A positioning system has an initiator device configured for emitting a high-speed wireless signal, at least one reference device configured for receiving the high-speed wireless signal and emitting a low-speed wireless signal after receiving the high-speed wireless signal, at least one target device each having one or more components for receiving the low-speed wireless signals, and at least one engine configured for determining the position of each of the at-least-one target device by calculating the distance between the target device and each of the at-least-one reference device based on at least the times-of-arrival of the low-speed wireless signals, each time-of-arrival being the time that the corresponding low-speed wireless signal being received by the target device, and determining the position of the target device based on the calculated distances.

A method to identify a problematic 2D position of a mobile device can include: determining a reported 2D position of the mobile device; determining a piece of information about the mobile device; and comparing the reported 2D position and the piece of information about the mobile device. Upon determining that the reported 2D position and the piece of information about the mobile device are consistent with each other, the reported 2D position of the mobile device is used as an estimate of the actual 2D position of the mobile device, or upon determining that the reported 2D position and the piece of information about the mobile device are not consistent with each other, the reported 2D position is determined to be problematic, and the reported 2D position of the mobile device is removed from a list of reported 2D positions of the mobile device.

A method and system for combining data obtained by sensors, having particular application in the field of navigation systems, are disclosed. The techniques provide significant improvement over state-of-the-art Markovian methods that use statistical noise filters such as Kalman filters to filter data by comparing instantaneous data with the corresponding instantaneous estimates from a model. In contrast, the techniques disclosed herein use multiple time periods of various lengths to process multiple sensor data streams, in order to combine sensor measurements with motion models at a given time epoch with greater confidence and accuracy than is possible with traditional “single epoch” methods. The techniques provide particular benefit when the first and/or second sensors are low-cost sensors (for example as seen in smart phones) which are typically of low quality and have large inherent biases.

Disclosed are techniques for navigating a mobile machine, such as an autonomous robot, in an environment that includes objects that may block, reflect, or distort satellite signals to be used for positioning. Satellite data may be captured from one or more satellites. An image may be captured using an imaging device that is at least partially oriented toward the one or more satellites. A set of sky scores may be calculated for a set of ground positions surrounding the mobile machine based on the satellite data and the image. Each of the set of sky scores may be indicative of an accuracy of a satellite-based position at one of the set of ground positions. The mobile machine's navigation may be modified using the set of sky scores.

Various embodiments disclose an electronic device including a camera, at least one mmWave antenna module, and at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: acquire image information of a surrounding environment via the camera; acquire signal information resulting from a signal emitted from the at least one mmWave antenna module by the surrounding environment; and track a position of the user, based on at least one of the image information acquired via the camera and the signal information acquired via the at least one mmWave antenna module. Various other embodiments derived from the specification are possible.

A method and system for using GPS signals and a magnetic field to track an underground magnetic field source. A tracker having an antenna for detecting the magnetic field and a GPS receiver is coupled to a processor. The magnetic field is used by the antenna to direct the tracker to a field null point. Once multiple measurements of the field are taken, the changes in signal strength as the absolute position of the tracker is changed, are used to determine whether the closest field null point is in front of or behind the underground beacon. The position and depth of the beacon can then be estimated.

A method, including recognizing an indicia pattern on an asset utilizing a mobile device based augmented reality vision system, prompting one of acceptance and disapproval of the indicia pattern on the asset, detecting a wireless signal from a wireless tracking device if the asset indicia pattern is accepted, pairing the asset and the wireless tracking device and prompting one of confirmation and refusal of the pairing.

A method for geolocating a terminal of a wireless communication system. The terminal includes a positioning device for obtaining a precise geographical position of the terminal. An access network of the communication system estimates an approximate geographical position of the terminal. In order to limit the size of the messages exchanged between the terminal and the access network, only a truncated part of the information about the precise geographical position of the terminal is transmitted by the terminal to the access network. The access network determines the precise geographical position of the terminal by combining the truncated information received from the terminal with the approximate geographical position estimated by the access network.

A method and system for combining data obtained by sensors, having particular application in the field of navigation systems, are disclosed. The techniques provide significant improvement over state-of-the-art Markovian methods that use statistical noise filters such as Kalman filters to filter data by comparing instantaneous data with the corresponding instantaneous estimates from a model. In contrast, the techniques disclosed herein use multiple time periods of various lengths to process multiple sensor data streams, in order to combine sensor measurements with motion models at a given time epoch with greater confidence and accuracy than is possible with traditional “single epoch” methods. The techniques provide particular benefit when the first and/or second sensors are low-cost sensors (for example as seen in smart phones) which are typically of low quality and have large inherent biases.

A method for geolocating a terminal of a wireless communication system. The terminal includes a positioning device for obtaining a precise geographical position of the terminal. An access network of the communication system estimates an approximate geographical position of the terminal. In order to limit the size of the messages exchanged between the terminal and the access network, only a truncated part of the information about the precise geographical position of the terminal is transmitted by the terminal to the access network. The access network determines the precise geographical position of the terminal by combining the truncated information received from the terminal with the approximate geographical position estimated by the access network.