A positioning device, method, equipment and storage medium based on ultra-wideband

Abstract

A positioning device, method, equipment and storage medium based on ultra-wideband, the positioning device comprising a position determination module (401), at least two ultra-wideband modules (402) connected to the position determination module (401); the ultra-wideband module (402) comprising an ultra-wideband radio frequency unit (4021), a power distributor (4022) and multiple anchor antennas (4023); the power distributor (4022) is used to distribute the radio frequency signal sent by the ultra-wideband radio frequency unit (4021) to the multiple anchor antennas (4023); the multiple anchor antennas (4023) are used to send the distributed radio frequency signal to a target object and obtain ultra-wideband radio wave information of the target object; the ultra-wideband radio wave information includes the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the target object and each anchor antenna (4023) in the multiple anchor antennas (4023); the position determination module (401) is used to determine the position information of the target object based on the ultra-wideband radio wave information. The device can improve the utilization rate of the anchor station UWB module, thereby significantly reducing the production and use costs.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of radio communication technology, and in particular to a positioning device, method, equipment and storage medium based on ultra-wideband. Background Art

[0002] Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology is a new type of wireless communication technology. It directly modulates impulse pulses with very steep rise and fall times to make the signal have a bandwidth of GHz. UWB can be applied in many fields, such as personal area networks, intelligent transportation systems, wireless sensor networks, radio frequency identification, and imaging applications.

[0003] Unlike most wireless technologies, UWB works through pulse radio, and its signal peak is steep and narrow, which makes it easy to identify even in a noisy channel environment. Therefore, it can meet the needs of various short-range wireless communications, especially for precise positioning in dense multipath places.

[0004] The main applications of vehicle-domain UWB positioning include vehicle unlocking, vehicle automatic start, in-vehicle passenger detection, vehicle-mounted drone operation, automatic valet parking, automatic parking, parking lot entry and payment without getting off the vehicle, etc. The basic principle of vehicle-domain UWB positioning is to install several UWB positioning devices on the vehicle body, which can also be called anchor stations. Traditionally, each anchor station consists of a UWB module and an integrated anchor antenna. Usually, the anchor antenna is an onboard antenna, which is assembled on a circuit board with other components of the UWB module and then packaged in a plastic shell to form a complete anchor station; among them, the UWB module is the main part of the cost of the anchor station.

[0005] To meet the positioning requirements outside and inside the vehicle, generally speaking, the more anchor stations there are, the more accurate the positioning will be. However, anchor stations with traditional structures need to install the same number of UWB modules as anchor antennas, which is costly.

[0006] Therefore, it is necessary to provide an improved UWB positioning device to reduce production and use costs. Summary of the invention

[0007] The embodiments of the present application provide an ultra-wideband-based positioning device, method, equipment, and storage medium, which can reduce the production and use costs of UWB positioning devices.

[0008] On the one hand, an embodiment of the present application provides an ultra-wideband-based positioning device, including a position determination module, and at least two ultra-wideband modules connected to the position determination module;

[0009] The ultra-wideband module includes an ultra-wideband radio frequency unit, a power divider and multiple anchor antennas; one end of the power divider is connected to the ultra-wideband radio frequency unit, and the other end of the power divider is respectively connected to the multiple anchor antennas; the overlap value between the signal coverage areas of any two anchor antennas among the multiple anchor antennas is a preset overlap value;

[0010] A power distributor, used to distribute the radio frequency signal sent by the ultra-wideband radio frequency unit to multiple anchor antennas;

[0011] Multiple anchor antennas, used to send the allocated radio frequency signal to the target object and obtain ultra-wideband radio wave information of the target object; the ultra-wideband radio wave information includes the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the target object and each of the multiple anchor antennas;

[0012] The location determination module is used to determine the location information of the target object based on the ultra-wideband radio wave information.

[0013] Optionally, the ultra-wideband radio frequency unit is also used to identify the first-path signal from the ultra-wideband radio wave information, obtain the received signal strength and radio wave flight time of the first-path signal, and determine the anchor antenna corresponding to the first-path signal.

[0014] Optionally, the multiple anchor antennas include a first anchor antenna and a second anchor antenna; the cable connection length between the first anchor antenna and the power divider is a first electrical length, the cable connection length between the second anchor antenna and the power divider is a second electrical length, and the difference between the first electrical length and the second electrical length is greater than the physical distance between the first anchor antenna and the second anchor antenna.

[0015] On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application provides a positioning method based on ultra-wideband, including:

[0016] If in a search state or receiving a scanning signal from a target object, at least two corresponding ultra-wideband radio frequency signals are generated through at least two ultra-wideband modules; the ultra-wideband module includes an ultra-wideband radio frequency unit, a power divider and multiple anchor antennas; one end of the power divider is connected to the ultra-wideband radio frequency unit, and the other end of the power divider is respectively connected to the multiple anchor antennas; the overlap value between the signal coverage areas of any two anchor antennas in the multiple anchor antennas is a preset overlap value;

[0017] Distributing corresponding ultra-wideband radio frequency signals to corresponding multiple anchor antennas, and transmitting through the multiple anchor antennas;

[0018] If the ultra-wideband radio wave information of the target object is obtained, the location information of the target object is determined based on the ultra-wideband radio wave information; the ultra-wideband radio wave information includes the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the target object and each anchor antenna in the multiple anchor antennas.

[0019] Optionally, determining the location information of the target object based on ultra-wideband radio wave information includes: determining the current estimated area of ​​the target object based on the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the target object and each anchor antenna in multiple anchor antennas; obtaining a correspondence table between the target area and the best anchor antenna group; determining the best anchor antenna group corresponding to the current estimated area from the correspondence table; determining the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the anchor antennas in the best anchor antenna group and the target object, and updating the ultra-wideband radio wave information; determining the location information of the target object based on the updated ultra-wideband radio wave information.

[0020] Optionally, after updating the ultra-wideband radio wave information and before determining the location information of the target object based on the updated ultra-wideband radio wave information, the method also includes: re-determining the current estimated area of ​​the target object based on the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between each anchor antenna in multiple anchor antennas and the target object obtained multiple times; if the current estimated area changes, re-execute the steps of: determining the best anchor antenna group corresponding to the current estimated area from the correspondence table; determining the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the anchor antennas in the best anchor antenna group and the target object, and updating the ultra-wideband radio wave information.

[0021] Optionally, determining the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the anchor antennas in the best anchor antenna group and the target object, including: generating a precise positioning signal through an ultra-wideband radio frequency unit corresponding to the best anchor antenna group; distributing the precise positioning signal to multiple anchor antennas corresponding to the best anchor antenna group, and transmitting through the multiple anchor antennas; determining the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the anchor antennas in the best anchor antenna group and the target object based on feedback information obtained from the target object.

[0022] Optionally, determining the location information of the target object based on ultra-wideband radio wave information includes: identifying a first-path signal from the ultra-wideband radio wave information, and obtaining a received signal strength and radio wave flight time of the first-path signal; and determining the location information of the target object based on the received signal strength and radio wave flight time of the first-path signal.

[0023] On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application provides a device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores at least one instruction or at least one program, and the at least one instruction or at least one program is loaded and executed by the processor as the ultra-wideband-based positioning method described above.

[0024] On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer storage medium, in which at least one instruction or at least one program is stored, and the at least one instruction or at least one program is loaded and executed by a processor to implement the ultra-wideband-based positioning method as described above.

