Some embodiments provide RFID tag reading systems comprising: multiple sets of RFID readers at a retail shopping facility; a tag evaluation control circuit communicatively coupled with the multiple sets of RFID readers and at least one memory, and configured to: receive RFID tag information from the RFID readers; obtain and apply a first set of rules and identify a transition area within the retail shopping facility based on the received RFID tag information; identify a first set of RFID readers configured to read RFID tags as they move through the identified transition area; obtain and apply a second set of rules and establish a first null area adjacent the transition area configured to enable RFID tags crossing through the first null area and prior to entering the transition area to be in a predefined state when entering the transition area.

Embodiments of the present inventive concept leverage RSS patterns, accelerometer patterns, hygiene event information, and hub locations to increase accuracy of room-level positioning of objects and people, and to ensure a high accuracy detection of zone entry and/or exit times in an indoor environment, all of which facilitate an accurate hand hygiene compliance monitoring system in hospitals and other medical facilities, as well as a variety of other applications.

A method includes obtaining piece(s) of calendar information indicative of at least one appointment taking place in a space and extracting a set of space identifiers representing space(s) of the venue. The space identifier(s) for one or more spaces are extracted based on an indoor map of the venue. The method also includes determining or triggering determining whether at least a part of the set of space identifiers or one or more spaces of the set of space identifiers match(es) the at least one space as represented by the piece(s) of calendar information; and if a match is found: determining one or more reference location estimates. A respective reference location estimate is indicative of a location of the space that was determined to be a match. A corresponding apparatus, computer program product and system are also provided.

The disclosure relates to an electronic device, which is secured at a designated location, for determining a location area or a location area change of a movable external electronic device or, and an operating method thereof. An operating method of an electronic device including at least one antenna according to various embodiments of the disclosure may include: detecting that a state of a structure is changed from an open state to a close state, counting a sequence number from a first timing at which the state of the structure is changed to the close state to a second timing after a designated time based on information received from an external device via the at least one antenna using a designated communication scheme, determining location information of the external device based on the sequence number, and performing a designated function, based at least in part on the determined location information.

A location server device includes a memory circuitry, a processor circuitry, and an interface. The location server device is configured to communicate, via the interface, with one or more positioning units configured to communicate with one or more electronic devices one or more first positioning signals at a first frequency. The processor circuitry is configured to select at least one of the one or more positioning units based on detecting a trigger event. The interface is configured to transmit, to the at least one selected positioning unit, an activation signal. The activation signal indicates to the at least one selected positioning unit to activate transmission of one or more second positioning signals at a second frequency that is different from the first frequency.

To calibrate a device, a system receives an indication of current weather conditions at a geographic area, obtains, from a database, elevation data for the geographic area, and generating expected measurements of atmospheric pressure at the geographic area using the indication of weather conditions and the elevation data for the geographic area. The system then causes at least one mobile device located in the geographic area and equipped with a barometer to calibrate the barometer using the expected measurements of atmospheric pressure.

Embodiments of the present inventive concept leverage RSS patterns, accelerometer patterns, hygiene event information, and hub locations to increase accuracy of room-level positioning of objects and people, and to ensure a high accuracy detection of zone entry and/or exit times in an indoor environment, all of which facilitate an accurate hand hygiene compliance monitoring system in hospitals and other medical facilities, as well as a variety of other applications.

Positioning mobile devices in a three-dimensional space includes receiving multiple traces, each trace corresponding to a sequence of atmospheric pressure readings from a respective mobile device, receiving indications of signals received by the mobile devices from signal sources concurrently with the atmospheric pressure readings, generate similarity metrics for the multiple traces using the indications of other signals received by the mobile devices, the similarity metrics being indicative of associations between the signal sources and the atmospheric pressure readings, and determine estimated changes in elevation over time for the multiple traces using the generated similarity metrics.

A method and system for deploying a trusted-global positioning system (trusted-GPS) positioning map. The method comprises receiving, at a memory of the server computing device, at least a first set of fingerprint data and at least a first set of GPS position data for a sequence of positions traversed within an indoor area by at least a first mobile device, generating, using the processor, a distribution of positioning data points of the indoor area for which a correlation between the at least a first set of fingerprint data and the at least a first set of GPS position data for respective ones of the sequence of positions exceeds a threshold correlation value, and when the distribution exceeds at least one of a predetermined and a dynamically updated threshold density of positioning data points, deploying the distribution as the trusted-GPS positioning map of the indoor area.

A method and system for deploying a trusted-global positioning system (trusted-GPS) positioning map. The method comprises receiving, at a memory of the server computing device, at least a first set of fingerprint data and at least a first set of GPS position data for a sequence of positions traversed within an indoor area by at least a first mobile device, generating, using the processor, a distribution of positioning data points of the indoor area for which a correlation between the at least a first set of fingerprint data and the at least a first set of GPS position data for respective ones of the sequence of positions exceeds a threshold correlation value, and when the distribution exceeds at least one of a predetermined and a dynamically updated threshold density of positioning data points, deploying the distribution as the trusted-GPS positioning map of the indoor area.