Electronic device, method for positioning, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium

Abstract

An electronic device, a method for positioning, and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The electronic device comprises processing circuitry configured to: send address codes of a plurality of beacon tag devices to sequentially activate the beacon tag devices in the vicinity of the electronic device (S1601); obtain tag configuration information from each activated beacon tag device, and obtain, according to the tag configuration information, address codes of positioning tag devices in the area where the beacon tag device is located (S1602); send the obtained address codes of the respective positioning tag devices to activate the corresponding positioning tag devices (S1603); obtain reflected reference signals obtained by reflecting radio frequency reference signals by the respective activated positioning tag devices, and use the reflected reference signals to position the electronic device (S1604). When the electronic device is in an environment, such as an indoor environment, where there is no direct line of sight between the electronic device and a base station, the electronic device can also be accurately positioned.

Description

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202010255765.5, filed on April 2, 2020, entitled "Electronic Device, Method for Positioning and Non-transitory Computer-Readable Storage Medium", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and more specifically, to an electronic device for positioning based on environmental backscatter communication, a method for positioning, and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Background Technology

[0003] Existing positioning methods include multilateration and cooperative positioning. Multilateration involves the receiver measuring signals transmitted from multiple transmitters (whose locations are known) and determining the receiver's location using geometric methods. Cooperative positioning is often used in wireless sensor networks, where the distances and exchanged information between multiple sensors are utilized to improve positioning accuracy.

[0004] Currently, user equipment (UE) positioning in wireless communication systems generally employs multi-point positioning. This involves the UE, acting as the receiver, measuring signals transmitted from multiple base stations (acting as transmitters) and determining its location using geometric methods. Fourth-generation (4G) mobile communication systems support various cellular-based positioning technologies, such as Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) positioning, Angle of Arrival (AOA), and Time Advance (TA) positioning methods. These methods all assume a line-of-sight (LOS) path between the base station and the UE. However, in environments without a LOS path, such as when the UE is indoors, the positioning accuracy of these methods is significantly reduced due to signal obstruction from walls and other obstacles. Summary of the Invention

[0005] A brief overview of this disclosure is given below to provide a basic understanding of certain aspects of it. However, it should be understood that this overview is not an exhaustive summary of this disclosure. It is not intended to identify key or essential parts of this disclosure, nor is it intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Its purpose is merely to present certain concepts of this disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that follows.

[0006] In view of the above problems, at least one aspect of the present disclosure aims to provide an electronic device, a method for positioning, and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that enables accurate positioning of the electronic device even when the electronic device, such as a user equipment, is in an environment where there is no line of sight between it and a base station, such as indoors.

[0007] According to one aspect of this disclosure, an electronic device is provided, comprising a processing circuit configured to: transmit address codes of a plurality of beacon tag devices to sequentially activate beacon tag devices near the electronic device; obtain tag configuration information from each activated beacon tag device, and obtain address codes of positioning tag devices in the area where the beacon tag device is located based on the tag configuration information; transmit the obtained address codes of each positioning tag device to activate the corresponding positioning tag device; obtain a reflected reference signal obtained by reflecting radio frequency reference signals from each activated positioning tag device, and use the reflected reference signal to locate the electronic device.

[0008] According to another aspect of this disclosure, an electronic device is also provided, comprising a processing circuit configured to: upon receiving an address code of the electronic device from a user device, activate the electronic device from a sleep state; and provide tag configuration information to the user device so that the user device obtains the address code of a positioning tag device in the area where the electronic device is located based on the tag configuration information.

[0009] According to another aspect of this disclosure, an electronic device is also provided, comprising processing circuitry configured to: upon receiving an address code of the electronic device from a user equipment, cause the electronic device to enter an active state from a sleep state; and reflect the received radio frequency reference signal for the user equipment to perform positioning based on the reflected reference signal.

[0010] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a method for positioning is also provided, the method comprising: sending address codes of a plurality of beacon tag devices to sequentially activate beacon tag devices near an electronic device; obtaining tag configuration information from each activated beacon tag device, and obtaining address codes of positioning tag devices in the area where the beacon tag device is located based on the tag configuration information; sending the obtained address codes of each positioning tag device to activate the corresponding positioning tag device; obtaining a reflected reference signal obtained by reflecting radio frequency reference signals from each activated positioning tag device, and using the reflected reference signal to locate the electronic device.

[0011] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a method for positioning is also provided, the method comprising: when receiving an address code of an electronic device from a user device, activating the electronic device from a sleep state; and sending tag configuration information to the user device so that the user device obtains the address code of a positioning tag device in the area where the electronic device is located based on the tag configuration information.

[0012] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a method for positioning is also provided, the method comprising: when receiving an address code of an electronic device from a user equipment, causing the electronic device to enter an active state from a sleep state; and reflecting the received radio frequency reference signal so that the user equipment can perform positioning based on the reflected reference signal.

[0013] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable instructions is also provided, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform various functions of the aforementioned electronic device or method for positioning.

[0014] In accordance with other aspects of this disclosure, computer program code and computer program products for implementing the methods described above according to this disclosure are also provided.

[0015] According to at least one aspect of the embodiments of this disclosure, accurate positioning of electronic devices, such as user equipment, can be provided even when the electronic device is in an environment where there is no direct line of sight between it and the base station, such as indoors.

[0016] Other aspects of embodiments of this disclosure are set forth in the following description section, wherein preferred embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail without limiting them. Attached Figure Description

[0017] The accompanying drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only and not for all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. In the drawings:

[0018] Figure 1This is a schematic diagram illustrating existing Wi-Fi-based positioning methods in indoor environments;

[0019] Figure 2 This is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an electronic device on the user equipment side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0020] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example application scenario of an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0021] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example address code sent according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the arrangement of beacon tag devices in multiple areas according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0023] Figure 6A This is a table showing examples of beacon tag address codes, tag configuration information, and location tag address codes according to embodiments of this disclosure;

[0024] Figure 6B This is a table illustrating another example of beacon tag address codes and tag configuration information according to embodiments of this disclosure;

[0025] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example positioning process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0026] Figure 8 This is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a control unit in an electronic device on the user equipment side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0027] Figure 9 It is used for explanation Figure 8 A schematic diagram of environmental reflection channel estimation performed by the tag information acquisition unit in the control unit shown;

[0028] Figure 10 It is used for explanation Figure 8 A schematic diagram of tag reflection channel estimation performed by the tag information acquisition unit in the control unit shown;

[0029] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the time offset and transmission order during the backscattering process of a plurality of positioning tag devices according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0030] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of frequency shift during the backscattering process of a plurality of positioning tag devices according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0031] Figure 13This is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an electronic device that can be used as a beacon tag device according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0032] Figure 14 This is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an electronic device that can be used as a positioning tag device according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0033] Figure 15 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an information interaction process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0034] Figure 16 This is a flowchart illustrating a process example of a positioning method on the user equipment side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0035] Figure 17 This is a flowchart illustrating a process example of a positioning method on the beacon tag device side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0036] Figure 18 This is a flowchart illustrating a process example of a positioning method on the positioning tag device side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0037] Figure 19 This is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a smartphone to which the technologies of this disclosure can be applied;

[0038] Figure 20 This is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a car navigation device to which the technologies of this disclosure can be applied.

[0039] While this disclosure is readily subject to various modifications and substitutions, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings and are described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the description of specific embodiments herein is not intended to limit this disclosure to the specific forms disclosed, but rather, this disclosure is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and substitutions falling within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. It should be noted that throughout the drawings, corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts. Detailed Implementation

[0040] Examples of this disclosure will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following description is merely exemplary and is not intended to limit the disclosure, its application, or its uses.

[0041] Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will become exhaustive and will fully convey its scope to those skilled in the art. Numerous specific details, such as examples of particular components, apparatus, and methods, are set forth to provide a detailed understanding of embodiments of this disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the specific details are not required, and that the example embodiments may be implemented in many different forms, none of which should be construed as limiting the scope of this disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known structures, and well-known techniques are not described in detail.

[0042] The description will proceed in the following order:

[0043] 1. Problem description;

[0044] 2. Configuration example of electronic devices on the user equipment side

[0045] 2.1 Basic Configuration Example of Electronic Devices

[0046] 2.2 Example application scenarios and examples of processing performed by electronic devices

[0047] 2.3 Configuration Example of Control Unit for Electronic Devices

[0048] 3. Configuration example of an electronic device that can be used as a beacon tag device

[0049] 4. Configuration examples of electronic devices that can be used as positioning tag devices

[0050] 5. Examples of information exchange processes

[0051] 6. Method Examples

[0052] 6.1 User Equipment Side Method Implementation Examples

[0053] 6.2 Method Embodiments for the Beacon Tag Device Side

[0054] 6.3 Method embodiment for positioning tag device side

[0055] 7. Application Examples

[0056] <1. Problem Description>

[0057] In multi-point positioning methods where user equipment measures signals transmitted from multiple base stations and determines the user equipment's location based on geometric methods, the positioning accuracy is greatly reduced when the user equipment is in a propagation environment with no line-of-sight between it and its base stations, such as when the user equipment is indoors or in a tunnel, because signal transmission is blocked by obstacles such as walls.

[0058] Therefore, methods suitable for indoor positioning have been proposed. Figure 1This schematically illustrates existing Wi-Fi-based positioning methods in indoor environments. For example... Figure 1 As shown, when a User Equipment (UE) enters an area covered by a Local Area Network Router (AP), it can receive a Wi-Fi signal sent by the AP. Since the location of the AP is known, the UE can calculate the distance *d* between itself and the AP by measuring the arrival time of the Wi-Fi signal sent by the AP, and use this distance for positioning. When there is only one AP in the room, the UE's positioning result is a circular area centered on the AP with a radius of *d*. This positioning accuracy is insufficient in many cases. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a more accurate positioning method suitable for propagation environments where there is no direct line of sight between the UE and the base station (such as indoor scenarios).

[0059] This disclosure provides for such scenarios an electronic device on the user equipment side, an electronic device that can be used as a beacon tag device, an electronic device that can be used as a positioning tag device, a method for positioning, and a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium that enables accurate positioning of the electronic device even when the electronic device, such as the user equipment, is in an environment where there is no line of sight between it and the base station, such as indoors.

[0060] The electronic device on the user equipment side according to this disclosure can be implemented as various user equipment, such as mobile terminals (e.g., smartphones, tablet PCs, laptop PCs, portable gaming terminals, portable / dongle-type mobile routers, and digital camera devices) or in-vehicle terminals (e.g., car navigation devices). The aforementioned user equipment can also be implemented as a terminal performing machine-to-machine (M2M) communication (also known as a machine-type communication (MTC) terminal). Furthermore, the user equipment may include a wireless communication module (e.g., an integrated circuit module comprising a single chip) installed on each of the aforementioned terminals.

[0061] The electronic devices that can be used as beacon tagging devices and positioning tagging devices according to this disclosure can be implemented as tagging devices such as passive radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. The tag device is normally in a dormant state and does not emit signals; it only backscatters (sometimes referred to herein as reflection) a radio frequency (RF) signal from a signal source to a reader upon wake-up or activation. During the backscattering of the RF signal, the tag device modulates the backscattered RF signal according to the information to be transmitted, such as by changing its antenna impedance, thus achieving modulation of the reflected RF signal. The reader can demodulate the received reflected RF signal to obtain the information transmitted by the passive tag. In practical applications, the reader and signal source can be integrated into one device or implemented separately. Because the tag device has simple circuitry and does not emit signals itself, it has the advantages of low power consumption and low cost.

[0062] <2. Configuration Example of Electronic Devices on the User Equipment Side>

[0063] [2.1 Basic Configuration Example of Electronic Devices]

[0064] Figure 2 This is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an electronic device on the user equipment side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0065] like Figure 2 As shown, the electronic device 200 may include a transceiver 210, a control unit 220, and an optional storage unit 230.

[0066] Here, each unit of the electronic device 200 can be included in the processing circuit. It should be noted that the electronic device 200 may include one or more processing circuits. Furthermore, the processing circuit may include various discrete functional units to perform various different functions and / or operations. It should be noted that these functional units can be physical entities or logical entities, and units with different names may be implemented by the same physical entity.

[0067] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the transceiver 210 of the electronic device 200 can sequentially transmit address codes of multiple beacon tag devices to activate beacon tag devices near the electronic device 200. Subsequently, the control unit 220 can obtain tag configuration information through demodulation processing or the like based on the signal received by the transceiver 210 from the activated beacon tag device. As an example, the electronic device 200 can be used as a signal source to transmit a predetermined radio frequency reference signal through the transceiver 210 (or by another signal source), and the transceiver 210 can receive the reflected signal obtained by the activated beacon tag device and modulating the radio frequency reference signal with the tag configuration information. The control unit 220, together with the transceiver 210, can implement the function of a reader, that is, obtain tag configuration information from the received reflected signal from the activated beacon tag device through demodulation processing or the like.

[0068] The tag configuration information obtained by the control unit 220 from the activated beacon tag device can be associated with the address codes of positioning tag devices within the area where the beacon tag device is located, or can directly include these address codes. Optionally, the tag configuration information obtained by the control unit 220 from the activated beacon tag device can also be associated with the location information of positioning tag devices within the area where the beacon tag device is located, or can directly include such location information. When the tag configuration information is associated with the address codes (and optional location information) of the positioning tag devices, the control unit 220 can control the transceiver 210 to send the obtained tag configuration information to the base station, and obtain the address codes (and optional location information) of the positioning tag devices associated with the tag configuration information from the base station. When the tag configuration information directly includes the address codes (and optional location information) of the positioning tag devices, the control unit 220 obtains the address codes, etc., contained in the tag configuration information when it obtains the tag configuration information.

[0069] Transceiver 210 can transmit the address codes of each positioning tag device obtained by control unit 220 to activate the corresponding positioning tag device. As an example, transceiver 210 (or other suitable device) of electronic device 200 can be used as a signal source to transmit a predetermined radio frequency reference signal, and transceiver 210 can receive reflected reference signals obtained by activating the positioning tag device by reflecting the radio frequency reference signal. Control unit 220 can use these reflected reference signals to locate electronic device 200.

[0070] For example, the control unit 220 can use the information of the radio frequency reference signal it knows in advance to calculate the correlation function between the radio frequency reference signal sent by the electronic device 200 and the received reflected reference signal, and calculate the round-trip time of the radio frequency reference signal (or the arrival time of the reflected reference signal) by determining the peak value of the correlation function, and then calculate the distance between the activation positioning tag device and the electronic device 200.

