Wireless Beacon Positioning via Spatial Discretization

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Current positioning systems that rely on wireless access points face challenges in accurately estimating the location and attributes of beacons, especially in indoor and densely developed areas, due to limitations in GPS coverage and the need for additional equipment, which increases costs and complexity.

Innovation Solution

The method involves spatial and temporal discretization to estimate beacon positions and attributes by aggregating data points into discrete units, known as globs, which are then used to determine aggregate characteristics such as location, signal strength, and suitability for positioning, allowing for efficient computation and improved accuracy without requiring dedicated hardware.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If GPS is used for positioning, then positioning accuracy is improved, but coverage is limited to outdoor areas and dedicated hardware is required

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepositioning accuracyVSAvoidcoverage area

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the positioning problem into two parts: using GPS when available for high accuracy outdoor positioning, and using Wi-Fi beacon triangulation when GPS is unavailable for indoor or urban canyon positioning. This segmentation allows the system to achieve both high accuracy and broad coverage by switching between different positioning methods based on environmental conditions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Adaptability or versatility

If Wi-Fi beacons are used for positioning, then coverage area is improved, but positioning accuracy deteriorates due to inability to precisely locate beacons

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecoverage areaVSAvoidpositioning accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements self-service by having Wi-Fi access points automatically report their locations to a central server, which then uses triangulation from multiple access points to determine the position of mobile devices. This eliminates the need for manual beacon location surveying and allows the system to continuously improve positioning accuracy through automated data collection and processing.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces the mechanical approach of manually surveying and marking beacon locations with an automated electronic system that uses signal triangulation and mathematical calculations to determine positions. This substitution of mechanical surveying with electronic computation significantly improves both efficiency and accuracy.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

3Loss of information

If manual beacon location surveying is performed, then beacon position data is obtained, but time consumption and cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebeacon position dataVSAvoidsurveying time

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs self-service by automatically collecting beacon location information through triangulation calculations based on signals received from multiple access points. This automated process eliminates the need for manual surveying teams to physically locate and mark each beacon, dramatically reducing both time and cost while obtaining the same position data.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

4Measurement precision

If triangulation is used to locate mobile devices, then positioning capability is improved, but computational complexity increases due to need to process multiple beacon signals

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveposition estimation accuracyVSAvoidcomputation complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by pre-calculating and storing the locations of all Wi-Fi access points in a database before positioning is needed. When a mobile device needs positioning, the system only needs to query the stored locations and perform relatively simple triangulation calculations based on signal strengths, rather than performing complex computations in real-time. This preprocessing significantly reduces computational complexity during actual positioning operations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS10034265B2Methods and systems of assigning estimated positions and attributes to wireless access points in a positioning system

Publication Date: 2018.07.24 QUALCOMM INC

AI summary

In one embodiment, a technique is provided for detecting that a wireless beacon is pathological. Data points captured by mobile devices or specialized scanning devices are received at software executing on an electronic device, each data point containing information about beacon attributes. A set of disjoint regions are defined in one or more dimensions and each data point is associated with a corresponding region based on at least one element of the information of the data point lying within the boundaries of the corresponding region. An aggregate attribute is determined for each region based on the information of data points associated with the corresponding region. Then the aggregate attribute of one or more regions is used to determined whether the wireless beacon is pathological, and if determined to be pathological, the wireless beacon is excluded from use by a beacon-based positioning system.