Beacon Signal Transmission for Emergency Location Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional location determination technologies for tracking people or objects are costly and time-consuming, and in emergency situations, accessing location determination capabilities on portable devices can be delayed, especially if the device is out of range or the user is incapacitated.
Innovation Solution
A low energy electronic device that uses a customized Beacon communication protocol to transmit a generic wake-up signal, allowing it to connect with any portable electronic device with the associated application installed, enabling communication and location determination even when the paired device is out of range, and utilizing multiple devices to estimate the location with greater accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional location determination technology is used to track people or objects, then location tracking capability is achieved, but cost and time effort become prohibitive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces portable electronic devices as intermediary nodes that receive beacon signals and relay location information to a server. Instead of direct tracking infrastructure, the system uses available portable devices as mediators to transmit location data, significantly reducing the time and cost required for location determination while maintaining reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The system leverages the portable electronic devices' own location determination capabilities (GPS, cellular triangulation) to track the beacon's location. The beacons themselves perform the tracking by broadcasting their identity and the receiving devices determine location based on their own positioning systems, eliminating the need for external tracking infrastructure
2Loss of time
If a paired portable electronic device is used for emergency communication, then communication delay is reduced, but the system fails when the device is out of range
Solution Approach 1:
The beacon is designed to communicate with any portable electronic device that has the associated application installed, not just a single paired device. This universal compatibility ensures that if one device is out of range, other devices can still receive the beacon signal and facilitate communication, maintaining reliability while keeping response time low
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the communication function across multiple portable devices rather than relying on a single paired device. Each receiving device independently processes beacon signals, creating a distributed communication network that remains functional even when individual devices are unavailable or out of range
3Measurement precision
If multiple portable devices are used to estimate beacon location, then location accuracy is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by having multiple portable devices independently report beacon reception to a central server. The server aggregates this feedback from multiple sources and calculates the beacon's location based on the receiving devices' known positions, improving measurement precision while keeping individual device complexity low
Solution Approach 2:
A central server acts as an intermediary that handles the complex location calculation algorithms. Individual portable devices only need to perform simple functions: receive the beacon signal, determine their own location, and relay this information to the server. This distributes complexity to the server while keeping device-level complexity minimal
Data Source
AI summary
A device and method for communicating identifying information to a nearby portable electronic device is disclosed. A low energy electronic device comprises a transceiver operable to transmit and receive signals and a processing unit in communication with the transceiver. The processing unit, in response to being activated by user input, switches the transceiver into a one-way communication mode, wherein the transceiver transmits a generic wake-up signal comprising a generic wake-up identifier for a first time period, and transmits a user identifier signal comprising a user identifier for a second time period after the first time period as elapsed. The processing unit then switches the transceiver into a two-way communication mode after the second time period has elapsed to facilitate receipt of an incoming confirmation signal.