least one portable tag comprising an ultrasound receiver and a radio frequency transmitter; transmitting a radio frequency signal from the radio frequency transmitter to a radio frequency receiver; and, via a processor, determining the location of the portable tag in the discreet zone based on information transmitted from the radio frequency transmitter to a radio frequency receiver. In some embodiments, the information transmitted from the radio frequency transmitter to a radio frequency receiver comprises an identification code for the portable tag and the location of the portable tag within the predetermined zone.
In some embodiments, the present invention provides processes comprising providing a system as described above and utilizing the system to locate a portable tag, object, or person.
The present invention addresses how ultrasound US) can be combined with radio frequency (RF) to overcome the drawbacks noted above using stationary ultrasound transmitters. This represents a new kind of hybrid system. The systems of the present invention do not have the low reliability of the hybrid systems based on time delay estimation and in contrast to active RFID-systems they will have room-level accuracy with 100% reliability in practice. The systems of the present invention also possess the high update rate and large capacity inherent in RF systems. In further preferred embodiments of the present invention, a portable ultrasound receiver which has the capability to measure signal level and Doppler shift, such as in the inventor's previous patent application (“Ultrasound zone location system with high capacity”, PCT Application WO/2009/062956, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) is used in conjunction with steerable, narrow ultrasound beams, to achieve reliable positioning can with accuracies much better than a room.
This invention differs from other ultrasound positioning systems in at least two ways: Robustness and Safety. With respect to robustness, almost all ultrasound positioning systems are based on some form of time delay estimation. This operation is very sensitive to noise and the experience is that they tend to break down in real-life environments. Therefore the goal of this work is to achieve maximal positioning accuracy without the use of time delay estimation. This means that other parameters such as signal strength and Doppler shift have to be utilized in an optimal way in order to achieve positioning. With respect to safety, in many systems where people carry ultrasound transmitters, there is a chance that levels may exceed recommended exposure limits. Therefore this invention is based on ultrasound receivers which are carried instead to ensure that transmitters are at a safe distance from people.
Co-pending application-PCT Application WO/2009/062956 describes systems for achieving position accuracy better than a room. The described systems used portable ultrasound receivers which detected data and measured amplitude (received signal strength indicator—RSSI) and Doppler shift which can be measured in the same small bandwidth and thus in a robust way. The US receiver is attached to items to be tracked and receives ID data over the ultrasound channel and finds ultrasound RSSI and Doppler shift. The high capacity is due to the existence of an RF channel which the tag uses for transmission of this data to the stationary receivers. In some embodiments of the present invention, these features are combined with a novel transmitter in order to achieve accuracies at bed-level or down to about 1×1 m.
As described above, previously described systems may expose humans to unsuitable dB levels. Preferred embodiments of the system of the present invention, where the portable units only contain ultrasound receivers, expose humans to lower levels than a system with wearable transmitters. With the uncertainty regarding effects of ultrasound exposure, the systems of the present invention are therefore more in line with the ALARA (As Low as Reasonably Achievable) principle. In some embodiments, a minimum distance of 1 m from a transmitter to a person is utilized, thus the maximum exposure level is 110 dB SPL for the transmitter analyzed in [5]. This is equivalent to or less than the occupational limit of current guidelines. In some embodiments, a larger distance is utilized as the transmitters would typically be mounted in the ceiling of a distinct zone, such as a room. If the minimum distance is 3 m, the maximum exposure will be 20 log (⅓) or about 10 dB lower, i.e. 100 dB SPL, which is the public exposure limit of [9]. This is the most conservative value of all the recommendations, and a value at which it is believed that the public may be exposed continuously. In smaller rooms, the output level may also be further reduced, making it possible to guarantee exposure levels below 100 dB SPL even at smaller distances than 3 m.
The systems of the present invention preferably have the following characteristics of robustness. In some embodiments, the communication systems of the present invention preferably work in all kinds of background noise and room reverberations. Positioning systems based on time delay estimation tend to break down in real-life environments. In some embodiments, the systems of the present invention provide maximal positioning accuracy without time delay estimation. A second characteristic is safety. In some systems where people carry ultrasound transmitters, there is a chance that levels may exceed recommended exposure limits. In some embodiments of the present invention, receivers are carried, ensuring that transmitters are at a safe distance from people.
In some preferred embodiments, the systems of the present invention comprise one or more stationary array-based ultrasound transmitters per distinct zone, such as a room. The array can be either 1-dimensional or 2-dimensional. The 1-d array is usually oriented in the horizontal plane and can consist of as few as only 2 elements. It is well known that such an array will in each dimension have an approximate angle of illumination given by lambda/D (radians), where lambda is the wavelength of the ultrasound and D is the aperture (i.e., the extent from one end of the array to the other). The present invention is not limited to the use of any particular array based ultrasound transmitter. As non-limiting examples,
In some preferred embodiments, the array based ultrasound transmitter is configured to transmit data and to steer its beam in the array plane. In this way, multiple sectors are formed which are about lambda/D radians wide.
