Server-Based Mobile Device Localization Power Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing indoor navigation systems for mobile devices face challenges in achieving accurate localization within enclosed or partially enclosed urban infrastructure and buildings due to unreliable satellite signals, leading to interference and reduced accuracy.
Innovation Solution
A server-based system that adjusts the broadcast power levels of mobile devices using fingerprint data to enhance localization accuracy, where devices with high confidence levels increase their power while less accurate devices decrease theirs, managing cumulative signal interference to improve clarity and range.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If mobile devices broadcast localization data at high power levels to improve positioning accuracy and coverage, then localization range and reliability are improved, but signal interference and noise increase reducing measurement precision
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different broadcast power levels to different mobile devices based on their individual localization confidence levels. Devices with high confidence in their position estimates transmit at higher power levels to improve coverage and reliability, while devices with low confidence transmit at lower power levels to minimize interference. This localized differentiation of transmission quality resolves the contradiction by optimizing each device's contribution to the overall system performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The broadcast power levels are dynamically adjusted based on real-time localization confidence levels. As devices move through the environment and their localization accuracy changes, their transmission power levels are updated accordingly. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to maintain high reliability when devices are well-localized while reducing interference when localization is uncertain, thereby resolving the contradiction between reliability and measurement precision.
2Reliability
If all mobile devices transmit at maximum power to ensure coverage and reliability, then signal coverage and reliability are improved, but cumulative signal interference increases reducing overall system accuracy
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the transmission power parameter based on the localization confidence level of each device. Instead of using a fixed maximum power level for all devices, the transmission power is adjusted as a variable parameter that reflects the quality of each device's position estimate. This parameter change strategy allows the system to maintain adequate coverage while minimizing cumulative interference from low-confidence devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by monitoring localization confidence levels and using this information to adjust broadcast power levels. Devices with high confidence in their position estimates are permitted to transmit at higher power levels, while devices with low confidence reduce their transmission power. This feedback mechanism ensures that signal coverage is maintained from reliable sources while minimizing interference that would degrade overall localization accuracy.
3Area of stationary object
If devices with low confidence levels broadcast at high power, then coverage is improved, but noise and interference increase reducing positioning accuracy
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different transmission quality levels to different devices based on their localization confidence. Low-confidence devices transmit at reduced power levels, contributing minimally to coverage but also minimally to interference. High-confidence devices transmit at full power, providing robust coverage signals. This local quality differentiation ensures that coverage area is optimized without sacrificing positioning accuracy through noisy transmissions.
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems and methods of adjusting a radio frequency (RF) broadcast signal power level in a crowd- sourced mobile device localization system in a pedestrian area are described. The method comprises localizing a first and at least a second mobile devices to establish respective first and at least second estimated positions within the pedestrian area in accordance with fingerprint data of the pedestrian area, the first and the at least a second mobile devices broadcasting a respective localization data packet that includes the respective first and at least a second estimated positions at a first and an at least a second broadcast power levels respectively, determining a respective confidence level indicative of a degree of accuracy for the first and the at least a second estimated positions, and when the respective confidence level for at least one of the first estimated position and the at least a second estimated position is one of above and below a threshold confidence level, perform at least one of lowering and increasing at least one of the first broadcast power level and the at least a second broadcast power level.