Wireless Dog Fence Clock Speed Variation Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wireless dog fence systems face challenges such as labor-intensive installation, signal interference, and inability to define custom-shaped containment areas, leading to unwanted corrections and inefficiencies in tracking the dog's location.
Innovation Solution
A wireless fence system with dual-antenna collars and base units, visualization software, and NANOLOC™ chipsets for improved signal strength and precision, allowing for custom-shaped containment areas and accurate tracking of the dog's location, while reducing unwanted corrections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If wireless fence systems use standard clock speeds without compensation, then device complexity is reduced, but measurement precision deteriorates due to clock speed variation between base units and collar
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by introducing trimmable capacitors to adjust and compensate clock speed variations between base units and collar. This allows precise tuning of the clock frequency parameter to eliminate drift and ensure accurate distance measurements, directly resolving the measurement precision issue while maintaining manageable device complexity through a straightforward compensation mechanism.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple base units are used to define custom-shaped containment areas, then adaptability is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to signal attenuation and loss between base units and collar
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where base units continuously monitor signal strength and quality between themselves and the collar. When signal attenuation or loss is detected, the system adjusts transmission parameters or selects alternative base units to maintain reliable communication, thus preserving adaptability for custom-shaped areas while ensuring operational reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary base units that act as relay points to extend signal coverage across custom-shaped containment areas. These intermediary units receive and retransmit signals, overcoming attenuation and loss issues while enabling flexible geometric configurations of the fence boundary without compromising signal reliability.
3Productivity
If distance measuring technology is used to determine dog location, then productivity is improved by reducing installation labor, but measurement precision deteriorates due to signal interference from household objects
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs feedback loops where the system continuously monitors distance measurements and signal quality between base units and collar. When interference from household objects causes measurement errors, the system detects anomalies through feedback and either corrects the measurements or triggers re-measurement, maintaining installation efficiency while improving distance measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces simple distance measuring technology with an enhanced RF-based triangulation system that uses multiple base units and sophisticated signal processing. This substitution maintains the wireless, easy-installation advantage while dramatically improving measurement precision by using electromagnetic field characteristics rather than simple distance metrics, overcoming interference from household objects.
Data Source
AI summary
A custom-shaped wireless fence system is provided that contains one or more dogs in a user-defined containment area without the need for a physical fence or underground wire. The system, which is easy to set up and use, includes at least three base units and at least one collar and, preferably, a remote controller. Each of the base units and the at least one collar includes a component for reducing clock speed variation between the base and collar units, preferably to +/−5 ppm, to effectively eliminate communication errors between the base and collar units.