Determining a plurality of potential installation positions

Abstract

It is inter-alia disclosed method performed by an apparatus, said method comprising: determining a plurality of potential installation positions for installing a plurality of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses in a predetermined environment at least partially based on a radio coverage map for said predetermined environment, wherein each monitoring and/or controlling apparatus of said plurality of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses is configured for monitoring and/or controlling one or more radio positioning support devices of a plurality of radio positioning support devices, and wherein said radio coverage map contains or represents a respective radio coverage model for each radio position support device of said plurality of radio positioning support devices.

Claims

1. An apparatus, said apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory containing computer program code, said at least one memory and said computer program code configured to, with said at least one processor, cause said apparatus at least to perform: receiving a plurality of radio fingerprint observation reports; generating a radio coverage map for a predetermined environment at least partially based on said plurality of radio fingerprint observation reports; and from among a plurality of potential installation positions in the predetermined environment, determining one or more potential installation positions for installing one or more monitoring and controlling apparatuses in one or more different positions within the predetermined environment at least partially based on the radio coverage map that represents respective radio coverage models for a plurality of radio positioning support devices installed in said predetermined environment, wherein each monitoring and controlling apparatus of said one or more monitoring and controlling apparatuses is configured for monitoring and controlling one or more radio positioning support devices of the plurality of radio positioning support devices, wherein the one or more radio positioning support devices are fixedly installed within the predetermined environment and are configured to transmit radio signals containing or representing positioning support information that enables estimation of one or more mobile device positions based on the positioning support information, and wherein a respective monitoring and controlling apparatus is configured to monitor one or more radio positioning support devices by scanning for radio signals transmitted by one or more radio positioning support devices and to control one or more radio signal parameters including transmission power of one or more radio positioning support devices.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said one or more potential installation positions for installing said one or more monitoring and controlling apparatuses in said predetermined environment are determined iteratively.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said at least one memory and said computer program code further configured to, with said at least one processor, cause said apparatus to perform: providing installation information for installing said one or more monitoring and controlling apparatuses in said predetermined environment representing said one or more potential installation positions.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said at least one memory and said computer program code are configured to, with said at least one processor, cause the apparatus to provide the installation information by causing installation information identifying the one or more potential installation positions to be displayed on a user interface.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said at least one memory and said computer program code further configured to, with said at least one processor, cause said apparatus to perform: after installation of said one or more monitoring and controlling apparatuses in said predetermined environment, receiving a plurality of monitoring reports from said one or more monitoring and controlling apparatuses.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said at least one memory and said computer program code further configured to, with said at least one processor, cause said apparatus to perform: determining at least partially based on said monitoring reports whether or not said one or more monitoring and controlling apparatuses installed in said predetermined environment is sufficient for monitoring and controlling said plurality of radio positioning support devices.

7. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein each of said monitoring reports of said plurality of observation reports at least partially contains or represents an indication of one or more radio positioning support devices of said plurality of radio positioning support devices from which radio signals are observable at said respective observation position.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein each monitoring report of said plurality of monitoring reports indicates one or more radio signal parameter of one or more radio positioning support devices of said plurality of radio positioning support devices from which radio signals are observable by said respective monitoring and controlling apparatus of said one or more monitoring and controlling apparatuses.

9. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein one or more of the plurality of monitoring reports comprise a received signal strength of radio signals that have been observed, and wherein said at least one memory and said computer program code are further configured to, with said at least one processor, cause said apparatus to perform: evaluating the received signal strength of the one or more monitoring reports relative to expected radio signal parameters; and based on the one or more monitoring reports, determining installation information for adjusting the installation position of a respective monitoring and controlling apparatus.

10. A method performed by an apparatus, said method comprising: receiving a plurality of radio fingerprint observation reports; generating a radio coverage map for a predetermined environment at least partially based on said plurality of radio fingerprint observation reports; and from among a plurality of potential installation positions in the predetermined environment, determining one or more potential installation positions for installing one or more monitoring and controlling apparatuses in one or more different positions within the predetermined environment at least partially based on the radio coverage map that represents respective radio coverage models for a plurality of radio positioning support devices installed in said predetermined environment, wherein each monitoring and controlling apparatus of said one or more monitoring and controlling apparatuses is configured for monitoring and controlling one or more radio positioning support devices of the plurality of radio positioning support devices, wherein the one or more radio positioning support devices are fixedly installed within the predetermined environment and are configured to transmit radio signals containing or representing positioning support information that enables estimation of one or more mobile device positions based on the positioning support information, and wherein a respective monitoring and controlling apparatus is configured to monitor one or more radio positioning support devices by scanning for radio signals transmitted by one or more radio positioning support devices and to control one or more radio signal parameters including transmission power of one or more radio positioning support devices.