[0025] The ultra-wideband positioning device, method, equipment and storage medium provided in the embodiments of the present application have the following beneficial effects:

[0026] The ultra-wideband-based positioning device provided in the present application includes a position determination module and at least two ultra-wideband modules connected to the position determination module; the ultra-wideband module includes an ultra-wideband radio frequency unit, a power divider and multiple anchor antennas; one end of the power divider is connected to the ultra-wideband radio frequency unit, and the other end of the power divider is respectively connected to the multiple anchor antennas; the overlap value between the signal coverage areas of any two anchor antennas in the multiple anchor antennas is a preset overlap value; the power divider is used to distribute the radio frequency signal sent by the ultra-wideband radio frequency unit to the multiple anchor antennas; the multiple anchor antennas are used to send the distributed radio frequency signal to the target object and obtain the ultra-wideband radio wave information of the target object; the ultra-wideband radio wave information includes the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the target object and each anchor antenna in the multiple anchor antennas; the position determination module is used to determine the position information of the target object based on the ultra-wideband radio wave information. The ultra-wideband-based positioning device provided in the present application can improve the utilization rate of the UWB module of the anchor station; compared with the anchor station structure of 1 module and 1 anchor antenna in the prior art, the present application can reduce the number of UWB modules under the condition of the same number of anchor antennas, thereby significantly reducing the production and use costs, or, can provide more effective anchor antennas under the same cost conditions, thereby improving positioning accuracy. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0028] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of an application scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0029] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the layout of a vehicle body anchor station in the prior art provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Figure 3 It is a structural schematic diagram of an anchor station in the prior art provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] Figure 4 is a structural schematic diagram of a positioning device based on ultra-wideband provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] Figure 5 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of an ultra-wideband based positioning device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the arrangement of a positioning device on a vehicle body provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a receiver receiving a multipath signal provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of a two-power splitter connected to an anchor antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a functional relationship satisfied by a point set provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Fig.10 This is a schematic diagram of optimal anchor antenna groups corresponding to tags in different areas provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Fig.11 It is a flowchart of a positioning method based on ultra-wideband provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Fig.12 This is a hardware structure block diagram of a server of an ultra-wideband based positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0041] It should be noted that the terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification and claims of the present application and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the data used in this way can be interchangeable where appropriate, so that the embodiments of the present application described herein can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any of their variations are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, for example, a process, method, system, product or server that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units clearly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

[0042] The present application embodiment is introduced in conjunction with a typical application scenario, which may be a vehicle domain positioning scenario, such as a vehicle unlocking scenario. Figure 1 As shown, it includes a vehicle 101 and a tag 102; the vehicle 101 is equipped with an ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning device (or anchor station), a tag 102 (Tag, referring to a mobile device with UWB, such as a digital key Fob or a mobile phone, etc.); in this scenario, the vehicle 101 needs to obtain the location of the tag 102 to achieve unlocking.

[0043] Combine the following Figure 1 Introduce a basic working principle of UWB radio ranging: Figure 1 As shown on the right, the tag 102 sends an ultra-wideband short pulse through the antenna. The anchor station installed on the vehicle 101 receives the ultra-wideband pulse through the antenna and then passes through a fixed or controllable delay T. CAR , and then send a response pulse to the tag 102 through the antenna (at the same time, the delay T between the received and sent pulses is sent to the tag). CAR ), the tag 102 receives the response pulse from the anchor station of the vehicle 101 and the delay is T CAR After that, according to the delay T between the pulse sent and received by itself FOB Calculate the radio wave flight time (Time of Flight, ToF) between the tag 102 and the vehicle 101 anchor point, ToF = (T FOB -T CAR ) / 2, the distance D between the tag 102 and the vehicle 101 = ToF*C, where C is the speed of light.

[0044] It should be noted that the first interrogation ultra-wideband short pulse sent by the tag 102 can also be sent by the vehicle 101, and the tag 102 replies with a response pulse, and the ranging principle is the same. In addition, when ToF ranging is performed between the tag and the anchor antenna, the UWB signal transmission is a time division duplex (TDD) mode with fast switching of both sending and receiving. In the following text, for the sake of simplicity and convenience, it is usually expressed in one direction, such as the tag sends and the anchor station receives or the anchor station sends and the tag receives, but its working principle supports signal transmission in the other direction.

[0045] According to the introduction of background technology, the traditional anchor station consists of a UWB module and an anchor antenna. The position of the anchor antenna on the vehicle body is accurately calibrated, such as Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, Figure 2 and Figure 3This is an example of an arrangement of 8 modules and 8 anchor points when each UWB module is equipped with a single anchor point antenna in the prior art provided by the embodiment of the present application. Based on the traditional structure of a single module equipped with a single anchor point, the UWB-based positioning method in the prior art is mainly that the controller (ECU) on the vehicle sends a control instruction to the anchor station through the CAN bus, the anchor station executes the ranging / communication protocol between it and the tag, obtains the ToF distance between the tag and each anchor point, and the ECU then executes the positioning algorithm to solve the position of the tag relative to the vehicle body coordinate system.

[0046] On the one hand, for the positioning algorithm, in order to successfully calculate the two-dimensional coordinate position of the tag relative to the vehicle body coordinate system (the two-dimensional coordinate system is usually equal to the ground, and the height relative to the ground is a fixed value), it is necessary to input at least 2 valid ToF distances from the anchor point to the tag; in order to successfully calculate the three-dimensional coordinate position of the tag relative to the vehicle body coordinate system, it is necessary to input at least 3 valid ToF distances from the anchor point to the tag; usually, if more valid ToF distances from the anchor point to the tag can be input, the tag position output by the positioning algorithm will be more accurate.

[0047] On the other hand, since the operating frequency of UWB positioning is between 3.1GHz and 10.5GHz, the bandwidth is above 500MHz, and the power spectrum density is not greater than -41.3dBm / MHz. In this frequency band, the propagation of radio waves basically shows a straight-line propagation characteristic. Because the car body is a special-shaped metal surface formed by stamping and welding of metal sheets, when there is no line of sight (LOS) between the anchor antenna and the tag antenna, the main energy of the radio wave from the transmitting antenna is blocked by the surface of the car body or reflected to other directions and will not reach the receiving antenna. A small amount of energy can indirectly reach the receiving antenna through diffuse reflection / diffraction from the ground and surrounding objects, but these signals that indirectly reach the receiving antenna do not arrive along a straight line, and their flight path is greater than the direct path. When the tag is outside the car, due to the uncertainty of the external radio wave propagation environment at different parking locations, as well as the obstruction of radio wave propagation and changes in the reflection surface / diffraction surface caused by the movement of people / objects around the car body, the radio wave between the anchor point / tag transceiver antenna that takes the non-direct path has no stable correlation with the straight-line physical distance between the two in three-dimensional space (ignoring obstructions), and therefore cannot be used as effective information for tag positioning. When the tag is inside the car, due to the relatively closed electromagnetic environment formed by the metal shell of the car body, the multipath propagation characteristics between the anchor point installed at a fixed position in the car and the tag located at a specific position in the car have a certain stability. Therefore, in addition to the direct path, the indirect path can also provide certain effective positioning information. Therefore, in order to obtain higher positioning accuracy outside the car, there should be line-of-sight conditions between the tag and the anchor station. In order to have 2-3 anchor points that meet the line of sight conditions at any position within a certain range around the vehicle body, simulation and actual measurement show that the number of anchor stations outside the vehicle is at least 4 or more; in order to obtain the recognition capability of the space area inside the vehicle where the tag is located (main driver's area / co-driver's area / back seat, etc.) with a certain accuracy, and the recognition capability of the tag inside / outside the vehicle near the window with a certain accuracy, the number of anchor stations inside the vehicle is at least 3 or more.

