Graphics-based facility navigation using RF fingerprints

Abstract

This disclosure provides systems, methods, and devices for wireless communication that support user guidance to a particular location within a facility. In a first aspect, RF fingerprints at locations within a facility are determined based on signal strengths from RF devices including electronic shelf labels (ESLs). A graph may be determined based on the RF fingerprint. A current location of the user may be determined based on a current RF fingerprint of the user. A route through the graph may be determined by the facility and may be displayed to the user as the user navigates within the facility. Other aspects and features are also claimed and described.

Description

[0001] Cross-reference to related applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 18 / 467,443, filed September 14, 2024, entitled “GRAPH-BASED FACILITY NAVIGATIONUSING RF FINGERPRINTS”, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003] This disclosure relates generally to guidance systems, and more specifically to providing user guidance to specific locations within a facility. Several features enable and provide improved guidance, including the ability to provide guidance through the facility without first needing to determine a map or floor plan of the facility. Background Technology

[0004] In-store guidance and navigation assistance, such as in stores, offers a variety of benefits. First, guidance helps customers or other users efficiently locate the products or departments they need, saving time and reducing frustration. For people with visual impairments or other disabilities, navigation assistance is essential for accessibility.

[0005] Existing systems for indoor guidance may rely on predefined floor plans and defined positioning within the facility. The performance of these systems can be adversely affected by changes to the floor plan and positioning inaccuracies. For example, various existing technologies (such as Wi-Fi-based guidance, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Indoor Positioning Systems (IPS), etc.) may depend on different types of positioning equipment, including potentially dedicated positioning equipment. In addition to depending on the floor plan, such systems may also be susceptible to performance degradation from various forms of interference, such as physical obstacles, wireless interference, etc. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The following summary outlines some aspects of this disclosure to provide a basic understanding of the techniques discussed. This summary is not an exhaustive overview of all the intended features of this disclosure, nor is it intended to identify key or essential elements of all aspects of this disclosure, nor to define the scope of any or all aspects of this disclosure. The sole purpose of this summary is to present, in a general form, some concepts of one or more aspects of this disclosure as a prelude to the more detailed description that follows.

[0007] One aspect provides a method comprising: determining a plurality of radio frequency (RF) fingerprints at corresponding locations within a facility, the plurality of RF fingerprints indicating signal strength from an RF device at the corresponding location, the RF device including an electronic shelf label (ESL). The method further comprises: determining a graph based on the plurality of RF fingerprints. The method further comprises: receiving a user's current RF fingerprint within the facility. The method further comprises: determining the user's current location within the graph based on the current RF fingerprint. The method further comprises: determining a route to a target product by traversing the graph from the current location to a target location of the target product. The method further comprises: displaying the route to the user when navigating to the target location within the facility.

[0008] On the other hand, a system is provided that includes a memory storing processor-readable code and at least one processor coupled to the memory. The at least one processor can be configured to execute processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to perform operations including: determining a plurality of radio frequency (RF) fingerprints at corresponding locations within a facility, the plurality of RF fingerprints indicating signal strength from an RF device at the corresponding location, the RF device including an electronic shelf label (ESL). These operations include: determining a graph based on the plurality of RF fingerprints. These operations also include: receiving a user's current RF fingerprint within the facility. These operations also include: determining the user's current location within the graph based on the current RF fingerprint. These operations also include: determining a route to a target product by traversing the graph from the current location to the target location of the target product. These operations also include: displaying the route to the user when navigating to the target location within the facility.

[0009] Another aspect includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations including: determining a plurality of radio frequency (RF) fingerprints at corresponding locations within a facility, the plurality of RF fingerprints indicating signal strength from an RF device at the corresponding location, the RF device including an electronic shelf label (ESL). These operations also include: determining a graph based on the plurality of RF fingerprints. These operations also include: receiving a user's current RF fingerprint within the facility. These operations also include: determining the user's current location within the graph based on the current RF fingerprint. These operations also include: determining a route to a target product by traversing the graph from the current location to the target location of the target product. These operations also include: displaying the route to the user when navigating to the target location within the facility.

[0010] An additional aspect provides a guidance system including multiple electronic shelf labels (ESLs). The guidance system also includes a computing device configured to perform operations including: determining multiple radio frequency (RF) fingerprints at corresponding locations within the facility, the multiple RF fingerprints indicating signal strength from the multiple ESLs; determining a graph based on the multiple RF fingerprints; receiving a user's current RF fingerprint within the facility; determining the user's current location within the graph based on the current RF fingerprint; determining a route to a target product by traversing the graph from the current location to the target product's location; and displaying the route to the user when navigating to the target location within the facility.

[0011] The features and technical advantages of the examples according to this disclosure have been summarized rather broadly above in order to better understand the detailed description below. Additional features and advantages will be described below. The disclosed concepts and specific examples can be readily used as the basis for modifying or designing other structures for achieving the same purpose as this disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. The characteristics of the concepts disclosed herein (both their organization and operation) and their associated advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Each figure in the drawings is provided for illustrative and descriptive purposes and not as a definition of limitation of the claims.

[0012] While aspects and implementations are described herein by way of example, those skilled in the art will understand that additional implementations and use cases may arise in many different arrangements and scenarios. The innovations described herein can be implemented across many different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and package arrangements. For example, aspects and / or devices may be implemented via integrated chip implementations and other devices based on non-modular components (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail / purchasing devices, medical devices, AI-enabled devices, etc.). While some examples may or may not specifically point to a use case or application, the applicability of various types of the described innovations is evident. The scope of implementations ranges from chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level implementations, and further to aggregated, distributed, or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) devices or systems incorporating one or more aspects of the described innovations. In some practical settings, devices incorporating the described aspects and features may also necessarily include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described aspects. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals necessarily involve multiple components (e.g., hardware components, including antennas, radio frequency (RF) chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders / summers, etc.) for analog and digital purposes. The innovations described herein are intended to be implemented in a variety of devices, chip-level components, systems, distributed arrangements, end-user equipment, etc., with different sizes, shapes, and constructions. Attached Figure Description

[0013] A further understanding of the nature and advantages of this disclosure can be achieved by referring to the following figures. In the figures, similar components or features may have the same reference numerals. Furthermore, various components of the same type can be distinguished by adding a dash after the reference numerals and a second reference numeral for differentiation between similar components. If only the first reference numeral is used in the specification, the description applies to any one of the similar components having the same first reference numeral, regardless of the second reference numerals.

[0014] Figure 1 A facility according to one aspect of this disclosure is described.

[0015] Figures 2A to 2C An electronic shelf label (ESL) arrangement according to one aspect of this disclosure is depicted.

[0016] Figure 3 A system for identifying and providing guidance within a facility is described according to one aspect of this disclosure.

[0017] Figures 4A to 4C A graphic representation of an RF fingerprint according to one aspect of this disclosure is depicted.

[0018] Figure 5 A method for identifying and providing guidance within a facility is described according to one aspect of this disclosure.