[0071] The control unit 220 can determine the position of the electronic device 200 based on the position information of multiple active positioning tag devices and the calculated distance between each active positioning tag device and the electronic device. Due to the low cost of positioning tag devices such as passive tags, multiple positioning tag devices can be installed in a room, thereby enabling the electronic device 200 to achieve precise positioning by utilizing reflected reference signals from multiple positioning tag devices, for example, through a multi-point positioning method.

[0072] Furthermore, since the beacon tag device and the positioning tag device can be implemented by low-power passive tags, the electronic device 200's processing, such as receiving the reflected signal carrying the tag configuration information from the activated beacon tag device and receiving the reflected reference signal from the activated positioning tag device, involves only very low power consumption (such as hundreds of nW; the power consumption involved in Wi-Fi signal positioning in the prior art may be in the order of several W), which is beneficial for achieving positioning with low power consumption.

[0073] Furthermore, the electronic device in this embodiment of the present disclosure reduces the number of address codes of the positioning tags to be sent by first activating a nearby beacon tag device and then obtaining tag configuration information from the activated beacon tag device to obtain the address code of the nearby positioning tag device. This reduces the processing load and helps to speed up the positioning process.

[0074] For electronic devices, it is impossible to know in advance the specific information of the location tags in the environment they enter, i.e., which location tags are specifically present in the indoor environment. Therefore, if only location tag devices are set up in the environment and no beacon tag devices are set up, the electronic device needs to send the address codes of all location tags that may be nearby (e.g., the address codes of all location tags in the entire building) and thus activate those location tag devices near the electronic device. Assuming the example of a 10-story building with 20 rooms on each floor, and 3 location tag devices installed in each room, the electronic device would need to send the address codes of 600 location tag devices to activate the nearby location tag devices.

[0075] In contrast, according to embodiments of this disclosure, since beacon tag devices are also present in the environment in addition to location tag devices, the electronic device only needs to send the address codes of all beacon tag devices that may be nearby (e.g., the address codes of all beacon tag devices in the entire building) to activate the nearby beacon tag devices. In this way, the electronic device can obtain tag configuration information from the activated beacon tag device to obtain the address codes of nearby location tag devices, and only send the address codes of the nearby location tags it has obtained. Considering the 10-story building example again, assuming that according to embodiments of this disclosure, each room has one beacon tag device and three location tag devices, the electronic device 200 needs to send the address codes of 200 beacon tag devices to activate the beacon tag device in its room, and obtain tag configuration information from the activated beacon tag device to obtain the address codes of the three location tag devices in the room where the beacon tag device is located (i.e., the address codes of the nearby location tag devices). Then, to activate the nearby location tag devices, the electronic device 200 only needs to send these three obtained address codes. It is evident that the number of address codes that electronic devices need to send has been reduced from 600 to 203, thereby significantly reducing the processing load and accelerating the positioning speed.

[0076] The above describes an example of processing performed by an electronic device 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Now consider the case where multiple electronic devices are present. When multiple electronic devices are present in an environment, it is preferable that these electronic devices process data in a time-division manner. That is, while one electronic device is locating, the other electronic devices remain silent to avoid interfering with each other.

[0077] In one example, when a cellular network is present, multiple electronic devices, such as user equipment, can sequentially activate beacon tag devices near each electronic device according to the scheduling of the base station, and perform subsequent processing accordingly.

[0078] In alternative locations, such as areas without cellular network coverage, multiple electronic devices can operate independently in Device-to-Device (D2D) mode, activating nearby beacon tag devices sequentially through distributed scheduling. As an example, multiple adjacent electronic devices can use Mode 2 of the D2D standard, autonomously selecting radio resources for communication through congestion control mechanisms. After communication is established, the order of location operations is determined by distributed scheduling.

[0079] The following description will primarily focus on an example of processing performed by one electronic device. Those skilled in the art will understand that when multiple electronic devices are present in an environment, the location processing between them can be coordinated in a time-division manner as described above, and each electronic device can perform location processing in a similar way, which will not be elaborated further.

[0080] Reference above Figure 2 A basic configuration example of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is described. As described above, the electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure can achieve high-precision positioning due to positioning based on interaction with multiple tag devices, and further reduces the processing load by greatly reducing the number of address codes of the positioning tag devices that need to be sent due to interaction with beacon tag devices, and can perform positioning faster.

[0081] [2.2 Example Application Scenarios and Examples of Processes Performed by Electronic Devices]

[0082] Figure 3 An example application scenario illustrating an embodiment of this disclosure is shown schematically. Next, it will be discussed in conjunction with... Figure 3 The example application scenario shown further illustrates... Figure 2Further details of the example processes performed by the electronic device and its various units are shown.

[0083] like Figure 3 As shown in the example, this illustration depicts an interior environment comprising three rooms: Room 1, Room 2, and Room 3, and the arrangement of beacon tagging devices and location tagging devices within that environment. Figure 3 In the example, each room, Room 1, Room 2, or Room 3, is equipped with a beacon tag device (Beacon Tag 1, Beacon Tag 2, or Beacon Tag 3) and corresponding location tag devices (Tag1-A to Tag1-C, Tag2-A to Tag2-C, or Tag3-A to Tag3-D) (e.g., installed on each wall). Note that the number of location tag devices in each room is only an example; in actual applications, fewer or more may be used.

[0084] When a user carrying electronic devices 200 enters, such as Figure 3 When the area is shown, the transceiver 210 of the electronic device 200, under the control of the control unit 220, can sequentially send the address codes of multiple beacon tag devices (including Beacon Tag 1 to Beacon Tag 3) within the building where the area is located (e.g., as shown above). Figure 2 The example building describes the address codes of 200 beacon tag devices in all 200 rooms to activate one or more of the beacon tag devices BeaconTag 1 to Beacon Tag 3 near the electronic device 200.

[0085] Preferably, to avoid interference between activated beacon tag devices, after sending the address code of one beacon tag device to activate the corresponding beacon tag device, the electronic device 200 waits at least the time required for all processing related to the corresponding beacon tag device (and the location tag devices in the area) before sending the address code of the next beacon tag device. The following specific examples will primarily describe examples of the interaction processing between the electronic device and a beacon tag device (and the location tag devices in the area). Those skilled in the art will understand that when multiple beacon tag devices exist in the environment, the electronic device can perform similar interaction processing with each beacon tag device (and the location tag devices in the area) in a time-division manner as described above, which will not be elaborated further.

[0086] (Example method for obtaining the address code of the beacon tag device)

[0087] Electronic device 200 can obtain the address codes of the beacon tag devices to be transmitted through various appropriate means. For example, when electronic device 200, such as a user equipment, is in an area with cellular network coverage, it can, for example, receive in advance the address codes of multiple beacon tag devices, including Beacon Tag 1 to Beacon Tag 3, from a base station. When electronic device 200 is in an area without cellular network coverage, it can, for example, read the address codes of multiple beacon tag devices from storage unit 230. In this case, storage unit 230 is configured to pre-store the address codes of multiple beacon tag devices.

[0088] (Example of the address code for a beacon tag device / location tag device)

[0089] Each beacon tag or location tag has a unique address code (ID), which may consist of, for example, a sequence of binary bits. Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example address code transmitted according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, schematically showing an example address code transmitted by the transceiver of an electronic device on the user equipment side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example... Figure 4 As shown, the address code is a 9-bit bit sequence in the form of {101001011}. When transmitting bit 1, transceiver 210 sends a pulse with a specific period and power; when transmitting bit 0, transceiver 210 does not send any signal. For the tag device, after receiving such an address code, it can read the address code sent by transceiver 210, for example, by performing energy detection and identification processing, and will only activate from a sleep state to an active state when its own address code has been read.

[0090] (Example of address code settings for multiple beacon tag devices)

[0091] In a preferred embodiment, adjacent beacon tag devices among the plurality of beacon tag devices may have different address codes. For example, when electronic device 200 is in Figure 3 When there is a boundary between Room 2 and Room 3, if Beacon Tag 2 and Beacon Tag 3 use the same address code, then when the electronic device 200 sends such an address code, it may simultaneously activate Beacon Tag 2 and Beacon Tag 3, causing them to interfere with each other. Therefore, it is preferable to... Figure 3 In the example shown, Beacon Tag 1 through Beacon Tag 3 are assigned different address codes to avoid interference. As an example, the address codes for Beacon Tag 1, Beacon Tag 2, and Beacon Tag 3 could be {100101010}, {101101010}, and {11010110}, respectively.

[0092] On the other hand, in a preferred embodiment, at least two non-adjacent beacon tag devices among the plurality of beacon tag devices can have the same address code. Because the backscattering communication distance is relatively short, beacon tag devices located a certain distance apart can operate simultaneously (e.g., interacting with different user equipment) without interfering with each other, i.e., they no longer need to operate in a time-division manner. Therefore, the same address code can be reused for beacon tag devices located a certain distance apart.

[0093] Figure 5 An example of the arrangement of a beacon tag device in multiple areas according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated schematically. Figure 5 Multiple hexagonal regions with three different backgrounds are shown, each region may include, for example, a predetermined number of rooms (e.g.) Figure 3 The rooms shown are Rooms 1 through 3, each equipped with a beacon tag device. For simplicity, Figure 5 The image only schematically illustrates two or three beacon tag devices installed in a room within a solid-color background area. For adjacent areas ( Figure 5 To avoid interference, different address codes are assigned to beacon tag devices in areas where different backgrounds are used (i.e., areas that are not adjacent to each other). Figure 5 Areas using the same background can use the same address code. For example, Area1, Area3, and all areas with solid color backgrounds can be assigned the same two or three address codes, but the beacon tag devices in Area1 and Area2 can be assigned different address codes, and the beacon tag devices in Area3 can be assigned different address codes from those in Area2 and Area4.

[0094] By utilizing this preferred configuration, the number of address codes of beacon tag devices acquired and / or transmitted by the electronic device can be reduced, thereby further reducing the processing load and / or accelerating the positioning speed.

[0095] (Example processing for retrieving tag configuration information)

[0096] The transceiver 210 of electronic device 200 sequentially sends references such as those mentioned above. Figure 4 and Figure 5 During the process of describing the address code of the beacon tag device, a beacon tag device near the electronic device 200 that receives its own address code is activated, and the electronic device 200 is provided with tag configuration information for the positioning tag device in the area where the beacon tag device is located in an appropriate manner.

[0097] For example, in Figure 3In the example scenario shown, assuming electronic device 200 is located in the center of Room 2 and sequentially sends address codes for multiple beacon tags, including Beacon Tag 1 through Beacon Tag 3, then Beacon Tag 1, Beacon Tag 2, and Beacon Tag 3 near electronic device 200 will be activated sequentially upon receiving their own address codes. The following description will assume that Beacon Tag 2 is currently active.

[0098] The activated Beacon Tag 2 will provide electronic device 200 with tag configuration information for the positioning tag devices Tag2-A to Tag2-C within the area where Beacon Tag 2 is located, i.e., Room 2, in an appropriate manner. As an example, Beacon Tag 2 can reflect a radio frequency reference signal emitted from a signal source (such as electronic device 200 or other devices capable of emitting radio frequency signals) via backscatter communication, and in the process, modulate the tag configuration information onto the reflected reference signal. Control unit 220 of electronic device 200 can demodulate this reflected reference signal received by transceiver 210 to obtain the tag configuration information. Specific details on how to obtain the tag configuration information will be further described later in a configuration example of the control unit.

[0099] (Example processing of obtaining the address code based on label configuration information)

[0100] As an example, the tag configuration information obtained by the control unit 220 from the activated beacon tag device may include, for instance, the number of the set of location tag devices within the area where the beacon tag device is located. For example, the tag configuration information obtained by the control unit 220 from the activated Beacon Tag 2 may be a 3-bit sequence {101}, representing the number of the set of location tag devices {Tag2-A, Tag2-B, Tag2-C}. The control unit 220 may control the transceiver 230 to send the aforementioned number to the base station and receive from the base station the address code of each location tag device (Tag2-A, Tag2-B, Tag2-C) in the location tag set corresponding to the aforementioned number. The address code of each location tag device may take the form of a 9-bit sequence, similar to the address code of the beacon tag device.

[0101] In this way, the amount of data that beacon tag devices with limited storage and communication capabilities need to store and transmit can be reduced. Accordingly, when electronic device 200 interacts with such a beacon tag device, processing efficiency can be improved / processing time reduced.

[0102] Figure 6AAn example of a beacon tag address code, tag configuration information, and location tag address code according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown, which is suitable for situations where a cellular network exists so that the electronic device 200 can communicate with a base station.

[0103] Figure 6A Table (I) shows, for example, information about beacon tag devices in each room stored in the base station. Electronic device 200 can obtain the address codes of the beacon tag devices, such as those shown in the third column of Table (I), from the base station. Figure 6A Tables (II.1) to (II.3) show the tag configuration information for each beacon tag device, Beacon Tag 1 to Beacon Tag 3, which are specifically the set numbers of the location tag devices in the area where each beacon tag device is located. Figure 6A The forms (II.1) to (II.3) can, for example, be stored in the respective beacon tag devices and can be retrieved by the electronic device 200 from the activated beacon tag device. Figure 6A Table (III) shows the address codes of each location tag associated with the tag configuration information (i.e., the address codes of each location tag in the set of location tag devices within the area where each beacon tag device is located), which may be stored, for example, in the base station. Electronic device 200 can retrieve, from the base station, the address codes of a set of location tags corresponding to the tag configuration information in Table (III), based on the tag configuration information obtained from the activated beacon tag device (the number of the corresponding set of location tag devices).

[0104] Here, although not shown, such as those stored in the base station Figure 6A Table (III) may optionally include an additional fourth column indicating the location information of each positioning tag device. Accordingly, the electronic device 200 may also obtain the location information of positioning tag devices within the area where the beacon tag device is located from the base station, based on the tag configuration information obtained from the activated beacon tag device.