11. The method according to any of claim 10, wherein said one or more potential installation positions for installing said one or more monitoring and controlling apparatuses in said predetermined environment are determined iteratively.

12. The method according to any of claim 10, said method further comprising: providing installation information for installing said one or more monitoring and controlling apparatuses in said predetermined environment representing said one or more potential installation positions.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein providing the installation information comprising causing the installation information identifying the one or more potential installation positions to be displayed on a user interface.

14. The method according to claim 10, said method further comprising: after installation of said one or more monitoring and controlling apparatuses in said predetermined environment, receiving a plurality of monitoring reports from said one or more monitoring and controlling apparatuses.

15. The method according to claim 14, said method further comprising: determining at least partially based on said monitoring reports whether or not said one or more monitoring and controlling apparatuses installed in said predetermined environment is sufficient for monitoring and controlling said plurality of radio positioning support devices.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein each of said monitoring reports of said plurality of observation reports at least partially contains or represents an indication of one or more radio positioning support devices of said plurality of radio positioning support devices from which radio signals are observable at said respective observation position.

17. The method according to claim 14, wherein one or more of the plurality of monitoring reports comprise a received signal strength of radio signals that have been observed, and wherein the method further comprises: evaluating the received signal strength of the one or more monitoring reports relative to expected radio signal parameters; and based on the one or more monitoring reports, determining installation information for adjusting the installation position of a respective monitoring and controlling apparatus.

18. A positioning system, said positioning system comprising: a plurality of radio positioning support devices installed in a predetermined environment; and a positioning server, said positioning server comprising at least one processor and at least one memory containing computer program code, said at least one memory and said computer program code configured to, with said at least one processor, cause said positioning server at least to perform: receiving a plurality of radio fingerprint observation reports; generating a radio coverage map for the predetermined environment at least partially based on said plurality of radio fingerprint observation reports; and from among a plurality of potential installation positions in the predetermined environment, determining one or more potential installation positions for installing one or more monitoring and controlling apparatuses in one or more different positions within the predetermined environment at least partially based on radio coverage map that represents respective radio coverage models for the plurality of radio positioning support devices installed in said predetermined environment, wherein each monitoring and controlling apparatus of said one or more monitoring and controlling apparatuses is configured for monitoring and controlling one or more radio positioning support devices of said plurality of radio positioning support devices, wherein the one or more radio positioning support devices are fixedly installed within the predetermined environment and are configured to transmit radio signals containing or representing positioning support information that enables estimation of one or more mobile device positions based on the positioning support information, and wherein a respective monitoring and controlling apparatus is configured to monitor one or more radio positioning support devices by scanning for radio signals transmitted by one or more radio positioning support devices and to control one or more radio signal parameters including transmission power of one or more radio positioning support devices.

19. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said at least one memory and said computer program code are configured to, with said at least one processor, cause said apparatus to determine the one or more potential installation positions by determining a respective potential installation position to be within a region of overlap between radio coverage models of a plurality of radio positioning support devices.

20. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said at least one memory and said computer program code are configured to, with said at least one processor, cause said apparatus to determine the one or more potential installation positions so as to enable monitoring and controlling of a maximum number of radio positioning support devices.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a system according to the invention;

(2) FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention;

(3) FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a radio positioning support device;

(4) FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a monitoring and/or controlling apparatus;

(5) FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method according to the invention;

(6) FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a radio coverage map;

(7) FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of examples of tangible and non-transitory storage media according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(8) The following description serves to deepen the understanding of the present invention and shall be understood to complement and be read together with the description of example embodiments of the invention as provided in the above SUMMARY section of this specification.

(9) FIG. 1 is a schematic high-level block diagram of a system 100 according to an exemplary aspect of the invention. In the following, it is assumed that system 100 is an indoor radio positioning system for a predetermined indoor environment.