[0019] Figure 6 A computing device configured to determine and provide guidance within a facility is described according to one aspect of this disclosure.

[0020] The same reference numerals and names in different figures denote the same elements. Detailed Implementation

[0021] The following description refers to certain specific examples in order to illustrate the innovative aspects of this disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in a variety of different ways. Some or all of the examples described can be applied in accordance with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, the IEEE 802.15 standard, or Bluetooth as defined by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). ® The described examples can be implemented in any device, system, or network that transmits and receives radio frequency (RF) signals using one or more of the following standards or those published by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP): Long Term Evolution (LTE), 3G, 4G, or 5G (New Radio (NR)). The examples described can be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of transmitting and receiving RF signals according to one or more of the following technologies or techniques: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), Single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA), Rate Split Multiple Access (RSMA), Multi-User Shared Access (MUSA), Single-User (SU) Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), and Multi-User (MU)-MIMO. The examples described can also be implemented using other wireless communication protocols or RF signals suitable for use in one or more of the following wireless personal area networks (WPAN), wireless local area networks (WLAN), wireless wide area networks (WWAN), wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), or Internet of Things (IoT) networks.

[0022] The various aspects collectively involve providing guidance within a facility. Some aspects are more specifically related to providing guidance to specific products or other items located within a facility, such as a retail store. In some examples, RF signals within the facility can be used to determine one or more fingerprints indicating various locations within the facility. These fingerprints can then be associated with one or more products or items within the facility and used to provide guidance to users. For example, a facility may contain one or more electronic shelf labels (ESLs) for providing information about the products and items within the facility. ESLs may correspond to specific products and may themselves be able to broadcast and receive RF signals. Thus, RF fingerprints within the facility can be used to identify specific locations associated with specific products. For example, the ESL associated with a product may itself measure an RF fingerprint that corresponds accordingly to the product's location within the facility. As another example, other measuring devices may themselves detect RF signals broadcast by the ESL corresponding to a specific product. The corresponding location of the product can then be determined based on the measured signal strength of those signals. Once the RF fingerprints have been measured, a graphical representation of the facility can be determined by connecting nodes corresponding to the RF fingerprints with edges. Edges may indicate a similarity measure between two RF fingerprints, which approximates physical proximity within the facility. When a user requests guidance, a route can be determined by first identifying the user's current location within the graph, and then identifying the path through the graph to the user's target location. In some cases, the current location can be determined based on the user's current RF fingerprint and the nearest matching node of the RF fingerprint within the graph. Routes can be displayed to the user, such as a sequence of products that the user can locate to reach the target location. Additionally or alternatively, one or more ESLs can be activated to provide guidance to users within the facility based on the route (such as audio, vibration, and lighting indicators).

[0023] Specific aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages. In some examples, by constructing a graph based on RF fingerprints, the techniques in question can be able to determine locations within a facility and provide routes through the facility without requiring a physical map or other layout indication of the facility itself. Furthermore, by presenting guidance to users using ESL, these techniques are further able to translate locations within the graph into corresponding physical locations without actually knowing where those locations are within the facility. Additionally, these techniques can leverage existing hardware within the facility, such as ESL and other RF devices, which reduces the need for costly equipment upgrades within the facility. Moreover, by updating the graph at regular intervals, these techniques are able to respond to changes in the RF environment and facility floor plan without requiring direct notification of these changes.

[0024] Figure 1A diagram of an example facility 100 according to one aspect of this disclosure is shown. Facility 100 includes user equipment 104, computing device 112, and RF devices. The RF devices include ESL 102A-H, access points 108A-B, and point-of-sale (POS) devices 106A-C. As explained further below, RF measurements can be performed at multiple locations within facility 100 and can be used to provide guidance to user 110. Specifically, computing device 112 can receive RF fingerprints from multiple locations within facility 100 and can use the RF fingerprints to provide guidance to user 110 associated with user equipment 104. For example, guidance to a desired product or other location within the facility can be provided.

[0025] The detailed description set forth below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Rather, the detailed description includes specific details for providing a thorough understanding of the subject matter of the invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these specific details are not necessary in every situation, and in some cases, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form for clarity of presentation.

[0026] This disclosure provides systems, apparatus, methods, and computer-readable media that support providing user guidance to specific locations within a facility, such as to products or other items. Existing navigation systems within facilities such as retail stores rely on having a floor plan and a set of axes typically used to describe user positioning. Radio transmitters may be used for positioning, such as by using round-trip time, signal strength, range, or angle measurements. In such cases, it may also be necessary to know the transmitter's location. Therefore, these systems are susceptible to changes in the facility's floor plan and / or changes in the transmitter's location. Some systems attempt to circumvent these problems using fingerprinting methods, but even for these methods, a map and a set of axes are required to have ground truth values ​​for the measurement points used, such as the location corresponding to a specific product.

[0027] One solution to this problem is to use RF devices within the facility to determine fingerprints at multiple locations within the facility. These locations can then be associated with specific products or items located within the facility. For example, the RF devices may include one or more electronic shelf labels (ESLs) corresponding to a specific product. The corresponding locations of these products can then be identified based on these ESLs. For example, the location can be determined based on the RF fingerprint measured by the ESL itself. As another example, the corresponding location can be determined based on a signal strength measurement of the ESL. In a particular implementation, the graph can be determined based on multiple RF fingerprints (such as based on a similarity measure between RF fingerprints) and can be used to provide guidance to a user. Specifically, a user can request guidance to a specific product or item within the facility. In response, the user's current RF fingerprint can be identified and used to determine the user's current location within the graph. A route to a specific product within the graph can be determined by traversing the graph from the user's current location to the target location of the product (such as a node corresponding to the location of the product's ESL). The route can then be displayed to the user, such as by a user device, via the ESL itself, or a combination thereof.

[0028] Specific embodiments of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages or benefits. In some aspects, this disclosure provides techniques for guiding users to various items within a store or other facility without having to physically map or otherwise determine the floor plan of the facility. Furthermore, by updating the graphics at regular intervals, these techniques are capable of responding to changes in the RF environment within the facility (such as when RF devices are added, moved, or removed). In some embodiments, these techniques can be implemented without adding additional hardware to the facility, thereby achieving backward compatibility with existing facility systems.

[0029] return Figure 1 The RF devices located within the facility may include one or more ESL 102A-Hs. The ESL 102A-H may include a digital system used in retail environments to electronically display product pricing and information on store shelves. The ESL 102A-H may include a display showing current pricing information for associated products. Utilizing communication protocols, the ESL 102A-H can enable real-time remote price updates across the retail environment. Specifically, the information displayed by these labels can be changed by programming means, such as by computing device 112 or another computing device. Any such computing device may be located within facility 100 (e.g., within the same geographical location as facility 100). In other specific implementations, the computing device may be located remotely from facility 100.

