Indoor Geolocation Gateway Array for Faster Emergency Response
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Solution Overview
Problem
Employees in multi-room environments such as hospitality settings face increased personal security risks due to limited existing security measures, necessitating improved systems for enhanced awareness and safety.
Innovation Solution
A geolocationing system utilizing a vertical and horizontal array of gateway devices, including set-top boxes and gateway service devices, that receive beacon signals from wireless-enabled personal locator devices to determine the location of individuals and trigger alerts or notifications through a server, enabling enhanced awareness and safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a geolocationing system with multiple gateway devices is deployed, then employee safety and awareness are improved, but device complexity and system cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the monitoring function into multiple distributed gateway devices placed throughout the facility. Each gateway independently receives beacon signals and communicates location data to the server, distributing the complexity across multiple simple units rather than requiring one complex centralized system.
Solution Approach 2:
Gateway devices perform multiple functions: receiving beacon signals from personal locator devices, determining location based on signal characteristics, communicating with the server, and potentially providing other services. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized devices.
2Loss of time
If real-time location tracking is implemented, then emergency response time is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of continuous transmission, the personal locator device transmits beacon signals at periodic intervals. The system determines location based on these periodic beacons and the time of flight measurements, achieving real-time tracking capability while significantly reducing energy consumption compared to continuous transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the existing wireless communication infrastructure and the device's own transmission capabilities for location determination. The beacon signals serve dual purposes: normal device operation and location tracking, eliminating the need for separate high-energy tracking transmissions.
3Measurement precision
If signal characteristics are analyzed for location determination, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway device acts as an intermediary that performs the complex signal analysis and time of flight calculations. Instead of requiring the personal locator device to have complex processing capabilities, the gateway receives the simple beacon signal and performs the sophisticated measurements and location determination.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces complex mechanical or hardware-based location determination systems with signal processing approaches. By using time of flight measurements and signal characteristic analysis through software and algorithms, the system achieves high precision location accuracy without complex physical mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
A geolocationing system and method for providing awareness in a multi-space environment, such as a hospitality environment or educational environment, are presented. In one embodiment of the geolocationing system, a vertical and horizontal array of gateway devices is provided. Each gateway device includes a gateway device identification providing an accurately-known fixed location within the multi-space environment. Each gateway device includes a wireless transceiver that receives a beacon signal from a proximate wireless-enabled personal locator device. The gateway devices, in turn, send gateway signals to a server, which determines estimated location of the wireless-enabled personal locator device.