ULTRASOUND-BASED LOCALIZATION OF CLIENT DEVICES WITH INERTIAL NAVIGATION SUPPLEMENT IN DISTRIBUTED COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS AND RELATED DEVICES AND METHODS

摘要

Spatially located ultrasound beacons are provided in known locations within a distributed communication system. The ultrasound beacons are configured to emit ultrasound pulses that can be received by client devices in ultrasound communication range of the beacons. The client devices are configured to analyze the received ultrasound pulses from the beacons to determine their time-difference of arrival and as a result, their location(s) within the distributed communication system. The client devices comprise inertial navigation systems (INS) that calculate client device location as the client device moves, and when received ultrasound signals are below a predefined threshold.

主权项

1. A client device configured to communicate in a distributed communication system, comprising:
a controller; an ultrasound receiver coupled to the controller, the ultrasound receiver configured to receive ultrasound pulses over at least one microphone; and a radio-frequency (RF) transceiver coupled to the controller, the RF transceiver configured to wirelessly receive and transmit RF communication signals over at least one antenna; an inertial navigation system (INS) operatively coupled to the controller; the controller configured to:
calculate a position using received ultrasound signals; anduse the INS to calculate a second position from the first position when the received ultrasound signals are below a predefined threshold.