Beacon Clustering for Indoor Location Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing indoor location technologies face challenges such as signal attenuation, line of sight requirements, signal bleed, interference, and high deployment costs, which affect accuracy and performance.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing wireless radio, sound, and/or light-based beacons communicating with user devices to provide real-time location determination and tracking, allowing for navigational services and user identification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If infrastructure-based technologies with physical beacons are deployed, then location tracking capability is improved, but deployment overhead and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple beacon technologies (WiFi, Bluetooth, IR, RFID, sound, magnetic, light) into a unified location tracking system. By merging these different infrastructure-based approaches, the system achieves reliable indoor location tracking while reducing deployment overhead through a single integrated platform that can utilize existing infrastructure from multiple sources.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a universal location tracking platform that works across diverse indoor environments using multiple beacon types. The unified system can adapt to different infrastructure availabilities (WiFi networks, Bluetooth devices, IR transmitters, RFID tags, sound sources, magnetic fields, light sources) making it universally applicable without requiring specialized deployment for each environment.
2Measurement precision
If signal triangulation and fingerprinting methods are used, then location accuracy is improved, but signal interference and attenuation problems worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a composite approach by combining multiple signal types (radio frequency, sound, light, magnetic) rather than relying on a single signal type. This composite system allows the location tracking to function accurately even when individual signals are attenuated or interfered with by building materials, as other signal types can compensate for the degraded pathways.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified location system acts as an intermediary layer that processes signals from multiple beacon types and combines their information. This intermediary approach allows the system to overcome individual signal limitations by synthesizing location data from multiple sources, thereby maintaining accuracy despite signal attenuation and interference from building structures.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple beacon types are integrated, then system versatility is improved, but technology complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the location tracking function into independent beacon type modules (WiFi module, Bluetooth module, IR module, RFID module, sound module, magnetic module, light module). Each module handles a specific beacon type independently, allowing the system to support multiple technologies without creating monolithic complexity. This segmentation enables flexible combination of beacon types while maintaining manageable system architecture.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system achieves accurate and efficient indoor location tracking with reduced overhead, enabling precise user location determination and navigational services, even in environments where traditional GPS is ineffective.
Implementation Method 1
wireless radio, sound and/or light-based beacons communicating with the customer's smartphone, computer system, or another electronic device
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for determining the presence of an individual at a particular spot within a location preferably based on the strength of signals received from beacons assigned to the particular spot by a software application (“App”) running on an electronic device of the individual. In one embodiment, certain presence calculations are performed by the App. In another embodiment, the App forwards information regarding the received beacon signals to an electronic identification and location tracking system and the presence calculations are performed by the system.