[0105] In addition, Figure 6AIn Table (III) shown, for the positioning tag device Tag2-B located near the boundary of Rooms 2 and 3, where two adjacent beacon tag devices Beacon Tag 2 and Beacon Tag 3 are located, its address code is set to be associated not only with the tag configuration information of Beacon Tag 2 in Room 2, but also with the tag configuration information of Beacon Tag 3 in the adjacent Room 3. In this way, regardless of whether the user equipment 200 is in Room 2 or Room 3, when it activates the corresponding beacon tag device Beacon Tag 2 or Beacon Tag 3, the tag configuration information obtained by the user equipment 200 from the activated beacon tag device is associated with the address code of the positioning tag device Tag2-B located at the room boundary. Therefore, the address code of Tag2-B can be obtained from the base station based on the tag configuration information to activate Tag2-B and use it for positioning processing. This improves the utilization rate of positioning tag devices located near room boundaries. Similarly, the address code of the positioning tag device Tag3-B in Room 3, which is located near the boundary between Room 2 and Room 3, is associated not only with the tag configuration information of the beacon tag device Beacon Tag 3 in Room 3, but also with the tag configuration information of the beacon tag device Beacon Tag 2 in Room 2.

[0106] Reference above Figure 6A The described example is suitable for situations where a cellular network exists so that electronic device 200 can communicate with a base station. Alternatively, when electronic device 200 is in an area without cellular network coverage, the tag configuration information obtained by control unit 220 from the activated beacon tag device may, for example, directly include the address code of each location tag device in the area where the beacon tag device is located.

[0107] Figure 6B Another example of a beacon tag address and tag configuration information (including a location tag address) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown, which is suitable for situations where the electronic device 200 is in an area without cellular network coverage. Figure 6B Table (I) shows the relevant information of each beacon tag device, including the address code, which is stored, for example, in the storage unit 230 of the electronic device 200. Figure 6B Tables (II.1) to (II.3) show the tag configuration information for each Beacon Tag 1 to Beacon Tag 3, which specifically includes the address code and other relevant information for the location tag within the area where each Beacon Tag is located. Figure 6BThe forms (II.1) to (II.3) can, for example, be stored in the respective beacon tag devices and can be retrieved by the electronic device 200 from the activated beacon tag device. Here, although not shown, Figure 6B Tables (II.1) to (II.3) may optionally include an additional third column indicating the location information of each positioning tag device. That is, the tag configuration information obtained by the electronic device 200 from the activated beacon tag device may also include the location information of positioning tag devices within the area where the beacon tag device is located.

[0108] (Example processing of activating the positioning tag device and receiving the reflected reference signal)

[0109] When the control unit 220 of the electronic device 200 appropriately obtains the address code of the positioning tag device in the area where the beacon tag device is located (e.g., the above) based on the tag configuration information obtained from the activated beacon tag device. Figure 6A Table (III) or Figure 6B After the address codes shown in tables (II.1) to (II.3), the control unit 220 can control the transceiver 210 to send these address codes to activate the corresponding positioning tag device.

[0110] As an example, such as Figure 6A Table (III) or Figure 6B As shown in Tables (II.1) to (II.3), multiple location tags within the area where a beacon tag device is located can have different address codes. In this case, the control unit 220 can control the transceiver 210 to sequentially transmit the address codes of these location tags to activate each location tag device in turn. Accordingly, the transceiver 210 can sequentially receive reflected reference signals obtained from the reflected radio frequency reference signals of each activated location tag device. In this way, the control unit 220 can distinguish the reflected reference signals from each location tag device in a time-division manner and process each reflected reference signal separately.

[0111] In a preferred embodiment, to further accelerate the positioning process, multiple positioning tags within the area where a beacon tag is located can be configured to have the same address code. In this case, the control unit 220 of the electronic device 200 controls the transceiver 210 to send the address code to simultaneously activate multiple positioning tags. At this time, the multiple activated positioning tags can modulate their received radio frequency reference signals using different modulation frequencies and / or modulation pilot sequences and perform backscattering, so that the electronic device 200 can simultaneously receive multiple distinguishable reflected reference signals. Alternatively, the multiple activated positioning tags can reflect their respective received radio frequency reference signals at different times (i.e., each positioning tag has a different time offset between activation and reflection), so that the electronic device 200 receives multiple reflected reference signals with different time offsets.

[0112] In this preferred embodiment, in the former case (i.e., when multiple active positioning tag devices use different modulation frequencies and / or modulation pilot sequences), when the control unit 200 obtains the address codes of nearby positioning tag devices according to the tag configuration information, it can further obtain, for example, modulation frequency-related information and / or modulation pilot sequence-related information of these positioning tag devices according to the tag configuration information. In the latter case (i.e., when multiple active positioning tag devices reflect their respective received radio frequency reference signals at different times), the control unit 200 can further obtain reflection time-related information of the positioning tag devices according to the beacon tag configuration information. The aforementioned modulation frequency-related information, modulation pilot sequence-related information, and / or reflection time-related information can be stored as additional columns in a […]. Figure 6A Table (III) or Figure 6B The information is presented in tables (II.1) to (II.3). With this information, the control unit 200 can distinguish the reflected reference signals received from each active positioning tag device via the transceiver 210, and can then perform appropriate processing on each reflected reference signal to calculate the distance between the corresponding active positioning tag device and the electronic device. Further details of the relevant processing will be described later in a configuration example of the control unit.

[0113] (Example processing for positioning based on reflected reference signals)

[0114] As an example, each active positioning tag device can reflect a radio frequency (RF) reference signal emitted from an electronic device 200 (or other separate signal source) via backscatter communication, and optionally modulate the reflected reference signal in a predetermined manner during the process. The control unit 220 of the electronic device 200 can use its prior knowledge of the emitted RF reference signal, and optionally information about the relevant processing of the active positioning tag device during the backscatter process (such as information about modulation or time offset), to calculate a correlation function between the transmitted RF reference signal and the reflected reference signal received by the transceiver 210, and calculate the round-trip time (RTT) (or arrival time of the reflected reference signal) of the RF reference signal by determining the peak value of the correlation function. Based on the calculated RTT, the control unit 220 can determine the distance between the electronic device 200 and the corresponding positioning tag device. Specific details on how to calculate the above distance will be provided later in a configuration example of the control unit.

[0115] After calculating the distance between the electronic device 200 and each active positioning tag device, the electronic device can determine the position of the electronic device 200 by various appropriate methods such as multi-point positioning methods, based on the position information of each active positioning tag device and the distance between each active positioning tag device and the electronic device 200.

[0116] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example positioning process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, schematically showing an example of the positioning process performed by the control unit 220. In this example, a user equipment UE, as an example of an electronic device 200, is in a position such as... Figure 3 In Room 2, as shown, the address codes and location information of each positioning tag device (Tag2-A, Tag2-B, and Tag2-C) are obtained based on the tag configuration information acquired from the Beacon Tag 2 device in Room 2. The UE's control unit controls the transceiver to sequentially send the acquired address codes to activate each positioning tag device (Tag2-A, Tag2-B, or Tag2-C) in turn, and calculates the distance d1, d2, or d3 between the UE and the activated positioning tag device based on the reflected reference signal received from the activated positioning tag device. Then, the UE can determine its position using various existing methods such as trilateration, based on the calculated distances and the location information of each positioning tag device.

[0117] Reference above Figures 3 to 7 Examples of application scenarios for electronic devices according to embodiments of this disclosure and examples of the processes they perform are described. In situations such as… Figure 3In the illustrated application scenario, since both the electronic device and the positioning tag can be located indoors (i.e., there is a line-of-sight between them), the positioning accuracy achieved by the electronic device in this embodiment is superior to that of the OTDOA-based positioning method between the base station and the user equipment, theoretically reaching centimeter-level estimation accuracy. Furthermore, the positioning error achieved by the electronic device in this embodiment can be reduced as the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the radio frequency reference signal used for positioning increases. In contrast, the average additional time delay caused by obstacles such as walls prevents the error of the OTDOA-based positioning method from decreasing with increasing SNR.

[0118] [2.3 Configuration Example of Control Unit for Electronic Devices]

[0119] Figure 8 This is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a control unit in an electronic device on the user equipment side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 8 The control unit 220 shown is Figure 2 The following description will refer to the above-mentioned configuration example of the control unit 220 of the electronic device 200. Figures 2 to 7 The process continues based on the described configuration of the electronic device and the processing it performs.

[0120] like Figure 8 As shown, the control unit 220 in this example includes a configuration information acquisition unit 2210 and a positioning unit 2220.

[0121] (Example processing performed by the configuration information acquisition unit)

[0122] As previously described, an electronic device can be used as a signal source to transmit a predetermined radio frequency reference signal via a transceiver (or another signal source), and the transceiver can receive the reflected signal obtained by activating the beacon tag device and modulating the radio frequency reference signal with tag configuration information. The configuration information acquisition unit 2210 included in the control unit of the electronic device can obtain the tag configuration information from such reflected signal received by the transceiver through demodulation processing.

[0123] Example of channel estimation processing

[0124] Preferably, in order to demodulate the reflected signal, the configuration information acquisition unit 2210 can pre-estimate the channel traversed by the backscattered signal from the activated beacon tag device. This channel estimation can include two parts: the environmental reflection channel and the beacon tag device reflection channel. In environmental backscatter communication, part of the signal sent by the electronic device reaches the beacon tag device, is modulated by it, and returns to the electronic device; another part of the signal is reflected back to the electronic device after passing through the environment (such as a wall), which can be called a self-interference signal. By measuring the environmental reflection channel, the self-interference signal can be estimated, and after eliminating the self-interference signal from the reflected signal received by the electronic device, the reflected signal from the beacon tag device can be obtained, demodulated, and tag configuration information can be obtained.

[0125] Therefore, in a preferred example, after the electronic device activates the beacon tag device, it can first interact with the beacon tag device according to a pre-set procedure so that the configuration information acquisition unit 2210 can perform channel estimation processing.

[0126] Next, we will combine Figure 9 and Figure 10 The example shown specifically describes the channel estimation processing performed by the configuration information acquisition unit 2210. In this example, the electronic device, which is a user equipment (UE) (having features such as those described above), is... Figures 2 to 7 The described electronic device 200 (configured and capable of performing corresponding processing) includes a control unit 220 having a configuration information acquisition unit 2210 and a positioning unit 2220, which interacts with the activation beacon tag device Beacon Tag.

[0127] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the environmental reflection channel estimation performed by the tag information acquisition unit 2210, showing an example of estimating the environmental reflection channel. After the Beacon Tag is activated, it first enters a silent mode, without modulating any signal, such as... Figure 9 As shown. The silence period of the Beacon Tag can be preset (e.g., 16μs) and is known on both the UE and the Beacon Tag side. When Gaussian white noise is ignored, the configuration information acquisition unit 2210 in the UE controls the UE's transceiver to send the radio frequency reference signal x(t). The signal that reaches the UE's transceiver after being reflected by a wall W as shown in the figure is as follows (1).

[0128]

[0129] Among them, h env(t) represents the multipath channel that the signal traverses. Since x(t) is known, the configuration information acquisition unit 2210 can use any appropriate existing channel estimation method to obtain h. env (t).

[0130] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the tag reflection channel estimation performed by the tag information acquisition unit 2210, showing an example of estimating the reflection channel of the beacon tag device. For example... Figure 10 As shown, after the silence period ends, the Beacon Tag begins to modulate the radio frequency reference signal x(t) from the UE. At this time, the signal modulated by the Beacon Tag is a pilot signal known to the configuration information acquisition unit 2210, so as to facilitate its estimation of the channel parameters reflected by the Beacon Tag. The channel estimation time can be preset (e.g., 32μs) and is known at both the configuration information acquisition unit 2210 and the Beacon Tag.

[0131] Beacon tags, for example, can use phase modulators to modulate the radio frequency reference signal x(t), with different phases representing the information to be transmitted. During channel estimation, the beacon tag uses a known pilot signal... The signal that modulates the received radio frequency reference signal and reflects it back to the UE. It can be expressed as follows (2):

[0132]

[0133] Among them, h f (t) represents the forward channel traversed by the radio frequency reference signal x(t) from the UE to the Beacon Tag; h b (t) represents the backward channel that the signal travels from the Beacon Tag back to the UE; This represents the self-interference signal introduced by environmental scattering (such as reflection from a wall W). Assume y env (t) can be estimated according to formula (2), and removing it yields the reflected signal from the Beacon Tag represented by the following formula (3).

[0134]

[0135] At this point, due to x(t) and Since everything is known, formula (3) becomes a standard channel estimation problem, and the configuration information acquisition unit 2210 can use any existing estimation method to perform the estimation. Here, the configuration information acquisition unit 2210 actually obtains composite channel parameters through channel estimation, rather than just h. f (t) or h b (t). In this case, the received reflected signal from the Beacon Tag can be further expressed as:

[0136]

[0137] in

[0138]

[0139] This represents the composite channel parameters.

[0140] In the above manner, the configuration information acquisition unit 2210 can complete the channel estimation processing of the beacon tag device for subsequent demodulation of the reflected signal from the beacon tag device.

[0141] Example of configuration information retrieval and processing

[0142] After the configuration information acquisition unit 2210 of the electronic device completes the channel estimation process as described above, the beacon tag device can transmit the tag configuration information to be sent by changing the phase or amplitude of the reflected signal, that is, by using a modulation signal e corresponding to the tag configuration information. jθ(t) The reflected signal is modulated. Following the method described in formula (4) above, the reflected signal y received from the Beacon Tag at this time can be obtained. d (t):

[0143]

[0144] For the received signal, the configuration information acquisition unit 2210 can demodulate it in any appropriate manner to obtain the tag configuration information. For example, methods such as maximum ratio combining (MRC) in the time domain can be used, and the symbols modulated by the beacon tag device can be obtained through demodulation, thereby obtaining the tag configuration information transmitted by the beacon tag device. For example, the tag configuration information obtained by the configuration information acquisition unit 2210 through demodulation and other processing can be a bit sequence of predetermined length, such as the set number of positioning tag devices in the area where the beacon tag device is located.

[0145] (Example processing performed by the positioning unit)

[0146] As mentioned above, an electronic device can be used as a signal source to transmit a predetermined radio frequency reference signal through a transceiver (or by another signal source), and the transceiver can receive a reflected reference signal obtained by activating the positioning beacon tag device to reflect the radio frequency reference signal and optionally modulate the radio frequency reference signal in a predetermined manner.