Still referring to
In some preferred embodiments, the array based ultrasound transmitter 210 and portable tags 230 and 231 are in communication with a processor (not shown). For example, in some embodiments, the processor is associated with a radio receiver and the portable tag and/or array based ultrasound transmitter communicate with the processor via wireless radio frequency connections. The processor processes the data received from the array based ultrasound transmitter and/or portable tag (e.g., one or more of the room, sector and portable tag identification codes) to determine the location of the portable tag within a zone and/or sector. The processor preferably has a user interface allowing users to access location data, either using a graphic output providing an overview of all zones or a selection of some of all zones, and/or by means of receiving a user input in the form of a request for location of a specific person or object, to which the processor may respond either with a text output and/or audible output. The processor may, in larger systems, be connected to a network such as an internal computer network of a company, so as to allow users of the network to access zone location information, either for tracking persons or objects. In this way, the systems of the present invention achieve an accuracy which is suitable for determination of for instance which bed a patient is located in, in a multi-bed hospital room (see
It will be understood that the embodiment depicted in
In further preferred embodiments, the systems of the present invention utilize two or more array based ultrasound transmitters per distinct zone. It is contemplated that greater accuracy is provide by systems utilizing two array based ultrasound transmitters (e.g., one-dimensional array based ultrasound transmitters). In some embodiments, the array based ultrasound transmitters are positioned at different locations within a distinct zone so that the beams transmitted by the array based ultrasound transmitters intersect each other at an angle. As an example, the array based ultrasound transmitters may be placed on perpendicular walls. In some embodiments, the array based ultrasound transmitters transmit their information over each sector in sequence, first the first transmitter covers its sectors and then the second array scans over its sectors and so on. In this way intersecting sections may be determined and a greater accuracy may be achieved. In some embodiments, target accuracies down to say 1×1 m are achieved. One such embodiment is depicted in
In other preferred embodiments, an alternative way to increase accuracy of location detection is utilized. In these embodiments, an array based ultrasound transmitter is positioned on the top of a distinct zone, for example the ceiling of a room. In some embodiments, the array based ultrasound transmitter is a 2D array (e.g., as depicted in
In some embodiments, the ultrasound receiver in the portable tag has a Doppler shift measurement capability. In these embodiments, this capability may be used to find the velocity component along the ultrasound beam, that is along the vector between the receiver and the ultrasound transmitter. A 1D array will give just the velocity component along this direction. However, the use of two 1D arrays, in for instance the perpendicular wall configuration outlined above, will give velocity components in two directions. This data is enough for determination of both the velocity and its direction, i.e. the full velocity vector in two dimensions, as depicted in the schematic diagram in
A competing technology is based on accelerometers, but that technology requires that the tag's orientation be fixed or be known in order to achieve a comparable result. It is often difficult to control or find for a portable tag. In practice it may vary all the time. The orientation can in principle be found through the use of a built-in compass, but as they are seldom very accurate near metal structures, their accuracies are often not very good indoors.
In some embodiments, more array based ultrasound transmitters, whether they are wall- or ceiling-mounted, may be added to the systems of the present invention in particular cases where the room is large or the geometry of the room is particularly challenging with for instance partial obstruction of the beams by furniture or other cubicle divisions and a reflected signal may reach the receiver with a stronger amplitude than the direct signal. In some embodiments, additional arrays are added more for redundancy and a method for excluding the data received from the array which deviates most from the others is then used in the processing in the base station.
In some embodiments, it may be desirable to limit the extent of the ultrasound beam, in particular in the vertical plane in order to avoid reflections in the ceiling or floor which may make RSSI and Doppler measurements ambiguous. In some embodiments, the array based ultrasound transmitter may be extended from 1D to 2D, also having elements in the vertical dimension. In this way sectors may be formed in the vertical direction also, in order to avoid the problem of reflections from the ceiling and floor.
In some embodiments, further refinement of the angular accuracy of the RSSI-based positioning is achieved by sending out beams that overlap in angle. In these embodiments, several measurements are made of amplitude in beams at slightly different angles. In further preferred embodiments, interpolation is used to find the angle with an accuracy which is better than the spacing between beams. A limitation to this method is that the addition of more beams will require more time in order to cover the desired sector. The interpolation method allows for trading time for acquisition of position vs. location accuracy.
All publications and patents mentioned in the above specification are herein incorporated by reference. Various modifications and variations of the described method and system of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Although the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments. Indeed, various modifications of the described modes for carrying out the invention which are obvious to those skilled in the relevant fields are intended to be within the scope of the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Prov. Appl. 61/316,521, filed Mar. 23, 2010, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB11/01091 | 3/23/2011 | WO | 00 | 10/29/2012 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61316521 | Mar 2010 | US |
