Method for determining position of electronic device, and electronic device performing same

Abstract

A method for determining a position, according to one embodiment, comprises: an operation of transmitting a first message to one or more external electronic devices; an operation of receiving one or more second messages from the one or more external electronic devices; an operation of generating a first signal strength pattern for the one or more external electronic devices on the basis of the second messages; an operation of determining a target reference signal strength pattern corresponding to the first signal strength pattern from among one or more reference signal strength patterns; and an operation of determining a position of the electronic device on the basis of the target reference signal strength pattern.

Description

Method for determining the location of an electronic device and an electronic device performing the same

[0001] One embodiment relates to a technique for determining the location of an electronic device, and more particularly to a technique for determining the location of an electronic device located indoors.

[0002] The Global Positioning System (GPS), which is used to determine the location of electronic devices outdoors, may not be available or may have reduced accuracy when the devices are located indoors. For example, a method similar to GPS can be used to determine the location of indoor electronic devices, utilizing one or more anchor devices whose installation locations are known in advance. However, this method using anchor devices requires that the anchor devices be installed indoors in advance, and the electronic devices must be equipped with sensors capable of reliably estimating distances.

[0003] According to one embodiment, an electronic device includes a communication module, at least one processor, and a memory storing instructions executable by the at least one processor, wherein the memory is configured to cause the electronic device to: transmit a first message to one or more external electronic devices through the communication module; receive one or more second messages from the one or more external electronic devices through the communication module; generate a first signal strength pattern for the one or more external electronic devices based on the second messages; determine a target reference signal strength pattern corresponding to the first signal strength pattern among one or more reference signal strength patterns; and determine a location of the electronic device based on the target reference signal strength pattern.

[0004] According to one embodiment, a method for determining a location of an electronic device may include transmitting a first message to one or more external electronic devices, receiving one or more second messages from the one or more external electronic devices, generating a first signal intensity pattern for the one or more external electronic devices based on the second messages, determining a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to the first signal intensity pattern among one or more reference signal intensity patterns, and determining a location of the electronic device based on the target reference signal intensity pattern.

[0005] The above and other aspects, features and advantages of specific embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0006] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device within a network environment according to one embodiment.

[0007] FIG. 2 is a plan view of an interior in which external electronic devices and electronic devices are arranged, according to one embodiment.

[0008] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for determining a location of an electronic device, according to one embodiment.

[0009] FIG. 4 is a signal flow diagram of a method for an electronic device to receive reference signal strength patterns from external electronic devices, according to one embodiment.

[0010] FIG. 5 is a signal flow diagram of a method for an electronic device to receive second messages as replies to a first message from external electronic devices, according to one embodiment.

[0011] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for determining a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to a first signal intensity pattern among reference signal intensity patterns, according to one embodiment.

[0012] FIG. 7 illustrates a coordinate system in which the above reference signal intensity patterns and the first signal intensity pattern are arranged, according to one embodiment.

[0013] FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method for determining a first signal intensity pattern having a minimum distance based on a distance between each of the first signal intensity pattern and reference signal intensity patterns, according to one embodiment.

[0014] FIG. 9 illustrates the distance between each of the first signal intensity pattern and the reference signal intensity patterns moving in the target direction according to one embodiment.

[0015] FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a method for determining whether a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponds to a first signal intensity pattern based on a minimum distance and a threshold distance between the calculated first signal intensity pattern and the target reference signal intensity pattern, according to one embodiment.

[0016] FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a method for updating a reference signal intensity pattern performed by an external electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0017] FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method for determining whether a current reference signal intensity pattern corresponds to a previous reference signal intensity pattern, according to one embodiment.

[0018] Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the attached drawings. However, this is not intended to limit the present disclosure to specific embodiments, and it should be understood that the present disclosure encompasses various modifications, equivalents, and / or alternatives of the embodiments.

[0019] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device within a network environment according to one embodiment.

[0020] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device (101) within a network environment (100) according to an embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, in the network environment (100), the electronic device (101) may communicate with the electronic device (102) via a first network (198) (e.g., a short-range wireless communication network), or may communicate with at least one of the electronic device (104) or the server (108) via a second network (199) (e.g., a long-range wireless communication network). According to an embodiment, the electronic device (101) may communicate with the electronic device (104) via the server (108). According to one embodiment, the electronic device (101) may include a processor (120), a memory (130), an input module (150), an audio output module (155), a display module (160), an audio module (170), a sensor module (176), an interface (177), a connection terminal (178), a haptic module (179), a camera module (180), a power management module (188), a battery (189), a communication module (190), a subscriber identification module (196), or an antenna module (197). In some embodiments, the electronic device (101) may omit at least one of these components (e.g., the connection terminal (178)), or may have one or more other components added. In some embodiments, some of these components (e.g., the sensor module (176), the camera module (180), or the antenna module (197)) may be integrated into one component (e.g., the display module (160)).

[0021] The processor (120) may control at least one other component (e.g., a hardware or software component) of the electronic device (101) connected to the processor (120) by executing, for example, software (e.g., a program (140)), and may perform various data processing or calculations. According to one embodiment, as at least a part of the data processing or calculation, the processor (120) may store a command or data received from another component (e.g., a sensor module (176) or a communication module (190)) in a volatile memory (132), process the command or data stored in the volatile memory (132), and store the resulting data in a non-volatile memory (134). According to one embodiment, the processor (120) may include a main processor (121) (e.g., a central processing unit or an application processor) or a secondary processor (123) (e.g., a graphics processing unit, a neural processing unit (NPU), an image signal processor, a sensor hub processor, or a communication processor) that can operate independently or together therewith. For example, if the electronic device (101) includes a main processor (121) and a secondary processor (123), the secondary processor (123) may be configured to use less power than the main processor (121) or to be specialized for a specified function. The secondary processor (123) may be implemented separately from the main processor (121) or as a part thereof.

[0022] The auxiliary processor (123) may control at least a part of functions or states associated with at least one component (e.g., a display module (160), a sensor module (176), or a communication module (190)) of the electronic device (101), for example, on behalf of the main processor (121) while the main processor (121) is in an inactive (e.g., sleep) state, or together with the main processor (121) while the main processor (121) is in an active (e.g., application execution) state. In one embodiment, the auxiliary processor (123) (e.g., an image signal processor or a communication processor) may be implemented as a part of another functionally related component (e.g., a camera module (180) or a communication module (190)). In one embodiment, the auxiliary processor (123) (e.g., a neural network processing unit) may include a hardware structure specialized for processing artificial intelligence models. The artificial intelligence models may be generated through machine learning. This learning can be performed, for example, on the electronic device (101) itself where the artificial intelligence model is executed, or can be performed through a separate server (e.g., server (108)). The learning algorithm can include, for example, supervised learning, unsupervised learning, semi-supervised learning, or reinforcement learning, but is not limited to the examples described above. The artificial intelligence model can include multiple artificial neural network layers.The artificial neural network may be one of a deep neural network (DNN), a convolutional neural network (CNN), a recurrent neural network (RNN), a restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM), a deep belief network (DBN), a bidirectional recurrent deep neural network (BRDNN), a deep Q-network, or a combination of two or more of the above, but is not limited to the examples described above. In addition to, or alternatively to, a hardware structure, an artificial intelligence model may include a software structure.

[0023] The memory (130) can store various data used by at least one component (e.g., processor (120) or sensor module (176)) of the electronic device (101). The data can include, for example, software (e.g., program (140)) and input data or output data for commands related thereto. The memory (130) can include volatile memory (132) or non-volatile memory (134).

[0024] The program (140) may be stored as software in the memory (130) and may include, for example, an operating system (142), middleware (144), or an application (146).

[0025] The input module (150) can receive commands or data to be used in a component of the electronic device (101) (e.g., a processor (120)) from an external source (e.g., a user) of the electronic device (101). The input module (150) can include, for example, a microphone, a mouse, a keyboard, a key (e.g., a button), or a digital pen (e.g., a stylus pen).

[0026] The audio output module (155) can output audio signals to the outside of the electronic device (101). The audio output module (155) can include, for example, a speaker or a receiver. The speaker can be used for general purposes, such as multimedia playback or recording playback. The receiver can be used to receive incoming calls. According to one embodiment, the receiver can be implemented separately from the speaker or as part of the speaker.

[0027] The display module (160) can visually provide information to an external party (e.g., a user) of the electronic device (101). The display module (160) may include, for example, a display, a holographic device, or a projector and a control circuit for controlling the device. According to one embodiment, the display module (160) may include a touch sensor configured to detect a touch, or a pressure sensor configured to measure the intensity of a force generated by the touch.

[0028] The audio module (170) can convert sound into an electrical signal, or vice versa, convert an electrical signal into sound. According to one embodiment, the audio module (170) can acquire sound through the input module (150), output sound through the sound output module (155), or an external electronic device (e.g., electronic device (102)) (e.g., speaker or headphone) directly or wirelessly connected to the electronic device (101).

[0029] The sensor module (176) can detect the operating status (e.g., power or temperature) of the electronic device (101) or the external environmental status (e.g., user status) and generate an electrical signal or data value corresponding to the detected status. According to one embodiment, the sensor module (176) can include, for example, a gesture sensor, a gyro sensor, a barometric pressure sensor, a magnetic sensor, an acceleration sensor, a grip sensor, a proximity sensor, a color sensor, an IR (infrared) sensor, a biometric sensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, or an illuminance sensor.

[0030] The interface (177) may support one or more designated protocols that may be used to directly or wirelessly connect the electronic device (101) with an external electronic device (e.g., the electronic device (102)). In one embodiment, the interface (177) may include, for example, a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI), a universal serial bus (USB) interface, an SD card interface, or an audio interface.

[0031] The connection terminal (178) may include a connector through which the electronic device (101) may be physically connected to an external electronic device (e.g., electronic device (102)). According to one embodiment, the connection terminal (178) may include, for example, an HDMI connector, a USB connector, an SD card connector, or an audio connector (e.g., a headphone connector).

[0032] A haptic module (179) can convert electrical signals into mechanical stimuli (e.g., vibration or movement) or electrical stimuli that a user can perceive through tactile or kinesthetic sensations. According to one embodiment, the haptic module (179) can include, for example, a motor, a piezoelectric element, or an electrical stimulation device.

[0033] The camera module (180) can capture still images and videos. According to one embodiment, the camera module (180) may include one or more lenses, image sensors, image signal processors, or flashes.