[0048] Based on the above two different considerations, the more anchor stations a vehicle is equipped with, the more accurate the positioning is. However, currently each anchor station consists of 1 UWB module and 1 anchor antenna (the number of anchor stations is the same as the number of anchor antennas), and the cost of the UWB module is the main part of the anchor station cost. As the number of anchor stations increases, the cost also increases proportionally, which puts great pressure on the cost control of models equipped with UWB positioning functions. In order to reduce costs, some mid- and low-end models have to reduce the number of installed anchor stations. However, the insufficient number of anchor stations means that the tags outside the car can only have line-of-sight conditions of 2-3 anchor points in a certain area, and other areas do not have the minimum number of anchor points with line-of-sight conditions, so the tags cannot be located or the positioning accuracy is too low; the insufficient number of anchor stations leads to the low positioning accuracy of the tags in the car area and cannot correctly identify the seat area where they are located. When they are near the car window, the identifiable range of whether they are inside or outside the car is small and the accuracy is too low; thus, the application functions based on the UWB positioning capability cannot be realized or the indicators do not meet the standards, which ultimately affects the user experience.

[0049] Based on the above problems in the prior art, the present application provides a positioning device based on ultra-wideband. Figure 4 , Figure 4 4 is a schematic diagram of a positioning device based on ultra-wideband provided in an embodiment of the present application, comprising a position determination module 401 and at least two ultra-wideband modules 402 connected to the position determination module 401;

[0050] The ultra-wideband (UWB) module 402 includes an ultra-wideband (UWB) radio frequency unit 4021, a power divider 4022 and a plurality of anchor antennas 4023; one end of the power divider 4022 is connected to the ultra-wideband radio frequency unit 4021, and the other end of the power divider 4022 is respectively connected to the plurality of anchor antennas 4023; the overlap value between the signal coverage areas of any two anchor antennas 4023 among the plurality of anchor antennas 4023 is a preset overlap value;

[0051] A power distributor 4022, configured to distribute the radio frequency signal sent by the ultra-wideband radio frequency unit 4021 to the plurality of anchor antennas 4023;

[0052] Multiple anchor antennas 4023, used to send the allocated radio frequency signal to the target object and obtain ultra-wideband radio wave information of the target object; the ultra-wideband radio wave information includes the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the target object and each anchor antenna 4023 in the multiple anchor antennas 4023;

[0053] The location determination module 401 is used to determine the location information of the target object based on the ultra-wideband radio wave information.

[0054] In an embodiment of the present application, when locating a target object in a search area, the target object here refers to a tag, and for each ultra-wideband module 402: the radio frequency signal of the ultra-wideband radio frequency unit 4021 can be distributed to multiple anchor antennas 4023 through a power divider 4022, and sent to the target object through multiple anchor antennas 4023; the overlap value between the signal coverage areas of any two anchor antennas 4023 among the multiple anchor antennas 4023 is a preset overlap value (for example, when the preset overlap is 0, it indicates that the signal coverage areas of any two anchor antennas 4023 do not overlap); because it is in a search state, the position of the target object in the search area is uncertain, and the power divider 4022 distributes the output power of the radio frequency signal of the ultra-wideband radio frequency unit 4021 to each anchor antenna 4023 according to the number of multiple anchor antennas 4023; it should be noted that the signal coverage areas of all anchor antennas 4023 from different ultra-wideband modules 402 can include the above-mentioned search area. Secondly, the response signal of the target object in the search area can be received through multiple anchor antennas 4023, and the radio wave flight time between each anchor antenna 4023 and the target object can be determined according to the response signal and the radio frequency signal, and the received signal strength of the response signal corresponding to each anchor antenna 4023 can be determined. The radio wave flight time and the received signal strength between each anchor antenna 4023 and the target object are called ultra-wideband radio wave information; among them, the received signal strength corresponding to a certain anchor antenna 4023 in a certain ultra-wideband module 402 is the strongest, and / or the radio wave flight time is the shortest, that is, the physical distance between the anchor antenna 4023 and the target object is the shortest or the radio wave transmission environment is the best (with the least obstructions); secondly, the position determination module 401 can determine the position information of the target object through a positioning algorithm according to the ultra-wideband radio wave information.

[0055] In the embodiment of the present application, the ultra-wideband-based positioning device can be applied to the process of positioning the target object in the search area as described above, and can also be applied to the process of the target object looking for a device equipped with the positioning device. The UWB module of the target object sends a scanning signal. If the device equipped with the positioning device of the present application is within the scanning range of the target object, the device will receive the scanning signal through the positioning device. At this time, each ultra-wideband module 402 in the positioning device will generate a corresponding ultra-wideband radio frequency signal, which is distributed to the corresponding multiple anchor antennas 4023 by the corresponding power divider 4022, and transmitted through the multiple anchor antennas to respond to the target object; finally, the positioning device obtains the ultra-wideband radio wave information from the target object, and then calculates the position information of the target object through the position determination module 401.

[0056] In an optional implementation, the power divider 4022 can be any of a two-way power divider, a three-way power divider, a four-way power divider or a multi-way power divider. Since the power divider 4022 is usually a passive device made of a printed circuit board (PCB), the reliability of the positioning device can be improved. For convenience, the following text mainly takes a two-way power divider as an example. The case of using a three-way power divider, a four-way power divider and other multi-way power dividers, because its principle is the same as that of using a two-way power divider, still falls within the scope of protection rights of this application.

[0057] The positioning device provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the vehicle domain positioning application scenario proposed above, and solve the technical problems existing in the prior art. The present application can change the existing method of fixing one anchor antenna with one UWB module to one UWB module (UWB radio frequency unit 4021) distributing power to two or more anchor antennas 4023 through a power divider 4022; in this way, the utilization rate of the anchor station UWB module can be improved; compared with the anchor station structure of one module and one anchor antenna in the prior art, the present application can reduce the number of UWB modules under the same number of anchor antennas, thereby significantly reducing the production and use costs, or, can provide more effective anchor antennas under the same cost conditions, thereby improving the positioning accuracy.

[0058] In a specific embodiment, see Figure 5 and Figure 6 , Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of an ultra-wideband based positioning device provided in an embodiment of the present application, Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the arrangement of a positioning device on a vehicle body provided in an embodiment of the present application. The positioning device of the present application may include four UWB modules A, B, C, and D; UWB module A includes an anchor antenna A1 located outside the vehicle and an anchor antenna A2 located inside the vehicle, UWB module B includes anchor antennas B1 and B2 located outside the vehicle, UWB module C includes anchor antennas C1 and C2 located outside the vehicle and C3 located inside the vehicle, and UWB module D includes anchor antennas D1 located outside the vehicle and D2 located inside the vehicle; wherein each UWB module includes a UWB radio frequency unit, and the power dividers in UWB modules A, B, and D are all two-power dividers, and UWB module C is a three-power divider.