(10) The predetermined indoor environment of system 100 is for example inside a building or a complex of buildings like a shopping center, a parking garage, an airport, a company site, etc.

(11) System 100 comprises a positioning server 200 and a plurality of radio positioning support devices 300-1 to 300-5. Optionally, system 100 may comprise a plurality of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 to 400-2 and a plurality of mobile devices 101 to 102. It is to be understood that system 100 may comprise further radio positioning support devices, monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses and mobile devices. In the following, it is thus referred to radio positioning support devices 300-1 to 300-5, monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 to 400-2 and mobile devices 101 to 102 without limiting the scope of the invention.

(12) For example, each of mobile devices 102-1 to 102-3 may be one of a smartphone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a smart watch and a smart band.

(13) Indoor radio positioning system 100 is not limited to a single positioning server 200, but may optionally comprise a plurality of servers (e.g. forming a server cloud). Accordingly, the positioning server 200 may be part of such a plurality of servers (e.g. a server cloud) or may be represented by such a plurality of servers (e.g. a server cloud).

(14) For example, radio positioning support devices 300-1 to 300-5 may be BLE beacons fixedly installed in the predetermined indoor environment of system 100. They may be configured to automatically and repeatedly transmit BLE radio signals like an advertisement signal. The BLE radio signal may be a radio positioning support signal containing and/or representing positioning support information and/or a radio state signal containing and/or representing state information. The positioning support information is for example configured to enable mobile devices 101 and 102 to estimate their position at least partially based on these positioning support information. An example of such positioning support information is an UUID of the respective one of BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 transmitting the respective radio positioning support signal containing this positioning support information. The state information may be understood to be characteristic for the current state of the respective one of BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 transmitting the respective radio state signal containing this state information. For example, such state information may indicate a radio transmission power and/or a battery condition. It is to be understood that system 100 is not limited to BLE beacons as radio positioning support devices 300-1 to 300-5. In the following, it is thus referred to radio positioning support devices 300-1 to 300-5 as BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 for exemplary purposes only without limiting the scope of the invention.

(15) The monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 may serve for monitoring and/or controlling BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5. To this end, monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 may be installed such that each BLE beacon of the BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 may be monitored and/or controlled by at least one monitoring and/or controlling apparatus of the monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2. Potential installation positions for installing the monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 may be determined according to the method according to the invention (e.g. the method disclosed below with reference to FIG. 5).

(16) In system 100, positioning server 200 and mobile devices 101 and 102 as well as positioning server 200 and monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 may be configured to communicate with each other as indicated by communication paths 103 to 106, respectively. It is to be understood that communication paths 103 to 106 may comprise one or more communication links (e.g. one or more wireless communication links or one or more wireline communication links or a combination thereof). For example, communication paths 103 to 106 may include one or more communication links over one or more communication networks. For example, communication paths 103 and 105 are communication links over a cellular communication network like a 2G/3G/4G/5G cellular communication network; and communication paths 104 and 106 may be communication links over a local area network (LAN). As disclosed above, the 2G/3G/4G/5G cellular radio communication standards are developed by the 3GPP and presently available under http://www.3gpp.org/. An example of a LAN is an Ethernet as specified by the standards of the IEEE IEEE 802.3 family (http://www.ieee.org/).

(17) Monitoring one or more BLE beacons of BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 by at least one of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 may for example be understood to mean that the at least one of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 scans for and/or evaluates (e.g. measures) radio signals (e.g. radio positioning support signals and/or radio state signals transmitted or triggered to be transmitted by the one or more BLE beacons). Monitoring one or more BLE beacons may thus at least involve a wireless one-way communication from the one or more BLE beacons to the at least one of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2. For example, the monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 may be configured to (e.g. automatically and/or repeatedly) scan for radio signals (e.g. radio positioning support signals or radio state signals) transmitted by the BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 and to generate a respective monitoring report at least partially based on the respective scanning results. Accordingly, each monitoring report may at least partially represent and/or may be at least partially generated based on radio signal scanning results of one of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2. As disclosed above, radio signal scanning results may be understood to represent information which are characteristic for the observable radio signal(s) when scanning for radio signals. In the following, it is assumed that each monitoring report at least contains and/or represents an indication of one or more BLE beacons of BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 from which radio signals are observable by the respective one of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2. For example, such a radio monitoring report contains and/or represents UUIDs of the one or more BLE beacons from which radio signals are observable by the respective one of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2. The monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 may be configured to collect the monitoring reports and to (e.g. automatically and/or repeatedly) transmit the collected monitoring reports to the positioning server 200 (e.g. via communication paths 104 and 106).