[0034] The power management module (188) can manage power supplied to the electronic device (101). According to one embodiment, the power management module (188) can be implemented as, for example, at least a part of a power management integrated circuit (PMIC).

[0035] A battery (189) may power at least one component of the electronic device (101). In one embodiment, the battery (189) may include, for example, a non-rechargeable primary battery, a rechargeable secondary battery, or a fuel cell.

[0036] The communication module (190) may support the establishment of a direct (e.g., wired) communication channel or a wireless communication channel between the electronic device (101) and an external electronic device (e.g., electronic device (102), electronic device (104), or server (108)), and the performance of communication through the established communication channel. The communication module (190) may operate independently from the processor (120) (e.g., application processor) and may include one or more communication processors that support direct (e.g., wired) communication or wireless communication. According to one embodiment, the communication module (190) may include a wireless communication module (192) (e.g., a cellular communication module, a short-range wireless communication module, or a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) communication module) or a wired communication module (194) (e.g., a local area network (LAN) communication module, or a power line communication module). Among these communication modules, the corresponding communication module can communicate with an external electronic device (104) via a first network (198) (e.g., a short-range communication network such as Bluetooth, wireless fidelity (WiFi) direct, or infrared data association (IrDA)) or a second network (199) (e.g., a long-range communication network such as a legacy cellular network, a 5G network, a next-generation communication network, the Internet, or a computer network (e.g., a LAN or WAN)). These various types of communication modules can be integrated into a single component (e.g., a single chip) or implemented as multiple separate components (e.g., multiple chips). The wireless communication module (192) can verify or authenticate the electronic device (101) within a communication network such as the first network (198) or the second network (199) by using subscriber information (e.g., an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)) stored in the subscriber identification module (196).

[0037] The wireless communication module (192) can support 5G networks and next-generation communication technologies following the 4G network, such as NR access technology (new radio access technology). The NR access technology can support high-speed transmission of high-capacity data (eMBB (enhanced mobile broadband)), minimization of terminal power and connection of multiple terminals (mMTC (massive machine type communications)), or high reliability and low latency (URLLC (ultra-reliable and low-latency communications)). The wireless communication module (192) can support, for example, a high-frequency band (e.g., mmWave band) to achieve a high data transmission rate. The wireless communication module (192) can support various technologies for securing performance in a high-frequency band, such as beamforming, massive multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO), full dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antenna, analog beam-forming, or large scale antenna. The wireless communication module (192) can support various requirements specified in the electronic device (101), an external electronic device (e.g., the electronic device (104)), or a network system (e.g., the second network (199)). According to one embodiment, the wireless communication module (192) may support a peak data rate (e.g., 20 Gbps or more) for eMBB realization, a loss coverage (e.g., 164 dB or less) for mMTC realization, or a U-plane latency (e.g., 0.5 ms or less for downlink (DL) and uplink (UL), or 1 ms or less for round trip) for URLLC realization.

[0038] The antenna module (197) can transmit or receive signals or power to or from an external device (e.g., an external electronic device). According to one embodiment, the antenna module (197) may include an antenna including a radiator formed of a conductor or a conductive pattern formed on a substrate (e.g., a PCB). According to one embodiment, the antenna module (197) may include a plurality of antennas (e.g., an array antenna). In this case, at least one antenna suitable for a communication method used in a communication network, such as the first network (198) or the second network (199), may be selected from the plurality of antennas, for example, by the communication module (190). A signal or power may be transmitted or received between the communication module (190) and an external electronic device via the at least one selected antenna. According to some embodiments, in addition to the radiator, another component (e.g., a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC)) may be additionally formed as a part of the antenna module (197).

[0039] In one embodiment, the antenna module (197) may form a mmWave antenna module. In one embodiment, the mmWave antenna module may include a printed circuit board, an RFIC disposed on or adjacent a first side (e.g., a bottom side) of the printed circuit board and capable of supporting a designated high-frequency band (e.g., a mmWave band), and a plurality of antennas (e.g., an array antenna) disposed on or adjacent a second side (e.g., a top side or a side side) of the printed circuit board and capable of transmitting or receiving signals in the designated high-frequency band.

[0040] At least some of the above components can be interconnected and exchange signals (e.g., commands or data) with each other via a communication method between peripheral devices (e.g., a bus, GPIO (general purpose input and output), SPI (serial peripheral interface), or MIPI (mobile industry processor interface)).

[0041] According to one embodiment, commands or data may be transmitted or received between the electronic device (101) and an external electronic device (104) via a server (108) connected to a second network (199). Each of the external electronic devices (102 or 104) may be the same or a different type of device as the electronic device (101). According to one embodiment, all or part of the operations executed in the electronic device (101) may be executed in one or more of the external electronic devices (102, 104, or 108). For example, when the electronic device (101) is to perform a certain function or service automatically or in response to a request from a user or another device, the electronic device (101) may, instead of or in addition to executing the function or service by itself, request one or more external electronic devices to perform the function or at least a part of the service. One or more external electronic devices that receive the request may execute at least a portion of the requested function or service, or an additional function or service related to the request, and transmit the result of the execution to the electronic device (101). The electronic device (101) may process the result as is or additionally and provide it as at least a portion of a response to the request. For this purpose, cloud computing, distributed computing, mobile edge computing (MEC), or client-server computing technology may be used, for example. The electronic device (101) may provide an ultra-low latency service by using distributed computing or mobile edge computing, for example. In another embodiment, the external electronic device (104) may include an Internet of Things (IoT) device. The server (108) may be an intelligent server utilizing machine learning and / or a neural network. According to one embodiment, the external electronic device (104) or the server (108) may be included in the second network (199).The electronic device (101) can be applied to intelligent services (e.g., smart home, smart city, smart car, or healthcare) based on 5G communication technology and IoT-related technology.

[0042] Electronic devices according to the various embodiments disclosed in this document may take various forms. Electronic devices may include, for example, portable communication devices (e.g., smartphones), computer devices, portable multimedia devices, portable medical devices, cameras, wearable devices, or home appliances. Electronic devices according to the embodiments disclosed in this document are not limited to the aforementioned devices.

[0043] The various embodiments of this document and the terminology used therein are not intended to limit the technical features described in this document to specific embodiments, but should be understood to include various modifications, equivalents, or substitutes of the embodiments. In connection with the description of the drawings, similar reference numerals may be used for similar or related components. The singular form of a noun corresponding to an item may include one or more of the items, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this document, each of the phrases "A or B", "at least one of A and B", "at least one of A or B", "A, B, or C", "at least one of A, B, and C", and "at least one of A, B, or C" can include any one of the items listed together in the corresponding phrase among those phrases, or all possible combinations thereof. Terms such as "first," "second," or "first" or "second" may be used merely to distinguish one component from another, and do not limit the components in any other respect (e.g., importance or order). When a component (e.g., a first component) is referred to as "coupled" or "connected" to another component (e.g., a second component), with or without the terms "functionally" or "communicatively," it means that the component can be connected to the other component directly (e.g., wired), wirelessly, or through a third component.

[0044] The term "module" used in various embodiments of this document may include a unit implemented in hardware, software, or firmware, and may be used interchangeably with terms such as logic, logic block, component, or circuit. A module may be an integral component, or a minimum unit or part of such a component that performs one or more functions. For example, according to one embodiment, a module may be implemented in the form of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

[0045] Various embodiments of the present document may be implemented as software (e.g., a program (140)) including one or more commands stored in a storage medium (e.g., an internal memory (136) or an external memory (138)) readable by a machine (e.g., an electronic device (101)). For example, a processor (e.g., a processor (120)) of the machine (e.g., an electronic device (101)) may call at least one command among the one or more commands stored from the storage medium and execute it. This enables the machine to operate to perform at least one function according to the at least one command called. The one or more commands may include code generated by a compiler or code executable by an interpreter. The machine-readable storage medium may be provided in the form of a non-transitory storage medium. Here, 'non-transitory' simply means that the storage medium is a tangible device and does not contain signals (e.g., electromagnetic waves), and the term does not distinguish between cases where data is stored semi-permanently or temporarily on the storage medium.

[0046] According to one embodiment, the method according to the various embodiments disclosed in the present document may be provided as included in a computer program product. The computer program product may be traded as a product between a seller and a buyer. The computer program product may be distributed in the form of a machine-readable storage medium (e.g., compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM)), or may be distributed online (e.g., downloaded or uploaded) via an application store (e.g., Play Store™) or directly between two user devices (e.g., smart phones). In the case of online distribution, at least a portion of the computer program product may be temporarily stored or temporarily generated in a machine-readable storage medium, such as the memory of a manufacturer's server, an application store's server, or an intermediary server.

[0047] According to various embodiments, each component (e.g., a module or a program) of the above-described components may include one or more entities, and some of the entities may be separated and placed in other components. According to various embodiments, one or more components or operations of the aforementioned components may be omitted, or one or more other components or operations may be added. Alternatively or additionally, a plurality of components (e.g., a module or a program) may be integrated into a single component. In such a case, the integrated component may perform one or more functions of each of the plurality of components identically or similarly to those performed by the corresponding component among the plurality of components prior to the integration. According to various embodiments, the operations performed by a module, program, or other component may be executed sequentially, in parallel, iteratively, or heuristically, or one or more of the operations may be executed in a different order, omitted, or one or more other operations may be added.

[0048] FIG. 2 is a plan view of an interior in which external electronic devices and electronic devices are arranged, according to one embodiment.

[0049] According to one embodiment, external electronic devices (210, 220, 230) installed indoors (e.g., electronic device (102) of FIG. 1) are used to determine a location, such as an indoor location, of an electronic device (240) (e.g., electronic device (101) of FIG. 1). For example, the electronic device (240) may generate a signal strength pattern (wherein the signal strength pattern is known as signal strength information or an indication of relative signal strengths or the like) for the external electronic devices (210, 220, 230) based on information for measuring a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) value (or other suitable signal strength information) included in a signal transmitted to the electronic device (240) by each of the external electronic devices (210, 220, 230), and determine the location of the electronic device (240) based on the generated signal strength pattern. For example, it may be determined which of the external electronic devices (210, 220, 230) the electronic device (240) is closest to, and the determined installation location of the external electronic device (i.e., the determined location of the external electronic device) may be determined as the current location of the electronic device (240). It will be appreciated that determining the location of the electronic device (240) may include determining the room or indoor area in which the electronic device (240) is located, or determining a more precise location of the electronic device (240) within the indoor area.

