Determining a location of a transmitter device
View Patent ↗Various embodiments determine a position of a wireless device and enable the wireless device to retrieve the determined location. In one embodiment, a system comprises of at least one wireless transmitting device, a plurality of wireless receivers, and at least one server. Each of the plurality of wireless devices receive signals from the wireless transmitting device with unknown position and send time stamped information to the server. Each of the plurality of wireless device also sends unique identifying information about the wireless transmitting device. The server calculates a position of the wireless transmitting device by considering the inputs received from the plurality of wireless receivers. The wireless device obtains its position from the server. The process can be executed on demand or at regular frequent intervals.
1. A method, with a portable electronic device, for determining a position of the portable electronic device, the method comprising:
receiving, by the portable electronic device, a transmission from each wireless node in a plurality of wireless nodes, wherein each transmission comprises a pattern of one or more sound waves, and wherein the pattern has a periodicity such that the pattern repeated during a transmission period associated with the transmission;
obtaining, by the portable electronic device, timing information from a server, the timing information being associated with a transmission time associated with each of the one or more sound waves and further identifying the periodicity at which the pattern is repeated during the transmission period, and wherein the server is separate and distinct from the plurality of wireless nodes;
determining, by the portable electronic device, a distance from each wireless node in a plurality of wireless nodes based on receiving the one or more sound waves and the timing information; and
determining, by the portable electronic device, a current position based on the distance determined from each wireless node in a plurality of wireless nodes.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sound waves comprise a unique identifier of the wireless node.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the timing information identifies a timing interval at which the one or more sound waves are transmitted.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the current position is determined using trilateration.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the unique identifier of the wireless node is encoded within the one or more sound waves utilizing one of amplitude modulation or frequency modulation.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sound waves are received at a frequency inaudible to humans.
7. A non-transitory computer program product comprising computer readable program code executable by by a portable electronic device to perform a method for determining a position of the portable electronic device, the method comprising:
receiving, by the portable electronic device, a transmission from each wireless node in a plurality of wireless nodes, wherein each transmission comprises a pattern of one or more sound waves, and wherein the pattern has a periodicity such that the pattern repeated during a transmission period associated with the transmission;
obtaining, by the portable electronic device, timing information from a server, the timing information being associated with a transmission time associated with each of the one or more sound waves and further identifying the periodicity at which the pattern is repeated during the transmission period, and wherein the server is separate and distinct from the plurality of wireless nodes;
determining, by the portable electronic device, a distance from each wireless node in a plurality of wireless nodes based on receiving the one or more sound waves and the timing information; and
determining, by the portable electronic device, a current position based on the distance determined from each wireless node in a plurality of wireless nodes.
8. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the one or more sound waves comprise a unique identifier of the wireless node.
9. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the timing information identifies a timing interval at which the one or more sound waves are transmitted.
10. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the current position is determined using trilateration.
11. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the unique identifier of the wireless node is encoded within the one or more sound waves utilizing one of amplitude modulation or frequency modulation.
12. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the one or more sound waves are received at a frequency inaudible to humans.
13. A computing device for determining a position of a portable electronic device, the computing device comprising:
memory;
at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory; and
a device positioning manager communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one processor, the device positioning manager configured to perform:
receiving, by the device positioning manager, a transmission from each wireless node in a plurality of wireless nodes, wherein each transmission comprises a pattern of one or more sound waves, and wherein the pattern has a periodicity such that the pattern repeated during a transmission period associated with the transmission;
obtaining, by the device positioning manager, timing information from a server, the timing information being associated with a transmission time associated with each of the one or more sound waves and further identifying the periodicity at which the pattern is repeated during the transmission period, and wherein the server is separate and distinct from the plurality of wireless nodes;
determining, by the device positioning manager, a distance from each wireless node in a plurality of wireless nodes based on receiving the one or more sound waves and the timing information; and
determining, by the device positioning manager, a current position of the computing device based on the distance determined from each wireless node in a plurality of wireless nodes.
14. The computing device of claim 13 , wherein the one or more sound waves comprise a unique identifier of the wireless node.
15. The computing device of claim 13 , wherein the timing information identifies a timing interval at which the one or more sound waves are transmitted.
16. The computing device of claim 13 , wherein the current position is determined using trilateration.
17. The computing device of claim 13 , wherein the unique identifier of the wireless node is encoded within the one or more sound waves utilizing one of amplitude modulation or frequency modulation.