Indoor Context Mapping via RFID Spatial Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing location and context determination methods for devices, such as GPS and beacon-based navigation, face challenges in accuracy, especially indoors and in spaces with constrained layouts, and are prone to degradation due to inaccurate sensor measurements or sudden changes in context.
Innovation Solution
A method that uses sensor measurements from multiple devices to track user movement between contexts over time, generating a mapping of physical spaces to improve location and context accuracy, and calibrates sensors based on detected changes in context parameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If GPS is used for location determination, then outdoor location accuracy is improved, but indoor location accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary system comprising RFID readers and tags deployed throughout the indoor environment. These intermediaries mediate between the mobile device and the physical space, enabling location determination through tag detection and spatial mapping without requiring GPS signals. The system creates a hybrid location service that combines outdoor GPS capabilities with indoor RFID-based positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/optical GPS system with an electromagnetic field-based RFID system for indoor location determination. Instead of relying on satellite signals and complex hardware, the system uses wireless electromagnetic tags and readers to establish location, substituting a simpler, more adaptable electromagnetic measurement system for the traditional mechanical positioning approach.
2Measurement precision
If beacon-based navigation is used, then indoor location accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases due to required equipment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses RFID tags as simplified copies or representations of physical locations throughout the environment. Instead of requiring complex beacon infrastructure with active transmitters and sophisticated receivers, the system employs passive RFID tags that can be easily attached to walls, doors, and other environmental features. These tags create a distributed mapping of the physical space that can be read by mobile devices without requiring complex infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters of the location system by using passive RFID technology instead of active beacon systems. This parameter change reduces power consumption, simplifies the hardware requirements, and lowers the overall system complexity while maintaining location accuracy. The system transitions from an active, power-intensive beacon network to a passive, low-cost RFID-based positioning system.
3Speed
If context determination relies solely on recent sensor measurements, then response time is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates due to inaccurate or sudden context changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-establishing a spatial map that correlates physical locations with contextual information before the user needs location services. The system pre-processes and stores mapping data that associates RFID tag positions with environmental contexts (such as room names, building locations, or spatial relationships), enabling rapid context determination without requiring real-time sensor analysis when the user is actually needing location information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms that continuously monitor and update the spatial mapping model based on observed sensor data and user behavior patterns. The system uses feedback from sensor measurements to refine and adjust the contextual associations in the spatial map, allowing the system to adapt to changes in the environment and improve context determination accuracy over time while maintaining fast response speeds.
Data Source
AI summary
A processing apparatus including one or more processors and memory determines a first context of a first user at a first location in a physical space based on sensor measurements from one or more sensors of a set of one or more devices coupled to the first user and detects movement of the first user to a second location in the physical space based on sensor measurements from one or more sensors of the devices. The processing apparatus determines a second context of the first user at the second location based on sensor measurements from one or more sensors of the devices and generates, based on the first context, the second context, and the movement of the user from the first location to the second location, a first mapping of the physical space that includes information corresponding to a spatial relationship between the first context and the second context.