[0059] The above-mentioned example of a 4-module 9-anchor arrangement when two power splitters are equipped with two anchor antennas and three power splitters are equipped with three anchor antennas is compared with Figure 2 and Figure 3In the example of 8 modules and 8 anchor points, in which each traditional UWB module is equipped with 1 anchor antenna, although the number of traditional modules is 4 more than the number of modules in the present application, where the module refers to the UWB radio frequency unit, the number of anchor points in the present application is 1 more than the traditional number of anchor points, so the positioning range coverage and positioning accuracy of the two are not much different, and the number of UWB radio frequency units in the present application is significantly smaller; since the UWB radio frequency unit occupies the main cost of the positioning device, therefore, when a positioning device based on ultra-wideband provided by the present application is used in a vehicle-domain positioning system, while ensuring accuracy, it can not only reduce the number of UWB modules, thereby significantly reducing production and use costs; it can also increase the number of anchor antennas, thereby improving positioning accuracy.

[0060] In the embodiment of the present application, when the positioning device is applied to vehicle-domain positioning, the signal coverage areas of any two anchor antennas among the multiple anchor antennas in the same UWB module should not overlap. For example, a UWB module uses a two-way power splitter to separate two RF signals, one of which is fed to the anchor antenna installed outside the vehicle, and the other is fed to the anchor antenna installed inside the vehicle. Due to the electromagnetic shielding and isolation of the metal body, one of the two anchor antennas can serve for positioning within a certain area outside the vehicle, and the other can serve for positioning within the vehicle. Taking the signaling of the vehicle-side anchor antenna as an example, although the two anchor antennas inside and outside the vehicle simultaneously send the radio frequency signal of the same UWB radio frequency unit, the tag will only be located in one of the two areas outside or inside the vehicle, and the tag will not appear in two non-overlapping areas at the same time. When the tag has a line of sight with the anchor antenna outside the vehicle, the radio wave flight time between the tag and the anchor antenna outside the vehicle of the UWB module can be obtained. When the tag is inside the vehicle and has a certain line of sight with the anchor antenna inside the vehicle of the UWB module (radio waves can also penetrate non-metallic materials in the cabin), the radio wave air flight time between the tag and the anchor antenna inside the vehicle can be obtained. Regardless of whether the tag is outside or inside the vehicle, as long as the location can obtain the radio wave flight time between two or more anchor antennas belonging to different UWB modules, the tag can be located through the positioning algorithm.

[0061] By the same token, the RF signal of the same UWB RF unit is split into two RF signals using a power splitter. One signal is fed to an anchor antenna installed outside the vehicle on one side of the vehicle body, and the other signal is fed to an anchor antenna installed outside the vehicle on the other side of the vehicle body. Due to the obstruction of the vehicle body, the tag can only receive the signal from the anchor antenna on one side when it is on that side. Therefore, the RF signal of the same UWB RF unit can be used to locate the tag on different sides.

[0062] like Figure 6As shown, UWB module A and module D respectively divide two signals through a two-way power divider, and are connected to two anchor antennas through a feeder. One of the two anchor antennas is installed outside the car, and the other is installed inside the car; the A1 / D1 anchor point can be installed in the lower skirt outside the car, and A2 / D2 can be installed in the A pillar or B pillar inside the car and the height is lower than the lower edge of the window. In this way, A1 and A2, and D1 and D2 are isolated by the metal door and the car body, and the covered area is also divided into two independent areas outside the car and inside the car; the two-way signal of UWB module B divided by a two-way power divider , and are sent to the left rear lower skirt and the right rear bumper cover outside the car through feeders. Although they are all outside the car, the coverage areas do not overlap due to the occlusion of the car body; UWB module C divides three signals through a three-way power divider, among which C3 is installed in the trunk through feeders, and C1 / C2 are sent to the right rear lower skirt and the left rear bumper cover outside the car respectively. Although C1 / C2 are both outside the car, the coverage areas do not overlap due to the occlusion of the car body; and C3 is inside the car, and the coverage area is inside the car due to the shielding effect of the car body, which is isolated from the coverage area of ​​C1 / C2.

[0063] In the embodiments of the present application, the problem that the power divider and feeder loss will cause the transmission power to decrease and the sensitivity to decrease is taken into consideration. Since the UWB module RF signal is split by a power divider, the output power of each anchor antenna will decrease during transmission, and the UWB module receiving noise coefficient converted from the anchor antenna will increase during reception; these are caused by the power distribution ratio of the power divider, the insertion loss of the power divider, and the insertion loss of the feeder. Assume that when the power distribution ratio of the two power dividers is 1 / 2, its power loss is 3dB (because 10*log2=3dB), and when the power distribution ratio of the three power dividers is 1 / 3, its power loss is 4.77dB (because 10*log3=4.77dB), the power divider insertion loss is calculated as 1.5dB, and the cable insertion loss is calculated as 1.8dB / m (if the cable length is up to 2m, the insertion loss is 3.6dB), then the total insertion loss for the two power dividers is 3dB+1.5dB+3.6dB=8.1dB ; For the three-power divider, the total insertion loss is 4.77dB+1.5dB+3.6dB=9.87dB, which is lower than 10dB; for vehicle-side UWB positioning applications, because the distance between the tag and the anchor point is close (usually the ranging range is within 6 meters), actual measurements show that the insertion loss within 10dB is within the RF link budget range, and the power reduction of 5 to 10dB will not affect the measurement of the ToF value between the tag and the anchor point, and this appropriate power reduction will make the RF receiver in a better linear region, and the ToF accuracy is higher at this time.

[0064] In the embodiment of the present application, the ultra-wideband RF signal used for positioning is in the form of an ultra-wideband pulse, the bandwidth of the signal is as high as 500MHz or more, and the pulse width is about 2ns. It can be seen that the pulses sent and received by UWB are very narrow, so the UWB receiver has a very high multipath resolution capability. Since the radiation angle range of the UWB antenna used for vehicle-domain positioning is very large, usually more than 120 degrees, after the anchor station or tag transmits a narrow pulse, in addition to the direct path, reflectors at different directions and distances arrive at the receiver one after another after different path delays. A typical UWB receiver receives all multipath signals such as Figure 7 shown. Figure 7 The black arrow on the vertical axis represents the transmitted signal, and the gray arrow on the vertical axis represents the start of receiving the signal. The first signal to reach the receiver is called the first path, and the last signal to reach the receiver is called the last path.

[0065] Assuming that the UWB receiver can distinguish the minimum delay between two adjacent paths as half of its pulse width, when the pulse width is 2ns, the corresponding multipath distance resolution DeltaR is:

[0066] DeltaR=tau*c=0.5*pulse width*light speed=0.5*2E -9 *3E 8 =0.3m=30cm

[0067] When the UWB receiver works in the ranging mode (ToF measurement) mode, it only outputs the ToF value and signal strength of the first path signal and ignores other multipath components.

[0068] Therefore, in an optional implementation, the ultra-wideband radio frequency unit is also used to identify the first path signal from the ultra-wideband radio wave information, obtain the received signal strength and radio wave flight time of the first path signal, and determine the anchor antenna corresponding to the first path signal.

[0069] In the embodiment of the present application, assuming that each branch signal output by the power splitter has equal time delay with the common port, the length of the cable between each branch port of the power splitter and the corresponding anchor antenna may be different.

[0070] In an alternative embodiment, the multiple anchor antennas include a first anchor antenna and a second anchor antenna; the cable connection length between the first anchor antenna and the power divider is a first electrical length, and the cable connection length between the second anchor antenna and the power divider is a second electrical length. The difference between the first electrical length and the second electrical length is greater than the physical distance between the first anchor antenna and the second anchor antenna. Among them, the difference between the first electrical length and the second electrical length, and the physical distance between the first anchor antenna and the second anchor antenna, the difference between these two is greater than or equal to the multipath distance resolution, and the multipath distance resolution can refer to the 30 cm calculated above.