(18) Controlling one or more BLE beacons of BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 by at least one of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 may be understood to mean that the at least one of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 controls one or more radio signal parameters (e.g. the transmission power) of the one or more BLE beacons, for example by transmitting or triggering transmitting control information (e.g. in the form of a radio control signal) to the one or more BLE beacons. Controlling one or more BLE beacons may thus at least involve a wireless one-way communication from the at least one of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 to the one or more BLE beacons. For example, the monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 may be configured to control one or more BLE beacons of BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5, for example by transmitting or triggering transmitting control information (e.g. in the form of a radio control signal) for controlling one or more radio signal parameters (e.g. the transmission power) of the one or more BLE beacons to the one or more BLE beacons.

(19) Moreover, mobile devices 101 to 102 may be configured for collecting radio fingerprint observation reports for updating and/or generating the radio coverage map for the predetermined indoor environment of system 100 and for reporting (e.g. transmitting) the collected radio fingerprint observation reports to the positioning server 200 (e.g. via the communication paths 103 and 105, respectively). To this end, the mobile devices 101 and 102 may be configured to (e.g. automatically and/or repeatedly) scan for radio signals (e.g. radio positioning support signals transmitted by BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5) and to generate a respective radio fingerprint observation report at least partially based on the respective scanning results. In the following, it is assumed that each radio fingerprint observation report at least contains and/or represents an indication of a respective observation position at which the respective mobile device scanned for radio signals and one or more BLE beacons from which radio signals are observable by the respective mobile device at the respective observation position. For example, such a radio fingerprint observation report contains and/or represents GNSS coordinates of the respective observation position and UUIDs of the one or more BLE beacons from which radio signals are observable by the respective mobile device at the respective observation position.

(20) The indoor radio positioning server 101 may use these radio fingerprint observation reports for generating and/or updating a radio coverage map. The radio coverage map may be configured to enable each of the mobile devices 101 and 102 to estimate its position at least partially based on this radio coverage map when the respective mobile device is located in the predetermined indoor environment of system 100. The positioning server 200 may be configured for transmitting radio coverage map information representing the radio coverage map to the mobile devices 101 and 102 (e.g. via the communication paths 103 and 105, respectively). The mobile devices 101 and 102 may then use this radio coverage map information for estimating their position based on radio signals received from the BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 when they are located in the predetermined indoor environment of system 100.

(21) FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention. In the following, it is assumed that this apparatus corresponds to positioning server 200 of system 100 of FIG. 1.

(22) Positioning server 200 comprises a processor 201. Processor 201 may represent a single processor or two or more processors, which are for instance at least partially coupled, for instance via a bus. Processor 201 executes a program code stored in program memory 202 (for instance program code causing mobile device 200 to perform one or more of the embodiments of a method according to the invention or parts thereof (e.g. the method or parts of the method disclosed below with reference to FIG. 5), when executed on processor 201), and interfaces with a main memory 203. Program memory 202 may also contain an operating system for processor 201. Some or all of memories 202 and 203 may also be included into processor 201.

(23) One of or both of a main memory and a program memory of a processor (e.g. program memory 202 and main memory 203) could be fixedly connected to the processor (e.g. processor 201 and/or processor 301) or at least partially removable from the processor, for instance in the form of a memory card or stick.

(24) A program memory (e.g. program memory 202) may for instance be a non-volatile memory. It may for instance be a FLASH memory (or a part thereof), any of a ROM, PROM, EPROM, MRAM or a FeRAM (or a part thereof) or a hard disc (or a part thereof), to name but a few examples. For example, a program memory may for instance comprise a first memory section that is fixedly installed, and a second memory section that is removable from, for instance in the form of a removable SD memory card.

(25) A main memory (e.g. main memory 203) may for instance be a volatile memory. It may for instance be a DRAM memory, to give non-limiting example. It may for instance be used as a working memory for a processor (e.g. processor 201) when executing an operating system and/or programs.

