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 (42(1), 42(2)... ) are provided in known locations within a distributed communication system (40). The ultrasound beacons are configured to emit ultrasound pulses (46) that can be received by client devices (48) 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.