[0147] The positioning unit 2220, included in the control unit of the electronic device, can use its prior knowledge of the radio frequency reference signal, and optional information regarding the correlation processing of the activation positioning tag device during backscattering (such as information about modulation or time offset), to calculate the correlation function between the transmitted radio frequency reference signal and the reflected reference signal received by the transceiver. It then calculates the round-trip time (RTT) of the radio frequency reference signal (or the arrival time of the reflected reference signal) by determining the peak value of the correlation function. Based on the calculated RTT, the positioning unit 2220 can determine the distance between the electronic device and the corresponding positioning tag device. Based on this distance, the positioning unit 2220 can determine the position of the electronic device using multi-point positioning methods or the like.

[0148] Here, the process by which a signal source of an electronic device sends a radio frequency reference signal to the activated positioning tag device and receives a reflected reference signal provided by the activated positioning tag device via backscattering is similar to the process described earlier in the "Example Processing Performed by the Configuration Information Acquisition Unit" section regarding the activated beacon tag device. The main difference is that the electronic device does not need to demodulate information from the reflected reference signal from the activated positioning tag device; instead, it only needs to calculate the RTT by determining the peak value of the correlation function between the radio frequency reference signal and the reflected signal. The following will focus on describing the above differences.

[0149] Basic example of RRT calculation

[0150] As an example, consider the example process of calculating the RTT for the currently active location tag device Tagi. Optionally, in this embodiment, the positioning unit 2220 performs channel estimation for the active location tag device Tagi through channel estimation processing in a manner similar to the example process performed by the configuration information acquisition unit above, and obtains its composite channel parameters.

[0151] Thus, for the radio frequency reference signal x(t) transmitted by the electronic device, via Tagi with a predetermined pilot signal The signal received by the electronic device after modulation and reflection can be represented as:

[0152]

[0153] To determine the round-trip time by calculating the peak value of the correlation function, the received signal is delayed by the variable τ representing the round-trip time. i You can get

[0154]

[0155] Next, the local RF reference signal x(t) and the known pilot signal can be calculated. The generated local signal and The correlation function between them is used to determine the corresponding time τ when the correlation function reaches its maximum value. i That is, the estimated round-trip time.

[0156] In practice, the above estimated round-trip time The processing can be appropriately simplified according to the actual situation. For example, in an indoor environment, the environmental reflection channel and the tag reflection channel usually change slowly, so the channel parameters can be considered to remain constant during the measurement time. This will be simplified to a constant. In this case, the processing of channel estimation with respect to Tagi can be omitted at least partially.

[0157] Furthermore, when each location tag uses a different address code and is activated in a time-division manner, so that the reference signal from each activated location tag arrives at the electronic device in a time-division manner (i.e., without needing to distinguish the reflected signals of each activated location tag by modulating the reference signal), the pilot signal of each tag's Tagi modulation can be made... This simplifies to 1, thus further simplifying the above formula (8).

[0158] The above describes an example of how the positioning unit 2220 calculates the RTT.

[0159] As mentioned above, in a preferred embodiment, to further accelerate the positioning process, multiple positioning tags within the area where a beacon tag device is located can be configured to have the same address code. Once the electronic device obtains and sends the address code based on the tag configuration information from the beacon tag device, the multiple positioning tags are activated simultaneously.

[0160] In this scenario, to ensure that the positioning unit 2210 in the control unit of the electronic device can still distinguish the reflected reference signals from each positioning tag device and perform RTT calculations accordingly, each positioning tag device can reflect its received radio frequency reference signal at different times, or modulate its received radio frequency reference signal using different modulation frequencies and / or modulation pilot sequences and perform backscattering. Accordingly, the positioning unit 2210 can distinguish these reflected reference signals based on reflection time-related information, modulation frequency-related information, and / or modulation pilot sequence-related information associated with these positioning tag devices (e.g., obtained from tag configuration information along with the address codes of these positioning tag devices), and perform corresponding processing. Next, based on the above RTT example processing, a modified example of the positioning unit 2220's RRT calculation process in the above situation will be described.

[0161] First example of deformation processing for calculating RRT (reflection time dependent)

[0162] In this example, the active positioning tag devices Tag 1-A to Tag 1-C with the same address code reflect their respective received radio frequency reference signals at different times to provide multiple distinguishable reflected reference signals.

[0163] For example, multiple active positioning tag devices, Tag 1-A to Tag 1-C, can sequentially backscatter the radio frequency reference signals they receive in a pre-set order and with a time offset. Figure 11 A schematic diagram illustrating an example of the time offset and transmission order set for multiple positioning tag devices having the same address code according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0164] exist Figure 11 In the examples above, such as the references Figure 3 In the example scenario described, the various positioning tag devices, Tags 1-A through Tags 1-C, in Room 1 all have the same address code. Therefore, when an electronic device obtains and transmits this address code based on the tag configuration information from the Beacon Tag1 device in Room 1, Tags 1-A through Tags 1-C are simultaneously activated. For radio frequency reference signals transmitted by signal sources such as the electronic device, the activated Tags 1-A through Tags 1-C are activated in a predetermined order of Tags 1-A, Tags 1-B, and Tags 1-C with a time offset T. o(For example, 1ms) The received radio frequency reference signal is backscattered sequentially. That is, when one positioning tag device backscatters a signal from the electronic device, other positioning tag devices remain silent according to a pre-configured system and do not modulate any signal. In addition, preferably, to avoid mutual interference, a guard time T is set between the backscatter transmissions of two consecutive positioning tag devices. g (e.g., 50ns).

[0165] exist Figure 11 The example shown includes the predetermined order of Tags 1-A, 1-B, and 1-C, and the time offset T. o (and optional protection time T) g Reflection time-related information, such as that for , can be stored as an additional column in a database. Figure 6A Table (III) or Figure 6B The tables are in the form of (II.1) to (II.3). Accordingly, when the control unit 220 of the electronic device obtains the address codes of Tag 1-A, Tag 1-B and Tag 1-C according to the beacon tag configuration information from Beacon Tag 1, it can simultaneously obtain the above-mentioned reflection time related information of Tag 1-A, Tag 1-B and Tag 1-C for reference by the positioning unit 2220 in the control unit.

[0166] Having obtained the aforementioned reflection time-related information, the positioning unit 2220 can proceed according to the predetermined order and time offset T indicated by the reflection time-related information. o (and optional protection time T) g The transceiver of the electronic device receives the signal at the corresponding time (i.e., in the corresponding order and time interval) as the received signal for the corresponding active positioning tag device (i.e., the reflected reference signal from the active positioning tag device), and performs the RRT calculation process described in the basic example above to determine the RRT for each positioning tag.

[0167] A second variation of the RRT calculation process (modulation frequency dependent)

[0168] In this example, active positioning tag devices with the same address code modulate the received radio frequency reference signal with different modulation frequencies and reflect it to provide multiple distinguishable reflected reference signals.

[0169] For example, multiple active positioning tag devices, Tag 1-A to Tag 1-C, can modulate the received radio frequency reference signal at different frequencies according to a preset frequency offset. Figure 12 A schematic diagram illustrating an example of a frequency offset set for multiple positioning tag devices having the same address code according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0170] exist Figure 12 In the examples shown, such as the references above Figure 3 In the example scenario described, the positioning tag devices Tag 1-A through Tag 1-C in Room 1 all have the same address code. Therefore, when an electronic device obtains and transmits this address code based on the tag configuration information from the Beacon Tag 1 device in Room 1, Tag 1-A through Tag 1-C are simultaneously activated. Then, when a signal source, such as an electronic device, transmits a radio frequency reference signal, the activated Tag 1-A through Tag 1-C each generate a frequency with a frequency offset f. i sine wave cos(f i t), and the sine wave cos(f) i t) is multiplied by the modulated symbol to shift the frequency of its reflected reference signal away from the frequency of the radio frequency reference signal transmitted by the electronic device (here, i = 1, 2, 3, corresponding to Tag 1-A, Tag 1-B, and Tag 1-C, respectively). Frequency offset f i It can be set to f i =i(f d +f g ), f d This indicates the data rate of the positioning tag devices Tag 1-A to Tag 1-C, f g It is a protection frequency between the modulation frequencies of the two activated positioning tag devices to avoid mutual interference.

[0171] exist Figure 12 The example shown includes predetermined numbers for Tag 1-A, Tag 1-B, and Tag 1-C (i = 1, 2, 3, corresponding to Tag 1-A, Tag 1-B, and Tag 1-C respectively), and a data rate f. d Protection frequency f g Modulation frequency-related information, etc., can be stored as an additional column in a database. Figure 6A Table (III) or Figure 6B The tables are in the form of (II.1) to (II.3). Alternatively, the frequency shift f can be directly applied. i The modulation frequency-related information is stored in the table above.

[0172] Accordingly, when the control unit 220 of the electronic device obtains the address codes of Tag 1-A, Tag 1-B and Tag 1-C according to the beacon tag configuration information from Beacon Tag 1, it can simultaneously obtain the above-mentioned modulation frequency related information of Tag 1-A, Tag 1-B and Tag 1-C for reference by the positioning unit 2220 in the control unit.

[0173] Having obtained the aforementioned modulation frequency related information, the positioning unit 2220 can activate the positioning tag device according to the modulation frequency (i.e., frequency offset f) indicated by / obtained from the modulation frequency related information. i The receiving signal (i.e., the reflected reference signal from the active positioning tag device) is obtained in the corresponding frequency band, and the RRT calculation process described in the basic example above is performed to determine the RRT for each positioning tag.

[0174] A third variation of the RRT calculation process (pilot sequence correlation)

[0175] In this example, active positioning tag devices with the same address code use different pilot sequences to modulate the received radio frequency reference signals and reflect them to provide multiple distinguishable reflected reference signals.

[0176] For example, multiple active positioning tag devices, Tag 1-A to Tag 1-C, can modulate the received radio frequency reference signal using multiple pre-set pilot sequences, that is, each modulates the signal using a different pilot sequence. The received radio frequency reference signal is modulated. Here, for example, orthogonal sequences such as Constant Amplitude Zero Autocorrelation (CAZAC) sequences or Walsh-Hadamard sequences are used, so that the electronic device can separate the received reflected reference signals and estimate their respective time delays. Alternatively, where appropriate, non-orthogonal sequences based on Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) technology can also be used as pilot sequences.

[0177] At this time, the transceiver of the electronic device receives the reflected reference signal y. d (t) has the following form:

[0178]

[0179] Here, a relatively complex circuit is set up for the positioning tag device, which can generate a symbol modulation period consistent with that of the electronic device. Since the radio frequency reference signal transmitted by the electronic device is x(t) = 1, we can obtain:

[0180]

[0181] In this example, with Correspondingly, pilot sequence-related information regarding the different pilot sequences modulated for Tag 1-A, Tag 1-B, and Tag 1-C can be stored as an additional column in a database containing... Figure 6A Table (III) or Figure 6B The tables are in the form of (II.1) to (II.3).

[0182] Accordingly, when the control unit 220 of the electronic device obtains the address codes of Tag 1-A, Tag 1-B and Tag 1-C according to the beacon tag configuration information from Beacon Tag 1, it can simultaneously obtain the aforementioned pilot sequence related information of Tag 1-A, Tag 1-B and Tag 1-C for reference by the positioning unit 2220 in the control unit.

[0183] Having obtained the aforementioned pilot sequence information, the positioning unit 2220 can use the pilot sequence of the activated positioning tag device indicated by the pilot sequence information to extract the received signal (i.e., the reflected reference signal from the activated positioning tag device) from the reflected reference signal in the form of formula (9) or (10). or Then, the RRT calculation process described in the basic example above is performed to determine the RRT for each location tag.

[0184] Example of localization processing based on RRT

[0185] Assume that the positioning unit 2220 calculates Tagi's RRT through example processing as described above. The distance between the electronic device and Tagi can then be obtained using the following formula:

[0186]

[0187] Where c represents the speed of light.

[0188] Based on the distance calculated for Tag1-A to Tag1-C, and combined with the planar positions (x1, y1), (x2, y2), and (x3, y3) of Tag1-A to Tag1-C, the planar position (x0, y0) of the electronic device can be calculated, for example, by solving the following equation (12) using the trilateration method:

[0189]

[0190] In this example, the location information regarding the planar positions of Tag 1-A, Tag 1-B, and Tag 1-C can be stored as an additional column in a database containing... Figure 6A Table (III) or Figure 6B The tables are in the form of (II.1) to (II.3). Accordingly, when the control unit 220 of the electronic device obtains the address codes of Tag 1-A, Tag 1-B and Tag 1-C according to the beacon tag configuration information from Beacon Tag 1, it can simultaneously obtain the above-mentioned location information of Tag 1-A, Tag 1-B and Tag 1-C for reference by the positioning unit 2220 in the control unit.

[0191] In this way, the positioning unit 2220 achieves the positioning of the electronic device.

[0192] The above description, with specific examples, illustrates the configuration examples of the control unit 220 and the example processing implemented by its configuration information acquisition unit 2210 and positioning unit 2220. Note that the configuration examples of the control unit and the example processing of related units provided herein are intended only to help those skilled in the art understand further details of the embodiments of this disclosure, and are not intended to constitute any limitation on the functions or processing of the electronic device and its control unit, etc., described above in [2.1 Basic Configuration Examples of Electronic Devices].

[0193] <3. Configuration examples of electronic devices that can be used as beacon tag devices>

[0194] Figure 13 This is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an electronic device that can be used as a beacon tag device according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0195] like Figure 13 As shown, the electronic device 1300 may include a receiving unit 1310, a control unit 1320, a configuration information providing unit 1320, and an optional storage unit 1330.

[0196] Here, each unit of the electronic device 1300 can be included in the processing circuit. It should be noted that the electronic device 1300 may include one or more processing circuits. Furthermore, the processing circuit may include various discrete functional units to perform various different functions and / or operations. It should be noted that these functional units can be physical entities or logical entities, and units with different names may be implemented by the same physical entity. In addition, the electronic device 1300, which can be used as a beacon tag device, may have, for example, the basic functions and physical configuration of a tag device such as an RFID tag. The following description will focus on the functional modules and their processing related to the embodiments of this disclosure, based on the basic functions of a tag device such as an RFID tag.

[0197] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the receiving unit 1310 of the electronic device 1300 can receive signals from sources such as those described above. Figure 2The described electronic device 200 receives the address code of the user equipment and reads it using methods such as existing energy detection and identification (e.g., the receiving unit 1310 may have an energy detection and identification module). When the receiving unit 1310 of the electronic device 1300 receives the address code of the electronic device 1300 itself, it controls the electronic device 1300 to enter an active state from a sleep state. After the electronic device 1300 is activated, the configuration information providing unit 1320 can provide the user equipment with tag configuration information for the positioning tag devices in the area where the electronic device 1300 is located (this information is, for example, pre-stored in the storage unit 1330) in an appropriate manner, so that the user equipment can obtain the address code of the positioning tag devices in the area where the electronic device 1300 is located based on the tag configuration information.

