Acoustic positioning transmitter and receiver system and method
An acoustic model determination approach for a real-time locating system is disclosed. The system includes one or more transmitting devices and one or more mobile devices. The acoustic model may be determined by deriving an acoustic representation of sub-structures within the building, and then forming the acoustic model based on the acoustic representation and the location and orientation of the static acoustic transmitting device. In another embodiment, an acoustic signal is transmitted from a static acoustic transmitting device, with the reflected signals received by the same static acoustic transmitting device in a receiving mode. Based on these received acoustic signals, the acoustic model is formed based on the reflected signals and the location and orientation of the static acoustic transmitting device.
1. A computer-implemented method for determining an acoustic model of a building for use in an acoustic real-time locating system, the method comprising:
deriving an acoustic representation of sub-structures within the building;
determining a location and orientation of a static acoustic transmitting device, wherein the static acoustic transmitting device includes a first transducer and a second transducer, the first transducer configured to transmit a first ultrasonic signal at a first frequency, and the second transducer configured to transmit a second ultrasonic signal at a second frequency that is different from the first frequency; and
forming the acoustic model based on the acoustic representation, the location and orientation of the static acoustic transmitting device, and acoustic attenuation of the sub-structures at the first frequency and the second frequency.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the deriving the acoustic representation comprises:
receiving a computer aided design (CAD) file of the sub-structures within the building; and
deriving the acoustic representation from the CAD file.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the deriving the acoustic representation comprises:
deriving the sub-structures from the CAD file.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein the determining the location and orientation of the static acoustic transmitting device includes receiving input from a user concerning the static acoustic transmitting device.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein the determining the location and orientation of the static acoustic transmitting device further includes:
using augmented reality to identify the location of the static acoustic transmitting device relative to the sub-structures in the CAD file.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the deriving the acoustic representation comprises:
surveying the sub-structures within the building using a camera of a mobile device.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the determining the location and orientation of the static acoustic transmitting device includes identifying the static acoustic transmitting device during the surveying the sub-structures.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the determining the location and orientation of the static acoustic transmitting device further includes:
using augmented reality based on the surveying the sub-structures.
9. A computer-implemented method for determining an acoustic model of a room within a building for use in an acoustic real-time locating system, the method comprising:
transmitting an acoustic signal from a static acoustic transmitting device;
receiving, at the static acoustic transmitting device, reflected signals resulting from interactions of the acoustic signal with structures forming the room, the structures including walls, ceilings and/or floors;
receiving a location and orientation of a static acoustic transmitting device; and
forming the acoustic model based on the reflected signals and the location and orientation of the static acoustic transmitting device, wherein the forming the acoustic model further includes alias mixing the reflected signals.
10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the static acoustic transmitting device further includes a first transducer and a second transducer, the transmitting further includes transmitting the acoustic signal at a first frequency using the first transducer, the method further comprising:
transmitting a second acoustic signal at a second frequency from the static acoustic transmitting device using the second transducer.
11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , further comprising:
detecting a motion of an object within the room based on determining a Doppler shift in the acoustic signal.
12. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , further comprising:
detecting a presence of an object within the room based on an identification of a new reflector or determination of a disturbance of a signal strength of a reflected signal.
13. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the static acoustic transmitting device further includes a beacon device, the method further comprising transmitting, by the beacon device, beacon data using a wireless transmission.
14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the beacon device is a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon device or a Bluetooth beacon device.
15. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the beacon device is a Wi-Fi beacon device or a Zigbee beacon device.
16. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the beacon device is a near field communications beacon device.
17. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the beacon data is indicative of an identification of the static acoustic transmitting.
18. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the beacon data is indicative of a location of the static acoustic transmitting.
19. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the beacon data is indicative of a location of the static acoustic transmitting within a particular subject area.
20. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the beacon data includes information involving timing of transmissions of at least one of the acoustic signal or a radio frequency (RF) signal.