(26) Processor 201 further controls one or more network interface(s) 204 which are for example configured to communicate via a network like a cellular communication network and/or a LAN. Positioning server 200 may use network interface(s) 204 to communicate with mobile devices 101 and 102 (e.g. via one of communication paths 103 and 105) and/or monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 of system 100 (e.g. via one of communication paths 104 and 106).

(27) Furthermore, processor 201 controls a user interface 205 configured to present information to a user of positioning server 200 and/or to receive information from such a user. User interface 205 may for instance be the standard user interface via which a user of positioning server 200 controls other functionality thereof. Examples of such a user interface are a touch-sensitive display, a keyboard, a touchpad, a display, etc.

(28) The components 202 to 205 of positioning server 200 may for instance be connected with processor 201 by means of one or more serial and/or parallel busses.

(29) It is to be understood that positioning server 200 may comprise various other components.

(30) FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a radio positioning support device according to the invention. In the following, it is assumed that this radio positioning support device corresponds to a BLE beacon 300 like BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 of system 100.

(31) BLE beacon 300 comprises a processor 301. Processor 301 may represent a single processor or two or more processors, which are for instance at least partially coupled, for instance via a bus. Processor 301 executes a program code stored in memory 302. Some or all of memory 302 may also be included into processor 301. Memory 302 may for instance be a volatile or non-volatile memory. It may for instance be a RAM or DRAM memory. It may for instance be a FLASH memory (or a part thereof), any of a ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, MRAM or a FeRAM (or a part thereof) and/or a hard disc (or a part thereof), to name but a few examples. It may for instance be used as a working memory for processor 301 when executing an operating system and/or programs. Memory 302 may also comprise an operating system for processor 301. Memory 302 may for instance comprise a first memory portion that is fixedly installed in BLE beacon 300, and a second memory portion that is removable from beacon 300, for instance in the form of a removable SD memory card.

(32) Processor 301 further controls a radio interface 303 configured to receive and/or transmit radio signals. For instance, radio interface 303 may at least comprise a BLE component including a BLE transmitter (TX). The radio interface 303 may additionally comprise a BLE receiver (RX). The transmitter and receiver may also be part of a BLE transceiver (TRX).

(33) The BLE transmitter enables BLE beacon 300 to send radio signals in line with any current or future version of the Bluetooth standard supporting a low energy mode. For example, the BLE transmitter may be configured to automatically and repeatedly transmit BLE radio signals like an advertisement signal. As disclosed above in more detail, such a BLE radio signal may be a radio positioning support signal containing and/or representing positioning support information and/or a radio state signal containing and/or representing state information. Likewise, the BLE receiver enables BLE beacon 300 to receive radio signals in line with any current or future version of the Bluetooth standard supporting a low energy mode. For example, the BLE receiver may be configured to receive radio control signals from a monitoring and/or controlling apparatus like one or monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 of system 100. Such a radio control signal may contain and/or represent control information for controlling one or more one or more radio signal parameters (e.g. the transmission power) of the radio interface 303.

(34) It is to be understood that BLE beacon 300 may comprise various other components.

(35) FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a monitoring and/or controlling apparatus 400 according to the invention. In the following, it is assumed that this monitoring and/or controlling apparatus 400 corresponds to monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 of system 100 of FIG. 1.

(36) Monitoring and/or controlling apparatus 400 comprises a processor 401. Processor 401 may represent a single processor or two or more processors, which are for instance at least partially coupled, for instance via a bus. Processor 401 executes a program code stored in program memory 402 and interfaces with a main memory 403. Program memory 402 may also comprise an operating system for processor 401. Some or all of memories 402 and 403 may also be included into processor 301.

(37) Processor 401 controls a network interface 404 which is for example configured to communicate via a communication network like a LAN. Monitoring and/or controlling apparatus 400 may use network interface 404 to communicate with positioning server 200 of system 100 (e.g. via one of communication paths 104 and 106).

(38) Moreover, processor 401 controls radio interface 405 configured to receive and/or transmit radio signals. For instance, radio interface 405 may at least comprise a BLE component including a BLE transmitter (TX). The radio interface 303 may additionally comprise a BLE receiver (RX). The transmitter and receiver may also be part of a BLE transceiver (TRX).