[0198] Using a beacon tag device, such as electronic device 1300, according to an embodiment of this disclosure, a user equipment can first activate a nearby beacon tag device, and then obtain tag configuration information from the activated beacon tag device to obtain the address code of the nearby positioning tag device. This reduces the number of address codes of the positioning tags that the user equipment needs to send, reduces the processing load, and helps to speed up the positioning process.

[0199] The following description, with specific examples, provides further details relating to the electronic device 1300 and its various units that can be used as a beacon tag device.

[0200] (Example of the address code for a beacon tag device)

[0201] Each beacon tag device, including electronic device 1300, has a unique address code (ID), which may consist of, for example, a sequence of binary bits, and may have characteristics such as Figure 4 The bit sequence shown is in the form of {101001011} with a length of 9.

[0202] Preferably, electronic device 1300 and another electronic device adjacent to electronic device 1300 that can be used as a beacon tag device have different address codes. For example, when electronic device 1300 is used as... Figure 3 When the beacon tag device 1 in room 1 of the example shown is used, it has a different address code than the beacon tag devices 2 and 3 in rooms 2 and 3.

[0203] Furthermore, electronic device 1300 and another electronic device that can be used as a beacon tag device and is not adjacent to electronic device 1300 may have the same address code. For example, in a preferred embodiment, adjacent beacon tag devices among a plurality of beacon tag devices may have different address codes. For example, when electronic device 1300 is in Figure 5 When the beacon tag device in Area 1 is shown, it can have the same address code as one of the beacon tag devices in Area 2. Using this preferred configuration, the number of address codes of the beacon tag devices that the user equipment acquires and / or transmits can be reduced, thereby further reducing processing load and / or accelerating positioning speed.

[0204] (Example processing that provides tag configuration information)

[0205] After the electronic device 1300 is activated by the address code sent by the user equipment, the configuration information providing unit 1320 can provide the user equipment with tag configuration information for the positioning tag device in the area where the electronic device 1300 is located in an appropriate manner.

[0206] As an example, the receiving unit 1310 of the electronic device 1300 can receive a predetermined radio frequency reference signal transmitted by a user equipment as a signal source (or by another signal source). At this time, the configuration information providing unit 1320 modulates tag configuration information, such as that stored in the storage unit 1330, onto the received radio frequency reference signal, and emits the modulated radio frequency signal (i.e., the reflected signal) through backscattering for the user equipment to receive. The user equipment obtains the tag configuration information through demodulation processing based on the reflected signal, and then obtains the address code of the positioning tag device in the area where the electronic device 1300 is located based on the tag configuration information.

[0207] The configuration information providing unit 1320 can, for example, change the antenna impedance of the electronic device serving as a beacon tag device according to the tag configuration information to be transmitted, thereby changing the backscattered radio frequency signal to achieve the above-mentioned modulation processing. For example, the configuration information providing unit 1320 can transmit the tag configuration information to be transmitted by changing the phase or amplitude of the reflected signal, that is, by using a modulation signal e corresponding to the tag configuration information. jθ(t) The reflected signal is modulated. The configuration information providing unit 1320 can implement the specific modulation processing in various existing ways, which will not be elaborated here.

[0208] As an example, the tag configuration information stored in storage unit 1330 and issued by configuration information providing unit 1320 may include, for example, the set number of the positioning tag devices in the area where electronic device 1300 is located. Figure 6A or Figure 6BThe tag configuration information can be in the form of one of the tables (II.1) to (II.3). For example, the tag configuration information can be a bit sequence of length 3 {101}, which represents the set number of the location tag devices {Tag2-A, Tag2-B, Tag2-C}. After the user equipment obtains the tag configuration information in the form of the set number provided by the configuration information providing unit 1320, it can send it to the base station and receive the address code of each location tag device in the location tag set corresponding to the above number from the base station.

[0209] Alternatively, the tag configuration information stored in storage unit 1330 and issued by configuration information providing unit 1320 may include a different address code for each positioning tag device within the area where electronic device 1300 is located. In this case, the tag configuration information stored in storage unit 1330 may, for example, have... Figure 6B The tag configuration information may be in the form of one of the tables (II.1) to (II.3). For example, the tag configuration information may include multiple bit sequences of length 9, each bit sequence representing an address code representing a location tag device. In this case, after the user equipment obtains the tag configuration information provided by the configuration information providing unit 1320, it can directly read the address code of each location tag device included therein.

[0210] As an example, the tag configuration information provided by the configuration information providing unit 1320 may include the same address code for each positioning tag device within the area where the electronic device 1300 is located.

[0211] In this case, preferably, the tag configuration information also includes modulation frequency, modulation pilot sequence, and / or reflection time related information of the positioning tag devices within the area where the electronic device 1300 is located. Modulation frequency related information may, for example, indicate the offset between modulation frequencies used by each positioning tag device within the area where the electronic device 1300 is located when modulating its respective received radio frequency reference signal. Furthermore, modulation pilot sequence related information may, for example, indicate the modulation pilot sequence used by each positioning tag device within the area where the electronic device 1300 is located when modulating its respective received radio frequency reference signal. Reflection time related information may, for example, indicate the offset between the times during which each positioning tag device within the area where the electronic device 1300 is located reflects its respective received radio frequency reference signal.

[0212] Alternatively, the tag configuration information may also include the location information of the positioning tag device within the area where the electronic device 1300 is located.

[0213] The aforementioned optional modulation frequency, modulation pilot sequence, and / or reflection time-related information, as well as optional location information, can be used as, for example... Figure 6BThe table (II.1) to (II.3) is stored in storage unit 1330 as an additional column.

[0214] (Example of interacting with user equipment to perform channel estimation processing)

[0215] As previously described, in order to enable the user equipment to demodulate the reflected signal, in a preferred example, the electronic equipment used as the user equipment can pre-estimate the channel traversed by the backscattered signal from the activated beacon tag device, including referencing... Figure 9 and Figure 10 Describe the environmental reflection channel and the beacon tag device reflection channel (such as through...) Figure 8 (The control unit of the electronic device shown is implemented).

[0216] Therefore, the electronic device 1300, which can be used as a beacon tag device, can perform various interactions with the user equipment regarding channel estimation according to pre-set parameters. For example, the electronic device 1300 can, as follows: Figure 8 Like the beacon tag device shown, it first enters a silent mode after activation, during which the configuration information providing unit 1320 does not modulate any signal. The silent period can be preset (e.g., 16 μs) and is known to both the electronic device 1300 and the user equipment side. During this period, the user equipment follows the above reference. Figure 8 The described method uses a radio frequency reference signal x(t) to estimate the environmental reflection channel. Then, after the quiet period ends, electronic device 1300 can... Figure 9 Similar to the beacon tag device shown, the configuration information providing unit 1320 begins to modulate and reflect the radio frequency reference signal x(t) from the user equipment. At this time, the configuration information providing unit 1320 utilizes the pilot signal known from the user equipment side. Modulation is performed so that the user equipment side can estimate the channel parameters reflected by electronic device 1300. This channel estimation time can be preset (e.g., 32 μs) and is known to both electronic device 1300 and the user equipment side. In this way, electronic device 1300 can interact with the user equipment to complete the channel estimation processing of electronic device 1300, which can then be used by the user equipment to demodulate the reflected signal from electronic device 1300.

[0217] After the electronic device 1300 completes the channel estimation process by interacting with the user equipment in the manner described above, the electronic device 1300 can transmit the tag configuration information to be sent by changing the phase or amplitude of the reflected signal, that is, by using a modulation signal e corresponding to the tag configuration information. jθ(t) The reflected signal is modulated so that the user equipment can demodulate it in an appropriate manner to obtain the tag configuration information.

[0218] The above describes a configuration example of an electronic device 1300 that can be used as a beacon tag device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Note that the electronic device 1300 of this embodiment can be used in conjunction with the above-described... Figures 2 to 12 The electronic device described interacts with the user equipment side, and therefore can realize all the functions and processes of the beacon tag device involved in <2. Configuration Example of Electronic Device on User Equipment Side> and obtain all the benefits, which will not be repeated here.

[0219] <4. Configuration examples of electronic devices that can be used as positioning tag devices>

[0220] Figure 14 This is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an electronic device that can be used as a beacon tag device according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0221] like Figure 14 As shown, the electronic device 1400 may include a receiving unit 1410 and a reflected reference signal providing unit 1420.

[0222] Here, each unit of the electronic device 1400 can be included in the processing circuit. It should be noted that the electronic device 1400 may include one or more processing circuits. Furthermore, the processing circuit may include various discrete functional units to perform various different functions and / or operations. It should be noted that these functional units can be physical entities or logical entities, and units with different names may be implemented by the same physical entity. In addition, the electronic device 1400, which can be used as a positioning tag device, may have, for example, the basic functions and physical configuration of a tag device such as an RFID tag. The following description will focus on the functional modules and their processing related to the embodiments of this disclosure, based on the basic functions of a tag device such as an RFID tag.

[0223] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the receiving unit 1410 of the electronic device 1400 can receive signals from sources such as those described above. Figure 2 The electronic device 200 describes the address code of the user equipment, and reads the address code using methods such as existing power detection and identification. When the receiving unit 1410 receives the address code of the electronic device 1400 itself, the electronic device 1400 can enter an active state from a sleep state. As an example, the receiving unit 1410 can receive a predetermined radio frequency reference signal transmitted by the user equipment as a signal source (or by another signal source). After the electronic device 1400 is activated, the reflection reference signal providing unit 1420 can emit the reflected radio frequency reference signal (i.e., emit a reflected reference signal) by backscattering, for example, so that the user equipment can locate itself based on the reflected reference signal.

[0224] The following description, with specific examples, provides further details relating to the electronic device 1300 and its various units that can be used as a beacon tag device.

[0225] (Example of the address code for a location tag device)

[0226] Each positioning tag device, including electronic device 1400, has a unique address code (ID), which may consist of, for example, a sequence of binary bits, and may have characteristics such as Figure 4 The bit sequence shown is in the form of {101001011} with a length of 9.

[0227] Electronic device 1400, as a location tagging device, and other location tagging devices within the same beacon tagging device area can have different address codes. For example, when electronic device 1400 is used as... Figure 3 In the example shown, when the location tag device Tag 1-A is in Room 1, that is, in the area where the beacon tag device Tag 1 is located, the electronic device 1400 and other location tag devices Tag 1-B and Tag 1-C in that area have different address codes, such as... Figure 6A Table (III) or Figure 6B As shown in Table (II.1). In this case, the user equipment can sequentially send the address codes of these positioning tag devices to activate each positioning tag device in turn.

[0228] Alternatively, to accelerate positioning, the electronic device 1400, which acts as a positioning tag device, and other positioning tag devices within the same beacon tag device area can have the same address code. In this case, when the user equipment sends the address code, each positioning tag device will be activated simultaneously. At this time, each positioning tag device provides a reflected reference signal in a pre-set specific manner, making these reflected reference signals distinguishable to the user equipment.

[0229] (Example processing of reflected reference signals provided)

[0230] For example, when the electronic device 1400, which is a positioning tag device, and other positioning tag devices (located in the same beacon tag device area as the electronic device 1400) have the same address code, in order to make the reflected reference signals from each positioning tag device distinguishable for the user equipment, the reflected reference signal providing unit 1420 of the electronic device 1400 will provide the reflected reference signal in a specific way that is preset.

[0231] As an example, the reflection reference signal providing unit 1420 can reflect the received radio frequency reference signal at a predetermined time. Alternatively, the reflection reference signal providing unit 1420 can modulate the received radio frequency reference signal and reflect it using a predetermined modulation frequency and / or modulation pilot sequence. For example, the reflection reference signal providing unit 1420 can change the antenna impedance of the electronic device acting as a positioning tag device according to these modulation or reflection settings, thereby changing the backscattered radio frequency signal and thus realizing the above-described modulation or reflection processing. The reflection reference signal providing unit 1420 can implement the specific modulation processing in various existing ways, which will not be elaborated here.

[0232] In this scenario, the user equipment can obtain not only the address codes of these location tags from the beacon tag device, but also information related to the reflection time, modulation frequency, and / or modulation pilot sequence of each location tag device. Therefore, when multiple location tags, including the electronic device 1400, are simultaneously activated and emit multiple reflection reference signals, the user equipment can distinguish or separate the reflection reference signals from each location tag device based on the obtained information related to the reflection time, modulation frequency, and / or modulation pilot sequence.

[0233] Further details about these examples will be described below.

[0234] Examples related to reflection time

[0235] In this example, electronic device 1400, acting as an active positioning tag device Tag 1-A, reflects its respective received radio frequency reference signals at different times, along with active positioning tag devices Tag 1-B and Tag 1-C (e.g., via a reflective reference signal providing unit) having the same address code, to provide multiple distinguishable reflective reference signals.

[0236] For example, multiple activation positioning tag devices, Tag 1-A to Tag 1-C, can be configured according to, for example... Figure 11 As shown, in the predetermined order of Tags 1-A, Tags 1-B, and Tags 1-C with a time offset T o (For example, 1ms) The received radio frequency reference signal is backscattered sequentially. Furthermore, preferably, to avoid mutual interference, a guard time T is established between the backscattering transmissions of two consecutive positioning tag devices. g (e.g., 50ns).

[0237] At this point, including the above predetermined sequence and time offset T o (and optional protection time T) g Reflection time-related information, such as that for , can be stored as an additional column in a database. Figure 6ATable (III) or Figure 6B The tables in the form of (II.1) to (II.3) are provided for user equipment to obtain and to distinguish or separate the reflected reference signals from each positioning tag device based on such reflection time-related information.

[0238] Examples related to modulation frequency

[0239] In this example, electronic device 1400, acting as an activation positioning tag device Tag 1-A, modulates the received radio frequency reference signals with different modulation frequencies and reflects them, along with activation positioning tag devices Tag 1-B and Tag 1-C (e.g., via a reflection reference signal providing unit) that have the same address code, to provide multiple distinguishable reflection reference signals.

