Mesh Node Location Tracking With Adaptive Multi-Technology Redundancy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Real-time location systems (RTLS) face challenges in accurately tracking participants moving into and outside monitored areas due to signal blockages, interference, and reliance on single location technologies, leading to degradation or loss of location data.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of an over-determined location system that utilizes multiple location technologies, such as ultra-wide band (UWB), GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), to provide redundancy and validation, with a hierarchy of performance accuracy, and adaptive transmission rates based on signal reliability, ensuring continuous location determination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single location technology is used for tracking participants, then the system complexity is low, but the reliability of location data degrades when signal blockages or interference occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple location technologies (UWB, GPS, Wi-Fi, BLE) into a single RTLS platform, allowing the system to leverage the strengths of each technology. When one technology experiences signal blockages or interference, the system can switch to or supplement with other technologies, thereby maintaining high location data reliability without requiring completely separate systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The RTLS platform is designed to perform multiple location determination functions using different technologies simultaneously. The system can determine locations using UWB for indoor precision, GPS for outdoor positioning, Wi-Fi for supplementary tracking, and BLE for low-power scenarios, making the system universally applicable across diverse environments and requirements.
2Reliability
If multiple location technologies are implemented to provide redundancy, then the reliability of location tracking improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically selects and adjusts which location technologies to use based on real-time conditions such as participant location (indoor/outdoor), environmental factors, and signal quality. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to maintain high reliability by activating appropriate technologies only when needed, rather than operating all technologies continuously, thereby managing complexity more effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes operational parameters such as transmission power, sampling rates, and technology selection based on participant behavior and environmental conditions. For example, transmission power is adjusted based on whether participants are in monitored or unmonitored areas, and the system switches between technologies based on signal reliability, optimizing performance while managing system complexity.
3Measurement precision
If location tags transmit blink data at high rates for accurate location determination, then the measurement precision improves, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The location tag dynamically adjusts its blink transmission rate based on its operational context. When the tag is in a monitored area with reliable signal reception, it transmits at higher rates to enable precise location determination. When outside monitored areas or when signal conditions are poor, the transmission rate is reduced to conserve battery energy, thereby balancing precision requirements with energy constraints.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the transmission parameter (blink rate) based on environmental conditions and location context. Transmission power and blink rates are adjusted according to whether the participant is in a monitored or unmonitored area, allowing the system to optimize the trade-off between measurement precision and energy consumption in real-time.
4Loss of energy
If the location tag transmits blink data at variable rates based on transmission reliability signals, then the energy efficiency improves, but the complexity of signal processing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where transmission reliability signals from exciters are continuously monitored, and this feedback information is used to dynamically adjust the blink transmission rate. When reliability signals indicate good signal conditions, the tag increases transmission rate for accuracy; when reliability deteriorates, the rate is reduced to save energy, creating a closed-loop control system that optimizes energy efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The location tag autonomously adjusts its own transmission behavior based on received reliability signals without requiring complex external control. The tag independently modulates its blink rate according to the transmission reliability environment, enabling energy-efficient operation through self-regulation while keeping the overall system architecture relatively simple.
Data Source
AI summary
An example method includes sensing, by a sensor of a mesh node, first sensor data; receiving, at the mesh node, second sensor data from an origin node, wherein the mesh node and the origin mode are different nodes; and in response to receiving an indication that the origin node is obstructed, transmitting, by the mesh node, the second sensor data.