(39) The BLE transmitter enables monitoring and/or controlling apparatus 400 to send radio signals in line with any current or future version of the Bluetooth standard supporting a low energy mode. For example, the BLE transmitter may be configured to transmit BLE radio signals like an advertisement signal. As disclosed above in more detail, such a BLE radio signal may be a radio control signal containing and/or representing control information for controlling one or more one or more radio signal parameters (e.g. the transmission power) of one or more BLE beacons like BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 of system 100. Likewise, the BLE receiver enables monitoring and/or controlling apparatus 400 to receive radio signals in line with any current or future version of the Bluetooth standard supporting a low energy mode. For example, the BLE receiver may be configured to receive radio signals like radio positioning support signals and/or radio state signals from one or more BLE beacons like BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 of system 100. In particular, the BLE receiver may be configured to scan for radio signals that are transmitted by BLE beacons like BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 of system 100, to evaluate received radio signals (e.g. by measuring a received signal strength) and/or to extract information (e.g. a UUID and/or state information) contained in and/or represented by received BLE radio signals. It is to be understood that any computer program code based processing required for receiving and processing received BLE radio signals may be stored in an own memory of the radio interface 405 and executed by an own processor of the radio interface 405 or it may be stored for example in memory 403 and executed for example by processor 401.

(40) The components 402 to 405 of monitoring and/or controlling apparatus 400 may for instance be connected with processor 401 by means of one or more serial and/or parallel busses.

(41) It is to be understood that monitoring and/or controlling apparatus 400 may comprise various other components. For example, monitoring and/or controlling apparatus 400 may optionally comprise a user interface (e.g. a touch-sensitive display, a keyboard, a touchpad, a display, etc).

(42) FIG. 5 is a flow chart 500 illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method according to the invention. Without limiting the scope of the invention, it is assumed in the following that positioning server 200 of indoor radio positioning system 100 as described above with respect to FIG. 1 performs the steps of flow chart 500.

(43) In an optional step 501, a plurality of radio fingerprint observation reports are received from one or more mobile devices at positioning server 200. For example, the plurality of radio fingerprint observation reports are received from mobile devices 101 and 102 via communication paths 103 and 105. As disclosed above in more detail, each radio fingerprint observation report of the plurality of radio fingerprint observation reports contains and/or represents an indication of a respective observation position (e.g. GNSS coordinates of the respective observation position) and one or more BLE beacons (e.g. UUIDs of the one or more BLE beacons) of BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 from which radio signals are observable at the respective observation position.

(44) In an optional step 502, a radio coverage map for the predetermined indoor environment of system 100 is generated by positioning server 200 at least partially based on the plurality of radio fingerprint observation reports received in step 501.

(45) The radio coverage map for the predetermined indoor environment of system 100 may represent at least the expected radio coverage of the BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 that are installed in the predetermined indoor environment. The radio coverage model of such a BLE beacon may describe the area (e.g. the area of the predetermined indoor environment) within which a radio signal transmitted by this BLE beacon is expected to be observable (e.g. receivable with a minimum quality, e.g. a minimum signal-to-noise ratio and/or a minimum signal power, e.g. at least −90 dbm or −95 dbm). The real radio coverage of such a BLE beacon may however deviate from the expected radio coverage as described by such a radio coverage model. As disclosed in more detail above, a radio coverage model of a BLE beacon may be a hard-boundary model or a soft-boundary model (e.g. a hard-boundary model or a soft-boundary model describing expected radio coverage).

(46) Accordingly, generating the radio coverage map for the predetermined indoor environment of system 100 at least partially based on the plurality of radio fingerprint observation reports may involve determining, for the BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 of system 100, a respective radio coverage model at least partially based on the plurality of radio fingerprint observation reports. Additionally, this generating may be based on further information (e.g. a previously generated radio coverage map for the predetermined indoor environment). For example, a previously generated radio coverage map for the predetermined indoor environment of system 100 may be updated by determining, for one or more (e.g. all) of BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 a respective radio coverage model at least partially based on the plurality of radio fingerprint observation reports.