[0050] For example, each of the external electronic devices (210, 220, 230) is a home appliance. The home appliance may include a television, refrigerator, washing machine, dryer, sound bar, microwave oven, speaker, computer, audio, water purifier, vacuum cleaner, or AP (access point), and is not limited to the described embodiment.

[0051] According to one embodiment, a first external electronic device (210) is installed in a first room (Room 1), a second external electronic device (220) is installed in a second room (Room 2), and a third external electronic device is installed in a third room (Room 3). The first external electronic device (210) can generate a first reference signal intensity pattern (212) based on signals received from the external electronic devices (210, 220, 230). For example, the first reference signal intensity pattern (212) includes a signal intensity (212a) of a signal of the first external electronic device (210), a signal intensity (212b) of a signal of the second external electronic device (220), and a signal intensity (212c) of a signal of the third external electronic device (230) received by the first external electronic device (210). For example, the second reference signal intensity pattern (222) includes the signal intensity (222a) of the signal of the first external electronic device (210) received by the second external electronic device (220), the signal intensity (222b) of the signal of the second external electronic device (220), and the signal intensity (222c) of the signal of the third external electronic device (230). For example, the third reference signal intensity pattern (232) includes the signal intensity (232a) of the signal of the first external electronic device (210) received by the third external electronic device (230), the signal intensity (232b) of the signal of the second external electronic device (220), and the signal intensity (232c) of the signal of the third external electronic device (230). The signal intensity may be an RSSI value.

[0052] According to one embodiment, since the first external electronic device (210) (or the second external electronic device (220) or the third external electronic device (230)) cannot receive the signal it transmits, the signal intensity (212a) of the first reference signal intensity pattern (212) (or the signal intensity (222b) of the second reference signal intensity pattern (222) or the signal intensity (232c) of the third reference signal intensity pattern (232)) may be preset. For example, the signal intensity (212a) corresponds to the signal intensity of a signal transmitted by one of the electronic devices identical to the first external electronic device (210) (i.e., of the same type) to the other when the electronic devices are placed adjacent to each other. The identical electronic devices may be electronic devices having the same manufacturing model or the same performance of the mounted communication module. In another example, the signal strength (212a) is omitted from the first reference signal strength pattern (222) considering that the first external device (210) cannot receive the signal transmitted by itself. In this case, the reference signal pattern of each external device is based on the signal strength of the other external devices.

[0053] According to one embodiment, the external electronic devices (210, 220, 230) transmit the generated reference signal strength patterns (212, 222, 232) to the electronic device (240) or a server (e.g., the server (108) of FIG. 1). For example, the electronic device (240) may directly obtain the reference signal strength patterns (212, 222, 232) from the external electronic devices (210, 220, 230) using an application (or, more generally, an application) installed on the electronic device (240) for determining the location of the electronic device (240) (e.g., when the reference signal strength patterns (212, 222, 232) are not transmitted and received through an intermediate device or when the reference signal strength patterns (212, 222, 232) are transmitted and received using another device located in the same indoor space, such as a wireless router). For example, the electronic device (240) obtains reference signal strength patterns (212, 222, 232) from a server through an application for determining the location of the electronic device (240) installed in the electronic device (240). For example, the application for determining the location of the electronic device (240) may be an application (e.g., a home automation application) that can remotely control external electronic devices (210, 220, 230).

[0054] According to one embodiment, the electronic device (240) determines a signal strength (242a) of a signal received from a first external electronic device (210) at a current location, a signal strength (242b) of a signal received from a second external electronic device (220), and a signal strength (242c) of a signal received from a third external electronic device (230). The electronic device (240) may generate a signal strength pattern (242) to include the signal strengths (242a), the signal strengths (242b), and the signal strengths (242c). In various examples, it can be appreciated that the electronic device (240) generates a signal strength pattern that includes signal strengths for one or more external devices, which may be provided at a location (e.g., home, office, workplace, public place, etc.). In some examples, this may not include signal strengths for all external devices provided at a location, as the signal of the external device may not be received (or may be too weak to be properly received, etc.).

[0055] According to one embodiment, the electronic device (240) determines the location of the electronic device (240) using the signal intensity pattern (242) and the reference signal intensity patterns (212, 222, 232). For example, the electronic device (240) determines an external electronic device having a reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to the signal intensity pattern (242), and determines the location at which the determined external electronic device is installed (i.e., located / positioned) as the location of the electronic device (240). In the illustrated example, since the signal intensity pattern (242) of the electronic device (240) corresponds to the second reference signal (222) of the second external electronic device (220), the location of the electronic device (240) may be determined as the second room at which the second external electronic device (220) is installed. In another example of FIG. 2, the location of the electronic device (240) may be determined as being closest to the second external electronic device (220).

[0056] Below, a method for determining the position of an electronic device (240) is described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 3 to 10.

[0057] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for determining a location of an electronic device, according to one embodiment.

[0058] The operations 310 to 350 below may be performed by an electronic device (e.g., the electronic device (101) of FIG. 1 or the electronic device (240) of FIG. 2). For example, the electronic device includes a processor (e.g., the processor (120) of FIG. 1), a communication module (e.g., the communication module (190) of FIG. 1), a memory (e.g., the memory (130) of FIG. 1), and optionally, a display (e.g., the display module (160) of FIG. 1).

[0059] In operation 310, the processor of the electronic device may transmit a first message to one or more external electronic devices (e.g., external electronic devices (210, 220, 230) of FIG. 2) via a communication module. For example, the first message is a message related to a probe request.

[0060] According to one embodiment, the electronic device broadcasts a first message including the service set identifier (SSID) of an external electronic device (or, more generally, identification information of the external author device). For example, even if the external electronic device does not operate as an access point (AP) for other electronic devices, it may operate as an AP for an electronic device that knows the SSID of the external electronic device. The external electronic device temporarily operating as an AP for the electronic device may receive the first message from the electronic device. For example, the electronic device receives the SSID from the external electronic device during the process of registering the external electronic device with a home automation application. The external electronic device may not operate as an AP for a first message that does not include the SSID of the external electronic device.

[0061] The electronic device can broadcast a first message to an external electronic device operating in soft AP mode. For example, when a mode for determining the location of the electronic device is performed, the electronic device changes the mode of the external electronic device to soft AP mode through a home automation application. For example, the electronic device broadcasts a signal instructing the mode of the external electronic device to change to soft AP mode. For example, the electronic device transmits a command to the external electronic device through a server of the home automation application instructing the change to soft AP mode. When the external electronic device operates in soft AP mode, the external electronic device can set the radio frequency channel used for AP mode (e.g., 2.4 GHz band, 5 GHz band, or 6 GHz band) to be the same as the radio frequency channel used for station mode.

[0062] According to one embodiment, the electronic device transmits a first message to one or more external electronic devices when a user launches or refreshes a home automation application.

[0063] In one embodiment, the electronic device periodically transmits a first message to one or more external electronic devices.

[0064] In operation 320, the processor of the electronic device receives one or more second messages as a response to the first message from one or more external electronic devices via the communication module. For example, the second message is a message related to a probe response. For example, the second message includes information for measuring an RSSI value (more generally, for example: signal strength information, information indicative of signal strength, information usable for measuring signal strength, etc.).

[0065] In operation 330, the processor of the electronic device generates a first signal strength pattern (e.g., signal strength pattern (242) of FIG. 2) for one or more external electronic devices based on the second messages. The first signal strength pattern may include signal strengths for second messages received by the electronic device from one or more external devices.

[0066] In one embodiment, the processor of the electronic device measures (or, as understood herein, calculates, determines, obtains, etc.) an RSSI value for the external electronic device based on the second message. For example, the electronic device measures a first RSSI value for a first external electronic device (e.g., the first external electronic device (210) of FIG. 2), measures a second RSSI value for a second external electronic device (e.g., the second external electronic device (220) of FIG. 2), and measures a third RSSI value for a third external electronic device (e.g., the third external electronic device (230) of FIG. 2). The electronic device may generate a first signal strength pattern to include the first RSSI value, the second RSSI value, and the third RSSI value. Typically, the electronic device may measure an RSSI value for each external electronic device that received a response (i.e., the second message).

[0067] In operation 340, the processor of the electronic device determines (hereinafter, this may also be referred to as identifying, obtaining, deriving, etc.) a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to a first signal intensity pattern from among one or more reference signal intensity patterns received or stored (e.g., pre-stored or registered) from one or more external electronic devices. For example, the electronic device receives one or more reference signal intensity patterns from one or more external electronic devices in advance before operation 310 is performed. The term "target reference signal intensity pattern" may mean any one of the one or more reference signal intensity patterns determined to correspond to the first signal intensity pattern. Below, a method for the electronic device to receive one or more reference signal intensity patterns from one or more external electronic devices is described in detail with reference to FIG. 4.

[0068] According to one embodiment, a processor of an electronic device determines a target reference signal intensity pattern that is most similar to a first signal intensity pattern among reference signal intensity patterns. The similarity between the first signal intensity pattern and the reference signal intensity pattern may be determined based on a distance between a first element of the first signal intensity pattern and a first element of the reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to the first element. For example, a coordinate system may be used to calculate the distance between the first signal intensity pattern and each of the reference signal intensity patterns. Below, a method for determining a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to the first signal intensity pattern among the reference signal intensity patterns will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 6 to 10.

[0069] At operation 350, the processor of the electronic device determines (hereinafter, also referred to as identifying, obtaining, estimating, etc.) the location of the electronic device based on the target reference signal strength pattern. For example, the electronic device determines a location (e.g., an installation location) set in the first external electronic device that generated the target reference signal strength pattern as the location of the electronic device. For example, the electronic device receives information about the location (e.g., location information) of the first external electronic device or one or more external electronic devices (e.g., prior to operation 310 or even prior to operation 350). Accordingly, when any one of the reference signal strength patterns is determined, the electronic device can determine the location of the external electronic device corresponding to any one of the reference signal strength patterns based on the received information about the location of the location of the external electronic device. In some examples, information about the location is received from a first external electronic device (e.g., information about the location of one or more external electronic devices is received from each of the one or more external electronic devices), and in other examples, information about the location is provided to the electronic device through other means, such as input by a user (e.g., in the example of FIG. 2, the user may provide information to the electronic device (240) that a second external electronic device (220) is in a second room). In various examples, the electronic device (240) stores a reference table or lookup table indicating the location of each of the one or more external electronic devices.

