IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
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국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
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출원번호 |
US-0965447
(2007-12-27)
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등록번호 |
US-8643545
(2014-02-04)
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발명자
/ 주소 |
- Strutt, Guenaell T.
- Deoge, Peter B.
- Goldberg, Keith J.
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출원인 / 주소 |
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대리인 / 주소 |
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인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
0 인용 특허 :
7 |
초록
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Methods and apparatus are provided for determining and representing a location or position of a node in a network. When the node receives position measurement information from a reference node, the node generates, based on the position measurement information, a position probability space (PPS) whic
Methods and apparatus are provided for determining and representing a location or position of a node in a network. When the node receives position measurement information from a reference node, the node generates, based on the position measurement information, a position probability space (PPS) which defines a space that encompasses possible positions where the node is possibly positioned in the network. The PPS includes a centroid (i.e., a set of coordinates), and a set of vectors which originate from the centroid and define the space around the centroid. The magnitude of each vector reflects the accuracy of the position in the direction of the vector.
대표청구항
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1. In a network comprising a node and at least one reference node, a method of determining an updated most likely position of the node in the network, the method comprising: identifying a first position probability space (PPS) associated with the node comprising a first centroid having a set of coor
1. In a network comprising a node and at least one reference node, a method of determining an updated most likely position of the node in the network, the method comprising: identifying a first position probability space (PPS) associated with the node comprising a first centroid having a set of coordinates and a first se of a plurality of first vectors, each originating from the first centroid and defined by a magnitude and direction, wherein the magnitude of each first vector reflects an accuracy of a position of the node in the direction of the first vector;receiving, at the node, updated position measurement information from the reference node; andmodifying, by the node and as a function of the received updated position measurement information, the first PPS to create an updated PPS (UPPS) that defines a space that encompasses positions where the node is most likely currently positioned in the network;wherein the UPPS comprises: a second centroid having a second set of coordinates; anda second set of a plurality of second vectors, each defined by a magnitude and direction, which originate from the second centroid and define the space around the second centroid, wherein the magnitude of each second vector reflects an accuracy of the current position of the node in the direction of the second vector and is determined as a function of the magnitude of a corresponding first vector and the received updated position measurement information. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first PPS is a starting position estimate comprising a starting centroid and a set of starting vectors, wherein the position measurement information defines a circle centered at the location of the reference node and has a radius equal to the distance between the node and the reference node, and wherein the step of modifying, at the node based on the received position measurement information, the first PPS comprises: (a) selecting, at the node, a first selected vector of the starting position estimate;(b) determining, at the node, whether the first selected vector intersects the circle;(c) determining, at the node when the first selected vector intersects the circle, a distance between the starting centroid of the starting position estimate and an intersection point of the currently selected vector;(d) determining, at the node, whether the distance is less than the magnitude of the first selected vector;(e) reducing the magnitude of the first selected vector, at the node when the distance is less than the magnitude of the first selected vector, to the distance between the starting centroid and the intersection point of the first selected vector; and(f) repeating steps (a) through (e) for each remaining vector of the set of starting vectors in the starting position estimate. 3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: selecting, at the node, a second vector of the remaining vectors of the set of starting vectors in the starting position estimate when the node determines that the first selected vector of the starting position estimate does not intersect the circle or when the node determines that the distance between the starting centroid of the starting position estimate and the intersection point of the first selected vector is greater than or equal to the magnitude of the first selected vector of the starting position estimate. 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving, at the node, second updated position measurement information from a second reference node; andmodifying, at the node based on the second updated position measurement information, the UPPS to create a second UPPS by reducing the magnitudes of the vectors that define the UPPS to reduce a space occupied by the second UPPS in comparison to the space occupied by the UPPS. 5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining, at the node, whether the centroid of the UPPS is substantially centered within the space that defines the UPPS; andre-centering the second centroid of the UPPS such that it is substantially centered within the UPPS. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the reference nodes comprise a first reference node having a first fixed location and a second reference node having a second fixed location, and further comprising: receiving, at the node, first position measurement information from the first reference node, where the first position measurement information is represented as a first space centered at the first fixed location and having a first radius;receiving, at the node, second position measurement information from the second reference node, where the second position measurement information is represented as a second space centered at the second fixed location and having a second radius, wherein precision of the first position measurement information differs from precision of the second position measurement information;determining, at the node, which portions of the UPPS overlap with both the first and second spaces; andmodify, at the node, the UPPS to create a second UPPS by removing portions of any vectors of the UPPS that do not overlap with both the first space and the second space such that the second UPPS is defined by the overlapping portions of the UPPS, the first space, and the second space. 