(47) As disclosed above in more detail, a radio coverage model of a BLE beacon may be soft-boundary model like a parametric radio model or a hard-boundary radio coverage model like a geometric model. In the following it is assumed that the radio coverage map for the predetermined indoor environment represents geometric models for the expected radio coverage of BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5. Examples of such a geometric model are a polygon; a rectangle and/or a square; a cuboid and/or a cube; an ellipse and/or a circle; and an ellipsoid and/or a sphere. Such a geometric model which is used as radio coverage model for a respective BLE beacon of BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 may for example describe (e.g. represent and/or enclose) an area within which a beacon signal transmitted by the respective BLE beacon 5 is expected to be observable (e.g. receivable with a minimum quality, e.g. a minimum signal-to-noise ratio and/or a minimum signal power, e.g. at least −90 dbm or −95 dbm).

(48) A parameter of a geometric model of a radio coverage of a radio positioning support device may be at least partially determined (e.g. selected or calculated) at least partially based on the plurality of radio fingerprint observation reports. Examples of such parameters are a diameter, a radius and/or an edge length of the geometric model. For example, a parameter of a geometric model for the expected radio coverage of a BLE beacon may be selected from a list of parameters according to a predetermined mapping with the radio signal parameters associated with this BLE beacon as represented by the plurality of radio fingerprint observation reports.

(49) FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary embodiment of radio coverage map 600 containing circles 601 to 605 as geometric models for the expected radio coverage of BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5, respectively. Moreover, radio coverage map 600 represents the installation positions (denoted by reference signs 300-1 to 300-5) of the BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5. Accordingly, such a circle (e.g. circle 601) represents the area within which a radio signal transmitted by the BLE beacon (e.g. BLE beacon 300-1) the installation position of which is in the center of the circle is receivable with a minimum quality (e.g. a minimum signal-to-noise ratio and/or a minimum signal power, e.g. at least −90 dbm or −95 dbm).

(50) In step 503, a plurality of potential installation positions for installing a plurality of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses like monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 in the predetermined indoor environment of system 100 are determined by positioning server 200 at least partially based on the radio coverage map for the predetermined indoor environment.

(51) A potential installation position may be understood to describe a position in the predetermined indoor environment and/or relative to the predetermined indoor environment. For example, a potential installation position may be understood to describe a position in the predetermined indoor environment at which one of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 may be installed. As disclosed above, the potential installation positions may be selected from a plurality of predetermined positions in the predetermined indoor environment. This may be understood to mean that only the plurality of predetermined positions are considered as potential installation positions when determining the plurality of potential installation positions in step 503. For example, the plurality of predetermined positions may represent positions in the predetermined indoor environment that are (e.g. easy) accessible for installing monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses; and/or the plurality of predetermined positions may represent mesh points of a predetermined mesh (e.g. a mesh with a mesh size of 5 m or 2 m or 1 m) when the predetermined mesh overlays the predetermined environment.

(52) The determining in step 503 may be performed according to predetermined rules like a predetermined algorithm or predetermined instructions (e.g. in the form of computer program code) receiving and/or considering the radio coverage map or the radio coverage map information as an input parameter.

(53) For example, the plurality of potential installation positions for installing the plurality of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses in the predetermined environment are determined iteratively in step 503. In each iteration, a respective potential installation position for a respective monitoring and/or controlling apparatus for monitoring and/or controlling a maximum number of respective radio positioning support devices of the plurality of radio positioning support devices that are not expected to be monitored and/or controlled by any other monitoring and/or controlling apparatus installed at any installation position determined in any previous iteration is determined.

(54) Radio coverage map 600 of FIG. 6 indicates two potential installation positions 606 and 607. Potential installation positions 606 and 607 may represent mesh points of a predetermined mesh. In a first iteration, potential installation position 606 may be determined for installing one of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2. Potential installation position 606 is located in an overlapping area of circles 601 to 603 which describe the expected radio coverages of BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-3. Since radio coverage map 600 does not represent any other overlapping area of three circles, it is expected that installing one of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 at potential installation position 606 enables monitoring and/or controlling a maximum number of BLE beacons, i.e. BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-3. In a second iteration, potential installation position 607 may be determined. Potential installation position 607 is located in an overlapping area of circles 604 and 605 which describe the expected radio coverages of BLE beacons 300-4 to 300-5 which are not expected to be monitored and/or controlled by the one of monitoring and/or controlling apparatus 400-1 and 400-2 installed at potential installation position 606. Installing the remaining one of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 at potential installation position 607 is expected to enable monitoring and/or controlling BLE beacons 300-4 and 300-5. After the second iteration, the iteratively determining may be terminated, because each BLE beacon of BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 of system 100 is expected to be monitored and/or controlled by at least one of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 when they are installed at potential installations positions 606 and 607, respectively.