[0240] For example, multiple activation positioning tag devices, Tag 1-A to Tag 1-C, can be accessed via, for example... Figure 12 As shown, it deflects by f according to a preset frequency. i The received radio frequency reference signal is modulated at different frequencies. Activated Tags 1-A to 1-C generate frequencies with a frequency offset f, respectively. i sine wave cos(f i t), and the sine wave cos(f) i t) is multiplied by the modulated symbol to shift the frequency of its reflected reference signal away from the frequency of the RF reference signal transmitted by the user equipment (here, i = 1, 2, 3, corresponding to Tag 1-A, Tag 1-B, and Tag 1-C, respectively). Frequency offset f i It can be set to f i =i·(f d +f g ), f d This indicates the data rate of the positioning tag devices Tag 1-A to Tag 1-C, f g It is a protection frequency between the modulation frequencies of the two activated positioning tag devices to avoid mutual interference.

[0241] At this time, the predetermined numbers (i = 1, 2, 3, corresponding to Tag 1-A, Tag 1-B, and Tag 1-C respectively) of Tag 1-A, Tag 1-B, and Tag 1-C, and the data rate f are included. d Protection frequency f g Modulation frequency related information (alternatively, directly including frequency offset f) i Modulation frequency related information can be stored as an additional column in a database. Figure 6A Table (III) or Figure 6BThe tables in the form of (II.1) to (II.3) are provided for user equipment to obtain and to distinguish or separate the reflected reference signals from each positioning tag device based on such modulation frequency related information.

[0242] Examples related to modulation sequences

[0243] In this example, electronic device 1400, acting as an activation positioning tag device Tag 1-A, modulates the received radio frequency reference signal with different pilot sequences and reflects it, along with activation positioning tag devices Tag 1-B and Tag 1-C (e.g., via a reflection reference signal providing unit) that have the same address code, to provide multiple distinguishable reflection reference signals.

[0244] For example, multiple active positioning tag devices, Tag 1-A to Tag 1-C, can modulate the received radio frequency reference signal using multiple pre-set pilot sequences, that is, each modulates the signal using a different pilot sequence. The received radio frequency reference signal is modulated. Here, for example, orthogonal sequences such as CAZAC sequences or Walsh-Hadamard sequences are used. Alternatively, non-orthogonal sequences based on NOMA techniques can also be used as pilot sequences when appropriate.

[0245] At this point, pilot sequence related information used to indicate the pilot sequences used by Tag 1-A, Tag 1-B, and Tag 1-C respectively can be stored as an additional column in a database containing... Figure 6A Table (III) or Figure 6B The tables in the form of (II.1) to (II.3) are provided for user equipment to obtain and to distinguish or separate the reflected reference signals from each positioning tag device based on such pilot sequence related information.

[0246] The above describes a configuration example of an electronic device 1400 that can be used as a positioning tag device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Note that the electronic device 1400 of this embodiment can be compared with the above-described... Figures 2 to 12 The electronic devices described on the user equipment side and the reference Figure 13 The described electronic device can interact with the beacon tag device, and therefore can realize and obtain all the functions and processes of the positioning tag device involved in <2. Configuration example of electronic device on user equipment side> and <3. Configuration example of electronic device used as beacon tag device>, which will not be repeated here.

[0247] <5. Examples of Information Interaction Processes>

[0248] Next, we will refer to Figure 15An example describing the information interaction process of an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0249] Figure 15 This is an example schematic diagram illustrating the information interaction process of an embodiment of the present disclosure, which schematically shows a user equipment (UE), a beacon tag, and location tags Tag1 and Tagn within the area where the beacon tag is located, and possibly other location tags Tag2, ..., Tagn-1, etc. are omitted. In this example, the location tags Tag1, ..., Tagn have different address codes.

[0250] like Figure 15 As shown, in step S1501, the User Equipment (UE) sends the address code of the Beacon Tag to activate the Beacon Tag. After the Beacon Tag enters the activated state, in step S1502, tag configuration information is provided to the UE. The Beacon Tag can achieve the above-mentioned provision steps, for example, by modulating and backscattering the radio frequency reference signal sent by the UE or other signal sources. Based on the acquired tag configuration information, the UE obtains the address codes and location information of the positioning tag devices Tag1, ..., Tagn within the area where the Beacon Tag is located. The UE can, for example, receive the address codes and location information from the base station based on the tag configuration information, or directly read the address codes and location information from the tag configuration information if it contains relevant information.

[0251] Next, in step S1503-1, the UE sends the address code of the obtained positioning tag device Tag1 to activate Tag1. After entering the activated state, Tag1 can reflect radio frequency reference signals, such as those from the UE or other signal sources, to transmit the reflected reference signals to the UE in step S1504-1. The UE can perform similar processing for positioning tag devices Tag2, ..., Tagn sequentially. After the UE has completed the processing of steps S1503-n and S1504-n, which are similar to steps S1503-1 and S1504-1 respectively, for Tagn, it can perform positioning processing based on the reflected reference signals received from each positioning tag device Tag1, ..., Tagn. As an example, the UE can calculate the RTT of each reflected reference signal and estimate the distance between the UE and the corresponding positioning tag device, thereby determining the UE's location by combining the location information of the positioning tag device, for example, through a multi-point positioning method.

[0252] Figure 15 The example flow shown can be referenced above. Figures 1 to 14The electronic device 200 on the user equipment side, the electronic device 1300 which can be used as a beacon tag device, and the electronic device 1400 which can be used as a positioning tag device are implemented in this way. Therefore, the advantages and benefits described in the configuration examples of the above-mentioned electronic devices can be obtained, and will not be described in detail here.

[0253] The foregoing describes configuration examples of an electronic device according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Note that some or all of these configuration examples can be combined with each other to provide a corresponding positioning system. For example, it is possible to follow the above references... Figure 3 The example application scenario describes a method of setting up multiple beacon tag devices and positioning tag devices associated with each beacon tag device (and optionally storing appropriate information in a base station capable of interacting with the user equipment), thereby constituting a positioning system suitable for the user equipment.

[0254] <6. Method Examples>

[0255] The methods performed in an electronic device according to embodiments of this disclosure will now be described in detail. Note that these methods are implemented in accordance with the above-mentioned methods. Figures 1 to 15 Corresponding to the described device configuration examples, the details and benefits of the above device configuration examples are appropriately applied to the following method embodiments.

[0256] [6.1 User Equipment Side Method Implementation Example]

[0257] Figure 16 This is a flowchart illustrating a process example of a positioning method on the user equipment side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which can be seen, for example, from reference... Figure 2 The described user equipment side electronic device 200 (e.g., may include reference) Figure 8 The functional units of the described electronic device are implemented.

[0258] like Figure 16 As shown, in step S1601, address codes of multiple beacon tag devices are sent to sequentially activate beacon tag devices near the electronic device. Next, in step S1602, tag configuration information is obtained from each activated beacon tag device, and the address codes of positioning tag devices within the area where that beacon tag device is located are obtained based on the tag configuration information. Next, in step S1603, the obtained address codes of each positioning tag device are sent to activate the corresponding positioning tag device. In step S1604, reflected reference signals obtained by reflecting radio frequency reference signals from each activated positioning tag device can be obtained, and the reflected reference signals are used to locate the electronic device.

[0259] Optionally, the method for positioning may further include: receiving the address codes of the plurality of beacon tag devices in advance from the base station.

[0260] Optionally, the tag configuration information obtained from the activated beacon tag device in step S1602 may include the set number of the location tag devices in the area where the beacon tag device is located. At this time, the address code of each location tag device in the set can be received from the base station according to the number.

[0261] Optionally, the tag configuration information obtained from the activated beacon tag device in step S1602 includes the address code of each positioning tag device within the area where the beacon tag device is located.

[0262] In one example, adjacent beacon tag devices among the multiple beacon tag devices have different address codes. Alternatively, at least two non-adjacent beacon tag devices among the multiple beacon tag devices have the same address code.

[0263] Optionally, in this positioning method, for a positioning tag device near the boundary of the area where two adjacent active beacon tag devices are located, tag configuration information related to the positioning tag device can be obtained from the two adjacent active beacon tag devices respectively.

[0264] Optionally, multiple positioning tags within the area where a beacon tag device is located have different address codes, and in the positioning method, the address codes of the multiple positioning tags are sent sequentially to activate the multiple positioning tags sequentially.

[0265] Alternatively, multiple location tag devices within the area where a beacon tag device is located may have the same address code, and in the method for location, the same address code may be sent simultaneously to activate the multiple location tag devices at the same time.

[0266] In this scenario, the positioning method may optionally receive multiple reflected reference signals obtained by the activated plurality of positioning tag devices modulating the radio frequency reference signal using different modulation frequencies and / or modulation pilot sequences and then reflecting it. In this case, the positioning method further includes obtaining the modulation frequency and / or modulation pilot sequence of each of the plurality of positioning tag devices based on tag configuration information obtained from the one beacon tag device.

[0267] Alternatively, in this positioning method, multiple reflected reference signals reflected by the plurality of positioning tag devices at different times are received after activation. In this case, the positioning method further includes obtaining the time of each of the plurality of positioning tag devices based on tag configuration information obtained from the one beacon tag device.

[0268] Optionally, the positioning method further includes: obtaining location information of positioning tag devices within the area where the beacon tag device is located, based on tag configuration information obtained from each activated beacon tag device; calculating the distance between the activated positioning tag device and the electronic device using the arrival time of the reflected reference signal of each activated positioning tag device; and determining the location of the electronic device based on the location information of each activated positioning tag device and the distance between each activated positioning tag device and the electronic device.

[0269] Alternatively, the method for positioning may further include transmitting the radio frequency reference signal.

[0270] Alternatively, when multiple electronic devices are present, the multiple electronic devices may sequentially execute the above-described positioning method according to the scheduling of the base station, so as to sequentially activate the beacon tag device near each electronic device and perform related processing. Alternatively, the multiple electronic devices may each operate in D2D mode and sequentially execute the above-described positioning method through distributed scheduling, so as to sequentially activate the beacon tag device near each electronic device and perform related processing.

[0271] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the entity performing the above method may be an electronic device 200 (including reference refractory) according to embodiments of this disclosure. Figure 8 The functional units of the described electronic device are therefore applicable here as well.

[0272] [6.2 Method Embodiment on the Beacon Tag Device Side]

[0273] Figure 17 This is a flowchart illustrating a process example of a positioning method on the beacon tag device side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which can be seen, for example, from reference... Figure 13 The described electronic device 1300, which can be used as a beacon tag device, is implemented.

[0274] like Figure 17 As shown, in step S1701, upon receiving the address code from the user equipment, the electronic device can be activated from a sleep state. Next, in step S1702, tag configuration information is provided to the user equipment, enabling the user equipment to obtain the address code of the positioning tag device within the area where the electronic device is located, based on the tag configuration information.

[0275] Optionally, the current electronic device in the positioning method and another electronic device adjacent to the current electronic device may have different address codes.

[0276] Alternatively, the current electronic device in the positioning method may have the same address code as another electronic device that is not adjacent to the current electronic device.

[0277] Optionally, the tag configuration information provided in step S1702 may include the number of the set of positioning tag devices in the area where the electronic device is located.

[0278] Alternatively, the tag configuration information provided in step S1702 may include a different address code for each positioning tag device within the area where the electronic device is located.

[0279] Alternatively, the tag configuration information provided in step S1702 may include the same address code for each positioning tag device within the area where the electronic device is located.

[0280] In this case, preferably, the tag configuration information also includes modulation frequency, modulation pilot sequence, and / or reflection time-related information of the positioning tag devices within the area where the electronic device is located. For example, modulation frequency-related information can indicate the offset between modulation frequencies used by each positioning tag device within the area of ​​the electronic device to modulate its respective received radio frequency reference signal. For example, modulation pilot sequence-related information can indicate the modulation pilot sequence used by each positioning tag device within the area of ​​the electronic device to modulate its respective received radio frequency reference signal. For example, reflection time-related information indicates the offset between the times during which each positioning tag device within the area of ​​the electronic device reflects its respective received radio frequency reference signal.

[0281] Alternatively, the tag configuration information provided in step S1702 may also include the location information of the positioning tag device within the area where the electronic device is located.

[0282] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the subject performing the above method may be an electronic device 1300 according to embodiments of this disclosure, and therefore all aspects of the embodiments of electronic device 1300 described above are applicable here.

[0283] [6.3 Method Embodiment for Positioning Tag Device]

[0284] Figure 18 This is a flowchart illustrating a process example of a positioning method on the positioning tag device side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which can be seen, for example, from reference... Figure 14 The described electronic device 1400, which can be used as a positioning tag device, is implemented.

[0285] like Figure 18As shown, in step S1801, when an address code from the electronic device is received from the user equipment, the electronic device is activated from a sleep state. Next, in step S1802, the received radio frequency reference signal is reflected so that the user equipment can perform positioning based on the reflected reference signal.

[0286] Optionally, in step S1802, the received radio frequency reference signal can be modulated and reflected using a predetermined modulation frequency and / or modulation pilot sequence.

[0287] Optionally, in step S1802, the received radio frequency reference signal may be reflected at a predetermined time.

[0288] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the subject performing the above method may be an electronic device 1400 according to embodiments of this disclosure, and therefore all aspects of the embodiments of the electronic device 1400 described above are applicable here.

[0289] <7. Application Examples>

[0290] The technology disclosed herein can be applied to a variety of products.

[0291] For example, the electronic device 200 on the user equipment side can be various user equipment, which can be implemented as a mobile terminal (such as a smartphone, tablet PC, laptop PC, portable gaming terminal, portable / dongle-type mobile router, and digital camera device) or an in-vehicle terminal (such as a car navigation device). The user equipment can also be implemented as a terminal performing machine-to-machine (M2M) communication (also known as a machine-type communication (MTC) terminal). Furthermore, the user equipment can be a wireless communication module (such as an integrated circuit module comprising a single chip) installed on each of the aforementioned user equipment.

[0292] Furthermore, the electronic device 1300, which can be used as a beacon tag device, and the electronic device 1400, which can be used as a positioning tag device, can be implemented as a tag device such as a passive radio frequency identification (RFID) tag. The tag device is normally in a dormant state and does not emit signals; it only backscatters (sometimes referred to as reflection) the radio frequency signal from the signal source to the reader after being woken up or activated. During the backscattering of the radio frequency signal, the tag device modulates the backscattered radio frequency signal according to the information to be transmitted, such as by changing its antenna impedance, thus achieving modulation of the reflected radio frequency signal.