[0070] According to one embodiment, the processor of the electronic device further determines a direction in which the electronic device is located or a direction in which the electronic device has moved relative to the first external electronic device based on the first signal strength pattern and the target reference signal strength pattern. The processor of the electronic device can determine whether the electronic device is located between the first external electronic device and the second external electronic device, or not located between the first external electronic device and the second external electronic device, or a direction in which the electronic device has moved relative to the first external electronic device based on the first signal strength pattern and the target reference signal strength pattern (and optionally the second signal strength pattern). For example, if the first RSSI value of the first signal strength pattern decreases and the second RSSI value increases relative to the target reference signal strength pattern, the electronic device can be determined to be between the first external electronic device and the second external electronic device, or moving away from the first external electronic device (and optionally moving away from the second external electronic device). For example, if the first RSSI value of the first signal strength pattern decreases and the second RSSI value decreases compared to the target reference signal strength pattern, the electronic device may be determined to be not between the first external electronic device and the second external electronic device or to be moving away from the first external electronic device (optionally, moving away from the second external electronic device).

[0071] In one embodiment, the processor of the electronic device controls the operation of one or more external electronic devices based on the determined location of the electronic device. For example, if the location of the electronic device changes from a first room to a second room, the processor of the electronic device turns off the external electronic device located in the first room and turns on the external electronic device located in the second room. For example, the processor of the electronic device can control the operation of the external electronic devices through an application that remotely controls the external electronic devices.

[0072] FIG. 4 is a signal flow diagram of a method for an electronic device to receive reference signal strength patterns from external electronic devices, according to one embodiment.

[0073] According to one embodiment, operations 412, 422, and 432 below may be performed by an electronic device (e.g., electronic device (101) of FIG. 1 or electronic device (240) of FIG. 2) to receive one or more reference signal strength patterns from one or more external electronic devices (e.g., external electronic devices (210, 220, and 230) of FIG. 2). For example, operations 412, 422, and 432 may be performed before operation 310 described above with reference to FIG. 3 is performed.

[0074] In operation 412, a processor (e.g., processor (120) of FIG. 1) of an electronic device (240) may receive an event message including a first reference signal strength pattern (e.g., first reference signal strength pattern (212) of FIG. 2) from a first external electronic device (210) via a communication module (e.g., communication module (190) of FIG. 1). For example, the electronic device (240) may receive the first reference signal strength pattern transmitted by the first external electronic device (210) via a server (e.g., server (108) of FIG. 1). For example, the server may be a server of a home automation application.

[0075] According to one embodiment, the first external electronic device (210) generates an event message including a first reference signal strength pattern. For example, the first external electronic device (210) determines a signal strength (e.g., signal strength (212b)) of the second external electronic device (220) based on a preamble of a frame that the second external electronic device (220) transmits to the first external electronic device (210). For example, the first external electronic device (210) determines a signal strength (e.g., signal strength (212b)) of the second external electronic device (220) based on information for measuring an RSSI value included in a signal that the second external electronic device (220) transmits to the first external electronic device (210). For example, the first external electronic device (210) determines the signal intensity (e.g., signal intensity 212c) of the third external electronic device (230) based on information for measuring the RSSI value included in the signal that the third external electronic device (230) transmits to the first external electronic device (210). For example, the first external electronic device (210) determines a preset signal intensity as the signal intensity (e.g., signal intensity 212a) of the first external electronic device (210). For example, the preset signal intensity is a maximum signal intensity measurable by the first external electronic device (210) or an intensity greater than a threshold value. The first external electronic device (210) can generate a first reference signal intensity pattern so as to include the signal intensity of the first external electronic device (210), the signal intensity of the second external electronic device (220), and the signal intensity of the third external electronic device (230).

[0076] According to one embodiment, when the first reference signal intensity pattern (or current reference signal intensity pattern) generated by the first external electronic device (210) is different from the previous reference signal intensity pattern generated by the first external electronic device (210), the first external electronic device (210) transmits an event message including the first reference signal intensity pattern to the electronic device (240) or the server. For example, when at least one signal intensity of the first reference signal intensity pattern is different from the corresponding signal intensity of the previous reference signal intensity pattern, the first reference signal intensity pattern and the previous reference signal intensity pattern may be determined to be different. For example, when the number of external electronic devices associated with the first reference signal intensity pattern is different from the number of external electronic devices associated with the previous reference signal intensity pattern, the first reference signal intensity pattern and the previous reference signal intensity pattern may be determined to be different. In another example, when the signal intensity included in the generated first reference signal intensity pattern differs from the target signal intensity of the previous reference signal intensity pattern by a predetermined amount or more, the first reference signal intensity pattern may be determined to be different from the previous reference signal intensity pattern. A method for transmitting an event message including a first reference signal strength pattern to an electronic device (240) by a first external electronic device (210) is described in detail with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12 below.

[0077] In operation 422, the processor of the electronic device (240) may receive an event message including a second reference signal strength pattern (e.g., the second reference signal strength pattern (222) of FIG. 2) from a second external electronic device (220) via a communication module. The description of operation 422 is omitted below since the description of operation 412 may be similarly applied.

[0078] In operation 432, the processor of the electronic device (240) may receive an event message including a third reference signal strength pattern (e.g., the third reference signal strength pattern (232) of FIG. 2) from a third external electronic device (230) via a communication module. The description of operation 432 is omitted below since the description of operation 412 may be similarly applied.

[0079] FIG. 5 is a signal flow diagram of a method for an electronic device to receive second messages as replies to a first message from external electronic devices, according to one embodiment.

[0080] According to one embodiment, operations 512, 514, and 516 below may be related to operation 310 described above with reference to FIG. 3. For example, operations 512, 514, and 516 may be performed when determining the current location of the electronic device (240) (e.g., the electronic device (101) of FIG. 1) is required. For example, operations 512, 514, and 516 may be performed when a home automation application of the electronic device (240) is running or refreshed.

[0081] In operation 512, the electronic device (240) may transmit a first message to the first external electronic device (210). For example, the first message is a message related to a probe request.

[0082] According to one embodiment, the electronic device (240) identifies a first external electronic device (210) among one or more external electronic devices (e.g., the external electronic devices (210, 220, 230) of FIG. 2) and transmits a first message to the identified first external electronic device (210).

[0083] According to one embodiment, the first external electronic device (210) acts as an AP for an electronic device (240) that knows the SSID of the first external electronic device (210).

[0084] According to one embodiment, the first external electronic device (210) can operate as a soft AP.

[0085] In operation 514, the electronic device (240) may transmit a first message to a second external electronic device (220). The description of operation 514 is omitted below, as the description of operation 512 may be similarly applied.

[0086] In operation 516, the electronic device (240) may transmit a first message to a third external electronic device (230). The description of operation 516 is omitted below, as the description of operation 512 may be similarly applied.

[0087] According to one embodiment, operations 522, 524, and 526 below may be related to operation 320 described above with reference to FIG. 3.

[0088] In operation 522, the electronic device (240) may receive a second message from the first external electronic device (210) as a reply to the first message. For example, the second message is a message related to a probe response. Since the first external electronic device (210) operates as an AP or soft AP for the electronic device (240), the first external electronic device (210) may transmit the second message to the electronic device (240) as a reply to the received first message. For example, the second message includes information for measuring an RSSI value (e.g., suitable information). The electronic device (240) receiving the second message may determine the signal strength of the first external electronic device (e.g., signal strength 242a of FIG. 2) based on the information for measuring the RSSI value of the second message.

[0089] In operation 524, the electronic device (240) may receive a second message from the second external electronic device (220) as a reply to the first message. The electronic device (240) that received the second message may determine the signal strength of the second external electronic device (e.g., signal strength (242b) of FIG. 2) based on information for measuring the RSSI value of the second message.

[0090] In operation 526, the electronic device (240) may receive a second message from a third external electronic device (230) as a reply to the first message. The electronic device (240) that has received the second message may determine the signal strength of the third external electronic device (e.g., signal strength (242c) of FIG. 2) based on information for measuring the RSSI value of the second message.

[0091] According to one embodiment, operation 530 below may be related to operation 330 described above with reference to FIG. 3.

[0092] Although operations 512, 514, 516, 522, 524, and 526 are depicted as being performed sequentially, operation 522 may be performed at any time after operation 512 is performed, and whether or when operation 522 is performed may be unrelated to whether or when operations 514 or 516 are performed. Operation 524 may be performed at any time after operation 514 is performed, and whether or when operation 524 is performed may be unrelated to whether or when operations 512 or 516 are performed. Operation 526 may be performed at any time after operation 516 is performed, and whether or when operation 526 is performed may be unrelated to whether or when operation 512 or 514 is performed. In operation 530, the electronic device (240) may generate a first signal intensity pattern (e.g., the signal intensity pattern (242) of FIG. 2 ). For example, the first signal intensity pattern may include a signal intensity of a first external electronic device, a signal intensity of a second external electronic device, and a signal intensity of a third external electronic device.

[0093] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for determining a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to a first signal intensity pattern among reference signal intensity patterns, according to one embodiment.

[0094] According to one embodiment, operations 610 to 630 below may be related to operation 340 described above with reference to FIG. 3. For example, operation 340 may include operations 610 to 630. Operations 610 to 630 may be performed by an electronic device (e.g., the electronic device (101) of FIG. 1 or the electronic device (240) of FIG. 2). For example, the electronic device may include a processor (e.g., the processor (120) of FIG. 1), a communication module (e.g., the communication module (190) of FIG. 1), a memory (e.g., the memory (130) of FIG. 1), and a display (e.g., the display module (160) of FIG. 1).

[0095] In operation 610, a processor of the electronic device places (e.g., represents, plots, maps, includes) one or more reference signal strength patterns and the first signal strength pattern in a coordinate system (e.g., the same coordinate system). For example, the coordinate system may have a dimension corresponding to the number of one or more external electronic devices (e.g., one or more external electronic devices (210, 220, 230) of FIG. 2). For example, if there are three external electronic devices, the coordinate system is a three-dimensional coordinate system having three axes. Each axis of the coordinate system may represent the signal strength of the corresponding external electronic device. A method of placing one or more reference signal strength patterns and the first signal strength pattern in the same coordinate system is described in detail below with reference to FIG. 7.