[0030] ESL 102A-H can communicate directly with other computing devices and / or indirectly (e.g., via another ESL). For example, computing device 112 may have only direct communication links with a subset of ESL 102A-H. Communication with the remaining ESLs of ESL 102A-H may occur indirectly (e.g., some ESL 102A-H forward communication to other ESL 102A-H).

[0031] ESL 102A-H can display product information for one or more products, including product name, identifier, and pricing information. In some implementations, ESL 102A-H can be associated with individual products in a store. In such implementations, ESL 102A-H can display information for only a single product. For example, Figure 2A An ESL arrangement 200 is depicted, in which three different products 202, 204, and 206 located on the same shelf are each associated with their corresponding ESLs 208, 210, and 212. In arrangement 200, each ESL 208, 210, and 212 may only display product information for its corresponding product 202, 204, or 206. In some such implementations, each ESL 208, 210, and 212 may have a corresponding wireless communication system, such as... Figure 2A As shown. In additional or alternative implementations, ESL can share the wireless communication system. For example, Figure 2B An ESL arrangement 220 is depicted, in which three ESLs 228, 230, and 232 share a common wireless communication system (such as one located within ESL 230). In such a configuration, ESLs 228 and 232 may receive communications indirectly via ESL 230 (such as via a wired connection between ESLs 228, 232 and ESL 230).

[0032] In yet another specific implementation, one or more ESLs in ESL 102A-H may not be associated with any product. For example, the shelf containing ESL 102A-H may be empty. As another example, ESLs may be included in various locations within facility 100 (such as at or near information kiosks or help stations within facility 100) to provide additional RF sources for guiding operations (discussed further below).

[0033] return Figure 1 A. In yet another specific implementation, at least a subset of ESL 102A-H may be associated with multiple products within a store (such as a shelf containing multiple products). For example, Figure 2CAn ESL arrangement 240 is depicted, in which three different products 242, 244, and 246 located on the same shelf are associated with the same ESL 248. In such a case, ESL 248 can display information about multiple products, such as by simultaneously displaying information about multiple products, sequentially cycling through the information about each product, or selecting a specific product via an interface.

[0034] Facility 100 may include RF equipment other than ESL. For example, RF equipment may include at least one of access points (such as Wi-Fi access points), cellular equipment, base stations, Bluetooth devices, point-of-sale equipment, etc. Specifically, Figure 1 A depicts wireless access points 108A-B and POS devices 106A-C. Some non-limiting examples of RF devices include mobile devices, cellular phones, smartphones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, laptops, personal computers (PCs), notebooks, netbooks, smartbooks, tablets, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). RF devices may additionally include smart energy or security devices, solar panels or solar arrays, municipal lighting, water or other infrastructure; industrial automation and enterprise equipment, medical devices, digital audio players (e.g., MP3 players), cameras, game consoles, etc.

[0035] In some implementations, facility 100 may be a retail facility, such as a store containing products for purchase. In additional or alternative implementations, the facility may include other types of facilities, such as warehouses, offices, factories, etc. In some such implementations, ESL (if used) may depict information other than pricing information (such as part identifiers, inventory information, etc.).

[0036] In some implementations, computing device 112 (such as computing device 112 located within facility 100 or physically separated from facility 100) may be configured to provide guidance to users located within facility 100. For example, user 110 may request guidance to a specific location and / or a specific product via user equipment 104. User equipment 104 may include, for example, Figure 1 The smartphone shown in Figure A. Other example user equipment 110 may include mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, laptops, personal computers (PCs), notebooks, netbooks, smartbooks, tablets, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wearable computing devices (such as smartwatches), etc. Users may request guidance via user equipment 104 and / or via another component (such as a kiosk or help station within facility 100).

[0037] As a specific example, Figure 3A system 120 for providing guidance within facility 100 is depicted according to one aspect of this disclosure. System 120 includes a computing device 112 that includes an RF fingerprint 122, a pattern 126, a current RF fingerprint 130, a current location 132, a target product 134, a target location 136, and a route 128. The RF fingerprint 122 includes a signal strength measurement 124.

[0038] Computing device 112 may be configured to determine multiple radio frequency (RF) fingerprints 122 at corresponding locations within a facility (such as a store). The multiple RF fingerprints 122 may indicate signal strength from RF devices within the facility. For example, RF fingerprints 122 may be measured at multiple locations within the facility and may indicate signal strength measurements 124 of one or more detected RF devices. RF devices within facility 100 may include ESL 102A-H as indicated above, and may include one or more devices that are not ESL. Specifically, RF devices used for RF fingerprints 122 may be selected from RF devices located within the facility as devices that remain stationary for a sufficiently long period of time, which may include a period of time (such as at least one hour, one day, or one week) less than or equal to the update frequency of pattern 126. In some implementations, computing device 112 may maintain a list of included or excluded RF devices or RF device types used for RF fingerprints 122.

[0039] In some implementations, multiple RF fingerprints 122 may include an identifier for the detected ESL 102A-H and a corresponding signal strength measurement 124. For example, the ESL 102A-H may be configured to broadcast a unique identifier using one or more wireless communication protocols, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc. In some configurations, the ESL 102A-H and / or other RF devices may use one or more other types of wireless communication protocols, such as cellular, infrared, etc. When multiple RF fingerprints are determined, the ESL ID and other IDs may be stored in association with corresponding signal strength values, such as Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) values. In some cases, the IDs may be derived from received transmissions.

[0040] In some specific implementations, multiple RF fingerprints 122 are measured by each ESL in at least a subset of ESLs 102A-H. For example, each ESL in at least a subset of ESLs 102A-H can measure RSSI information of a detected RF device at its location within the facility, and can send the measured RSSI value to computing device 112.

[0041] In additional or alternative embodiments, one or more RF fingerprints in RF fingerprint 122 may be measured by a measuring device that is not ESL (such as computing device 112, another computing device, or a combination thereof). For example, a computing device (such as user equipment, a dedicated RF measuring device, etc.) may measure RF fingerprints at multiple locations within facility 100 and may provide the RF fingerprints to computing device 112. In some embodiments, the measuring device may stop at each of the multiple locations to measure RF fingerprint 122. In additional or alternative embodiments, RF fingerprint 122 may be measured continuously as the measuring device moves through facility 100. For example, RF fingerprint 122 may be determined at regular intervals as the measuring device moves through the facility. As another example, RF fingerprint 122 may be detected (such as by the measuring device, by computing device 112, or a combination thereof) at locations of one or more detected RF devices with peak RSSI values ​​(such as the maximum value of one or more RF devices). As another example, an RF fingerprint 122 can be detected whenever a threshold number of RF devices have a measured RSSI value greater than a predetermined threshold (such as greater than -75dB, -60dB, -55dB, etc.).

