Granted Patent E1

US 50,894 · App. 17/967,938 · Granted May 19, 2026

Inventor: Moti Gabay (Kfar Saba, IL)

Assignee: RENESAS SEMICONDUCTOR DESIGN ISRAEL LTD.

G01S13/003G01S5/14G01S13/876H04W64/00H04W64/003H04W84/12

Abstract

Claims (62)

1 . A method for estimating a location of a target Wireless Local-Area Network (WLAN) device, the method comprising:

obtaining relative distances among three or more WLAN devices, and obtaining relative locations of the three or more WLAN devices based on the relative distances;

measuring respective distances between each of the WLAN devices and the target WLAN device; and

estimating the location of the target WLAN device based on the locations of the WLAN devices and on the distances between the WLAN devices and the target WLAN device,

wherein measuring a distance between a WLAN device and the target WLAN device comprises:

sending a first WLAN signal by a transmitter of the WLAN device and detecting a first leakage signal by a receiver of the WLAN device;

detecting the first WLAN signal by a receiver of the target WLAN device and responsively sending a second WLAN signal by a transmitter of the target WLAN device, and detecting a second leakage signal by the receiver of the target WLAN device;

detecting the second sent WLAN signal by the receiver of the WLAN device;

calculating a first time difference between a time the second WLAN signal was sent or detected and a time the first leakage signal was detected;

calculating a second time difference between a time the first WLAN signal was sent or detected and a time the second leakage signal was detected; and

subtracting the second time difference from the first time difference to obtain a time-of-flight that corresponds to the distance between the WLAN device and the target WLAN device,

and wherein obtaining the distances among the three or more WLAN devices comprises calculating each distance, between a first WLAN device and a second WLAN device, by:

sending a first third WLAN signal by a transmitter of the first WLAN device and detecting a first third leakage signal by a receiver of the first WLAN device;

detecting the first third WLAN signal by a receiver of the second WLAN device and responsively sending a second fourth WLAN signal by a transmitter of the second WLAN device, and detecting a second fourth leakage signal by the receiver of the second WLAN device;

detecting the second fourth sent WLAN signal by the receiver of the first WLAN device;

calculating a first third time difference between a time the second fourth WLAN signal was sent or detected and a time the first third leakage signal was detected;

calculating a second fourth time difference between a time the first third WLAN signal was sent or detected and a time the second fourth leakage signal was detected; and

subtracting the second fourth time difference from the first third time difference to obtain a time-of-flight that corresponds to the distance between the first WLAN device and the second WLAN device.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein estimating the location of the target WLAN device further comprises:

detecting, by at least one of the three or more WLAN devices that is further configured as a Wi-Fi radar, a radar-derived location of a user of the target WLAN device; and

corroborating the radar-derived location of the user with the location measured using the three or more WLAN devices.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the three or more WLAN devices are an access point and two repeaters, or three repeaters.

4 . An apparatus for estimating a location of a target Wireless Local-Area Network (WLAN) device, the apparatus comprising:

three or more WLAN devices which are configured to obtain relative locations between one another by (a) obtaining distances among the three or more WLAN devices (b) calculating the relative locations based on the relative distances among the three or more WLAN devices, wherein each of the WLAN devices is further configured to measure a respective distance between the WLAN device and the target WLAN device, so as to estimate the location of the target WLAN device based on the locations of the WLAN devices and on the distances between the WLAN devices and the target WLAN device,

wherein each of the WLAN devices is configured to measure a distance between the WLAN device and the target WLAN device by:

sending a first WLAN signal by a transmitter of the WLAN device and detecting a first leakage signal by a receiver of the WLAN device;

detecting the first WLAN signal by a receiver of the target WLAN device and responsively sending a second WLAN signal by a transmitter of the target WLAN device, and detecting a second leakage signal by the receiver of the target WLAN device;

detecting the second sent WLAN signal by the receiver of the WLAN device;

calculating in a processor a first time difference between a time the second WLAN signal was sent or detected and a time the first leakage signal was detected;

calculating a second time difference between a time the first WLAN signal was sent or detected and a time the second leakage signal was detected; and

subtracting the second time difference from the first time difference to obtain a time-of-flight that corresponds to the distance between the WLAN device and the target WLAN device,

and wherein the three or more WLAN devices are configured to calculate each distance, between a first WLAN device and a second WLAN device, by:

sending a first third WLAN signal by a transmitter of the first WLAN device and detecting a first third leakage signal by a receiver of the first WLAN device;

detecting the first third WLAN signal by a receiver of the second WLAN device and responsively sending a second fourth WLAN signal by a transmitter of the second WLAN device, and detecting a second fourth leakage signal by the receiver of the second WLAN device;

detecting the second fourth sent WLAN signal by the receiver of the first WLAN device;

calculating in a processor a first third time difference between a time the second fourth WLAN signal was sent or detected and a time the first third leakage signal was detected;

calculating a second fourth time difference between a time the first third WLAN signal was sent or detected and a time the second fourth leakage signal was detected; and

subtracting the second fourth time difference from the first third time difference to obtain a time-of-flight that corresponds to the distance between the first WLAN device and the second WLAN device.

5 . The apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the three or more WLAN devices are further configured to estimate the location of the target WLAN device by:

detecting, by at least one of the three or more WLAN devices that is further configured as a Wi-Fi radar, a radar-derived location of a user of the target WLAN device; and

corroborating the radar-derived location of the user with the location measured using the three or more WLAN devices.

6 . The apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the three or more WLAN devices are an access point and two repeaters, or three repeaters.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein:

the first time difference is between the time the second WLAN signal was sent and the time the first leakage signal was detected;

the second time difference is between the time the first WLAN signal was sent and the time the second leakage signal was detected;

the third time difference is between the time the fourth WLAN signal was sent and the time the third leakage signal was detected; and

the fourth time difference is between the time the third WLAN signal was sent and the time the fourth leakage signal was detected.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein:

the first time difference is between the time the second WLAN signal was detected and the time the first leakage signal was detected;

the second time difference is between the time the first WLAN signal was detected and the time the second leakage signal was detected;

the third time difference is between the time the fourth WLAN signal was detected and the time the third leakage signal was detected; and

the fourth time difference is between the time the third WLAN signal was detected and the time the fourth leakage signal was detected.

9. The apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein:

the first time difference is between the time the second WLAN signal was sent and the time the first leakage signal was detected;

the second time difference is between the time the first WLAN signal was sent and the time the second leakage signal was detected;

the third time difference is between the time the fourth WLAN signal was sent and the time the third leakage signal was detected; and

the fourth time difference is between the time the third WLAN signal was sent and the time the fourth leakage signal was detected.

10. The apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein:

the first time difference is between the time the second WLAN signal was detected and the time the first leakage signal was detected;

the second time difference is between the time the first WLAN signal was detected and the time the second leakage signal was detected;

the third time difference is between the time the fourth WLAN signal was detected and the time the third leakage signal was detected; and

the fourth time difference is between the time the third WLAN signal was detected and the time the fourth leakage signal was detected.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (68)