[0071] Specifically, as Figure 8 shown, taking a two-way power divider as an example, the electrical length from port 1 to the first anchor antenna F1 is L1, and the electrical length from port 2 to the anchor antenna F2 is L2; it should be noted that Ln is the electrical length of the RF cable rather than the physical length. Due to the different dielectric constants of the cable media, the ratio of the electrical length to the physical length is also different; assuming L2 > L1, the difference between the first electrical length and the second electrical length ΔL = L2 - L1.

[0072] In natural space, the set of points whose difference in distances to two points is less than the distance between the two points forms a hyperbola on a plane and a hyperboloid of two sheets of revolution in space; the set of points whose difference in distances to two points is equal to the distance between the two points is on the extension line of the line connecting the two points (including the two points); the set of points whose difference in distances to two points is greater than the distance between the two points is an empty set. Let the distance between two anchor points F1 and F2 be 2c, and for any point M in space, the three points M / F1 / F2 determine a plane. For convenience, the following discussion is carried out in the (M, F1, F2) plane. The distance from M to F1 is d1, the distance from M to F2 is d2, and the difference in distances from M to the two points F1 and F2 is a constant |d2 - d1| = 2a; Fig. 9 (a) shows that when a < c, the set of points is a hyperbola; Fig. 9 (b) shows that when a = c, the set of points is the outer extension line (including the foci) of the line connecting F1 and F2; when a > c, the set of points is an empty set.

[0073] Assume that point M is a tag. The signal it sends reaches anchor antenna F1 and anchor antenna F2 through air paths d1 and d2 respectively, and then reaches port 1 and port 2 of the power splitter through cables L1 and L2 respectively. After being combined by the power splitter, the signals of the two paths finally enter the receiver as Path1 and Path2 respectively. M is an arbitrary point in the air. The maximum difference in distance between M and the anchor points F1 and F2 is 2c. If deltaL-2c>deltaR, deltaR is the multipath distance resolution of UWB. Then there is no such P in space that makes M_Path1 not the first path. In other words, even if there is no obstruction between M and F1 / F2, due to the first path selection mechanism of the UWB receiver, the signal sent by anchor point F2 is completely covered by the signal sent by F1 during UWB ranging. Note that the cover here is not the cover of signal strength but the time when the signal received via anchor point F2 reaches the receiver, which is always later than the arrival time of the signal received via anchor point F1 by more than tau, tau = deltaR / speed of light. The UWB receiver is based on the principle that whoever arrives first is the FirstPath, and follows the principle of using only the FirstPath as the basis for ToF calculation. In this way, the signal Path2 received via anchor point F2 will never be selected. That is to say, even if the ultra-wideband signal received via anchor point F2 is stronger than the signal received via F1, it will not interfere with the ToF1 obtained when F1 is used as the positioning anchor point, and the positioning accuracy when F1 is used as the positioning anchor point; as long as the signal strength of Path1 via F1 exceeds the receiver detection threshold, Path1 must be the FirstPath. Only in the area with severe obstruction between F1 and the signal via anchor point F1, when entering the receiver, its strength is lower than the detection threshold of the receiver during detection, and Path1 cannot show up and is invisible; at this time, the signal Path2 via anchor point F2 is visible, Path2 becomes the FirstPath, and the ToF obtained is ToF2. F2 should be used as the positioning anchor point during positioning.

[0074] Based on the above characteristics, when laying out anchor points, F1 is laid out outside the vehicle and F2 is laid out inside the cabin. In this way, even if the signal inside the vehicle overflows near the window outside the vehicle, as long as the signal of the anchor point F1 outside the vehicle exceeds the receiver threshold, it will not affect the positioning accuracy outside the vehicle. As for the B1 / B2 anchor points, they are located at the left rear side and the right rear side of the vehicle respectively. When the tag is in the left rear corner area of ​​the vehicle body, it will receive the signal sent by the same UWB radio frequency unit from the B1 / B2 anchor points at the same time. If the UWB radio frequency unit and the B1 anchor point antenna are placed together (the cable length is approximately equal to zero), and the anchor point B2 is connected to the UWB radio frequency unit via a cable, due to the bending of the cable and the effect of the cable medium, its electrical length is greater than the actual physical length. When the electrical length of the cable between B1 / B2 is greater than the physical distance between B1 / B2 by more than 0.3 meters, even if B1 / B2 are visible at the same time in some areas, the signal of B2 will not affect the role of B1 as a positioning anchor point.

[0075] like Figure 6 As shown in the figure, in the left rear area of ​​the vehicle body, the tag can see both B1 and B2. The B1 / B2 anchor point signals are split by the same UWB radio unit, but the UWB radio unit and anchor point B1 are placed together. Due to the effect of cable length, when the B1 / B2 anchor point signals can reach the tag, B1 must be the first path. Therefore, the positioning signal at this time uses the signal from anchor point B1, and the anchor station position also uses the spatial coordinates of B1 during positioning solution.

[0076] When the tag is behind the vehicle, only B2 in module B can be seen, B1 cannot be seen and the signal is below the threshold. At this time, the tag positioning for module B uses the signal from the B2 anchor antenna, and the anchor station position also uses the spatial coordinates of B2 during positioning calculation;

[0077] For module C, anchor point C3 is located in the trunk and isolated from the outside. The anchor points outside the car include C1 on the right side and C2 at the rear of the car. When the tag is at the right rear side of the car, the signals of anchor points C1 and C2 can be received at the same time. Similar to the situation of B1 / B2, the signal of C2 is ineffective because it is not the FirstPath. The positioning function only works when C1 is blocked and C2 becomes the FirstPath when the tag is behind the car.

[0078] like Fig.10As shown, each UWB module can play a role in at least two different areas because it is sent to at least two different and isolated radiation areas via cables after power division. For example, for module A, the tag works when it is on the left side of the car and inside the car; for module B, the tag works when it is on the left side of the car and behind the car; for module C, the tag works when it is on the left side of the car, in the trunk and behind the car; for module D, the tag works when it is on the right side of the car and behind the car. The four modules A / B / C / D are reused at least twice, which improves the utilization rate, reduces the total number of modules in the system, and significantly reduces the cost. If the traditional method of integrating each module with the onboard antenna is adopted, in order to achieve the same positioning coverage effect, at least 7 modules and anchor stations integrated with anchor antennas are required, which is much more expensive.

[0079] In summary, the present application provides an ultra-wideband-based positioning device, which utilizes the shielding and isolation effect of the metal car body on electromagnetic waves, and the high-resolution separation capability of the UWB module (UWB radio frequency unit) for the first path and other paths of the received signal, and feeds the radio frequency signal of the UWB module to multiple anchor antennas with an optimized layout (for example, 2 or more anchor antennas located inside / outside the vehicle or on different sides of the left / right / front / rear outside the vehicle) after a power divider, thereby achieving that one UWB radio frequency unit can be used for both outside-vehicle positioning and inside-vehicle positioning (including area identification of the main driving area / non-main driving area in the vehicle and inside / outside vehicle identification of window accessories).

[0080] Based on the content of the device embodiment, the embodiment of the present application also proposes a positioning method based on ultra-wideband, which can realize the positioning of the tag outside / inside the vehicle. The following continues to explain a specific embodiment of the positioning method based on ultra-wideband of the present application based on the vehicle domain positioning scenario.

