WiFi mapping and motion detection
An apparatus includes a plurality of transceivers positioned to transmit and/or receive signals that pass through at least a portion of a structure of interest, wherein each of the transceivers receives a signal from at least one of the other transceivers, and a processor using the strength of the received signals, the locations of the transceivers, prior knowledge of building practices, and exterior characteristics of the structure to produce a map of the structure of interest and/or to detect movement of persons in the structure of interest. A method of producing a map of the structure of interest and/or detecting the movement of persons in the structure of interest is also provided.
1. An apparatus comprising:
a plurality of transceivers positioned outside of a building to transmit and receive signals that pass through at least a portion of the building, wherein each of the transceivers receives at least one of the signals that pass through at least a portion of the building from at least one of the other transceivers; and
a processor using strength of the received signals, locations of the transceivers, prior knowledge of building practices, and exterior characteristics of the building to produce a map of an interior of the building, wherein the transceivers are positioned in vertically displaced planes and the processor produces maps of the interior of the building along the planes to produce a three-dimensional map of the interior of the building.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the transceivers include steerable antennas.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the transceivers are attached at intervals along a harness.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a set of the transceivers is elevated into the vertically displaced planes.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the map comprises a signal intensity map.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the map is produced using a tomographic back projection algorithm.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a non-cooperative or cooperative transmitter located at an unknown or known location within the building, wherein the transceivers receive signals from the transmitter.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the transmitter located within the building is a router.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the map is produced using a Bayes estimation to incorporate prior knowledge of building practices and exterior characteristics of the building in combination with a tomographic reconstruction in order to improve the estimate of the map of the interior of the building.
10. A method comprising:
placing a plurality of transceivers outside of a building to transmit and receive signals that pass through at least a portion of the building wherein each of the transceivers receives at least one of the signals that pass through at least a portion of the building from at least one of the other transceivers; and
using the strength of the received signals, the locations of the transceivers, prior knowledge of building practices, and exterior characteristics of the building to produce a map of an interior of the building, wherein the transceivers are positioned in vertically displaced planes and the map is a three-dimensional map of the interior of the building.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the transceivers include steerable antennas.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the transceivers are attached at intervals along a harness.
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein a set of the transceivers is elevated into the vertically displaced planes.
14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the map comprises a signal intensity map.
15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the map is produced using a tomographic back projection algorithm.
16. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
using a non-cooperative or cooperative transmitter located at an unknown or known location within the building to transmit signals to the transceivers.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the transmitter located within the building is a router.