[0042] Computing device 112 can be configured to determine pattern 126 based on a plurality of RF fingerprints. In some specific implementations, pattern 126 includes nodes corresponding to each RF fingerprint in at least a subset of RF fingerprints 122. Nodes can be connected by edges. For example, Figure 3 A depicts a graph 300 containing nodes 302 to 320 connected by edges. For clarity of presentation, graph 300 does not include the edges connecting each of nodes 302 to 320. It should be understood that, as discussed below, except... Figure 3 In addition to the edges depicted in A, additional edges may be included within graph 300. In some embodiments, edges may be determined based on one or more similarity measures. For example, edges may be weighted based on a similarity measure between corresponding RF fingerprints 122 connected by the edges. Additionally or alternatively, edges may be added to graph 126 to connect two nodes if the similarity meets a certain threshold. In some embodiments, graph 126 may be stored as an array, where each row and column corresponds to an RF fingerprint, and the value stored at a specific location indicates a similarity measure between two corresponding RF fingerprints.

[0043] In some embodiments, the similarity measure between two RF fingerprints 122 may be determined based on one or more of the following: common RF devices included in the RF fingerprint 122, similar RSSI measurements of one or more RF devices, rank statistics of RF devices included in the RF fingerprint 122, etc. As a particular embodiment, the similarity measure may be determined as the count of common RF devices between the RF fingerprints. As another example, the similarity measure may be determined as the percentage of commonly detected RF devices between the RF fingerprints. As yet another example, the similarity measure may be determined based on the number or percentage of RF devices with corresponding RSSI measurements within predetermined thresholds (e.g., 5%, 10%, 20%, etc.) of each other. In some embodiments, the computing device 112 may consider all detected RF devices in each RF fingerprint 122 when determining the similarity measure. In additional or alternative embodiments, the computing device 112 may consider only a subset of the detected RF devices (such as RF devices with five highest RSSIs, ten highest RSSIs, 20 highest RSSIs, etc.). In some embodiments, a higher similarity measure may indicate greater similarity between corresponding RF fingerprints 122. In additional or alternative implementations, a lower similarity metric may indicate greater similarity between corresponding RF fingerprints 122.

[0044] Based on this disclosure, those skilled in the art will understand that various scoring techniques may be used in addition to or in lieu of the scoring techniques discussed herein. All such techniques are considered to be within the scope of this disclosure. Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that various embodiments of Figure 126 may be used in addition to or in lieu of the specific embodiments of Figure 126 discussed herein. All such embodiments are also considered to be within the scope of this disclosure.

[0045] In some implementations, a map of facility 100 containing ESL 102A-H is not necessarily required to create graphic 126. In other words, the physical location of the corresponding location for RF fingerprint 122 may not be known. Instead, the corresponding location for RF fingerprint 122 can be identified as a location within graphic 126 (discussed below), even if these locations also correspond to physical locations within facility 100. As further explained below, guidance through facility 100 can still be provided even if the physical location is unknown.

[0046] Computing device 112 may be configured to determine a user's current RF fingerprint 130 within the facility. In some embodiments, the current RF fingerprint 130 may be measured at least in part by user equipment 104 associated with user 110 (such as a user requesting guidance). In such cases, RF signal measurements and / or the current RF fingerprint 130 may be received from user equipment 104. In some embodiments, the current RF fingerprint may be determined based on the same or similar information captured for multiple RF fingerprints 122. For example, the current RF fingerprint may include an identifier of an RF device detected by user equipment 104 and signal strength measurements 124. In some embodiments, the current RF fingerprint 130 may be determined after a pattern 126 is created. For example, pattern 126 may be created, updated, or a combination of creating and updating the pattern may be performed at regular intervals (such as hourly, daily, weekly, monthly). In such cases, the current RF fingerprint may be determined or received after pattern 126 is created or updated.

[0047] The computing device 112 may be configured to determine the user's current location 132 within the graph 126 based on the current RF fingerprint 130. In some embodiments, determining the user's current location 132 includes identifying the closest matching node of the current RF fingerprint 130 within the graph 126 as the user's current location 132. For example, a similarity metric may be calculated between the current RF fingerprint 130 and one or more RF fingerprints in the RF fingerprints 122 used to create the graph. The similarity metric may be calculated using the same or similar techniques used to determine the edges of the graph 126. In such cases, the closest matching node may be identified as the node within the graph 126 that has a similarity metric indicating maximum similarity (such as the highest similarity metric value, the lowest similarity metric, depending on the specific implementation of the similarity metric). In some embodiments, the signal measurements of the current RF fingerprint 130 (RF fingerprints 1 to 2) may be normalized (e.g., based on the highest value of the measurement) before determining the similarity metric and identifying the closest matching node.

[0048] Computing device 112 can be configured to determine a route 128 to target product 134. For example, route 128 can traverse graph 126 from current location 132 to target location 136. Target location 136 can be the location of target product 134. In some implementations, target product 134 can be selected by user 110 or otherwise received from the user (e.g., via an application running on user device 104). As an example, user 110 can request and receive guidance via an application on user device 104. The application can be associated with or otherwise contain information about facility 100. As a specific example, the application can include inventory information or stores, including products available for purchase in the store. User 110 can search for and identify target product 134 within the application and can request guidance to target product 134 via the application.

[0049] In some implementations, route 128 may be defined as a sequence of nodes within pattern 126 that connects the closest matching node to target location 136. In some implementations, target location 136 may be an ESL 102A-H corresponding to target product 134 (such as an ESL corresponding to one or more products including target product 134). For example, target location 136 may be a node within pattern 126 corresponding to an RF fingerprint 122 measured by ESL 102A-H for target product 134. As another example, target location may be a node within pattern 126 corresponding to an RF fingerprint 122 having the highest RSSI value for ESL 102A-H of target product 134.

[0050] In some implementations, one or more graph traversal techniques can be used to identify the route 128 from the current position 132 to the target position 136. For example, route 128 can be determined to traverse graph 126 from the current position 132 to the target position 136 with the minimum number of nodes. In some such implementations, the edges included in route 128 can be selected to satisfy predetermined similarity requirements (i.e., minimum similarity metric threshold, maximum similarity metric threshold, depending on the specific implementation of the similarity metric). Such implementations can result in simpler routes. As a concrete example, Figure 3B depicts a route 330 from the current position at node 302 through the target position at node 320 in graph 300. Route 330 is chosen to traverse the minimum number of nodes (i.e., a total of 3 edges traversed from node 302 to node 312, to node 314, and to node 320). In a further specific implementation, route 128 can be determined as traversing graph 126 from the current position 132 to the target position 136, while optimizing the average similarity metric of the edges included in route 128 (such as maximizing the average similarity metric, minimizing the average similarity metric, depending on the specific implementation of the similarity metric). Such a specific implementation can result in routes that move between products that are closer together, which may be easier for the user to follow. As a concrete example, Figure 3 C depicts a route 340 between nodes 302 and 320, which differs from route 330 and includes more nodes than route 330, extending from node 302 to node 308, to node 310, to node 314, to node 318, and to node 320. Route 340 maximizes the similarity between adjacent nodes along the route, resulting in including more nodes compared to route 330. Those skilled in the art will understand that computing device 112 may consider other factors when determining a route or selecting between routes. For example, in addition to the strategies discussed above, route 128 may be selected based on the maximum number of nodes, the minimum threshold level of similarity of the selected edges, and combinations thereof.