[0081] Fig.11 It is a flowchart of a positioning method based on ultra-wideband provided in an embodiment of the present application. This specification provides method operation steps such as the embodiment or flowchart, but may include more or fewer operation steps based on conventional or non-creative labor. The order of steps listed in the embodiment is only one way of executing the steps among many orders, and does not represent the only order of execution. When the actual system or server product is executed, it can be executed in the order shown in the embodiment or the drawings or in parallel (for example, in a parallel processor or multi-threaded processing environment). Specifically, Fig.11 As shown, the method may include:

[0082] S1101: If in a searching state or a scanning signal from a target object is received, at least two corresponding ultra-wideband radio frequency signals are generated by at least two ultra-wideband modules.

[0083] In an embodiment of the present application, a vehicle is installed with an ultra-wideband-based positioning device introduced in the device embodiment, and the positioning device includes at least two ultra-wideband modules, and the ultra-wideband module includes an ultra-wideband RF unit, a power divider and multiple anchor antennas; one end of the power divider is connected to the ultra-wideband RF unit, and the other end of the power divider is respectively connected to the multiple anchor antennas; the overlap degree value between the signal coverage areas of any two anchor antennas among the multiple anchor antennas is a preset overlap value; at least two corresponding ultra-wideband RF signals are generated by the ultra-wideband RF unit.

[0084] In the embodiment of the present application, being in the searching state refers to the process of the vehicle locating the target object in the search area; receiving the scanning signal from the target object refers to the process of the target object searching for the device equipped with the positioning device. Since the vehicle is just within the search range of the target object, when the scanning signal from the target object is received, at least two corresponding ultra-wideband radio frequency signals are generated by at least two ultra-wideband modules.

[0085] S1103: Distribute the corresponding ultra-wideband radio frequency signal to the corresponding multiple anchor antennas, and transmit through the multiple anchor antennas.

[0086] In the embodiment of the present application, the corresponding ultra-wideband radio frequency signal is distributed to the corresponding multiple anchor antennas through a power divider and transmitted through the multiple anchor antennas.

[0087] In an optional implementation, a digitally controlled attenuator can be added to each branch of the power divider of each ultra-wideband module to change the weight of each branch. The advantage of this is that if a scanning signal of the target object is received, since the positioning device is installed as the receiver, it can determine all anchor antennas that receive the scanning signal, and can even determine the anchor antenna with the strongest receiving signal, so the power distribution weights of each branch of the power divider with a fixed original power division ratio in different ultra-wideband modules can be dynamically adjusted; that is, different weight coefficients are set for different anchor antennas, for example, a larger power distribution weight is set for all anchor antennas that receive the scanning signal or for the power divider branch corresponding to the anchor antenna whose received signal strength exceeds the threshold among all anchor antennas that receive the scanning signal, and a smaller power distribution weight is set for the power divider branch corresponding to the anchor antenna that does not receive the scanning signal, so that the target object can calculate the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between each anchor antenna more specifically, effectively and accurately according to the received ultra-wideband radio frequency signal, that is, the ultra-wideband radio wave information of the target object.

[0088] S1105: If the ultra-wideband radio wave information of the target object is acquired, the location information of the target object is determined based on the ultra-wideband radio wave information.

[0089] In an embodiment of the present application, the ultra-wideband radio wave information includes the received signal strength and the radio wave flight time between the target object and each of the multiple anchor antennas; if the ultra-wideband radio wave information of the target object is obtained, the position information of the target object is determined by the position confirmation module in the positioning device through the positioning algorithm.

[0090] In the embodiment of the present application, considering the positioning of the target object (tag), at least two or more anchor points need to have good line-of-sight conditions with the tag. Only when the anchor points meet the through conditions, the ToF and signal strength RSS of the signal are relatively stable, and the tag position obtained when used for positioning is relatively accurate and stable. When the tag has line-of-sight conditions with the anchor points installed on the vehicle body, if the signals passing through these anchor points also have the characteristics of FirstPath, they will be selected into the positioning anchor point group. Usually, the vehicle body has a good shielding and isolation effect, and the intensity of the anchor point signal inside the car is usually lower than the detection threshold when it reaches the tag outside the car; and vice versa. Even if the signal of the anchor point inside the car overflows from the car and its intensity exceeds the threshold of the receiver when it reaches the tag outside the car, as long as it is not the first path FirstPath in the module to which it belongs, it will be eliminated by the FirstPath selection mechanism of the UWB receiver, and will not affect the positioning function; and vice versa.

[0091] In an optional embodiment, determining the location information of the target object based on ultra-wideband radio wave information includes: identifying a first-path signal from the ultra-wideband radio wave information, and obtaining the received signal strength and radio wave flight time of the first-path signal; and determining the location information of the target object based on the received signal strength and radio wave flight time of the first-path signal.

[0092] In an optional implementation, the location information of the target object is determined based on the ultra-wideband radio wave information, including: determining the current estimated area of ​​the target object according to the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the target object and each of the multiple anchor antennas; obtaining a correspondence table between the target area and the best anchor antenna group; determining the best anchor antenna group corresponding to the current estimated area from the correspondence table; determining the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the anchor antennas in the best anchor antenna group and the target object, and updating the ultra-wideband radio wave information; determining the location information of the target object based on the updated ultra-wideband radio wave information. Among them, the correspondence table between the target area and the best anchor antenna group refers to: for a specific vehicle model, after the installation position of each anchor antenna on the vehicle body is determined, a correspondence table between the target area and the best anchor antenna group can be made; the correspondence table between the target area and the best anchor antenna group provides the best anchor antenna group corresponding to any position point inside and outside the vehicle, and when positioning, the ToF and received signal strength (RSS) values ​​of the tag and each anchor point in the best anchor antenna group can be directly used for positioning.

[0093] In a specific implementation of making a correspondence table between target areas and optimal anchor antenna groups, the method includes: after the layout positions of anchor stations (mainly anchor antennas) of a specific vehicle model are determined, a coordinate grid can be firstly set up around the vehicle body in an open space, such as an equidistant grid with a grid side length of 10 cm, or a non-equidistant grid can be designed in sections according to the distance range from the vehicle body. For each grid position, the line-of-sight condition between the tag and each anchor point is determined based on the geometric relationship between the grid position of the tag and each anchor point and the obstruction of the vehicle body, and the optimal anchor antenna group pattern of the tag at this grid position is formed. Combined with the measurement and statistical analysis of the UWB anchor signal, the ToF and signal amplitude effective range of each grid position are recorded; when the tag is in different positions (different grids), the optimal anchor antenna group pattern will change accordingly, so that positioning with the optimal anchor antenna can achieve the most accurate positioning effect; the target area in the correspondence table between the target area and the optimal anchor antenna group can refer to the area formed by each grid, or it can refer to the area formed by multiple grids, and the optimal anchor antenna group can refer to at least two optimal anchor antennas corresponding to a grid, or it can refer to multiple optimal anchor antennas corresponding to multiple grids. Fig.10 As shown, the optimal anchor point antenna group at the corresponding position inside the car is (A2, C3, D2); the outside of the car is more complicated, especially the transition area at the left rear / right rear of the car. The determination of the optimal positioning anchor point group requires a combination of body structure geometry analysis, ToF data collection and statistical analysis.

