LOCATING AND TRACKING SYSTEM

摘要

A locating and tracking system includes: at least one monitoring device; and a plurality of Bluetooth low energy (BLE) devices acting as either backbone nodes or tracking nodes. The backbone nodes are connected with each other and form a mesh network to relay information to the monitoring device in mesh mode so that the monitoring device knows all the backbone nodes' presence and locations. Each backbone node is further connected with a plurality of tracking nodes to form a sub-network. Within the sub-network, the backbone node is configured to operate in beacon mode to periodically check presence of all the tracking nodes and other compatible BLE devices within its coverage.

主权项

1. A locating and tracking system comprising:
at least one monitoring device; and a plurality of Bluetooth low energy (BLE) devices acting as either backbone nodes or tracking nodes; wherein: the backbone nodes are connected with each other and form a mesh network to relay information to the monitoring device in mesh mode so that the monitoring device knows all the backbone nodes' presence and locations; each backbone node is further connected with a plurality of tracking nodes to form a sub-network; within the sub-network, the backbone node is configured to operate in beacon mode to periodically check presence of all the tracking nodes and other compatible BLE devices within its coverage; when being in mesh mode, the backbone nodes are configured to relay information to other backbone nodes until the information reaches the monitoring device; when being in beacon mode, the backbone nodes are configured to actively broadcast their own universal unique identifiers (UUIDs) and seek to establish connections with all BLE devices within its range; the backbone nodes are configured to store the UUIDs of all devices detected in their memories; and the tracking nodes are configured to operate in a sleep mesh mode and sleep except replying to the backbone nodes' queries and requests by comparing UUID received and stored in memories of the tracking nodes.