[0051] Computing device 112 may be configured to display route 128 to a user as the user navigates to target location 136. For example, route 128 may be displayed to user 110 via user device 104. In some embodiments, route 128 may be displayed as a series of products that the user can proceed to reach target product 134. In some embodiments, displaying route 128 may include displaying a sequence of products along route 128. For example, user device 104 may display a series of products, the next product that user 110 should proceed to, or a combination thereof. In additional or alternative embodiments, displaying route 128 may include displaying a progress indicator on a mobile device associated with the user. For example, user device 104 may display a progress indicator based on the proportion of nodes along the route the user has already reached. As another example, user device 104 may display a hot / cold indicator based on whether the user is approaching or moving away from target product 134. In another specific implementation, display route 128 may include illuminating the ESL 102A-H sequence along route 128, such as ESLs corresponding to the product sequence along route 128. In some specific implementations, display route 128 may indicate to a section of the store that the user should proceed to before receiving further guidance, such as a specific location in the store (“rear of the store”), a specific department (“home goods”), or a specific aisle (“A13”). This section of the store may be identified based on the product categories of the facility, such as by identifying metadata indicating the target product of the intended section of the store. When the user arrives at this section, more detailed guidance, as described above, may be provided.

[0052] Computing device 112 can be configured to monitor a user's progress along route 128. For example, the updated location for the user can be determined at regular intervals by measuring a new current RF fingerprint 130 using user equipment 104. The updated location can be compared to route 128 to determine the user's progress along route 128. In some embodiments, computing device 112 may use the techniques discussed above to determine the updated route (e.g., between the updated location and the target location 136). In some embodiments, if the user deviates from route 128 (e.g., by a certain distance for a certain period of time), an alarm may be issued to facilities (e.g., facility administrators or other personnel). The alarm may identify the user, the target product, the user's current location, or a combination thereof.

[0053] In some implementations, computing device 112 may be configured to update pattern 126 at regular intervals. For example, computing device 112 may update pattern 126 by determining or receiving updated RF fingerprint 122 (e.g., by querying the ESL AH of the updated RF fingerprint 122, triggering a new measurement procedure by a measurement device, etc.). The updated pattern 126 of the facility may then be determined based on the updated RF fingerprint using the techniques discussed above. In various implementations, pattern 126 may be updated hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, etc.

[0054] For reference Figure 3 As described, this disclosure provides techniques for providing user guidance to various items within a store or other facility without having to map the facility. Furthermore, by updating the graph at regular intervals, these techniques are able to respond to changes in the RF environment within the facility (such as when RF devices are added, moved, or removed). In some specific implementations, these techniques can be implemented without adding additional hardware to the facility, thereby achieving backward compatibility with existing facility systems.

[0055] Figure 5 A method for providing user guidance within a facility, according to one aspect of this disclosure, is described. Method 500 may be implemented on a computer system (such as system 120). For example, method 500 may be implemented by computing device 112. Method 500 may also be implemented by an instruction set stored on a computer-readable medium, which, when executed by a processor, causes the computing device to execute method 500. Although referenced... Figure 5 The flowchart illustrated in the document describes the following example, but it can be used to execute and... Figure 5 Many other methods of associated actions. For example, the order of some boxes can be changed, some boxes can be combined with other boxes, one or more boxes can be repeated, and some boxes can be optional.

[0056] Method 500 includes determining a plurality of RF fingerprints 122 at corresponding locations within a facility, the plurality of RF fingerprints 122 indicating signal strength from RF devices including ESLs 102A-H (box 502). For example, computing device 112 may determine the plurality of radio frequency (RF) fingerprints at corresponding locations within facility 100. In some embodiments, the plurality of RF fingerprints 122 are measured by each ESL in at least a subset of ESLs 102A-H. In additional or alternative embodiments, the plurality of RF fingerprints 122 are measured by at least one measuring device separate from the RF devices.

[0057] Method 500 includes determining a graph 126 based on multiple RF fingerprints (box 504). For example, computing device 112 may determine graph 126 based on multiple RF fingerprints. In some specific implementations, graph 126 includes nodes corresponding to RF fingerprints and edges connecting the nodes based on a similarity metric between corresponding RF fingerprints 122.

[0058] Method 500 includes determining a current RF fingerprint 130 (box 506) of a user 110 within the facility. For example, computing device 112 may determine the current RF fingerprint 130 of a user within the facility. In some embodiments, the current RF fingerprint may be measured and received from a user equipment 104 associated with the user. In some embodiments, the current RF fingerprint may be determined based on the same or similar information captured for multiple RF fingerprints. For example, the current RF fingerprint may include the ID of the detected RF device and signal strength measurement 124.

[0059] Method 500 includes determining the user's current location 132 within the graph 126 based on the current RF fingerprint 130 (box 508). For example, computing device 112 may determine the user's current location 132 within the graph 126 based on the current RF fingerprint. In some specific implementations, determining the user's current location 132 includes identifying the nearest matching node of the current RF fingerprint within the graph 126 as the user's current location 132.

[0060] Method 500 includes determining a route 128 (box 510) to the target product 134 by traversing graph 126 from the current position 132 to the target position 136 of the target product 134. For example, computing device 112 can determine the route 128 to the target product 134 by traversing graph 126 from the current position 132 to the target position 136 of the target product 134. In some embodiments, the target product 134 may be selected by a user or otherwise received from the user, such as via an application running on user device 104. In some embodiments, the route 128 may be determined as a sequence of nodes within graph 126 that connects the closest matching node to the target position 136. In some embodiments, the target position 136 may be an ESL corresponding to the target product 134. In some embodiments, the route 128 may be determined as traversing graph 126 from the current position 132 to the target position 136 with the minimum number of nodes, wherein the edges of the route 128 satisfy predetermined similarity requirements. In some specific implementations, route 128 may be determined as traversing graph 126 from current position 132 to target position 136, while optimizing the average similarity measure of the edges included in route 128.

[0061] Method 500 includes displaying route 128 (box 512) to a user as the store is navigated to target location 136. For example, computing device 112 may display route 128 to the user as the store is navigated to target location 136. In some specific implementations, displaying route 128 may include at least one of the following: illuminating the ESL 102A-H sequence along route 128, displaying a progress indicator on a mobile device associated with the user, displaying a sequence of products along route 128, or a combination thereof.

[0062] Figure 6 This is an example computing device 600 guided through a facility based on support from one or more aspects. The computing device 600 can be configured to perform operations, including references... Figure 5 The described process is outlined in a box. In some specific implementations, computing device 600 includes a reference... Figure 1 and Figure 3 The computing device 112 is shown and described in terms of its structure, hardware, and components. The computing device 600 includes a memory 602 and a processor 604. The memory 602 includes instructions that can be executed by the processor 604 to perform one or more functions of the computing device 600. Specifically, the memory 602 includes RF fingerprint recognition logic 608, pattern determination logic 610, user location logic 612, route determination logic 614, and user guidance logic 616.