[0096] In operation 620, the processor of the electronic device calculates a distance (or difference) between the first signal intensity pattern and each of one or more reference signal intensity patterns based on a coordinate system. For example, if the one or more reference signal intensity patterns include a first reference signal intensity pattern, a second reference signal intensity pattern, and a third reference signal intensity pattern, a first distance between the first signal intensity pattern and the first reference signal intensity pattern, a second distance between the first signal intensity pattern and the second reference signal intensity pattern, and a third distance between the first signal intensity pattern and the third reference signal intensity pattern are calculated.

[0097] According to one embodiment, since one or more external electronic devices and each of the electronic devices have different performances of antennas and amplifiers used for communication, the RSSI values ​​measured by one or more external electronic devices and each of the electronic devices may differ. A method for calculating a distance between a first signal strength pattern and one or more reference signal strength patterns, taking into account the above-described difference in RF (radio frequency) performance, is described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

[0098] At operation 630, the processor of the electronic device can determine a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to the first signal intensity pattern based on a distance between the first signal intensity pattern and each of the one or more reference signal intensity patterns.

[0099] According to one embodiment, the electronic device determines a reference signal intensity pattern having a minimum distance among the calculated distances (here, the minimum distance may also be referred to as the smallest distance) as a target reference signal intensity pattern.

[0100] FIG. 7 illustrates a coordinate system in which the above reference signal intensity patterns and the first signal intensity pattern are arranged, according to one embodiment.

[0101] According to one embodiment, when one or more external electronic devices include a first external electronic device (e.g., the first external electronic device (210) of FIG. 2), a second external electronic device (e.g., the second external electronic device (220) of FIG. 2), and a third external electronic device (e.g., the third external electronic device (230) of FIG. 2), the coordinate system (700) is three-dimensional. For example, the x-axis of the coordinate system (700) may represent a first signal intensity for the first external electronic device, the y-axis may represent a second signal intensity for the second external electronic device, and the z-axis may represent a third signal intensity for the third external electronic device.

[0102] According to one embodiment, the electronic device places a first reference signal intensity pattern (712) received from a first external electronic device, a second reference signal intensity pattern (722) received from a second external electronic device, and a third reference signal intensity pattern (732) received from a third external electronic device in a coordinate system (700). According to one embodiment, the electronic device places a first signal intensity pattern (742) generated by the electronic device in a coordinate system (700).

[0103] The electronic device can calculate a first distance between the first signal intensity pattern (742) and the first reference signal intensity pattern (712), a second distance between the first signal intensity pattern (742) and the second reference signal intensity pattern (722), and a third distance between the first signal intensity pattern (742) and the third reference signal intensity pattern (732). The electronic device can determine a minimum distance or a smallest distance among the first distance, the second distance, and the third distance.

[0104] FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method for determining a target reference signal intensity pattern having a minimum distance based on a distance between a first signal intensity pattern and each of reference signal intensity patterns, according to one embodiment.

[0105] According to one embodiment, when the performances of antennas and amplifiers used for communication by one or more external electronic devices (e.g., one or more external electronic devices (210, 220, 230) of FIG. 2) and electronic devices (e.g., electronic device (101) of FIG. 1 or electronic device (240) of FIG. 2) are different from each other, the RSSI values ​​measured by each of the one or more external electronic devices and electronic devices may be different. Even when the second external electronic device and the electronic device are located at the same location, the RSSI value measured by the second external electronic device that received the signal (or message) transmitted by the first external electronic device may be different from the RSSI value measured by the electronic device that received the signal transmitted by the first external electronic device. Accordingly, each of the signal intensities of one or more reference signal strength patterns and the first signal strength pattern may not represent the absolute distance between the corresponding devices.

[0106] The above RF (radio frequency) performance difference is caused by the antenna and amplifier components used by the signal receiving device, and therefore may not be applied differently to each signal transmitting device. For example, when the second external electronic device and the electronic device are located at the same location, the RSSI values ​​measured by the second external electronic device that received the signals transmitted by the first external electronic device and the third external electronic device and the RSSI values ​​measured by the electronic device that received the signals transmitted by the first external electronic device and the third external electronic device may be different from each other, but the difference values ​​may be the same or similar (for example, the signal intensity value difference between the first external electronic device and the third external electronic device measured by the second external electronic device may be the same or similar to the signal intensity value difference between the first external electronic device and the third external electronic device measured by the electronic device). For example, the RSSI values ​​of the first external electronic device and the RSSI values ​​of the third external electronic device determined by the second external electronic device may be -65 dBm and -55 dBm, respectively, and the RSSI values ​​of the first external electronic device and the RSSI values ​​of the third external electronic device determined by the electronic device may be -55 dBm and -45 dBm, respectively. If the performance of the component used by the electronic device for communication is better than that of the first external electronic device, the calculated RSSI values ​​may be about -10 dBm higher. The tendency of the difference between the determined RSSI values ​​that appears according to the difference in RF performance may be expressed by the same direction vector of the coordinate system. The normalized direction vector may be (1, 1, 1, …, 1). If the coordinate system is three-dimensional, the normalized direction vector may be (1, 1, 1).

[0107] According to one embodiment, operations 810 and 820 below may be related to operation 340 described above with reference to FIG. 3. For example, operation 340 may include operations 810 and 820. Operations 810 and 820 may be performed by an electronic device (e.g., the electronic device (101) of FIG. 1 or the electronic device (240) of FIG. 2). For example, the electronic device may include a processor (e.g., the processor (120) of FIG. 1), a communication module (e.g., the communication module (190) of FIG. 1), a memory (e.g., the memory (130) of FIG. 1), and a display (e.g., the display module (160) of FIG. 1).

[0108] In operation 810, the processor of the electronic device may calculate a distance between the first signal intensity pattern and each of one or more reference signal intensity patterns (e.g., the first reference signal intensity pattern (712), the second reference signal intensity pattern (722), and the third reference signal intensity pattern (732) of FIG. 7) while moving the coordinates of the first signal intensity pattern (e.g., the first signal intensity pattern (742) of FIG. 7) toward a target direction. The target direction may be preset. The target direction may be expressed as a direction vector. Each of the direction vector components is equal to each other. For example, the normalized direction vector is (1, 1, 1, …, 1). For example, when the coordinate system is three-dimensional, the normalized direction vector is (1, 1, 1).

[0109] In one embodiment, the processor of the electronic device moves the coordinates of the first signal strength pattern toward the target direction by multiplying or adding the same movement scale factor to the components of the normalized direction vector. For example, the coordinates of the first initial signal strength pattern are moved by (+5 dBm, +5 dBm, +5 dBm), and the first distance, the second distance, and the third distance are calculated based on the moved coordinates of the first signal strength pattern. For another example, the coordinates of the first initial signal strength pattern are moved by (+10 dBm, +10 dBm, +10 dBm), and the first distance, the second distance, and the third distance are calculated based on the moved coordinates of the first signal strength pattern. The processor of the electronic device may calculate a plurality of first distances, a plurality of second distances, and a plurality of third distances while moving the coordinates of the first initial signal strength pattern.

[0110] In operation 820, the processor of the electronic device may determine a target reference signal intensity pattern having a minimum distance based on distances between the first signal intensity pattern and each of one or more reference signal intensity patterns. For example, the processor may determine a target reference signal intensity pattern having a minimum distance among a plurality of first distances, a plurality of second distances, and a plurality of third distances calculated while moving the coordinates of the initial first signal intensity pattern.

[0111] FIG. 9 illustrates the distance between each of the first signal intensity pattern and the reference signal intensity patterns moving in the target direction according to one embodiment.

[0112] A plurality of first distances, a plurality of second distances, and a plurality of third distances calculated while moving the coordinates of the first signal intensity pattern are shown. A first trajectory (912) represents a plurality of first distances between the coordinates of the first signal intensity pattern moving according to a movement scale factor and the coordinates of the first reference signal intensity pattern. A second trajectory (922) represents a plurality of second distances between the coordinates of the first signal intensity pattern moving according to the movement scale factor and the coordinates of the second reference signal intensity pattern. A third trajectory (932) represents a plurality of third distances between the coordinates of the first signal intensity pattern moving according to the movement scale factor and the coordinates of the third reference signal intensity pattern.

[0113] According to one embodiment, the amount of shift of the coordinates of the first signal intensity pattern is determined based on a normalized direction vector (e.g., (1, 1, 1)) and a shift scale factor. The amount of shift of the coordinates of the first signal intensity pattern may be determined by multiplying or adding the same shift scale factor to the components of the normalized direction vector. For example, a shift scale factor of -5 may mean that the coordinates of the first initial signal intensity pattern are shifted by (-5 dBm, -5 dBm, -5 dBm). For example, a shift scale factor of 0 may mean that the coordinates of the first initial signal intensity pattern are not shifted. For example, a shift scale factor of 5 (i.e., +5) may mean that the coordinates of the first initial signal intensity pattern are shifted by (+5 dBm, +5 dBm, +5 dBm).

[0114] Among one or more external electronic devices (e.g., external electronic devices (210, 220, 230) of FIG. 2), a second external electronic device located in the same space (e.g., a second room) as an electronic device (e.g., an electronic device (101) of FIG. 1 or an electronic device (240) of FIG. 2) can come close enough according to a change in the movement scale factor (e.g., the second external electronic device has a corresponding reference signal intensity pattern within a predetermined amount of one of the shifted initial coordinates of the first signal intensity pattern). For example, among one or more external electronic devices, a first external electronic device and a third external electronic device for a different space (e.g., a first room or a third room) from the electronic device cannot come close to a certain level or more according to a change in the movement scale factor. A second reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to the second trajectory (922) having the smallest distance (e.g., corresponding to a point along the second trajectory (922) having the smallest distance value (e.g., a movement scale factor value), which is the smallest distance among the first trajectory (912), the second trajectory (922), and the third trajectory (932)) can be determined as the target reference signal intensity pattern.

[0115] FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a method for determining whether a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponds to a first signal intensity pattern based on a minimum distance and a threshold distance between the calculated first signal intensity pattern and the target reference signal intensity pattern, according to one embodiment.

[0116] According to one embodiment, operations 1010 and 1020 below may be related to operation 630 described above with reference to FIG. 6. For example, operation 630 may include operations 1010 and 1020. Operations 1010 and 1020 may be performed by an electronic device (e.g., the electronic device (101) of FIG. 1 or the electronic device (240) of FIG. 2). For example, the electronic device may include a processor (e.g., the processor (120) of FIG. 1), a communication module (e.g., the communication module (190) of FIG. 1), a memory (e.g., the memory (130) of FIG. 1), and a display (e.g., the display module (160) of FIG. 1).

