초록 ▼

A location tracking apparatus and method are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises receiving information from each repeater indicating which packets wirelessly transmitted by a mobile station were received by each repeater including received signal strength of each of those packets, and

A location tracking apparatus and method are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises receiving information from each repeater indicating which packets wirelessly transmitted by a mobile station were received by each repeater including received signal strength of each of those packets, and determining location of the mobile station with respect to the repeaters based on power levels of individual wirelessly transmitted packets received at the repeaters.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A method to determine a location of a mobile station within a network, comprising: (A) determining a first received signal strength indicator (RSSI) to indicate a first received signal strength associated with a first data packet received at a first repeater from among a plurality of repeaters;(B

1. A method to determine a location of a mobile station within a network, comprising: (A) determining a first received signal strength indicator (RSSI) to indicate a first received signal strength associated with a first data packet received at a first repeater from among a plurality of repeaters;(B) receiving, by the first repeater, a second RSSI, the second RSSI indicating a second received signal strength associated with a second data packet received at a second repeater from among the plurality of repeaters, the second data packet being a duplicate of the first data packet;(C) comparing, by the first repeater, the first RSSI and the second RSSI; and(D) sending, by the first repeater, an acknowledgement message to the mobile station when the first RSSI is greater than the second RSSI. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: (E) receiving the first data packet from the mobile station at the first repeater; and(F) receiving the second data packet from the mobile station at the second repeater. 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: (E) monitoring, by a network switch, the first RSSI and the second RSSI. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein step (E) comprises: (E)(i) continuously monitoring the first RSSI and the second RSSI. 5. The method of claim 3, further comprising: (F) determining, by the network switch, whether a repeater corresponding to a greater one of the first RSSI or the second RSSI is listed as closest to the mobile station in a location tracking table; and(G) updating the location tracking table if the repeater corresponding to a greater one of the first RSSI or the second RSSI is not listed as the closest to the mobile station. 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: (E) receiving, by the second repeater, the first RSSI;(F) comparing, by the second repeater, the first RSSI and the second RSSI; and(G) sending, by the second repeater, the acknowledgement message to the mobile station when the second RSSI is greater than the first RSSI. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first repeater is communicatively coupled to a first port of a network switch and the second repeater is communicatively coupled to a second port of the network switch, the first port being characterized by a lower port number than the second port, the method further comprising: (E) sending, by the first repeater, the acknowledgement message to the mobile station when the first RSSI is substantially equal to the second RSSI. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein step (B) comprises: (B)(i) receiving, by the first repeater, the second RSSI as part of a broadcast packet from a network switch. 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: (E) determining, by the second repeater, the second RSSI to indicate the second received signal strength associated with the second data packet;(F) encapsulating, by the second repeater, the second RSSI into a header of a packet; and(G) forwarding the packet to a network switch. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein step (G) comprises: (G)(i) forwarding the packet as a broadcast packet to the network switch. 11. The method of claim 1, wherein step (A) comprises: (A)(i) assigning the first received signal strength associated with the first data packet to a corresponding one of a plurality of discrete received signal strength indicator values to determine the first RSSI. 12. A network configured to determine a location of a mobile station within the network, comprising: a first repeater configured to: (i) determine a first received signal strength indicator (RSSI) to indicate a first received signal strength associated with a first data packet received from the mobile station,(ii) receive a second RSSI to indicate a second received signal strength associated with a second data packet received from the mobile station, the second data packet being a duplicate of the first data packet,(iii) compare the first RSSI and the second RSSI, and(iv) send an acknowledgement message to the mobile station when the first RSSI is greater than the second RSSI. 13. The network of claim 12, further comprising: a second repeater configured to receive the second data packet from the mobile station,wherein the first repeater is configured to receive the first data packet from the mobile station. 14. The network of claim 12, further comprising: a network switch configured to monitor the first RSSI and the second RSSI. 15. The network of claim 14, wherein the network switch is configured to continuously monitor the first RSSI and the second RSSI. 16. The network of claim 14, wherein the network switch is configured to determine whether a repeater corresponding to greater one of the first RSSI or the second RSSI is listed as closest to the mobile station in a location tracking table and to update the location tracking table if the repeater corresponding to greater one of the first RSSI or the second RSSI is not listed as the closest to the mobile station. 17. The network of claim 12, further comprising: a second repeater configured to: (i) determine the second RSSI to indicate the second received signal strength associated with the second data packet,(ii) receive the first RSSI to indicate the first received signal strength associated with the first data packet,(iii) compare the first RSSI and the second RSSI, and(iv) send the acknowledgement message to the mobile station when the second RSSI is greater than the first RSSI. 18. The network of claim 12, further comprising: a network switch communicatively coupled to the first repeater via a first port; anda second repeater communicatively coupled to the network switch via a second port of the network switch, the first port being characterized by a lower port number than the second port,wherein the first repeater is configured to send the acknowledgement message to the mobile station when the first RSSI is substantially equal to the second RSSI. 19. The network of claim 12, wherein the first repeater is further configured to receive the second RSSI as part of a broadcast packet from a network switch. 20. The network of claim 12, further comprising: a second repeater configured to: (i) determine the second RSSI to indicate the second received signal strength associated with the second data packet,(ii) encapsulate the second RSSI into a header of a packet, and(iii) forward the packet to a network switch. 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the second repeater is further configured to forward the packet as a broadcast packet to the network switch. 22. The method of claim 12, wherein the first repeater is configured to assign the first received signal strength associated with the first data packet to a corresponding one of a plurality of discrete received signal strength indicator values to determine the first RSSI.