[0063] RF fingerprinting logic 608 can be configured to determine multiple radio frequency (RF) fingerprints at corresponding locations within a facility. In some embodiments, the multiple RF fingerprints are measured by each ESL in at least a subset of ESLs. In additional or alternative embodiments, the multiple RF fingerprints are measured by at least one measuring device separate from the RF device.

[0064] The graph determination logic 610 can be configured to determine a graph based on multiple RF fingerprints. In some specific implementations, the graph includes nodes corresponding to RF fingerprints and edges connecting the nodes based on a similarity measure between the corresponding RF fingerprints.

[0065] User location logic 612 can be configured to determine the user's current RF fingerprint within the facility. In some implementations, the current RF fingerprint can be measured and received from the user equipment associated with the user. In some implementations, the current RF fingerprint can be determined based on the same or similar information captured against multiple RF fingerprints. For example, the current RF fingerprint may include the ID of the detected RF device and a signal strength measurement.

[0066] User location logic 612 can also be configured to determine the user's current location within the graph based on the current RF fingerprint. In some implementations, determining the user's current location includes identifying the nearest matching node of the current RF fingerprint within the graph as the user's current location.

[0067] Route determination logic 614 can be configured to determine a route to the target product by traversing a graph from the current location to the target location of the target product. In some implementations, the target product may be selected by the user or otherwise received from the user (e.g., via an application running on the user's device). In some implementations, the route may be determined as a sequence of nodes within the graph that connects the closest matching node to the target location. In some implementations, the target location may be an ESL corresponding to the target product. In some implementations, the route may be determined as traversing the graph from the current location to the target location with the minimum number of nodes, wherein the edges of the route satisfy a predetermined similarity requirement. In some implementations, the route may be determined as traversing the graph from the current location to the target location while optimizing the average similarity metric of the edges included in the route.

[0068] User guidance logic 616 can be configured to display a route to a user as they navigate the store to a target location. In some implementations, displaying the route may include at least one of the following: illuminating an ESL sequence along the route, displaying a progress indicator on a mobile device associated with the user, displaying a product sequence along the route, or a combination thereof.

[0069] In one or more aspects, the technology for supporting navigation through a facility may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below or in conjunction with one or more other processes or devices described elsewhere herein. A first aspect provides a method comprising: determining a plurality of radio frequency (RF) fingerprints at corresponding locations within the facility, the plurality of RF fingerprints indicating signal strength from an RF device at the corresponding location, the RF device including an electronic shelf label (ESL). The method further comprises: determining a pattern based on the plurality of RF fingerprints. The method further comprises: receiving a current RF fingerprint of a user within the facility. The method further comprises: determining the user's current location within the pattern based on the current RF fingerprint. The method further comprises: determining a route to a target product by traversing the pattern from the current location to a target location of the target product. The method further comprises: displaying the route to the user as they navigate to the target location within the facility.

[0070] In a second aspect, in conjunction with the first aspect, the graph includes nodes corresponding to the RF fingerprints and edges connecting the nodes based on a similarity metric between the corresponding RF fingerprints.

[0071] In a third aspect, in conjunction with the second aspect, determining the user's current location may include identifying the closest matching node of the current RF fingerprint within the graph as the user's current location.

[0072] In a fourth aspect, in conjunction with the third aspect, the route is determined to be a sequence of nodes within the graph that connects the closest matching node to the target location.

[0073] In a fifth aspect, in conjunction with the fourth aspect, the route is determined to traverse the graph from the current position to the target position with a minimum number of nodes, wherein the edges connecting the sequence of nodes within the route satisfy a predetermined similarity requirement.

[0074] In a sixth aspect, in conjunction with one or more of the second to fifth aspects, the route is determined to traverse the graph from the current position to the target position, while optimizing the average similarity metric of the edges included in the route.

[0075] In the seventh aspect, in conjunction with one or more of the first to sixth aspects, the target location is an ESL corresponding to the target product.

[0076] In the eighth aspect, in conjunction with one or more of the first to seventh aspects, the plurality of RF fingerprints are measured by each ESL in at least one subset of the ESLs.

[0077] In a ninth aspect, in conjunction with one or more of the first to eighth aspects, the plurality of RF fingerprints are identified based on the maximum value of the RF signal measured while moving through the facility.

[0078] In the tenth aspect, in combination with one or more of the first to ninth aspects, displaying the route includes: (i) illuminating the ESL sequence along the route, (ii) displaying a progress indicator on a mobile device associated with the user, (iii) displaying a product sequence along the route, or (iv) a combination thereof.

[0079] The eleventh aspect provides a system including a memory storing processor-readable code and at least one processor coupled to the memory. The at least one processor is configured to execute processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to perform operations including: determining a plurality of radio frequency (RF) fingerprints at corresponding locations within a facility, the plurality of RF fingerprints indicating signal strength from an RF device at the corresponding location, the RF device including an electronic shelf label (ESL). The operation includes: determining a pattern based on the plurality of RF fingerprints. The operation further includes: receiving a user's current RF fingerprint within the facility. The operation further includes: determining the user's current location within the pattern based on the current RF fingerprint. The operation further includes: determining a route to the target product by traversing the pattern from the current location to the target location of the target product. The operation further includes: displaying the route to the user when navigating to the target location within the facility.

[0080] Additionally, the apparatus may perform or operate according to one or more aspects described below. In some embodiments, the apparatus includes a wireless device, such as a user equipment. In some embodiments, the apparatus may include at least one processor and memory coupled to the processor. The processor may be configured to perform the operations described herein with respect to the apparatus. In some other embodiments, the apparatus may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon, and the program code may be executable by a computer to cause the computer to perform the operations described herein with reference to the apparatus. In some embodiments, the apparatus may include one or more components configured to perform the operations described herein. In some embodiments, a method of wireless communication may include one or more operations described herein with reference to the apparatus.

[0081] In a twelfth aspect, in conjunction with the eleventh aspect, the graph includes nodes corresponding to the RF fingerprints and edges connecting the nodes based on a similarity metric between the corresponding RF fingerprints.

[0082] In a thirteenth aspect, in conjunction with the twelfth aspect, determining the user's current location may include identifying the closest matching node of the current RF fingerprint within the graph as the user's current location.

[0083] In the fourteenth aspect, in conjunction with the thirteenth aspect, the route is determined to be a sequence of nodes within the graph that connects the nearest matching node to the target location.

[0084] In the fifteenth aspect, in conjunction with the fourteenth aspect, the route is determined to traverse the graph from the current position to the target position with a minimum number of nodes, wherein the edges connecting the sequence of nodes within the route satisfy a predetermined similarity requirement.

[0085] In the sixteenth aspect, in conjunction with one or more of the twelfth to the fifteenth aspects, the route is determined to traverse the graph from the current position to the target position, while optimizing the average similarity metric of the edges included in the route.

