Sensor Beacon Broadcasts With Signal-Strength Relevance Filtering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing location and asset management systems in industrial environments face challenges such as high costs, high power consumption, and the need for dense infrastructure, especially in environments with radio frequency noise and varying levels of location specificity, and they often require remote server connectivity for functionality.
Innovation Solution
A system of beacons that broadcast messages with informational data and a range of relevance, including sensor data, allowing receiving devices to determine their relevance locally without remote server access, using a transmitter, processor, and memory, and can be associated with fixed locations, mobile assets, or other receiving devices, with features like continuous or scheduled broadcasts and multiple message sequences.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If Wi-Fi access points are densely distributed to achieve high positional accuracy, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and installation cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons as inexpensive, portable alternatives to Wi-Fi access points. These beacons can be deployed without wired infrastructure, reducing installation complexity while providing sufficient positioning accuracy for industrial applications. The beacons are low-cost devices that can be easily placed and removed without requiring electrical wiring or network cable installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the wired mechanical infrastructure of Wi-Fi access points with wireless BLE beacons. This substitution eliminates the need for physical cable connections, power drops, and wired network infrastructure, thereby reducing device complexity and installation burden while maintaining positioning functionality through wireless signal transmission and reception.
2Loss of information
If remote server connectivity is required for location determination, then information completeness is improved, but system reliability deteriorates in environments without network access
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables receiving devices to perform autonomous location determination by processing beacon signals locally without requiring remote server connectivity. The device calculates its position based on signal strength measurements from multiple beacons and uses onboard mapping data to translate coordinates into meaningful location information, making the system self-sufficient and reliable in offline environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces offline mapping data as an intermediary that bridges the gap between raw beacon coordinates and meaningful location context. This local mapping database allows the receiving device to interpret its position without needing to query remote servers, thereby maintaining information completeness while ensuring reliability in network-denied environments.
3Loss of information
If continuous beacon broadcasting is used to provide real-time location updates, then information freshness is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic beacon broadcasting instead of continuous transmission. Beacons transmit location and status information at defined intervals, which reduces energy consumption while still providing timely updates for asset tracking and environmental monitoring. This periodic action maintains information freshness sufficient for most industrial applications without the excessive power drain of continuous broadcasting.
4Measurement precision
If sensor data is continuously monitored and transmitted, then measurement precision is improved, but use of energy increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs periodic sensor data collection and transmission rather than continuous monitoring. Sensors measure environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, and gas levels at scheduled intervals, and this data is transmitted along with beacon broadcasts. This approach maintains adequate measurement precision for environmental monitoring while significantly reducing the energy consumption associated with constant sensor operation and data transmission.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables efficient, low-cost, and low-power location and asset management with varying levels of specificity, reducing infrastructure needs and eliminating reliance on remote servers, while providing real-time updates and alerts for assets and environmental conditions.
Implementation Method 1
a transmitter adapted to broadcast a message including informational data and data regarding a range of relevance
Implementation Method 2
a receiver adapted to receive a transmission
Data Source
AI summary
Beacon systems include a beacon including a transmitter, a processor, and a sensor for collecting sensor data, wherein the beacon broadcasts a beacon message comprising informational data based on a value of the sensor data and data regarding a minimum received signal strength for the relevance of the beacon message. The beacon system may include a receiving device, wherein the receiving device comprises a processor and an alarm adapted to be triggered by the beacon message, wherein the processor determines a relevance of the beacon message by comparing the minimum received signal strength for the relevance of the beacon message to an actual received signal strength of the beacon message, wherein, if the actual received signal strength is greater than or equal to the minimum received signal strength, the receiving device is within a range of relevance and the alarm is triggered.