High-accuracy detection in collaborative tracking systems
View Patent ↗An electronic device for wirelessly tracking the position of a second electronic device is disclosed. The electronic device includes transceiver circuitry and processing circuitry. The transceiver circuitry includes a beacon generator to generate a beacon at a particular frequency and direction. An antenna array transmits the beacon, and receives at least one modulated reflected beacon from the second electronic device. The transceiver circuitry also includes a discriminator to discriminate between received modulated reflected beacons and received reflected interfering beacons. The processing circuitry couples to the transceiver circuitry and tracks the position of the second device based on the modulated reflected beacons.
1. A method of calibrating modulation parameters in a beacon signal transmitted by a first electronic device configured for tracking a second electronic device, the method comprising:
generating, by the first electronic device, a calibration directional beacon;
transmitting the calibration directional beacon from the first electronic device;
receiving background reflections of the calibration directional beacon;
processing the received background reflections of the calibration directional beacon to determine one or more distances of background echo sources from the first electronic device; and
causing a target device to set a modulation value based on determined locations, the modulation value set to enable the first electronic device to distinguish a modulated beacon received from the target device from background reflections of a subsequent directional beacon, the modulated beacon modulated based on the modulation value.
2. The method according to claim 1 and further comprising:
modulating the calibration directional beacon in accordance with a linear frequency modulation method.
3. The method according to claim 1 further comprising:
modulating the calibration directional beacon in accordance with a pulse modulating method.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating, by the first electronic device, the subsequent directional beacon;
transmitting the subsequent directional beacon from the first electronic device;
receiving the modulated beacon corresponding to the transmitted beacon;
processing the received modulated beacon to discriminate between the background reflections of the subsequent directional beacon and the modulated beacon.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the modulated beacon comprises a frequency offset from the subsequent directional beacon.
6. An electronic reader device for tracking an electronic target device, the electronic reader device comprising:
a beacon generator to generate a calibration directional beacon;
an antenna array to transmit the calibration directional beacon and to receive background reflections of the calibration directional beacon;
processing circuitry to process the received background reflections of the calibration directional beacon to determine one or more distances of background echo sources from the electronic reader device and to cause the electronic target device to set a modulation value based on determined locations, the modulation value set to enable the first electronic device to distinguish a modulated beacon received from the target device from background reflections of a subsequent directional beacon, the modulated beacon modulated based on the modulation value.
7. The electronic reader device of claim 6 , wherein
the beacon generator is further configured to generate the subsequent directional beacon;
the antenna array is further configured to transmit the subsequent directional beacon from the electronic reader device and receives the modulated beacon corresponding to the transmitted beacon;
the processing circuitry is further configured to process the received modulated beacon to discriminate between the background reflections of the subsequent directional beacon and the modulated beacon.
8. The electronic reader device of claim 6 , wherein the modulated beacon comprises a frequency offset from the subsequent directional beacon.
9. The electronic reader device of claim 6 , further comprising:
modulation circuitry to modulate the calibration directional beacon in accordance with a transmit linear frequency modulation method.
10. The electronic reader device of claim 6 , further comprising:
modulation circuitry to modulate the calibration directional beacon in accordance with a pulse modulating method.
11. A tracking system comprising:
a reader device comprising:
a beacon generator to generate a calibration directional beacon;
an antenna array to transmit the calibration directional beacon and to receive background reflections of the calibration directional beacon; and
processing circuitry to process the received background reflections of the calibration directional beacon to determine one or more distances of background echo sources from the first electronic device and to generate a modulation value based on determined locations; and
a target device comprising:
a transceiver circuit to receive the modulation value from the reader device, to receive a subsequent directional beacon from the reader device, to modulate the subsequent directional beacon according to the modulation value to generate a modulated beacon and to transmit the modulated beacon to the reader device.
12. The tracking system of claim 11 , wherein
the beacon generator is further configured to generate the subsequent directional beacon;
the antenna array is further configured to transmit the subsequent directional beacon from the first electronic device and receives the modulated beacon corresponding to the transmitted beacon; and
the processing circuitry is further configured to process the received modulated beacon to discriminate between the background reflections of the subsequent directional beacon and the modulated beacon.
13. The tracking system of claim 11 , wherein the modulated beacon comprises a frequency offset from the subsequent directional beacon.
14. The tracking system of claim 11 , wherein the reader device further comprises:
modulation circuitry to modulate the calibration directional beacon in accordance with a transmit linear frequency modulation method.
15. The tracking system of claim 11 , wherein the reader device further comprises:
modulation circuitry to modulate the calibration directional beacon in accordance with a pulse modulating method.