[0117] In operation 1010, the processor of the electronic device may determine whether a minimum distance among distances between the first signal strength pattern and each of the one or more reference signal strength patterns is less than a preset threshold distance.

[0118] In operation 1020, the processor of the electronic device may determine that the target reference signal intensity pattern corresponds to the first signal intensity pattern if the minimum distance is less than a preset threshold distance. If the minimum distance is less than the preset threshold distance, the target reference signal intensity pattern may be determined to match the first signal intensity pattern. If the minimum distance is greater than or equal to the preset threshold distance, the target reference signal intensity pattern may be determined not to correspond to the first signal intensity pattern. If the minimum distance is greater than or equal to the preset threshold distance, this may mean that the electronic device is located closest to an external electronic device associated with the first signal intensity pattern, but that the electronic device is not located in the same space as the external electronic device.

[0119] In one embodiment, when the target reference signal strength pattern is determined to correspond to (e.g., match or suitably similar to) the first signal strength pattern, the electronic device is determined to be located in the same space as the space in which the external electronic device associated with the target reference signal strength pattern is installed.

[0120] FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a method for updating a reference signal intensity pattern performed by an external electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0121] The following operations 1110 to 1150 may be performed by an external electronic device (e.g., the first external electronic device (210), the second external electronic device (220), or the third external electronic device (230) of FIG. 2). For example, the external electronic device may include a processor (e.g., the processor (120) of FIG. 1), a communication module (e.g., the communication module (190) of FIG. 1), a memory (e.g., the memory (130) of FIG. 1), and a display (e.g., the display module (160) of FIG. 1).

[0122] In operation 1110, a processor of an external electronic device may transmit a first message to one or more external electronic devices (e.g., external electronic devices 210, 220, 230 of FIG. 2) via a communication module. For example, the first message is a message related to a probe request. The description of operation 1110 may be similarly applied to the description of operation 310 described above with reference to FIG. 3. For example, for the purpose of describing operation 1110, the term 'electronic device' in the description of operation 310 may be replaced with the term 'external electronic device'. Each of the one or more external electronic devices receiving the first message may operate as an AP (or soft AP) with respect to the external electronic device transmitting the first message.

[0123] In operation 1120, the processor of the external electronic device may receive one or more second messages from one or more external electronic devices via the communication module in response to (e.g., subsequent to or as a result of) the first message. For example, the second message is a message related to a probe response.

[0124] According to one embodiment, even if the external electronic device does not transmit the first message to one or more other external electronic devices, the external electronic device can receive a second message from one or more other external electronic devices. The second message may be any one of all messages transmitted (or broadcast) by each of the one or more external electronic devices to the other electronic devices. Even if operation 1110 is not performed in the above embodiment, in operation 1120, the processor of the external electronic device can receive the second messages from one or more other external electronic devices through the communication module.

[0125] In operation 1130, the processor of the external electronic device may generate a current reference signal strength pattern (e.g., the first reference signal strength pattern (212), the second reference signal strength pattern (222), or the third reference signal strength pattern (232) of FIG. 2) for one or more external electronic devices based on the second messages. Since the external electronic device cannot directly measure its own signal strength, the signal strength of the external electronic device included in the current reference signal strength pattern may be a preset signal strength. A description of how the external electronic device generates the current reference signal strength pattern may be similarly applied to a description of how the first external electronic device (210) generates the first reference signal strength pattern described above with reference to FIG. 4.

[0126] In operation 1140, the processor of the external electronic device may determine whether the current reference signal strength pattern corresponds to a previous reference signal strength pattern generated for one or more external electronic devices. For example, if the installation location of any one or more external electronic devices has changed, the current reference signal strength pattern may not correspond to the previous reference signal strength pattern. For example, if there is an external electronic device that has been removed or a newly installed external electronic device, the current reference signal strength pattern may not correspond to the previous reference signal strength pattern.

[0127] According to one embodiment, a processor of an external electronic device determines that the current reference signal intensity pattern corresponds to a previous reference signal intensity pattern if the signal intensity of the current reference signal intensity pattern is equal to the corresponding signal intensity of the previous reference signal intensity pattern, or if the signal intensity has changed by less than a threshold value.

[0128] According to one embodiment, the processor of the external electronic device determines that the current reference signal intensity pattern corresponds to the previous reference signal intensity pattern if all signal intensities of the current reference signal intensity pattern increase or decrease to correspond to a normalized direction vector, even if at least one signal intensity of the current reference signal intensity pattern is different from the corresponding signal intensity of the previous reference signal intensity pattern or changes by more than a threshold value. In other words, even if at least one signal intensity of the current reference signal intensity pattern is different from the corresponding signal intensity of the previous reference signal intensity pattern or changes by more than a threshold value, if each signal intensity value of the current reference signal intensity pattern increases or decreases by the same amount as specified / indicated by the normalized direction vector, the current reference signal intensity pattern is determined to correspond to the previous reference signal intensity pattern. For example, the signal intensity of the external electronic device measured by the external electronic device may have decreased due to component degradation or a change in the environment around the external electronic device (e.g., the addition of a new object), but the location of the external electronic device or another external electronic device may not have changed.

[0129] According to one embodiment, a processor of an external electronic device determines that the current reference signal intensity pattern and the previous reference signal intensity pattern are different if at least one signal intensity of the current reference signal intensity pattern is different from a corresponding signal intensity of a previous reference signal intensity pattern, or has changed by more than a threshold value.

[0130] According to one embodiment, the processor of the external electronic device determines that the current reference signal strength pattern and the previous reference signal strength pattern are different if the number of external electronic devices associated with the current reference signal strength pattern is different from the number of external electronic devices associated with the previous reference signal strength pattern.

[0131] In operation 1150, the processor of the external electronic device transmits the current reference signal strength pattern to a user terminal (e.g., the electronic device (101) of FIG. 1 or the electronic device (240) of FIG. 2) or a server through a communication module if the current reference signal strength pattern does not correspond to a previous reference signal strength pattern. For example, the processor of the external electronic device may transmit an event message including the current reference signal strength pattern to the user terminal or the server. The event message may be a message for an event indicating that the current reference signal strength pattern is updated. The current reference signal strength pattern transmitted to the user terminal may be used to determine the location of the user terminal.

[0132] The processor of the external electronic device may discard the generated current reference signal strength pattern if the current reference signal strength pattern corresponds to a previous reference signal strength pattern. Only when the current reference signal strength pattern does not correspond to a previous reference signal strength pattern can the current reference signal strength pattern be updated, thereby improving the efficiency of communication resources.

[0133] FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method for determining whether a current reference signal intensity pattern corresponds to a previous reference signal intensity pattern, according to one embodiment.

[0134] According to one embodiment, operations 1210 and 1220 below may be related to operation 1140 described above with reference to FIG. 11. For example, operation 1140 may include operations 1210 and 1220. Operations 1210 and 1220 may be performed by an external electronic device (e.g., the first external electronic device (210), the second external electronic device (220), or the third external electronic device (230) of FIG. 2). For example, the external electronic device may include a processor (e.g., the processor (120) of FIG. 1), a communication module (e.g., the communication module (190) of FIG. 1), a memory (e.g., the memory (130) of FIG. 1), and a display (e.g., the display module (160) of FIG. 1).

[0135] In operation 1210, the processor of the external electronic device may place the current reference signal strength pattern and the previous reference signal strength pattern in the same coordinate system. The coordinate system may have a dimension corresponding to the number of one or more external electronic devices (e.g., one or more external electronic devices (210, 220, 230) of FIG. 2). For example, if there are three external electronic devices, the coordinate system is a three-dimensional coordinate system having three axes. Each axis of the coordinate system may represent the signal strength of the corresponding external electronic device. For N external electronic devices, the coordinate system is an N-dimensional coordinate system, which may be expressed by N axes.

[0136] The description of how to place the current reference signal intensity pattern and the previous reference signal intensity pattern in the same coordinate system may be replaced with the description of how to place one or more of the above-described reference signal intensity patterns and the first signal intensity pattern in the same coordinate system with reference to FIG. 7.

[0137] In operation 1220, a processor of an external electronic device may determine whether the current reference signal intensity pattern corresponds to a previous reference signal intensity pattern based on whether the current reference signal intensity pattern can be made to correspond to a previous reference signal intensity pattern by shifting the coordinates of the current reference signal intensity pattern in a coordinate system toward a target direction. For example, the current reference signal intensity pattern may be determined to correspond to the previous reference signal intensity pattern if a minimum distance among distances between the current reference signal intensity pattern and the previous reference signal intensity pattern calculated by shifting the coordinates of the current reference signal intensity pattern in the coordinate system toward the target direction is less than a threshold value. The target direction may be represented by a direction vector. For example, each of the direction vector components may be equal to each other. A normalized direction vector is (1, 1, 1, …, 1). For example, if the coordinate system is three-dimensional, the normalized direction vector is (1, 1, 1).

[0138] According to one embodiment, an electronic device (101; 240) includes a communication module (190), at least one processor (120), and a memory (130) storing instructions executable by the at least one processor (120).

[0139] In one embodiment, when the instructions are executed by at least one processor (120), the electronic device (101; 240) causes at least: a first message to be transmitted to one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230) via the communication module (190).

[0140] In one embodiment, when the instructions are executed by at least one processor (120), the electronic device (101; 240) causes at least: one or more second messages as a reply to a first message from one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230) via the communication module (190).

[0141] In one embodiment, the instructions, when executed by at least one processor (120), cause the electronic device (101; 240) to generate a first signal strength pattern (242) for one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230) based on at least: second messages.

[0142] In one embodiment, when the instructions are executed by at least one processor (120), the electronic device (101; 240) determines a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to a first signal intensity pattern (242) among one or more reference signal intensity patterns (212; 222; 232) previously received from at least one external electronic device (210; 220; 230).

[0143] In one embodiment, the instructions, when executed by at least one processor (120), cause the electronic device (101; 240) to at least: determine a location of the electronic device (101; 240) based on a target reference signal strength pattern.

[0144] In one embodiment, when the instructions are executed by at least one processor (120), the electronic device (101; 240) causes at least: the electronic device (101; 240) to receive, via the communication module (190), event messages comprising one or more reference signal strength patterns (212; 222; 232) from one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230).