[0086] In the seventeenth aspect, in conjunction with one or more of the eleventh to sixteenth aspects, the target location is an ESL corresponding to the target product.

[0087] In the eighteenth aspect, in conjunction with one or more of the eleventh to seventeenth aspects, the plurality of RF fingerprints are measured by each ESL in at least a subset of the ESLs.

[0088] In the nineteenth aspect, in conjunction with one or more of the eleventh to eighteenth aspects, the plurality of RF fingerprints are identified based on the maximum value of the RF signal measured while moving through the facility.

[0089] In the twentieth aspect, in combination with one or more of the eleventh to nineteenth aspects, displaying the route includes: (i) illuminating the ESL sequence along the route, (ii) displaying a progress indicator on a mobile device associated with the user, (iii) displaying a product sequence along the route, or (iv) a combination thereof.

[0090] A twenty-first aspect includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations including: determining a plurality of radio frequency (RF) fingerprints at corresponding locations within a facility, the plurality of RF fingerprints indicating signal strength from an RF device at the corresponding location, the RF device including an electronic shelf label (ESL). The operations further include: determining a pattern based on the plurality of RF fingerprints. The operations further include: receiving a user's current RF fingerprint within the facility. The operations further include: determining the user's current location within the pattern based on the current RF fingerprint. The operations further include: determining a route to the target product by traversing the pattern from the current location to the target location of the target product. These operations further include: displaying the route to the user when navigating to the target location within the facility.

[0091] In a twenty-second aspect, in conjunction with the twenty-first aspect, the graph includes nodes corresponding to the RF fingerprints and edges connecting the nodes based on a similarity metric between the corresponding RF fingerprints.

[0092] In a twentieth aspect, in conjunction with the twentieth aspect, determining the user's current location may include identifying the closest matching node of the current RF fingerprint within the graph as the user's current location.

[0093] In the twenty-fourth aspect, in conjunction with the twenty-third aspect, the route is determined to be a sequence of nodes within the graph that connects the nearest matching node to the target location.

[0094] In the twenty-fifth aspect, in conjunction with the twenty-fourth aspect, the route is determined to traverse the graph from the current position to the target position with a minimum number of nodes, wherein the edges connecting the sequence of nodes within the route satisfy a predetermined similarity requirement.

[0095] The twenty-sixth aspect provides a guidance system including multiple electronic shelf labels (ESLs). The guidance system further includes a computing device configured to perform operations including: determining multiple radio frequency (RF) fingerprints at corresponding locations within a facility, the multiple RF fingerprints indicating signal strength from the multiple ESLs; determining a pattern based on the multiple RF fingerprints; receiving a user's current RF fingerprint within the facility; determining the user's current location within the pattern based on the current RF fingerprint; determining a route to the target product by traversing the pattern from the current location to the target product's location; and displaying the route to the user when navigating to the target location within the facility.

[0096] In a twenty-seventh aspect, in conjunction with the twenty-sixth aspect, the graph includes nodes corresponding to the RF fingerprints and edges connecting the nodes based on a similarity metric between the corresponding RF fingerprints.

[0097] In the twentieth aspect, in conjunction with the twentieth aspect, determining the user's current location may include identifying the closest matching node of the current RF fingerprint within the graph as the user's current location.

[0098] In the twenty-ninth aspect, in conjunction with the twenty-eighth aspect, the route is determined to be a sequence of nodes within the graph that connects the nearest matching node to the target location.

[0099] In the thirtieth aspect, in conjunction with the twenty-ninth aspect, the route is determined to traverse the graph from the current position to the target position with a minimum number of nodes, wherein the edges connecting the sequence of nodes within the route satisfy a predetermined similarity requirement.

[0100] Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and skills. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the above description can be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0101] This article is about Figure 1 The components, functional blocks, and modules described in Figure 4 include processors, electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components, logic circuits, memory, software code, firmware code, etc., or any combination thereof. Software should be interpreted broadly as instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subroutines, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, and / or functions, regardless of whether it is referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or other terms. Furthermore, the features discussed herein can be implemented via dedicated processor circuitry, via executable instructions, or a combination thereof.

[0102] Those skilled in the art will further understand that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in conjunction with the disclosure herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability between hardware and software, various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above in general terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such specific implementation decisions should not be construed as departing from the scope of this disclosure. Those skilled in the art will also readily recognize that the order or combination of components, methods, or interactions described herein is merely illustrative, and that components, methods, or interactions of various aspects of this disclosure can be combined or performed in ways other than those illustrated and described herein.

[0103] The various exemplary logics, logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic processes described in conjunction with the specific implementations disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. The interchangeability of hardware and software has been broadly described in terms of functionality and illustrated in the aforementioned exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and processes. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0104] Hardware and data processing means for implementing the various exemplary logic, logic blocks, modules, and circuits described herein can be implemented or executed using a general-purpose single-chip or multi-chip processor, digital signal processor (DSP), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic unit, discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, or any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. In some embodiments, the processor may be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. In some embodiments, specific processes and methods may be performed by circuitry specific to a given function.

[0105] In one or more aspects, the described functionality may be implemented in hardware, digital electronic circuits, computer software, firmware, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents or any combination thereof. Specific implementations of the subject matter described in this specification may also be implemented as one or more computer programs, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a computer storage medium for execution by a data processing apparatus or for controlling the operation of a data processing apparatus.

[0106] If implemented in software, the functionality can be stored as one or more instructions or code on or transmitted through a computer-readable medium. The processes of the methods or algorithms disclosed herein can be implemented in a processor-executable software module that can reside on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that can be implemented to transfer a computer program from one location to another. Storage media can be any available medium accessible to a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), CD-ROM or other optical disc storage devices, magnetic disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium capable of storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and accessible to a computer. Additionally, any connection may be appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. As used herein, disks and optical discs include compact optical discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile optical discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, wherein disks typically magnetically reproduce data, while optical discs optically reproduce data using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media. Additionally, the operation of a method or algorithm may reside as a set of code and instructions or any combination of code and instructions on a machine-readable medium and a computer-readable medium that may be incorporated into a computer program product.

[0107] Various modifications to the specific embodiments described in this disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure. Therefore, the claims are not intended to be limited to the specific embodiments shown herein, but are to be accorded the widest scope consistent with this disclosure, the principles disclosed herein, and the novel features thereof.

[0108] Additionally, those skilled in the art will readily understand that the terms “upper” and “lower” are sometimes used to facilitate the description of the drawings and to indicate relative positioning on a correctly oriented page corresponding to the orientation of the drawings, and may not reflect the correct orientation of any device as implemented.

[0109] Certain features described in this specification in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented individually or in any suitable sub-combination in multiple embodiments. Furthermore, although features may be described above as operating in certain combinations and even originally claimed in this way, one or more features from the claimed combination may be removed from that combination in some cases, and the claimed combination may be for sub-combinations or variations thereof.

