Position location using electronic shelf label (ESL) fingerprints

1 . A method comprising:

receiving, by a server from at least a first subset of electronic shelf label (ESL) nodes, fingerprinting measurements of positioning signals received by the ESL nodes that were transmitted by others of the ESL nodes;

receiving, from a target device by the server, signal measurements of at least the first subset of ESL nodes in a vicinity of the target device;

identifying, by the server, at least one ESL node of the ESL nodes which satisfy a criterion based on the signal measurements; and

determining, by the server, a position of the target device based on a subset of locations including the locations associated with the at least one ESL node.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising

storing, within a fingerprint database accessible by the server, the fingerprinting measurements associated with locations of the ESL nodes.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the fingerprinting measurements include first fingerprinting measurements received during a first time period and second fingerprinting measurements received during a second time period.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the signal measurements comprise first signal measurements that include received signal strength indicators (RSSIs) of the positioning signals.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising sending, by the server to a first set of the ESL nodes, a first command to transmit the positioning signals according to one or more transmission parameters, wherein the one or more transmission parameters include a transmission power, a time slot, a beam identifier (ID), and a channel.

6 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

determining, by the server, that the RSSIs of the first signal measurements fails to meet a threshold RSSI criterion; and

sending, by the server to each node in the first set, a second command to repeat transmission of the positioning signals for measurement by the other nodes of the first set.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the second command is sent only if a number of the nodes in the first set exceeds a threshold number and each node in the first set is within a threshold distance of other nodes in the first set.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying, by the server, a first node which has a known first location;

selecting, by the server from among the ESL nodes, one or more second nodes located within a threshold distance of the known first location of the first node;

sending, by the server to the first node, a first command to transmit a first set of positioning signals for measurement by each of the one or more second nodes; and

sending, by the server to each of the one or more second nodes, a second command to measure the first set of positioning signals transmitted by the first node.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the first command instructs the first node to transmit the first set of positioning signals according to a first set of transmission parameters, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the server from each of the one or more second nodes, fingerprinting measurements of the first set of positioning signals transmitted by the first node.

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

sending, by the server to a third node of ESL nodes having a known third location, a third command to transmit a second set of positioning signals according to a second set of transmission parameters such that the second set of positioning signals causes interference with the first set of positioning signals transmitted by the first node.

11 . An apparatus comprising:

a memory storing processor-readable code; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from at least a first subset of electronic shelf label (ESL) nodes, fingerprinting measurements of positioning signals received by the ESL nodes that were transmitted by others of the ESL nodes;

receiving, from a target device, signal measurements of at least the first subset of ESL nodes in a vicinity of the target device;

identifying at least one ESL node of the ESL nodes which satisfies a criterion based on the signal measurements; and

determining a position of the target device based on a subset of locations including the locations associated with the at least one ESL node.

12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:

storing, within a fingerprint database, the fingerprinting measurements associated with locations of the ESL nodes.

13 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the fingerprinting measurements include first fingerprinting measurements received during a first time period and second fingerprinting measurements received during a second time period.

14 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the signal measurements comprise first signal measurements that include received signal strength indicators (RSSIs) of the positioning signals.

15 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the operations further comprise sending, to a first set of the ESL nodes, a first command to transmit the positioning signals according to one or more transmission parameters, and wherein the one or more transmission parameters include a transmission power, a time slot, a beam identifier (ID), and a channel.

16 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining that the RSSIs of the first signal measurements fails to meet a threshold RSSI criterion; and

sending, to each node in the first set, a second command to repeat transmission of the positioning signals for measurement by the other nodes of the first set.

17 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the second command is sent only if a number of the nodes in the first set exceeds a threshold number and each node in the first set is within a threshold distance of other nodes in the first set.

18 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:

identifying a first node which has a known first location;

selecting, from among the ESL nodes, one or more second nodes located within a threshold distance of the known first location of the first node;

sending, to the first node, a first command to transmit a first set of positioning signals for measurement by each of the one or more second nodes; and

sending, to each of the one or more second nodes, a second command to measure the first set of positioning signals transmitted by the first node.

19 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the first command instructs the first node to transmit the first set of positioning signals according to a first set of transmission parameters, and wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, from each of the one or more second nodes, fingerprinting measurements of the first set of positioning signals transmitted by the first node.

20 . The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the operations further comprise:

sending, to a third node of ESL nodes having a known third location, a third command to transmit a second set of positioning signals according to a second set of transmission parameters such that the second set of positioning signals causes interference with the first set of positioning signals transmitted by the first node.

21 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from at least a first subset of electronic shelf label (ESL) nodes, fingerprinting measurements of positioning signals received by the ESL nodes that were transmitted by others of the ESL nodes;

receiving, from a target device, signal measurements of at least the first subset of ESL nodes in a vicinity of the target device;

identifying at least one ESL node of the ESL nodes which satisfy a criterion based on the signal measurements; and

determining a position of the target device based on a subset of locations including the locations associated with the at least one ESL node.

22 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21 , wherein the operations further comprise

storing, within a fingerprint database, the fingerprinting measurements associated with locations of the ESL nodes.

23 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22 , wherein the fingerprinting measurements include first fingerprinting measurements received during a first time period and second fingerprinting measurements received during a second time period.

24 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22 , wherein the signal measurements comprise first signal measurements that include received signal strength indicators (RSSIs) of the positioning signals.

25 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24 , wherein the operations further comprise sending, to a first set of the ESL nodes, a first command to transmit the positioning signals according to one or more transmission parameters, and wherein the one or more transmission parameters include a transmission power, a time slot, a beam identifier (ID), and a channel.

26 . An electronic shelf label (ESL) system comprising:

ESL nodes; and

a server comprising a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by the server from at least a first subset of ESL nodes, fingerprinting measurements of positioning signals received by the ESL nodes that were transmitted by others of the ESL nodes;

receiving, from a target device by the server, signal measurements of at least the first subset of the ESL nodes in a vicinity of the target device;

identifying, by the server, at least one ESL node of the ESL nodes which satisfy a criterion based on the signal measurements; and

determining, by the server, a position of the target device based on a subset of locations including the locations associated with the at least one ESL node.

27 . The ESL system of claim 26 , wherein the operations further comprise

storing, by the server within a fingerprint database, the fingerprinting measurements associated with locations of the ESL nodes.

28 . The ESL system of claim 27 , wherein the fingerprinting measurements include first fingerprinting measurements received during a first time period and second fingerprinting measurements received during a second time period.

29 . The ESL system of claim 27 , wherein the signal measurements comprise first signal measurements that include received signal strength indicators (RSSIs) of the positioning signals.

30 . The ESL system of claim 29 , wherein the operations further comprise sending, by the server to a first set of the ESL nodes, a first command to transmit the positioning signals according to one or more transmission parameters, and wherein the one or more transmission parameters include a transmission power, a time slot, a beam identifier (ID), and a channel.