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein one of the reference nodes comprises a mobile reference node having a location specified by a reference position probability space (RPPS) associated with the mobile reference node, and further comprising: receiving, at the node, the RPPS, wherein the RPPS comprises a reference centroid and a set of reference vectors associated with the mobile reference node, wherein each of the reference vectors defines a reference space, wherein each reference space comprises a reference centroid that is centered at the end of the reference vector and has a reference radius that originates from the reference centroid;determining, at the node, which portions of the UPPS overlap with each of the reference spaces of the RPPS; andmodifying, at the node, the UPPS to create a second UPPS by removing portions of any vectors of the UPPS that do not overlap with at least one of reference spaces such that the second UPPS is defined by the portions of the UPPS that overlap with each of the reference spaces of the RPPS. 8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising at least one of: storing the UPPS in a memory at the node;communicating the UPPS to an end user; anddisplaying the UPPS to the end user on a graphical user interface so that the PSS is viewable by the end user. 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the space comprises: a two-dimensional space and the first and second centroids comprise two-dimensional coordinates. 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the space comprises: a three-dimensional space and the first and second centroids comprise three-dimensional coordinates. 11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second set of vectors include at least three particular vectors that have different magnitudes and directions. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the first PPS is a previously calculated PPS stored at the node. 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the first PPS is a starting position estimate comprising a first centroid coordinate point provided by one of a global positioning system (GPS) measurement, a reference node, user input, and previously stored position information, and the first set of the plurality of vectors are set to have infinite magnitudes. 14. A node capable of determining its own updated most likely location in a network, the node comprising: a receiver configured to receive updated position measurement information from a reference node; anda processor configured to: identify a first position probability space (PPS) associated with the node comprising a first centroid having a set of coordinates and a first set of a plurality of first vectors, each originating from the first centroid and defined by a magnitude and direction, wherein the magnitude of each first vector reflects and accuracy of a position of the node in the direction of the first vector;modify, as a function of the received updated position measurement information, the first PPS to create an updated PPS (UPPS) that defines a space that encompasses positions where the node is most likely currently positioned in the network;wherein the UPPS comprises: a second centroid having a second set of coordinates; anda second set of a plurality of second vectors, each defined by a magnitude and direction, which originate from the second centroid and define the space around the second centroid, wherein the magnitude of each vector reflects an accuracy of the position of the node in the direction of the second vector and is determined as a function of the magnitude of a corresponding first vector and the received updated position measurement information. 15. The node according to claim 14, wherein the position measurement information defines a circle centered at the location of the reference node and has a radius equal to the distance between the node and the reference node, and wherein the processor is designed to determine, for each first vector, whether that first vector intersects the circle, and when the first vector intersects the circle, to reduce the magnitude of the first vector to a distance between the starting centroid and an intersection point of the first vector with the circle. 16. The node according to claim 14, wherein the receiver is designed to receive second updated position measurement information from a second reference node, and wherein the processor is designed to modify, based on the second updated position measurement information, the UPPS to create a second UPPS by reducing the magnitudes of the vectors that define the UPPS to reduce a space occupied by the second UPPS in comparison to the space occupied by the UPPS. 17. The node according to claim 14, wherein the processor is designed to re-center the centroid of the UPPS such that it is substantially centered within the UPPS. 18. The node according to claim 14, wherein the receiver is further designed to receive first position measurement information from a first reference node having a first fixed location and second position measurement information from a second reference node having a second fixed location, wherein the first position measurement information is represented as a first space centered at the first fixed location and having a first radius, and wherein the second position measurement information is represented as a second space centered at the second fixed location and having a second radius, and wherein the processor is designed to modify the UPPS to create a second UPPS by removing portions of any vectors of the UPPS that do not overlap with both the first space and the second space such that the second UPPS is defined by the overlapping portions of the UPPS, the first space, and the second space. 19. The node according to claim 14, wherein one of the reference nodes comprises a mobile reference node having a location specified by a reference position probability space (RPPS) associated with the mobile reference node, wherein the RPPS comprises a reference centroid and a set of reference vectors associated with the mobile reference node, wherein each of the reference vectors defines a reference space, wherein each reference space comprises a reference centroid that is centered at the end of the reference vector and has a reference radius that originates from the reference centroid, and wherein the receiver is further designed to receive the RPPS, and wherein the processor is further designed to modify the UPPS to create a second UPPS by removing portions of any vectors of the UPPS that do not overlap with at least one of reference spaces such that the second UPPS is defined by the portions of the UPPS that overlap with each of the reference spaces of the RPPS. 20. The node according to claim 14, further comprising at least one of: a memory designed to store the UPPS at the node;a transmitter designed to communicate the UPPS to an end user; anda graphical user interface designed to display the UPPS to the end user so that the UPSS is viewable by the end user. 21. The node according to claim 14, wherein the second set of vectors include at least three particular vectors that have different magnitudes and directions.
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