IP Library Granted Patent US 10,620,290
Granted Patent B1
US 10,620,290 · App. 16/279,471 · Granted Apr 14, 2020

Indoor positioning system

Inventor: Ronald W. Bessems (Santa Barbara, CA)
Assignee: IDEAL Industries Lighting LLC
G01S1/024F21V23/00G01S11/06G06N3/08H04B17/11H04B17/318H04W4/029H04W4/33H04W4/80
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,620,290
App. No.
16/279,471
Granted
Apr 14, 2020
Kind
B1
Abstract

A method of operating an indoor location services system includes providing a calibration beacon signal from a calibration device at a number of calibration locations, measuring a received signal strength of the calibration beacon signal at each one of a number of receivers for each one of the number of calibration locations, measuring a received signal strength of a beacon signal provided by a locatable device at each one of the receivers, and estimating a location of the locatable device based on the received signal strength of the beacon signal at each one of the receivers, the received signal strength of the calibration beacon signal at each one of the receivers for each one of the calibration locations, and a location of each one of the receivers.

Claims (37)

1. A method comprising:

providing a calibration beacon signal from a calibration device at a plurality of calibration locations;

measuring a received signal strength of the calibration beacon signal at each one of a plurality of receivers for each one of the plurality of calibration locations;

measuring a received signal strength of a beacon signal provided by a locatable device at each one of the plurality of receivers; and

estimating a location of the locatable device based on the received signal strength of the beacon signal at each one of the plurality of receivers, the received signal strength of the calibration beacon signal at each one of the plurality of receivers for each one of the plurality of calibration locations, and a location of each one of the plurality of receivers, wherein each one of the plurality of receivers is integrated in a different one of a plurality of lighting fixtures.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising estimating the location of each one of the plurality of receivers based on the received signal strength of the calibration beacon signal at each one of the plurality of receivers for each one of the calibration locations.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising refining the estimated location of each one of the plurality of receivers based on a set of known receiver locations.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising refining the estimated location of each one of the plurality of receivers based on user input.

5. The method of claim 2 further comprising refining the estimated location of each one of the plurality of receivers based on user input.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the calibration beacon signal and the beacon signal are Bluetooth low energy (BLE) signals.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein estimating the location of the locatable device comprises:

training a neural network using the received signal strength of the calibration beacon signal at each one of the plurality of receivers for each one of the calibration locations and the location of each one of the plurality of receivers; and

providing the received signal strength of the beacon signal at each one of the plurality of receivers to the neural network to obtain an estimated location of the locatable device.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising estimating the location of each one of the plurality of receivers based on the received signal strength of the calibration beacon signal at each one of the plurality of receivers for each one of the calibration locations.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising obtaining the plurality of calibration locations at the calibration device.

10. An indoor location services system comprising:

an indoor location services module;

a plurality of lighting fixtures each comprising a receiver, the receiver configured to:

measure a received signal strength of a calibration beacon signal and provide received signal strength measurements of the calibration beacon signal to the indoor location services module; and

measure a received signal strength of a beacon signal provided from a locatable device and provide received signal strength measurements of the beacon signal to the indoor location services module; and

a calibration device configured to provide the calibration beacon signal at a plurality of calibration locations and provide the plurality of calibration locations to the indoor location services module, wherein the indoor location services module is configured to estimate a location of the locatable device based on the received signal strength measurements of the beacon signal at each receiver, the received signal strength measurements of the calibration beacon signal at each receiver for each one of the plurality of calibration locations, and a location of each one of the receivers.

11. The indoor location services system of claim 10 wherein the indoor location services module is further configured to estimate a location of each receiver based on the received signal strength measurements of the calibration beacon signal at each receiver for each one of the calibration beacon signals.

12. The indoor location services system of claim 11 wherein the indoor location services module is further configured to refine the estimated location of each receiver based on a set of known receiver locations.

13. The indoor location services system of claim 12 wherein the indoor location services module is further configured to refine the estimated location of each receiver based on user input.

14. The indoor location services system of claim 11 wherein the indoor location services module is further configured to refine the estimated location of each receiver based on user input.

15. The indoor location services system of claim 10 wherein the calibration beacon signal and the beacon signal are Bluetooth low energy (BLE) signals.

16. The indoor location services system of claim 10 wherein the indoor location services module is a distributed system in each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures.

17. The indoor location services system of claim 10 wherein estimating the location of the locatable device comprises:

training a neural network using the received signal strength measurements of the calibration beacon signal at each receiver for each one of the calibration locations and the location of each receiver; and

providing the received signal strength measurements of the beacon signal at each receiver to the neural network to obtain an estimated location of the locatable device.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising estimating the location of each receiver based on the received signal strength measurements of the calibration beacon signal at each receiver for each one of the calibration locations.

19. The method of claim 10 wherein the calibration device is further configured to obtain the plurality of calibration locations.

20. A non-transient computer readable medium containing instructions, which, when executed by a computer cause the computer to:

instruct a calibration device to provide a calibration signal at a plurality of calibration locations;

instruct a plurality of receivers to measure a received signal strength of the calibration beacon signal for each one of the plurality of calibration locations;

instruct the plurality of receivers to measure a received signal strength of a beacon signal provided by a locatable device; and

estimate a location of the locatable device based on the received signal strength of the beacon signal at each one of the plurality of receivers, the received signal strength of the calibration beacon signal at each one of the plurality of receivers for each one of the plurality of calibration locations, and a location of each one of the plurality of receivers, wherein each one of the plurality of receivers is integrated in a different one of a plurality of lighting fixtures.

Assignments (4)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 22, 2026
From: LUMEN ACQUISITION HOLDINGS, LLC
To: LED-IP MANAGEMENT, LLC
Reel/Frame 075624/0358 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 13, 2023
From: IDEAL INDUSTRIES LIGHTING LLC
To: FGI WORLDWIDE LLC
Reel/Frame 064897/0413 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 21, 2019
From: CREE, INC.
To: IDEAL INDUSTRIES LIGHTING LLC
Reel/Frame 049595/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 12, 2019
From: BESSEMS, RONALD W.
To: CREE, INC.
Reel/Frame 048574/0471 →