[0094] In a specific implementation, the current estimated area of ​​the target object is determined based on the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the target object and each of the multiple anchor antennas; that is, the tag performs a round of ranging operation with each module, that is, continuously scans all anchor points n times and performs wild value elimination and averaging processing to reduce the impact of random interference; the current estimated area may include one or more grids, and according to the corresponding relationship table, the one or more grids correspond to multiple optimal anchor antennas; the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the multiple optimal anchor antennas and the target object can be obtained by looking up the table, and the ultra-wideband radio wave information is updated; finally, the location information of the target object is determined based on the updated ultra-wideband radio wave information. It should be noted that the received signal strength and radio wave flight time under ideal conditions (ignoring obstructions) are obtained by looking up the table in this implementation. The advantage of positioning through pre-stored ultra-wideband radio wave information is that it can save calculation time, thereby improving the timeliness of positioning.

[0095] In an optional embodiment, after obtaining the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between multiple optimal anchor antennas and the target object respectively by looking up the table, before updating the ultra-wideband radio wave information, the signal characteristics of (ToF, RSS) of each anchor antenna in the optimal anchor antenna group are confirmed m times in succession; that is, confirmation signals are sent to the tag multiple times, and the corresponding (ToF, RSS) is re-obtained to determine whether it matches the signal characteristics of (ToF, RSS) in the corresponding relationship table, so that accurate ultra-wideband radio wave information can be obtained.

[0096] In an optional implementation, determining the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the anchor antennas in the best anchor antenna group and the target object includes: generating a precise positioning signal through an ultra-wideband radio frequency unit corresponding to the best anchor antenna group; allocating the precise positioning signal to multiple anchor antennas corresponding to the best anchor antenna group, and transmitting through multiple anchor antennas; determining the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the anchor antennas in the best anchor antenna group and the target object according to the feedback information of the acquired target object. That is, in this implementation, instead of directly obtaining the (ToF, RSS) corresponding to the best anchor antenna group by looking up a table, the precise positioning signal is regenerated and transmitted through multiple anchor antennas; the advantage of this is that, considering the current environmental factors, the anchor antennas in the original best anchor antenna group may not have line-of-sight conditions, and the corresponding (ToF, RSS) is naturally no longer accurate. Therefore, the precise positioning signal is resent to the anchor antennas in the best anchor antenna group to obtain the (ToF, RSS) in the current environment, so that more accurate location information of the target object can be obtained.

[0097] In an optional embodiment, after updating the ultra-wideband radio wave information and before determining the location information of the target object based on the updated ultra-wideband radio wave information, the method further includes: re-determining the current estimated area of ​​the target object based on the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between each of the multiple anchor antennas and the target object obtained multiple times; if the current estimated area changes, re-execute the steps of: determining the best anchor antenna group corresponding to the current estimated area from the correspondence table; determining the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the anchor antennas in the best anchor antenna group and the target object, and updating the ultra-wideband radio wave information.

[0098] Specifically, the tag is locked and tracked, and after entering the tracking state, the (ToF, RSS) data of each anchor antenna of the best anchor antenna group in the area can be used to accurately locate the position of the tag and track and filter the trajectory. After determining the current estimated area of ​​the tag, the tag also continuously sends signals to all anchor antennas. The vehicle also obtains the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between each anchor antenna and the tag multiple times. According to the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between each anchor antenna and the target object obtained multiple times, the current estimated area of ​​the target object is determined again, and the tag is tracked in this way; if the current estimated area changes, that is, when the edge of the current estimated area is reached, the anchor point (ToF, RSS) value of the adjacent area should be increased, and the area is switched in combination with the tag trajectory position; because not all anchor point signals are switched at the same time at the edge of the area, but only some anchor points are switched, and the anchor point update is carried out step by step in stages by increasing and decreasing one anchor point at a time, so the switching has good continuity; trajectory tracking and filtering is also a protection mechanism, and will not lose lock due to a few position jumps; if the target object is lost within the preset area for K consecutive times, it means that the target object is indeed lost, and the search state is re-entered.

[0099] In an optional implementation, if the current estimated area changes, two anchor point signals of an ultra-wideband module may jump in the anchor point transition zone, because at this time the original FirstPath anchor point signal will disappear and reappear from time to time due to the amplitude being less than the threshold, and the corresponding other anchor point signal will sometimes become FirstPath and sometimes invisible; if the two anchor point signals are located far apart in the (ToF, RSS) two-dimensional plane (the optimized system design usually meets this condition), then in the area where the anchor point signals appear alternately, it is possible to distinguish which anchor point the signal received by the tag comes from, and after the distinction, it can be determined which anchor point antenna of the ultra-wideband module the signal is emitted from, which can be used for positioning; therefore, to be on the safe side, the positioning result is checked and verified using the trajectory filtering algorithm, and if it exceeds the reasonable position range obviously, it is discarded.

[0100] It should be noted that for any spatial area inside or outside the vehicle body, as long as the 2N-dimensional hyperspace formed by the (ToF, RSS) of the FirstPath signals of all anchor points in the best anchor point antenna group is unique (where N is the number of anchor points in the best anchor point group for positioning), each area is distinguishable, and each area is further positioned using the (ToF, RSS) parameters of the N anchor points. The farther the 2N-dimensional hyperspaces corresponding to the three-dimensional spatial areas inside and outside the vehicle body are from each other, the better the positioning performance of the system.

[0101] In summary, this application utilizes the vehicle body shielding isolation and ToF head path isolation effect to propose a positioning method based on ultra-wideband, which can increase the coverage area of ​​each UWB module and improve the utilization rate of the UWB module, so that the number of UWB modules used to meet the functional / performance requirements of the entire vehicle is reduced, and the cost of the entire UWB vehicle-side positioning system is reduced; in addition, the power divider / feeder is a passive device with high reliability, long life and wide temperature range; although it will also incur certain costs, according to the market typical device prices, under the same coverage / positioning accuracy conditions, the cost advantage of the solution of this application is obvious; compared with the existing technology, at the same cost, the present application can provide more effective anchor points, the area where the tag can be located is wider, the positioning accuracy is higher, and the user experience is better.

[0102] The device and method embodiments in the embodiments of the present application are based on the same application concept.

[0103] The method embodiments provided in the embodiments of the present application can be executed in a computer terminal, a server or a similar computing device. Taking running on a server as an example, Fig.12 1 is a hardware structure block diagram of a server of an ultra-wideband-based positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig.12As shown, the server 1200 may have relatively large differences due to different configurations or performances, and may include one or more central processing units (CPU) 1210 (the processor 1210 may include but is not limited to a processing device such as a microprocessor NCU or a programmable logic device FPGA), a memory 1230 for storing data, and one or more storage media 1220 (such as one or more mass storage devices) for storing application programs 1223 or data 1222. Among them, the memory 1230 and the storage medium 1220 can be short-term storage or permanent storage. The program stored in the storage medium 1220 may include one or more modules, each of which may include a series of instruction operations on the server. Furthermore, the central processing unit 1210 may be configured to communicate with the storage medium 1220 and execute a series of instruction operations in the storage medium 1220 on the server 1200. The server 1200 may also include one or more power supplies 1260, one or more wired or wireless network interfaces 1250, one or more input and output interfaces 1240, and / or one or more operating systems 1221, such as Windows, Mac OS, Unix, Linux, FreeBSD, etc.

[0104] The input / output interface 1240 may be used to receive or send data via a network. The specific example of the network may include a wireless network provided by a communication provider of the server 1200. In one example, the input / output interface 1240 includes a network adapter (Network Interface Controller, NIC), which may be connected to other network devices via a base station so as to communicate with the Internet. In one example, the input / output interface 1240 may be a radio frequency (RF) module, which is used to communicate with the Internet wirelessly.

