Apparatus and method for tracking movement of electronic device

1. A positioning system comprising at least four electronic devices to locate a position of at least one of the at least three electronic devices, each of the at least four electronics devices comprising:

a sensor configured to track a movement of an electronic device including the sensor;

communication circuitry configured to communicate with other electronic devices;

a memory; and

at least one processor operatively connected with the sensor, the communication circuitry, and the memory,

wherein one of the at least four electronic devices is set to a master electronic device,

wherein a processor of the master electronic device is configured to:

request remaining electronic devices other than the master electronic device to track movements;

receive movement information of the remaining electronic devices;

generate a resulting movement message based on the movement information received from the remaining electronic devices and a movement of the master electronic device;

transmit the resulting movement message to the remaining electronic devices; and

set an electronic device with a least amount of movement to a first reference device, an electronic device with a second least amount of movement to a second reference device, and one of the at least one remaining electronic devices to a normal electronic device, respectively, based on the movement information,

wherein a processor of the first reference device is configured to:

calculate, based on the resulting movement message, a first distance between the first reference device and the second reference device and a second distance between the first reference device and the normal electronic device;

receive, from the second reference device, distance information including a third distance between the second reference device and the normal electronic device; and

calculate a position of the normal electronic device by a triangulation method, based on the first distance, the second distance, and the third distance, and

wherein a processor of the second reference device is configured to:

calculate the third distance between the second reference device and the normal electronic device, and

transmit, to the first reference device, the distance information including the third distance.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor of the first reference device is further configured to transmit the calculated position information of the normal electronic devices to a server.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processors of each of the remaining electronic devices are further configured to track movement of each of the remaining electronic devices detected via the sensor when the master electronic device requests tracking of movements, and to transmit the movement information to the master electronic device.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the sensor is an acceleration sensor.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the processor of the first reference device is further configured to: measure the first distance between the first reference device and the second reference device and the second distance between the first reference device and the normal electronic device through an RF positioning module, receive the third distance between the second reference device and the normal electronic device from the second reference device, and calculate the position of the normal electronic device by the triangulation method, based on the first distance, the second distance, and the third distance.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the RF positioning module is an ultra wide band (UWB) communication module, and

wherein the processor of the first reference device is further configured to calculate the first distance and the second distance, based on an RF arrival time of the UWB communication module.

7. A method for locating positions of electronic devices, the method comprising:

by a master electronic device of the electronic devices:

transmitting a message requesting for tracking movements to remaining electronic devices other than the master electronic device;

receiving movement information of the remaining electronic devices;

generating a resulting movement message based on the received movement information and a movement of the master electronic device;

transmitting the resulting movement message to the remaining electronic devices; and

setting an electronic device with a least amount of movement to a first reference device, an electronic device with a second least amount of movement to a second reference device, and one of at least one of the remaining electronic devices to a normal electronic device, respectively, based on the movement information, by the first reference device:

calculating, based on the resulting movement messages, a first distance between the first reference device and the second reference device and a second distance between the first reference device and the normal electronic device;

receiving, from the second reference device, distance information including a third distance between the second reference device and the normal electronic device; and

calculating a position of the normal electronic device by a triangulation method, based on the first distance, the second distance, and the third distance, and

by the second reference device:

calculating the third distance between the second reference device and the normal electronic device; and

transmitting, to the first reference device, the distance information including the third distance.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising transmitting, by the first reference device, the calculated position information of the normal electronic device to a server.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising generating a movement tracking message of the normal electronic device,

wherein generating the movement tracking message comprises:

when the tracking of the movement is requested, measuring a movement distance between a current position and a previous position; and

generating movement information according to the measured movement distance, and the identification information of the normal electronic device, and transmitting the movement tracking message to the master electronic device.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein calculating, by the first reference device, the first distance and the second distance comprises:

measuring the first distance between the first reference device and the second reference device by ultra wide band (UWB) positioning; and

measuring the second distance between the first reference device and the normal electronic device by the UWB positioning.

11. A positioning system of electronic devices, the positioning system comprising:

a master electronic device configured to receive movement information of the electronic devices, and to set an electronic device with a least amount of movement to a first reference device, an electronic device with a second least amount of movement to a second reference device, and at least one remaining electronic device to at least one normal electronic device, respectively, based on the movement information;

the first reference device configured to calculate a first distance between the first reference device and the second reference device and a second distance between the first reference device and the normal electronic device, to receive, from the second reference device, distance information including a third distance between the second reference device and the normal electronic device, and to calculate a position of the normal electronic device by a triangulation method, based on the first distance, the second distance, and the third distance;

the second reference device configured to calculate the third distance between the second reference device and the normal electronic device, and to transmit, to the first reference device, the distance information including the third distance; and

the at least one normal electronic device configured to transmit a message for calculating distances to the reference devices to the first reference device and the second reference device.

12. The positioning system of claim 11 , further comprising a server,

wherein the first reference device is configured to transmit refined position information of the electronic devices to the server.

13. The positioning system of claim 11 , wherein the master electronic device is further configured to transmit a message for requesting tracking of a movement to the electronic devices, to receive a movement tracking message comprising identification information of the electronic devices and the measured movement information, to generate a resulting movement tracking message based on the movement tracking message and to transmit the resulting movement tracking message to the electronic devices.

14. The positioning system of claim 12 , wherein the first reference device is further configured to: measure the first distance between the first reference device and the second reference device and the second distance between the first reference device and the normal electronic device through an RF positioning module, receive the third distance between the second reference device and the normal electronic device from the second reference device, and calculate the position of the normal electronic device by the triangulation method, based on the first distance, the second distance, and the third distance.

15. The positioning system of claim 14 , wherein the RF positioning module is an ultra wide band (UWB) communication module, and

wherein the first reference device is further configured to calculate the first distance and the second distance, based on an RF arrival time of the UWB communication module.

16. A method for locating a position in a positioning system, the method comprising:

receiving, by a master electronic device, movement information of a plurality of electronic devices;

setting, by the master electronic device, an electronic device with a least amount of movement to a first reference device, an electronic device with a second least amount of movement to a second reference device, and one of at least one remaining electronic device to a normal electronic device, respectively, based on the movement information of the plurality of electronic devices;

calculating, by the first reference device, a first distance between the first reference device and the second reference device and a second distance between the first reference device and the normal electronic device;

calculating, by the second reference device, a third distance between the second reference device and the normal electronic device;

transmitting, by the second reference device, the distance information including the third distance to the first reference device; and

calculating, by the first reference device, positions of the plurality of electronic devices by a triangulation method, based on the first distance, the second distance, and the third distance.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

transmitting refined position information of the electronic device to a server; and

transmitting, by the server, the refined position information to the plurality of electronic devices.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein calculating the first distance and second distance comprises: calculating the first distance between the first reference device and the second reference device and the second distance between the first reference device and the normal electronic device, through an ultra wide band (UWB) positioning module.