[0145] In one embodiment, a target reference signal intensity pattern among one or more reference signal intensity patterns (212; 222; 232) is generated by a first external electronic device (210) among one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230).

[0146] According to one embodiment, the target reference signal intensity pattern includes a first signal intensity (212a) for a first external electronic device (210) and a second signal intensity (212b; 212c) for a transmission signal of a second external electronic device (220; 230) measured by the first external electronic device (210).

[0147] According to one embodiment, the first signal intensity (212a) for the first external electronic device (210) is a preset signal intensity.

[0148] According to one embodiment, when the instructions are executed by at least one processor (120), the electronic device (101; 240) causes at least: one or more reference signal intensity patterns (212; 222; 232) and a first signal intensity pattern (242) to be placed in the same coordinate system (700).

[0149] In one embodiment, the instructions, when executed by at least one processor (120), cause the electronic device (101; 240) to at least: calculate a distance between a first signal intensity pattern (242) and each of one or more reference signal intensity patterns (212; 222; 232) based on a coordinate system (700).

[0150] According to one embodiment, when the instructions are executed by at least one processor (120), the electronic device (101; 240) causes at least: to determine a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to the first signal intensity pattern (242) based on a distance between the first signal intensity pattern (242) and each of one or more reference signal intensity patterns (212; 222; 232).

[0151] In one embodiment, the instructions, when executed by at least one processor (120), cause the electronic device (101; 240) to at least: calculate a distance between the first signal intensity pattern (242) and each of one or more reference signal intensity patterns (212; 222; 232) while moving coordinates of the first signal intensity pattern (242) in a target direction within a coordinate system (700).

[0152] In one embodiment, the instructions, when executed by at least one processor (120), cause the electronic device (101; 240) to determine at least: a target reference signal intensity pattern having a minimum distance based on a distance between a first signal intensity pattern (242) and each of one or more reference signal intensity patterns (212; 222; 232).

[0153] According to one embodiment, each of the direction vector components representing the target direction is equal to each other.

[0154] According to one embodiment, when the instructions are executed by at least one processor (120), the electronic device (101; 240) causes at least: a minimum distance to be less than a preset threshold distance;

[0155] In one embodiment, the instructions, when executed by at least one processor (120), cause the electronic device (101; 240) to at least: determine that the target reference signal intensity pattern corresponds to the first signal intensity pattern (242) if the minimum distance is less than a preset threshold distance.

[0156] In one embodiment, the instructions, when executed by at least one processor (120), cause the electronic device (101; 240) to at least: determine a location set in a first external electronic device (210) that generated the target reference signal intensity pattern as the location of the electronic device (101; 240).

[0157] In one embodiment, when the instructions are executed by at least one processor (120), the electronic device (101; 240) causes at least: a communication module (190) to identify a first external electronic device (210) among one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230).

[0158] In one embodiment, when the instructions are executed by at least one processor (120), the electronic device (101; 240) causes at least: a communication module (190) to transmit a first message to an identified first external electronic device (210).

[0159] According to one embodiment, a method for determining a location of an electronic device (101; 240), performed by the electronic device (101; 240), includes an operation (310; 512; 514; 516) of transmitting a first message to one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230).

[0160] According to one embodiment, a method for determining a location of an electronic device (101; 240), performed by the electronic device (101; 240), includes operations (320; 522; 524; 526) of receiving one or more second messages as replies to a first message from one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230).

[0161] According to one embodiment, a method for determining a location of an electronic device (101; 240), performed by the electronic device (101; 240), includes an operation (330; 530) of generating a first signal strength pattern (242) for one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230) based on second messages.

[0162] According to one embodiment, a method for determining a location of an electronic device (101; 240), performed by the electronic device (101; 240), includes an operation (340) of determining a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to a first signal intensity pattern (242) among one or more reference signal intensity patterns (212; 222; 232) previously received from one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230).

[0163] According to one embodiment, a method for determining a position of an electronic device (101; 240), performed by an electronic device (101; 240), includes an operation (350) of determining a position of the electronic device (101; 240) based on a target reference signal intensity pattern.

[0164] According to one embodiment, a method for determining a location of an electronic device (101; 240), performed by an electronic device (101; 240), includes operations (412; 422; 432) of receiving event messages including one or more reference signal strength patterns (212; 222; 232) from one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230).

[0165] In one embodiment, a target reference signal intensity pattern among one or more reference signal intensity patterns (212; 222; 232) is generated by a first external electronic device (210) among one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230).

[0166] According to one embodiment, the target reference signal strength pattern includes a first signal strength (212a) for a first external electronic device (210) and a second signal strength (212b) for a transmission signal of a second external electronic device (220) measured by the first external electronic device (210).

[0167] According to one embodiment, the operation (340) of determining a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to a first signal intensity pattern (242) among one or more reference signal intensity patterns (212; 222; 232) previously received from one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 220) includes the operation (610) of placing the one or more reference signal intensity patterns (212; 222; 232) and the first signal intensity pattern (242) in the same coordinate system (700).

[0168] According to one embodiment, the operation (340) of determining a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to a first signal intensity pattern (242) among one or more reference signal intensity patterns (212; 222; 232) previously received from one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 220) includes the operation (620) of calculating a distance between the first signal intensity pattern (242) and each of the one or more reference signal intensity patterns (212; 222; 232) based on a coordinate system (700).

[0169] According to one embodiment, the operation (340) of determining a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to a first signal intensity pattern (242) among one or more reference signal intensity patterns (212; 222; 232) previously received from one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 220) includes the operation (630) of determining a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to the first signal intensity pattern (242) based on a distance between the first signal intensity pattern (242) and each of the one or more reference signal intensity patterns (212; 222; 232).

[0170] In one embodiment, the operation (630) of calculating a distance between a first signal intensity pattern (242) and each of one or more reference signal intensity patterns (212; 222; 232) based on a coordinate system (700) includes the operation (810) of calculating a distance between the first signal intensity pattern (242) and each of one or more reference signal intensity patterns (212; 222; 232) while moving a coordinate of the first signal intensity pattern (242) in a target direction within the coordinate system (700).

[0171] According to one embodiment, a method for transmitting a reference signal strength pattern (212), performed by an electronic device (210), includes an operation (1110) of transmitting a first message to one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230).

[0172] According to one embodiment, a method for transmitting a reference signal strength pattern (212), performed by an electronic device (210), includes an operation (1120) of receiving one or more second messages as a reply to a first message from one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230).

[0173] According to one embodiment, a method for transmitting a reference signal strength pattern (212), performed by an electronic device (210), includes an operation (1130) of generating a current reference signal strength pattern for one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230) based on second messages.

[0174] According to one embodiment, a method for transmitting a reference signal intensity pattern (212), performed by an electronic device (210), includes an operation (1140) of determining whether a current reference signal intensity pattern corresponds to a previous reference signal intensity pattern generated in advance for one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230).

[0175] According to one embodiment, a method for transmitting a reference signal intensity pattern (212), performed by an electronic device (210), includes an operation (1150) of transmitting a current reference signal intensity pattern to a user terminal (101; 240) or a server (108) when the current reference signal intensity pattern does not correspond to a previous reference signal intensity pattern.

[0176] In one embodiment, the current reference signal strength pattern is used to determine the location of the user terminal.

[0177] According to one embodiment, the current reference signal strength pattern includes a first signal strength (212a) for the electronic device (210) and a second signal strength (212b; 212c) for a transmission signal of the first external electronic device (220; 230) measured by the electronic device (210).

[0178] According to one embodiment, the first signal intensity (212a) for the electronic device (210) is a preset signal intensity.

[0179] In one embodiment, the operation (1140) of determining whether the current reference signal intensity pattern corresponds to a previous reference signal intensity pattern previously generated for one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230) includes the operation (1210) of placing the current reference signal intensity pattern and the previous reference signal intensity pattern in the same coordinate system (700).

[0180] In one embodiment, the operation (1140) of determining whether the current reference signal intensity pattern corresponds to a previous reference signal intensity pattern generated in advance for one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230) includes the operation (1220) of determining whether the current reference signal intensity pattern corresponds to the previous reference signal intensity pattern based on whether the coordinates of the current reference signal intensity pattern can be made to correspond to the previous reference signal intensity pattern by moving the coordinates of the current reference signal intensity pattern in a coordinate system (700) toward a target.

[0181] According to one embodiment, each of the direction vector components representing the target direction is equal to each other.

[0182] A numbered series of examples illustrating various embodiments according to the present disclosure follows.

[0183] Example 1. An electronic device includes a communication module; at least one processor; and a memory storing instructions executable by the at least one processor, wherein when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the electronic device causes: via the communication module, to transmit a first message to one or more external electronic devices; via the communication module, to receive one or more second messages from the one or more external electronic devices; to generate a first signal intensity pattern for the one or more external electronic devices based on the second messages; to determine a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to the first signal intensity pattern among one or more reference signal intensity patterns; and to determine a location of the electronic device based on the target reference signal intensity pattern.

[0184] Example 2. The electronic device of Example 1, when the instructions are executed by at least one processor, causes the electronic device to: receive, through the communication module, event messages comprising one or more reference signal strength patterns from one or more external electronic devices.

[0185] Example 3. In any one of Examples 1 and 2, a target reference signal intensity pattern among the one or more reference signal intensity patterns is received from a first external electronic device among the one or more external electronic devices, and the target reference signal intensity pattern includes a first signal intensity for the first external electronic device and a second signal intensity for a transmission signal of the second external electronic device.

[0186] Example 4. In any one of Examples 1 to 3, the first signal strength for the first external electronic device is a preset signal strength.

[0187] Example 5. An electronic device according to any one of Examples 1 to 4, wherein when instructions are executed by at least one processor, the electronic device causes the electronic device to: place one or more reference signal intensity patterns and a first signal intensity pattern in a coordinate system; calculate first distances between the first signal intensity pattern and each of the one or more reference signal intensity patterns based on the coordinate system; and determine a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to the first signal intensity pattern based on the first distances between the first signal intensity pattern and each of the one or more reference signal intensity patterns.

[0188] Example 6. An electronic device according to any one of Examples 1 to 5, wherein when instructions are executed by at least one processor, the electronic device causes the electronic device to: translate coordinates of a first signal intensity pattern in a coordinate system toward a target; calculate second distances between one or more translated first signal intensity patterns and each of one or more reference signal intensity patterns; and determine a target reference signal intensity pattern based on the first distances between the first signal intensity pattern and each of the one or more reference signal intensity patterns and the second distances between the first signal intensity pattern and each of the one or more reference signal intensity patterns.