[0105] It can be understood by those skilled in the art that Fig.12 The structure shown is only for illustration and does not limit the structure of the above electronic device. Fig.12 More or fewer components as shown, or with Fig.12 Different configurations are shown.

[0106] An embodiment of the present application also provides a storage medium, which can be set in a server to store at least one instruction, at least one program, code set or instruction set related to an ultra-wideband based positioning method in an implementation method embodiment. The at least one instruction, the at least one program, the code set or instruction set is loaded and executed by the processor to implement the above-mentioned ultra-wideband based positioning method.

[0107] Optionally, in this embodiment, the storage medium may be located in at least one of the multiple network servers of the computer network. Optionally, in this embodiment, the storage medium may include, but is not limited to, various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a mobile hard disk, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0108] It can be seen from the embodiments of the ultra-wideband based positioning device, method, equipment or storage medium provided by the present application that the present application can improve the utilization rate of the anchor station UWB module; compared with the anchor station structure of 1 module and 1 anchor antenna in the prior art, the present application can reduce the number of UWB modules under the condition of the same number of anchor antennas, thereby significantly reducing the production and use costs, or, can provide more effective anchor antennas under the same cost conditions, thereby improving positioning accuracy.

[0109] It should be noted that the above-mentioned sequence of the embodiments of the present application is for description only and does not represent the advantages and disadvantages of the embodiments. The above-mentioned specific embodiments of this specification are described. Other embodiments are within the scope of the attached claims. In some cases, the actions or steps recorded in the claims can be performed in an order different from that in the embodiments and still achieve the desired results. In addition, the processes depicted in the drawings do not necessarily require the specific order or continuous order shown to achieve the desired results. In some embodiments, multitasking and parallel processing are also possible or may be advantageous.

[0110] Each embodiment in this specification is described in a progressive manner, and the same or similar parts between the embodiments can be referred to each other, and each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. In particular, for the device embodiment, since it is basically similar to the method embodiment, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can be referred to the partial description of the method embodiment.

[0111] A person skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the steps to implement the above embodiments may be accomplished by hardware or by instructing related hardware through a program, and the program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and the above-mentioned storage medium may be a read-only memory, a disk or an optical disk, etc.

[0112] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present application should be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A positioning device based on ultra-wideband, characterized in that: The device is applied to vehicle domain positioning, and comprises a position determination module, and at least two ultra-wideband modules connected to the position determination module; The ultra-wideband module includes an ultra-wideband radio frequency unit, a power divider and a plurality of anchor antennas; one end of the power divider is connected to the ultra-wideband radio frequency unit, and the other end of the power divider is respectively connected to the plurality of anchor antennas; the signal coverage areas of any two anchor antennas among the plurality of anchor antennas do not overlap; the plurality of anchor antennas include a first anchor antenna and a second anchor antenna; the cable connection length between the first anchor antenna and the power divider is a first electrical length, the cable connection length between the second anchor antenna and the power divider is a second electrical length, and the difference between the first electrical length and the second electrical length is greater than the physical distance between the first anchor antenna and the second anchor antenna; The power distributor is used to distribute the radio frequency signal sent by the ultra-wideband radio frequency unit to the multiple anchor antennas; The multiple anchor antennas are used to send the allocated radio frequency signals to the target object and obtain ultra-wideband radio wave information of the target object; the ultra-wideband radio wave information includes the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the target object and each of the multiple anchor antennas; The location determination module is used to determine the location information of the target object based on ultra-wideband radio wave information of at least two anchor antennas belonging to different ultra-wideband modules.

2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that The ultra-wideband radio frequency unit is further used to identify a first path signal from the ultra-wideband radio wave information, obtain the received signal strength and radio wave flight time of the first path signal, and determine the anchor antenna corresponding to the first path signal.

3. A positioning method based on ultra-wideband, characterized in that: The method is applied to vehicle domain positioning, including: If in a search state or receiving a scanning signal from a target object, at least two corresponding ultra-wideband radio frequency signals are generated through at least two ultra-wideband modules; the ultra-wideband module includes an ultra-wideband radio frequency unit, a power divider and multiple anchor antennas; one end of the power divider is connected to the ultra-wideband radio frequency unit, and the other end of the power divider is respectively connected to the multiple anchor antennas; the signal coverage areas of any two anchor antennas among the multiple anchor antennas do not overlap; the multiple anchor antennas include a first anchor antenna and a second anchor antenna; the cable connection length between the first anchor antenna and the power divider is a first electrical length, the cable connection length between the second anchor antenna and the power divider is a second electrical length, and the difference between the first electrical length and the second electrical length is greater than the physical distance between the first anchor antenna and the second anchor antenna; the corresponding ultra-wideband radio frequency signals are distributed to the corresponding multiple anchor antennas, and transmitted through the multiple anchor antennas; If the ultra-wideband radio wave information of the target object is obtained, the location information of the target object is determined based on the ultra-wideband radio wave information of at least two anchor antennas belonging to different ultra-wideband modules; the ultra-wideband radio wave information includes the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the target object and each of the multiple anchor antennas.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The determining the location information of the target object based on ultra-wideband radio wave information of at least two anchor antennas belonging to different ultra-wideband modules includes: Determining a current estimated area of ​​the target object according to a received signal strength and a radio wave flight time between the target object and each of the plurality of anchor antennas; Obtaining a correspondence table between the target area and the best anchor point antenna group; Determine the best anchor antenna group corresponding to the current estimated area from the corresponding relationship table; Determine the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the anchor antenna in the optimal anchor antenna group and the target object, and update the ultra-wideband radio wave information; The location information of the target object is determined based on the updated ultra-wideband radio wave information.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that After updating the ultra-wideband radio wave information and before determining the location information of the target object based on the updated ultra-wideband radio wave information, the method further includes: Determine again the current estimated area of ​​the target object according to the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between each of the plurality of anchor antennas and the target object acquired multiple times; If the current estimated area changes, re-execute the steps: determine the best anchor antenna group corresponding to the current estimated area from the correspondence table; determine the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the anchor antenna in the best anchor antenna group and the target object, and update the ultra-wideband radio wave information.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The determining of the received signal strength and radio wave flight time between the anchor antenna in the optimal anchor antenna group and the target object includes: Generate a precise positioning signal through the ultra-wideband radio frequency unit corresponding to the optimal anchor point antenna group; Distributing the precise positioning signal to multiple anchor antennas corresponding to the optimal anchor antenna group, and transmitting through the multiple anchor antennas; According to the acquired feedback information of the target object, the received signal strength and the radio wave flight time between the anchor antenna in the best anchor antenna group and the target object are determined.

7. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The determining the location information of the target object based on ultra-wideband radio wave information of at least two anchor antennas belonging to different ultra-wideband modules includes: Identifying a first-path signal from the ultra-wideband radio wave information, and obtaining a received signal strength and radio wave flight time of the first-path signal; The location information of the target object is determined based on the received signal strength and the radio wave flight time of the first-path signal.

8. A device, characterized in that The device includes a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores at least one instruction or at least one program, and the at least one instruction or at least one program is loaded by the processor and executes the ultra-wideband based positioning method as described in any one of claims 3-7.

9. A computer storage medium, characterized in that The storage medium stores at least one instruction or at least one program, and the at least one instruction or at least one program is loaded and executed by the processor to implement the ultra-wideband based positioning method as described in any one of claims 3-7.

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