[0293] [Application examples related to user equipment]

[0294] (First application example)

[0295] Figure 19 This is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a smartphone 2000 to which the technologies of this disclosure can be applied. The smartphone 2000 includes a processor 2001, a memory 2002, a storage device 2003, an external connection interface 2004, a camera device 2006, a sensor 2007, a microphone 2008, an input device 2009, a display device 2010, a speaker 2011, a wireless communication interface 2012, one or more antenna switches 2015, one or more antennas 2016, a bus 2017, a battery 2018, and an auxiliary controller 2019.

[0296] The processor 2001 can be, for example, a CPU or a system-on-a-chip (SoC), and controls the application layer and other functions of the smartphone 2000. The memory 2002 includes RAM and ROM, and stores data and programs executed by the processor 2001. The storage device 2003 can include storage media such as semiconductor memory and hard disks. The external connectivity interface 2004 is an interface for connecting external devices (such as memory cards and Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices) to the smartphone 2000.

[0297] The camera device 2006 includes an image sensor (such as a charge-coupled device (CCD) and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)) and generates captured images. The sensor 2007 may include a set of sensors, such as a measurement sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an accelerometer. The microphone 2008 converts sound input to the smartphone 2000 into an audio signal. The input device 2009 includes, for example, a touch sensor, keypad, keyboard, buttons, or switches configured to detect touches on the screen of the display device 2010 and receives operations or information input from the user. The display device 2010 includes a screen (such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) and an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display) and displays the output image from the smartphone 2000. The speaker 2011 converts the audio signal output from the smartphone 2000 into sound.

[0298] The wireless communication interface 2012 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced) and performs wireless communication. The wireless communication interface 2012 typically includes, for example, a BB processor 2013 and RF circuitry 2014. The BB processor 2013 can perform, for example, encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and multiplexing / demultiplexing, and performs various types of signal processing for wireless communication. Meanwhile, the RF circuitry 2014 can include, for example, mixers, filters, and amplifiers, and transmits and receives wireless signals via an antenna 2016. The wireless communication interface 2012 can be a single chip module on which the BB processor 2013 and RF circuitry 2014 are integrated. Figure 19As shown, the wireless communication interface 2012 may include multiple BB processors 2013 and multiple RF circuits 2014. Although Figure 19 An example is shown in which the wireless communication interface 2012 includes multiple BB processors 2013 and multiple RF circuits 2014, but the wireless communication interface 2012 may also include a single BB processor 2013 or a single RF circuit 2014.

[0299] In addition to cellular communication schemes, the wireless communication interface 2012 can support other types of wireless communication schemes, such as short-range wireless communication schemes, near-field communication schemes, and wireless local area network (LAN) schemes. In this case, the wireless communication interface 2012 may include a BB processor 2013 and RF circuitry 2014 for each wireless communication scheme.

[0300] Each of the antenna switches 2015 switches the connection destination of antenna 916 among multiple circuits (e.g., circuits for different wireless communication schemes) included in the wireless communication interface 2012.

[0301] Each of the antennas 2016 includes one or more antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used by the wireless communication interface 2012 to transmit and receive wireless signals. Figure 19 As shown, the smartphone 2000 may include multiple antennas 2016. Although Figure 19 An example is shown in which the smartphone 2000 includes multiple antennas 2016, but the smartphone 2000 may also include a single antenna 2016.

[0302] Furthermore, the smartphone 2000 may include an antenna 2016 for each wireless communication scheme. In this case, the antenna switch 2015 can be omitted from the configuration of the smartphone 2000.

[0303] Bus 2017 connects processor 2001, memory 2002, storage device 2003, external connection interface 2004, camera device 2006, sensor 2007, microphone 2008, input device 2009, display device 2010, speaker 2011, wireless communication interface 2012, and auxiliary controller 2019 to each other. Battery 2018 supplies power to... Figure 19 The various blocks of the smartphone 2000 shown are powered, and the feeders are partially shown as dashed lines in the diagram. The auxiliary controller 2019 operates the minimum necessary functions of the smartphone 2000, for example, in sleep mode.

[0304] exist Figure 19 The smartphone 2000 shown is based on the previous reference Figure 2The transceiver 210 in the described electronic device 200 can be implemented via a wireless communication interface 2012. At least a portion of the functions of the control unit 220 in the electronic device 200 can be implemented by a processor 2001 or an auxiliary controller 2019. For example, the processor 2001 or the auxiliary controller 2019 can execute at least a portion of the functions of the control unit 220 by executing instructions stored in the memory 2002 or the storage device 2003, such as implementing positioning processing based on a reflection reference signal. Furthermore, the storage unit 230 in the electronic device 200 can be implemented via the memory 2002 or the storage device 2003.

[0305] (Second application example)

[0306] Figure 20 This is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a car navigation device 2120 to which the technologies of this disclosure can be applied. The car navigation device 2120 includes a processor 2121, a memory 2122, a Global Positioning System (GPS) module 2124, a sensor 2125, a data interface 2126, a content player 2127, a storage medium interface 2128, an input device 2129, a display device 2130, a speaker 2131, a wireless communication interface 2133, one or more antenna switches 2136, one or more antennas 2137, and a battery 2138.

[0307] The processor 2121 can be, for example, a CPU or a SoC, and controls the navigation function and other functions of the car navigation device 2120. The memory 2122 includes RAM and ROM, and stores data and programs executed by the processor 2121.

[0308] GPS module 2124 uses GPS signals received from GPS satellites to measure the location (such as latitude, longitude, and altitude) of car navigation device 2120. Sensor 2125 may include a set of sensors, such as a gyroscope sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an air pressure sensor. Data interface 2126 is connected to, for example, an in-vehicle network 2141 via a terminal not shown, and acquires data generated by the vehicle (such as vehicle speed data).

[0309] Content player 2127 reproduces content stored on storage media (such as CDs and DVDs), which is inserted into storage media interface 2128. Input device 2129 includes, for example, a touch sensor, button, or switch configured to detect touch on the screen of display device 2130, and receives operations or information input from the user. Display device 2130 includes a screen such as an LCD or OLED display and displays images or reproduced content for navigation functions. Speaker 2131 outputs sound for navigation functions or reproduced content.

[0310] The wireless communication interface 2133 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced) and performs wireless communication. The wireless communication interface 2133 typically includes, for example, a BB processor 2134 and RF circuitry 2135. The BB processor 2134 can perform, for example, encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and multiplexing / demultiplexing, and performs various types of signal processing for wireless communication. Meanwhile, the RF circuitry 2135 can include, for example, mixers, filters, and amplifiers, and transmits and receives wireless signals via antenna 2137. The wireless communication interface 2133 can also be a chip module on which the BB processor 2134 and RF circuitry 2135 are integrated. Figure 20 As shown, the wireless communication interface 2133 may include multiple BB processors 2134 and multiple RF circuits 2135. Although Figure 20 An example is shown in which the wireless communication interface 2133 includes multiple BB processors 2134 and multiple RF circuits 2135, but the wireless communication interface 2133 may also include a single BB processor 2134 or a single RF circuit 2135.

[0311] In addition to cellular communication schemes, wireless communication interface 2133 can support other types of wireless communication schemes, such as short-range wireless communication schemes, near-field communication schemes, and wireless LAN schemes. In this case, for each wireless communication scheme, wireless communication interface 2133 may include BB processor 2134 and RF circuitry 2135.

[0312] Each of the antenna switches 2136 switches the connection destination of the antenna 2137 among multiple circuits (such as circuits for different wireless communication schemes) included in the wireless communication interface 2133.

[0313] Each of the antennas 2137 includes one or more antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used for transmitting and receiving wireless signals through the wireless communication interface 2133. Figure 20 As shown, the car navigation device 2120 may include multiple antennas 2137. Although Figure 20 An example is shown in which the car navigation device 2120 includes multiple antennas 2137, but the car navigation device 2120 may also include a single antenna 2137.

[0314] Furthermore, the car navigation device 2120 may include an antenna 2137 for each wireless communication scheme. In this case, the antenna switch 2136 can be omitted from the configuration of the car navigation device 2120.

[0315] Battery 2138 via feeder to Figure 20The various blocks of the car navigation device 2120 shown are powered, and the feeders are partially shown as dashed lines in the figure. Battery 2138 accumulates the power supplied from the vehicle.

[0316] exist Figure 20 The car navigation device 2120 shown is previously referred to Figure 2 The transceiver 210 in the described electronic device 200 can be implemented via a wireless communication interface 2133. At least a portion of the functions of the control unit 220 in the electronic device 200 can be implemented by a processor 2121. For example, the processor 2121 can execute at least a portion of the functions of the control unit 220 by executing instructions stored in the memory 2122, such as implementing positioning processing based on a reflection reference signal. Furthermore, the storage unit 230 in the electronic device 200 can be implemented via the memory 2122.

[0317] The technology disclosed herein can also be implemented as an in-vehicle system (or vehicle) 2140 including one or more of the following blocks: a car navigation device 2120, an in-vehicle network 2141, and a vehicle module 2142. The vehicle module 2142 generates vehicle data (such as vehicle speed, engine speed, and fault information) and outputs the generated data to the in-vehicle network 2141.

[0318] Preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present disclosure is by no means limited to the examples described above. Various changes and modifications can be made by those skilled in the art within the scope of the appended claims, and it should be understood that such changes and modifications naturally fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure.

[0319] For example, the units shown in the dashed boxes in the functional block diagrams shown in the attached figures represent that the functional unit is optional in the corresponding device, and the optional functional units can be combined in an appropriate manner to achieve the desired function.

[0320] For example, the multiple functions included in one unit in the above embodiments can be implemented by separate devices. Alternatively, the multiple functions implemented by multiple units in the above embodiments can be implemented by separate devices respectively. In addition, one of the above functions can be implemented by multiple units. Needless to say, such a configuration is included within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0321] In this specification, the steps described in the flowchart include not only processes executed sequentially in the stated order, but also processes executed in parallel or individually, rather than necessarily sequentially. Furthermore, even within the steps of sequential processing, needless to say, the order can be appropriately altered.

[0322] The basic principles of this disclosure have been described above with reference to specific embodiments. However, it should be noted that those skilled in the art will understand that all or any step or component of the methods and apparatus of this disclosure can be implemented in any computing device (including processors, storage media, etc.) or network of computing devices, in the form of hardware, firmware, software or a combination thereof. This is something that those skilled in the art can achieve by using their basic circuit design knowledge or basic programming skills after reading the description of this disclosure.

[0323] Furthermore, this disclosure also proposes a program product storing machine-readable instruction code. When the instruction code is read and executed by a machine, the method described above according to embodiments of this disclosure can be performed.

[0324] Accordingly, the storage medium used to carry the program product storing machine-readable instruction code is also included in this disclosure. The storage medium includes, but is not limited to, floppy disks, optical disks, magneto-optical disks, memory cards, memory sticks, etc.

[0325] When this disclosure is implemented through software or firmware, programs constituting the software are installed from a storage medium or network onto a computer with a dedicated hardware architecture, and the computer, when various programs are installed, is able to perform various functions, etc.

[0326] Preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present disclosure is by no means limited to the examples described above. Various changes and modifications can be made by those skilled in the art within the scope of the appended claims, and it should be understood that such changes and modifications naturally fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure.

[0327] For example, the units shown in the dashed boxes in the functional block diagrams shown in the attached figures represent that the functional unit is optional in the corresponding device, and the optional functional units can be combined in an appropriate manner to achieve the desired function.

[0328] For example, the multiple functions included in one unit in the above embodiments can be implemented by separate devices. Alternatively, the multiple functions implemented by multiple units in the above embodiments can be implemented by separate devices respectively. In addition, one of the above functions can be implemented by multiple units. Needless to say, such a configuration is included within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0329] In this specification, the steps described in the flowchart include not only processes executed sequentially in the stated order, but also processes executed in parallel or individually, rather than necessarily sequentially. Furthermore, even within the steps of sequential processing, needless to say, the order can be appropriately altered.

[0330] In addition, this disclosure may have the configuration described below.

[0331] (1) An electronic device, comprising:

[0332] The processing circuit is configured as follows:

[0333] Send address codes of multiple beacon tag devices to sequentially activate beacon tag devices near the electronic device;

[0334] Obtain tag configuration information from each activated beacon tag device, and obtain the address code of the positioning tag device in the area where the beacon tag device is located based on the tag configuration information;

[0335] Send the address codes of each obtained positioning tag device to activate the corresponding positioning tag device;

[0336] The reflected reference signal is obtained by obtaining the reflected radio frequency reference signal of each activated positioning tag device, and the electronic device is positioned using the reflected reference signal.

[0337] (2) The electronic device as described in (1), wherein the processing circuit is further configured to receive the address codes of the plurality of beacon tag devices in advance from the base station.

[0338] (3) The electronic device as described in (1) or (2), wherein the tag configuration information obtained from activating the beacon tag device includes the number of the set of positioning tag devices in the area where the beacon tag device is located.

[0339] (4) The electronic device as described in (3), wherein the processing circuit is further configured to receive, according to the number, the address code of each positioning tag device in the set from the base station.

[0340] (5) The electronic device as described in (2), wherein the plurality of said electronic devices sequentially activate beacon tag devices near each said electronic device according to the scheduling of the base station.

[0341] (6) The electronic device as described in (1), further comprising:

[0342] The storage unit is configured to pre-store the address codes of the plurality of beacon tag devices.

[0343] (7) The electronic device as described in (6), wherein the tag configuration information obtained from activating the beacon tag device includes the address code of each positioning tag device in the area where the beacon tag device is located.

[0344] (8) The electronic device as described in (6), wherein the plurality of said electronic devices each operate in D2D mode and beacon tag devices near said electronic devices are activated sequentially through distributed scheduling.

[0345] (9) The electronic device as described in (1), wherein adjacent beacon tag devices among the plurality of beacon tag devices have different address codes.

[0346] (10) The electronic device as described in (1), wherein at least two non-adjacent beacon tag devices among the plurality of beacon tag devices have the same address code.

[0347] (11) The electronic device as described in (1), wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: obtain tag configuration information related to the positioning tag device from the two adjacent active beacon tag devices for a positioning tag device near the boundary of the area where each of the two adjacent active beacon tag devices is located.

