Diverse Wireless Signal Aggregation for Indoor Location Triangulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wireless location systems, such as GPS, are ineffective indoors due to the lack of three nodes of a particular wireless protocol type, leading to unreliable distance and angle estimations, especially with signal strength drop-off and interference from objects.
Innovation Solution
A diverse signal aggregation system that utilizes multiple wireless protocols (5G mmWave, LTE, Wi-Fi) to aggregate signal strength and angle measurements from various access points, enabling multiangulation or multilateration for accurate endpoint device location determination, even in environments where three nodes of a single protocol are not available.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If GPS or single-protocol wireless location systems are used, then location determination is simple to implement, but location accuracy deteriorates indoors due to lack of three nodes and signal interference
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple wireless protocol systems (5G mmWave, LTE, Wi-Fi) into a unified location determination system. The system aggregates signal strength and angle measurements from access points of different protocol types to perform multiangulation or multilateration, thereby achieving reliable indoor location accuracy without requiring three nodes of a single protocol type.
Solution Approach 2:
The location determination system is designed to universally support multiple wireless protocols simultaneously. The system can process and aggregate measurements from diverse protocol types (5G, LTE, Wi-Fi) through a common multiangulation/multilateration algorithm, making it adaptable to various indoor environments where different protocols may be available.
2Reliability
If three nodes of a single wireless protocol type are required, then triangulation is simple to implement, but reliability deteriorates when three nodes are not available indoors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter from requiring three nodes of a single protocol type to using three or more nodes of diverse protocol types. By aggregating signal strength and angle measurements across different wireless protocols (5G mmWave, LTE, Wi-Fi), the system achieves reliable location determination in indoor environments where traditional single-protocol triangulation would fail due to insufficient node availability.
3Measurement precision
If signal strength measurements are used alone, then distance estimation is simple, but measurement precision deteriorates due to signal drop-off and interference from objects
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces angle measurements as an intermediary parameter to complement signal strength measurements. By combining signal strength data with angle of arrival measurements from multiple access points, the system performs multiangulation or multilateration to calculate endpoint location. This intermediary measurement approach mitigates the harmful effects of signal drop-off and object interference that plague single-protocol signal strength-based distance estimation.
Data Source
AI summary
An information handling system operating a diverse wireless location determination system, comprising receiving an instruction to determine a location of an endpoint information handling system having a plurality of network interface device modules supporting a plurality of wireless network protocols, a processor executing instructions to aggregate data including detected time of flight (TOF) signal distance and signal quality values relating to signals exchanged between the endpoint information handling system and a plurality of diverse wireless protocol access points, the processor to determine at least three diverse wireless protocol access point signals meet a signal quality threshold, where at least two of the diverse wireless protocol access points operate under different wireless protocols, and the processor conducting weighted multiangulation or multilateration utilizing the detected TOF signal distances of the exchanged signals based on the detected signal quality category and type of wireless protocol for the exchanged signal.