[0189] Example 7. The electronic device of Example 6, when the instructions are executed by at least one processor, causes the electronic device to: determine a target reference signal strength pattern as a reference signal strength pattern having a minimum distance among the first distances and the second distances, from among one or more reference signal strength patterns.

[0190] Example 8. In any of Examples 5 to 7, each of the direction vector components representing the target direction is equal to another.

[0191] Example 9. The electronic device of Example 7, when the instructions are executed by at least one processor, causes the electronic device to: determine whether the minimum distance is less than a preset threshold distance, and if the minimum distance is less than the preset threshold distance, determine that the target reference signal strength pattern corresponds to the first signal strength pattern.

[0192] Example 10. An electronic device according to any one of Examples 1 to 9, wherein the instructions, when executed by at least one processor, cause the electronic device to: determine, as a location of the electronic device, a location corresponding to a first external electronic device that generated the target reference signal strength pattern.

[0193] Example 11. An electronic device according to any one of Examples 1 to 9, wherein when instructions are executed by at least one processor, the electronic device causes: the electronic device to: identify, through a communication module, a first external electronic device among one or more external electronic devices; and transmit, through the communication module, a first message to the identified first external electronic device.

[0194] Example 12. A method for determining a location of an electronic device, performed by an electronic device, includes: transmitting a first message to one or more external electronic devices; receiving one or more second messages from the one or more external electronic devices; generating a first signal intensity pattern for the one or more external electronic devices based on the second messages; determining a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to the first signal intensity pattern among one or more reference signal intensity patterns; and determining a location of the electronic device based on the target reference signal intensity pattern.

[0195] Example 13. The method of Example 12 further includes receiving event messages comprising one or more reference signal strength patterns from one or more external electronic devices.

[0196] Example 14. The method of Example 12 or 13, wherein a target reference signal intensity pattern among one or more reference signal intensity patterns is received from a first external electronic device among one or more external electronic devices, and the target reference signal intensity pattern includes a first signal intensity for the first external electronic device and a second signal intensity for a transmission signal of the second external electronic device.

[0197] Example 15. In any one of the methods of Examples 12 to 14, the operation of determining a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to a first signal intensity pattern among one or more reference signal intensity patterns includes: arranging the one or more reference signal intensity patterns and the first signal intensity pattern in the same coordinate system; calculating one or more first distances between the first signal intensity pattern and each of the one or more reference signal intensity patterns based on the coordinate system; and determining a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to the first signal intensity pattern based on the first distances between the first signal intensity pattern and each of the one or more reference signal intensity patterns.

[0198] Example 16. The method of any one of Examples 12 to 15 comprises calculating one or more second distances between one or more shifted first signal strength patterns and one or more reference signal strength patterns, wherein a target reference signal strength pattern is determined based on the one or more first distances and the one or more second distances.

[0199] The embodiments described above may be implemented using hardware components, software components, and / or a combination of hardware components and software components. For example, the devices, methods, and components described in the embodiments may be implemented using a general-purpose computer or a special-purpose computer, such as, for example, a processor, a controller, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), a digital signal processor, a microcomputer, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic unit (PLU), a microprocessor, or any other device capable of executing instructions and responding to them. The processing device may execute an operating system (OS) and software applications running on the operating system. The processing device may also access, store, manipulate, process, and generate data in response to the execution of the software. For ease of understanding, the processing device is sometimes described as being used alone; however, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the processing device may include multiple processing elements and / or multiple types of processing elements. For example, a processing unit may include multiple processors, or a processor and a controller. Other processing configurations, such as parallel processors, are also possible.

[0200] Software may include a computer program, code, instructions, or a combination of one or more of these, which may configure a processing device to perform a desired operation or may, independently or collectively, command the processing device. The software and / or data may be permanently or temporarily embodied in any type of machine, component, physical device, virtual equipment, computer storage medium or device, or transmitted signal wave, for interpretation by the processing device or for providing instructions or data to the processing device. The software may also be distributed over networked computer systems and stored or executed in a distributed manner. The software and data may be stored on a computer-readable recording medium.

[0201] The method according to the embodiment may be implemented in the form of program commands that can be executed through various computer means and recorded on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may include program commands, data files, data structures, etc., alone or in combination, and the program commands recorded on the medium may be those specially designed and configured for the embodiment or may be known and available to those skilled in the art of computer software. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tapes, optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, magneto-optical media such as floptical disks, and hardware devices specially configured to store and execute program commands such as ROMs, RAMs, and flash memories. Examples of program commands include not only machine language codes such as those generated by a compiler, but also high-level language codes that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter, etc.

[0202] The hardware device described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the embodiment, and vice versa.

[0203] Although the embodiments described above have been described with limited drawings, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various technical modifications and variations can be applied based on the described embodiments. For example, appropriate results can still be achieved even if the described techniques are performed in a different order than described, and / or components of the described systems, structures, devices, circuits, etc. are combined or combined in a different manner than described, or are replaced or substituted with other components or equivalents.

[0204] Therefore, other implementations, other embodiments, and equivalents to the claims also fall within the scope of the claims described below.

Claims

1. In an electronic device (101; 240), Communication module (190); at least one processor (120); and A memory (130) storing instructions executable by at least one processor (120) Including, When the above instructions are executed by the at least one processor (120), the electronic device: Through the above communication module, a first message is transmitted (310) to one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230), Through the above communication module, one or more second messages are received from one or more external electronic devices (320), Based on the second messages, a first signal strength pattern (242) is generated for the one or more external electronic devices (330), Determine a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to the first signal intensity pattern among one or more reference signal intensity patterns (212; 222; 232) (340), Determining the location of the electronic device based on the target reference signal strength pattern (350) To do, Electronic devices.

2. In paragraph 1, When the above instructions are executed by the at least one processor (120), the electronic device: Through the communication module, event messages including the one or more reference signal strength patterns are received from the one or more external electronic devices. To do, Electronic devices.

3. In any one of paragraphs 1 and 2, Among the one or more reference signal intensity patterns, the target reference signal intensity pattern is received from a first external electronic device (210) among the one or more external electronic devices, The above target reference signal intensity pattern includes a first signal intensity (212a) for the first external electronic device and a second signal intensity (212b; 212c) for the transmission signal of the second external electronic device (220; 230). Electronic devices.

4. In any one of paragraphs 1 to 3, The first signal strength for the first external electronic device is a preset signal strength, Electronic devices.

5. In any one of paragraphs 1 to 4, When the above instructions are executed by the at least one processor (120), the electronic device: Placing the one or more reference signal intensity patterns and the first signal intensity pattern in a coordinate system (700), Calculating first distances between the first signal intensity pattern and each of the one or more reference signal intensity patterns based on the above coordinate system, Determine a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to the first signal intensity pattern based on the first distances between the first signal intensity pattern and each of the one or more reference signal intensity patterns. To do, Electronic devices.

6. In any one of paragraphs 1 to 5, When the above instructions are executed by the at least one processor (120), the electronic device: Moving the coordinates of the first signal intensity pattern in the above coordinate system toward the target direction. Computing second distances between one or more of the shifted first signal intensity patterns and each of the one or more reference signal intensity patterns, Determining the target reference signal intensity pattern based on the first distances between the first signal intensity pattern and each of the one or more reference signal intensity patterns, and the second distances between the first signal intensity pattern and each of the one or more reference signal intensity patterns. To do, Electronic devices.

7. In paragraph 6, When the above instructions are executed by the at least one processor (120), the electronic device: Among the one or more reference signal intensity patterns, the target reference signal intensity pattern is determined as a reference signal intensity pattern having a minimum distance among the first distances and the second distances. To do, Electronic devices.

8. In any one of paragraphs 5 to 7, Each of the direction vector components representing the target direction is identical to each other. Electronic devices.

9. In paragraph 7, When the above instructions are executed by the at least one processor (120), the electronic device: Determine whether the above minimum distance is less than a preset threshold distance, If the above minimum distance is less than a preset threshold distance, the target reference signal intensity pattern is determined to correspond to the first signal intensity pattern. To do more, Electronic devices.

10. In any one of paragraphs 1 to 9, When the above instructions are executed by the at least one processor (120), the electronic device: Determine the location corresponding to the first external electronic device that generated the above target reference signal intensity pattern as the location of the electronic device. To do, Electronic devices.

11. In any one of paragraphs 1 to 9, When the above instructions are executed by the at least one processor (120), the electronic device: Through the above communication module, a first external electronic device among one or more external electronic devices is identified, Transmitting the first message to the identified first external electronic device via the communication module To do, Electronic devices.

12. A method for determining the position of an electronic device, performed by an electronic device (101; 240), An act of transmitting a first message (310; 512; 514; 516) to one or more external electronic devices (210; 220; 230); An operation of receiving one or more second messages from said one or more external electronic devices (320; 522; 524; 526); An operation (330; 530) of generating a first signal strength pattern (242) for one or more external electronic devices based on the second messages; An operation (340) of determining a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to the first signal intensity pattern among one or more reference signal intensity patterns (212; 222; 232); and An operation (350) for determining the location of the electronic device based on the target reference signal strength pattern. Including, How to determine location.

13. In paragraph 12, An operation (412; 422; 432) of receiving event messages containing said one or more reference signal strength patterns from said one or more external electronic devices. Including more, How to determine location.

14. In paragraph 12 or 13, Among the one or more reference signal intensity patterns, the target reference signal intensity pattern is received from a first external electronic device (210) among the one or more external electronic devices, The above target reference signal intensity pattern includes a first signal intensity (212a) for the first external electronic device and a second signal intensity (212b) for the transmission signal of the second external electronic device (220). How to determine location.

15. In any one of paragraphs 12 to 14, An operation of determining a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to the first signal intensity pattern among the one or more reference signal intensity patterns is, An operation (610) of placing the one or more reference signal intensity patterns and the first signal intensity pattern in the same coordinate system (700); An operation (620) of calculating one or more first distances between the first signal intensity pattern and each of the one or more reference signal intensity patterns based on the coordinate system; and An operation (630) of determining a target reference signal intensity pattern corresponding to the first signal intensity pattern based on the first distances between the first signal intensity pattern and each of the one or more reference signal intensity patterns. Including, How to determine location.

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