[0348] (12) The electronic device as described in (1), wherein multiple location tag devices in the area where a beacon tag device is located have different address codes, and the processing circuit is configured to: sequentially send the address codes of the multiple location tag devices to sequentially activate the multiple location tag devices.

[0349] (13) The electronic device as described in (1), wherein multiple location tag devices in the area where a beacon tag device is located have the same address code, and the processing circuit is configured to simultaneously send the same address code to simultaneously activate the multiple location tag devices.

[0350] (14) The electronic device as described in (13), wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: receive, after activation, a plurality of positioning tag devices modulate the radio frequency reference signal using different modulation frequencies and / or modulation pilot sequences and reflect the multiple reflected reference signals.

[0351] (15) The electronic device as described in (14), wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: obtain, based on tag configuration information obtained from the one beacon tag device, the modulation frequency and / or the modulation pilot sequence of each of the plurality of positioning tag devices.

[0352] (16) The electronic device as described in (13), wherein the processing circuit is further configured to receive multiple reflected reference signals reflected by the multiple positioning tag devices at different times after activation.

[0353] (17) The electronic device as described in (16), wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: obtain the time of each of the plurality of positioning tag devices based on tag configuration information obtained from the one beacon tag device.

[0354] (18) The electronic device as described in (1), wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: obtain, based on the tag configuration information obtained from each activated beacon tag device, the location information of the positioning tag device in the area where the beacon tag device is located.

[0355] (19) The electronic device as described in (18), wherein the processing circuit is further configured to calculate the distance between the active positioning tag device and the electronic device using the arrival time of the reflected reference signal of each active positioning tag device.

[0356] (20) The electronic device as described in (19), wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: determine the position of the electronic device based on the position information of each activated positioning tag device and the distance between each activated positioning tag device and the electronic device.

[0357] (21) The electronic device as described in (1), wherein the processing circuit is further configured to transmit the radio frequency reference signal.

[0358] (22) An electronic device, comprising:

[0359] The processing circuit is configured as follows:

[0360] When the electronic device receives an address code from the user equipment, it causes the electronic device to enter an active state from a sleep state; and

[0361] The user equipment is provided with tag configuration information so that the user equipment can obtain the address code of the positioning tag device in the area where the electronic device is located based on the tag configuration information.

[0362] (23) The electronic device as described in (22), wherein the electronic device has a different address code from another electronic device adjacent to the electronic device.

[0363] (24) An electronic device as described in (22), wherein the electronic device has the same address code as another electronic device that is not adjacent to the electronic device.

[0364] (25) The electronic device as described in (22), wherein the tag configuration information includes the number of a set of positioning tag devices in the area where the electronic device is located.

[0365] (26) The electronic device as described in (22), wherein the tag configuration information includes a different address code for each positioning tag device within the area where the electronic device is located.

[0366] (27) The electronic device as described in (22), wherein the tag configuration information includes the same address code for each positioning tag device in the area where the electronic device is located.

[0367] (28) The electronic device as described in (27), wherein the tag configuration information further includes the modulation frequency, modulation pilot sequence and / or reflection time related information of the positioning tag device in the area where the electronic device is located.

[0368] (29) The electronic device as described in (28), wherein the modulation frequency related information indicates the offset between the modulation frequencies used by each positioning tag device in the area where the electronic device is located when modulating the radio frequency reference signal it receives.

[0369] (30) The electronic device as described in (28), wherein the modulation pilot sequence related information indicates the modulation pilot sequence used by each positioning tag device in the area where the electronic device is located to modulate the radio frequency reference signal it receives.

[0370] (31) The electronic device as described in (28), wherein the reflection time-related information indicates the offset between the times during which each positioning tag device in the area where the electronic device is located reflects its respective received radio frequency reference signal.

[0371] (32) The electronic device as described in (26) or (27), wherein the tag configuration information further includes the location information of the positioning tag device in the area where the electronic device is located.

[0372] (33) An electronic device, comprising:

[0373] The processing circuit is configured as follows:

[0374] When the electronic device receives an address code from the user equipment, it causes the electronic device to enter an active state from a sleep state; and

[0375] The received radio frequency reference signal is reflected so that the user equipment can perform positioning based on the reflected reference signal.

[0376] (34) The electronic device as described in (33), wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: modulate the received radio frequency reference signal and reflect it using a predetermined modulation frequency and / or modulation pilot sequence.

[0377] (35) The electronic device as described in (33), wherein the processing circuit is further configured to reflect the received radio frequency reference signal at a predetermined time.

[0378] (36) A method for positioning, comprising:

[0379] Send address codes of multiple beacon tag devices to sequentially activate beacon tag devices near the electronic device;

[0380] Obtain tag configuration information from each activated beacon tag device, and obtain the address code of the positioning tag device in the area where the beacon tag device is located based on the tag configuration information;

[0381] Send the address codes of each obtained positioning tag device to activate the corresponding positioning tag device;

[0382] The reflected reference signal is obtained by obtaining the reflected radio frequency reference signal of each activated positioning tag device, and the electronic device is positioned using the reflected reference signal.

[0383] (37) A method for positioning, comprising:

[0384] When an address code is received from a user device, the electronic device is activated from a sleep state; and

[0385] The tag configuration information is sent to the user equipment so that the user equipment can obtain the address code of the positioning tag device in the area where the electronic device is located based on the tag configuration information.

[0386] (38) A method for positioning, comprising:

[0387] When an address code is received from a user device, the electronic device is activated from a sleep state; and

[0388] The received radio frequency reference signal is reflected so that the user equipment can perform positioning based on the reflected reference signal.

[0389] (39) A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the method according to any one of (36) to (38).

[0390] While embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are merely illustrative and do not constitute a limitation thereof. Those skilled in the art can make various modifications and alterations to the above embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure is defined only by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An electronic device implemented as a user equipment, comprising: The processing circuit is configured as follows: Send address codes of multiple beacon tag devices to sequentially activate beacon tag devices near the electronic device; Tag configuration information is obtained from each active beacon tag device, and the address code of the positioning tag device in the area where the beacon tag device is located is obtained based on the tag configuration information. The tag configuration information obtained from the beacon tag device is associated with, or directly includes, the address code of the positioning tag device in the area where the beacon tag device is located. The beacon tag device and the positioning tag device are implemented using passive tags. Obtaining the tag configuration information from each active beacon tag device includes: transmitting a predetermined radio frequency reference signal; and receiving a reflected signal obtained by the active beacon tag device reflecting the radio frequency reference signal and modulating the radio frequency reference signal with the tag configuration information. Send the address codes of each obtained positioning tag device to activate the corresponding positioning tag device; The reflected reference signal is obtained by obtaining the reflected radio frequency reference signal of each activated positioning tag device, and the electronic device is positioned using the reflected reference signal.

2. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to receive the address codes of the plurality of beacon tag devices from the base station in advance.

3. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein, The tag configuration information obtained from activating the beacon tag device includes the set number of the location tag devices in the area where the beacon tag device is located.

4. The electronic device as claimed in claim 3, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to receive the address code of each positioning tag device in the set from the base station according to the number.

5. The electronic device as claimed in claim 2, wherein, The multiple electronic devices sequentially activate the beacon tag devices near each electronic device according to the scheduling of the base station.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising: The storage unit is configured to pre-store the address codes of the plurality of beacon tag devices.

7. The electronic device as claimed in claim 6, wherein, Each of the electronic devices operates in D2D mode and activates beacon tag devices near the electronic devices sequentially through distributed scheduling.

8. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein, Adjacent beacon tag devices among the plurality of beacon tag devices have different address codes.

9. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein, At least two non-adjacent beacon tag devices among the plurality of beacon tag devices have the same address code.

10. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to: for a positioning tag device located near the boundary of the respective areas of two adjacent active beacon tag devices, obtain tag configuration information related to the positioning tag device from the two adjacent active beacon tag devices respectively.

11. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein, Multiple location tags within the area where a beacon tag device is located have different address codes, and the processing circuit is configured to sequentially send the address codes of the multiple location tag devices to sequentially activate the multiple location tag devices.

12. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein, Multiple location tag devices within the area where a beacon tag device is located have the same address code, and the processing circuit is configured to simultaneously send the same address code to simultaneously activate the multiple location tag devices.

13. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to receive, after activation, multiple positioning tag devices modulate the radio frequency reference signal using different modulation frequencies and / or modulation pilot sequences, and then reflect the multiple reflected reference signals.

14. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to: obtain the modulation frequency and / or the modulation pilot sequence of each of the plurality of positioning tag devices based on the tag configuration information obtained from the one beacon tag device.

15. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to receive multiple reflected reference signals reflected by the multiple positioning tag devices at different times after activation.

16. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to: obtain the time of each of the plurality of positioning tag devices based on the tag configuration information obtained from the one beacon tag device.

17. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to: obtain the location information of the positioning tag device in the area where the beacon tag device is located, based on the tag configuration information obtained from each activated beacon tag device.

18. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to calculate the distance between the activated positioning tag device and the electronic device using the arrival time of the reflected reference signal of each activated positioning tag device.

19. The electronic device of claim 18, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to determine the position of the electronic device based on the position information of each activated positioning tag device and the distance between each activated positioning tag device and the electronic device.

20. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to transmit the radio frequency reference signal.

21. An electronic device, comprising: The processing circuit is configured as follows: When the electronic device receives an address code from the user equipment, it causes the electronic device to enter the active state from the sleep state. as well as Tag configuration information is provided to the user equipment so that the user equipment obtains the address code of a positioning tag device in the area where the electronic device is located based on the tag configuration information. The tag configuration information provided to the user equipment is associated with, or directly includes, the address code of the positioning tag device in the area where the electronic device is located. The electronic device and the positioning tag device are implemented using passive tags. Providing the tag configuration information to the user equipment includes: receiving a predetermined radio frequency reference signal transmitted by the user equipment; and reflecting and modulating the radio frequency reference signal with the tag configuration information.

22. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein, The electronic device has a different address code from another electronic device adjacent to it.

23. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein, The electronic device has the same address code as another electronic device that is not adjacent to it.

24. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein, The tag configuration information includes the set number of the positioning tag devices in the area where the electronic device is located.

25. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein, The tag configuration information includes a unique address code for each positioning tag device within the area where the electronic device is located.

26. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein, The tag configuration information includes the same address code for each positioning tag device within the area where the electronic device is located.

27. The electronic device of claim 26, wherein, The tag configuration information also includes the modulation frequency, modulation pilot sequence, and / or reflection time information of the positioning tag device within the area where the electronic device is located.

28. The electronic device of claim 27, wherein, The modulation frequency-related information indicates the offset between the modulation frequencies used by each positioning tag device in the area where the electronic device is located when modulating its respective received radio frequency reference signal.

29. The electronic device of claim 27, wherein, The modulation pilot sequence information indicates the modulation pilot sequence used by each positioning tag device within the area where the electronic device is located when modulating its received radio frequency reference signal.

30. The electronic device of claim 27, wherein, The reflection time-related information indicates the time offset between the reflections of the received radio frequency reference signals by each positioning tag device within the area where the electronic device is located.

31. The electronic device as claimed in claim 25 or 26, wherein, The tag configuration information also includes the location information of the positioning tag device within the area where the electronic device is located.

32. An electronic device, comprising: The processing circuit is configured as follows: When the address code of the electronic device is received from the user equipment, the electronic device is activated from a dormant state. The address code is obtained by the user equipment based on tag configuration information obtained from the beacon tag device. The tag configuration information obtained from the beacon tag device is associated with, or directly includes, the address code of the electronic device within the area where the beacon tag device is located. The beacon tag device and the electronic device are implemented using passive tags. The tag configuration information is obtained by the user equipment by transmitting a predetermined radio frequency reference signal and receiving a reflected signal obtained by the beacon tag device and modulating the radio frequency reference signal with the tag configuration information. The received radio frequency reference signal is reflected so that the user equipment can perform positioning based on the reflected reference signal.

33. The electronic device of claim 32, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to modulate the received radio frequency reference signal and reflect it using a predetermined modulation frequency and / or modulation pilot sequence.

34. The electronic device of claim 32, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to reflect the received radio frequency reference signal at a predetermined time.

35. A method for positioning, comprising: Send address codes of multiple beacon tag devices to sequentially activate beacon tag devices near electronic devices implemented as user equipment; Tag configuration information is obtained from each active beacon tag device, and the address code of the positioning tag device in the area where the beacon tag device is located is obtained based on the tag configuration information. The tag configuration information obtained from the beacon tag device is associated with, or directly includes, the address code of the positioning tag device in the area where the beacon tag device is located. The beacon tag device and the positioning tag device are implemented using passive tags. Obtaining the tag configuration information from each active beacon tag device includes: transmitting a predetermined radio frequency reference signal; and receiving a reflected signal obtained by the active beacon tag device reflecting the radio frequency reference signal and modulating the radio frequency reference signal with the tag configuration information. Send the address codes of each obtained positioning tag device to activate the corresponding positioning tag device; The reflected reference signal is obtained by obtaining the reflected radio frequency reference signal of each activated positioning tag device, and the electronic device is positioned using the reflected reference signal.

36. A method for positioning, comprising: When an address code is received from an electronic device in a user device, the electronic device is activated from a sleep state. as well as Tag configuration information is provided to the user equipment so that the user equipment obtains the address code of a positioning tag device in the area where the electronic device is located based on the tag configuration information. The tag configuration information sent to the user equipment is associated with, or directly includes, the address code of the positioning tag device in the area where the electronic device is located. The electronic device and the positioning tag device are implemented using passive tags. Providing the tag configuration information to the user equipment includes: receiving a predetermined radio frequency reference signal sent by the user equipment; and reflecting and modulating the radio frequency reference signal with the tag configuration information.

37. A method for positioning, comprising: When an address code is received from an electronic device of a user equipment, the electronic device is activated from a sleep state. The address code is obtained by the user equipment based on tag configuration information obtained from a beacon tag device. The tag configuration information obtained from the beacon tag device is associated with, or directly includes, the address code of the electronic device within the area where the beacon tag device is located. The beacon tag device and the electronic device are implemented using passive tags. The tag configuration information is obtained by the user equipment by transmitting a predetermined radio frequency reference signal and receiving a reflected signal obtained by the beacon tag device and modulating the radio frequency reference signal with the tag configuration information. The received radio frequency reference signal is reflected so that the user equipment can perform positioning based on the reflected reference signal.

38. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 35 to 37.

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