[0110] Similarly, although operations are depicted in a specific order in the figures, this should not be construed as requiring such operations to be performed in the indicated specific order or sequential order, or to perform all illustrated operations to achieve the desired result. Furthermore, the figures may schematically depict one or more example processes in the form of flowcharts. However, other operations not depicted may be combined with the schematically illustrated example processes. For example, one or more additional operations may be performed before, after, simultaneously with, or between any illustrated operation. In some environments, multitasking and parallel processing are advantageous. Moreover, the separation of the various system components in the embodiments described above should not be construed as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products. Additionally, some other embodiments also fall within the scope of the appended claims. In some cases, the actions recited in the claims may be performed in a different order and still achieve the desired result.

[0111] As used herein (including the claims), the term “or” in a list of two or more items means that any one of the listed items may be used alone, or any combination of two or more listed items may be used. For example, if a composition is described as containing component A, B, or C, the composition may contain A alone; B alone; C alone; a combination of A and B; a combination of A and C; a combination of B and C; or a combination of A, B, and C. Furthermore, as used herein (including the claims), “or” in a list of items ending with “at least one of” indicates a disjunctive list, such that a list such as “at least one of A, B, or C” refers to A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C) or any combination of any of these items. The term “substantially” is defined as substantially but not necessarily entirely what is specified (and includes what is specified; for example, substantially 90 degrees includes 90 degrees and substantially parallel includes parallel), as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. In any disclosed specific implementation, the term “substantially” may be used in place of “[percentage]” for the specified content, where the percentage includes 0.1%, 1%, 5% or 10%.

[0112] The prior description of this disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use this disclosure. Various modifications to this disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure. Therefore, this disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method, the method comprising: Multiple radio frequency (RF) fingerprints are identified at corresponding locations within the facility, the multiple RF fingerprints indicating signal strength from RF devices at the corresponding locations, the RF devices including electronic shelf labels (ESLs); The pattern is determined based on the multiple RF fingerprints; Receive the user's current RF fingerprint within the facility; The user's current position within the graph is determined based on the current RF fingerprint; The route to the target product is determined by traversing the graph from the current location to the target location of the target product. as well as The route is displayed to the user when navigating to the target location within the facility.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the graph comprises nodes corresponding to the RF fingerprint and edges connecting the nodes based on a similarity metric between the corresponding RF fingerprints.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the user's current location comprises determining the closest matching node of the current RF fingerprint within the graph as the user's current location.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the route is determined as a sequence of nodes within the graph that connects the nearest matching node to the target location.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the route is determined to traverse the graph from the current position to the target position with a minimum number of nodes, wherein the edges connecting the sequence of nodes within the route satisfy a predetermined similarity requirement.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the route is determined to traverse the graph from the current position to the target position, while optimizing the average similarity metric of the edges included in the route.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the target location is an ESL corresponding to the target product.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of RF fingerprints are measured by each ESL in at least a subset of the ESLs.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of RF fingerprints are determined based on the maximum value of the RF signal measured while moving through the facility.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the route comprises: (i) illuminate the ESL sequence along the route, (ii) display a progress indicator on the mobile device associated with the user, (iii) display the product sequence along the route, or (iv) a combination thereof.

11. A system comprising: Memory, the memory storing processor-readable code; and At least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor being configured to execute processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to perform operations including: Multiple radio frequency (RF) fingerprints are identified at corresponding locations within the facility, the multiple RF fingerprints indicating signal strength from RF devices at the corresponding locations, the RF devices including electronic shelf labels (ESLs); The pattern is determined based on the multiple RF fingerprints; Receive the user's current RF fingerprint within the facility; The user's current position within the graph is determined based on the current RF fingerprint; The route to the target product is determined by traversing the graph from the current location to the target location of the target product. as well as The route is displayed to the user when navigating to the target location within the facility.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the graph comprises nodes corresponding to the RF fingerprint and edges connecting the nodes based on a similarity metric between the corresponding RF fingerprints.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein determining the user's current location comprises determining the closest matching node of the current RF fingerprint within the graph as the user's current location.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the route is determined as a sequence of nodes within the graph that connects the nearest matching node to the target location.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the route is determined to traverse the graph from the current position to the target position with a minimum number of nodes, wherein the edges connecting the sequence of nodes within the route satisfy a predetermined similarity requirement.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the route is determined to traverse the graph from the current position to the target position, while optimizing the average similarity metric of the edges included in the route.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the target location is an ESL corresponding to the target product.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the plurality of RF fingerprints are measured by each ESL in at least a subset of the ESLs.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the plurality of RF fingerprints are determined based on the maximum value of the RF signal measured while moving through the facility.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein displaying the route comprises: (i) illuminate the ESL sequence along the route, (ii) display a progress indicator on the mobile device associated with the user, (iii) display the product sequence along the route, or (iv) a combination thereof.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations including: Multiple radio frequency (RF) fingerprints are identified at corresponding locations within the facility, the multiple RF fingerprints indicating signal strength from RF devices at the corresponding locations, the RF devices including electronic shelf labels (ESLs); The pattern is determined based on the multiple RF fingerprints; Receive the user's current RF fingerprint within the facility; The user's current position within the graph is determined based on the current RF fingerprint; The route to the target product is determined by traversing the graph from the current location to the target location of the target product. as well as The route is displayed to the user when navigating to the target location within the facility.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the graph comprises nodes corresponding to the RF fingerprint and edges connecting the nodes based on a similarity metric between the corresponding RF fingerprints.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein determining the user's current location comprises determining the closest matching node of the current RF fingerprint within the graph as the user's current location.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the route is determined to include a sequence of nodes within the graph that connects the nearest matching node to the target location.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the route is determined to traverse the graph from the current position to the target position with a minimum number of nodes, wherein the edges connecting the sequence of nodes within the route satisfy a predetermined similarity requirement.

26. A boot system, the boot system comprising: Multiple electronic shelf labels (ESL); and A computing device configured to perform operations including: Identify multiple radio frequency (RF) fingerprints at corresponding locations within the facility, the multiple RF fingerprints indicating signal strength from the multiple ESLs; The pattern is determined based on the multiple RF fingerprints; Receive the user's current RF fingerprint within the facility; The user's current position within the graph is determined based on the current RF fingerprint; The route to the target product is determined by traversing the graph from the current location to the target location of the target product. as well as The route is displayed to the user when navigating to the target location within the facility.

27. The guidance system of claim 26, wherein the graph comprises nodes corresponding to the RF fingerprint and edges connecting the nodes based on a similarity metric between the corresponding RF fingerprints.

28. The guidance system of claim 27, wherein determining the user's current location comprises determining the closest matching node of the current RF fingerprint within the graph as the user's current location.

29. The guidance system of claim 28, wherein the route is determined as a sequence of nodes within the graph that connects the nearest matching node to the target location.

30. The guidance system of claim 29, wherein the route is determined to traverse the graph from the current position to the target position with a minimum number of nodes, wherein the edges connecting the sequence of nodes within the route satisfy a predetermined similarity requirement.

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