(55) By iteratively determining the plurality of potential installation positions for installing the plurality of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses in the predetermined environment, the number of potential installation positions of the plurality of potential installation positions is minimized which means that a minimum number of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses is expected to be sufficient for monitoring and/or controlling the plurality of radio positioning support devices.

(56) Subsequently, installation information comprising respective position information for each potential installation position of the potential installation positions determined in step 503 (e.g. potential installation positions 606 and 607) may be provided, for example by displaying the installation information in form of radio coverage map 600 with potential installation positions 606 and 607 (alone or with additional information like a floor map of the predetermined indoor environment) on user interface 205 of positioning server 200. Alternatively, positioning server 200 may transmit the installation information to another device like one of mobile devices 101 and 102 for displaying the installation information in form of radio coverage map 600 with potential installation positions 606 and 607 (alone or with additional information like a floor map of the predetermined indoor environment) on a user interface of this device.

(57) After installation of the monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 in the predetermined indoor environment (i.e. at the potential installations positions 606 and 607, respectively), a plurality of monitoring reports is received by the positioning server 200 from the monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 in an optional step 504. For example, the plurality of monitoring reports are received from monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 via communication paths 104 and 106. As disclosed above, each monitoring report of the plurality of monitoring reports contains and/or represents an indication of one or more BLE beacons (e.g. UUIDs of the one or more BLE beacons) of BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 from which radio signals are observable by the respective one of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2.

(58) As disclosed above in more detail, the positioning server 200 may use the plurality of monitoring reports for generating the radio coverage map like (e.g. instead of or in addition to) the plurality of radio fingerprint observation reports and/or for monitoring the BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5. For example, a monitoring report received from monitoring and/or controlling apparatus 400-1 installed at potential installation position 607 is expected to contain and/or represent an indication of BLE beacons 300-4 and 300-5. If such a monitoring report does however not contain and/or represent an indication of BLE beacon 300-4, this may indicate that the radio coverage of the BLE beacon 300-4 has changed (e.g. due to a change in the radio environment and/or a failure of the BLE beacon 300-4).

(59) In an optional step 505, it is determined by the positioning server 200 at least partially based on the plurality of monitoring reports received in step 504 whether or not the monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 installed in the predetermined indoor environment of system 100 are sufficient for monitoring and/or controlling the BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5.

(60) For example, if none of the plurality of monitoring reports received in step 504 contains or represents an indication for a least one BLE beacon of BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5, it may be determined that monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 installed at potential installation positions 606 and 607, respectively, in the predetermined indoor environment are not sufficient for monitoring and/or controlling BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5.

(61) If it is determined in step 505 that monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2 installed at potential installation positions 606 and 607, respectively, in the predetermined indoor environment are not sufficient for monitoring and/or controlling BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5, one or more of the following steps may be performed:

(62) determining and/or providing adjusting installation information for adjusting the installation position of one or more of monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2;

(63) determining and/or providing information representing the one or more BLE beacons of the BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 that are not monitored and/or controlled by monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 and 400-2;

(64) determining one or more further potential installation positions for installing one or more further monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses in said predetermined indoor environment for monitoring and/or controlling the one or more BLE beacons of the BLE beacons 300-1 to 300-5 that are not monitored and/or controlled by monitoring and/or controlling apparatuses 400-1 to 400-2.

(65) It is to be understood that the orders of the steps of flowchart 500 is only exemplary and that the steps may also have a different order if possible. Furthermore, it is also possible that two or more steps may be performed in one step.

(66) FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of examples of tangible and non-transitory computer-readable storage media according to the present invention that may for instance be used to implement memory 202 of FIG. 2, memory 302 of FIG. 3 and memory 402 of FIG. 4. To this end, FIG. 7 displays a flash memory 700, which may for instance be soldered or bonded to a printed circuit board, a solid-state drive 701 comprising a plurality of memory chips (e.g. Flash memory chips), a magnetic hard drive 702, a Secure Digital (SD) card 703, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory stick 704, an optical storage medium 705 (such as for instance a CD-ROM or DVD) and a magnetic storage medium 706.

(67) Any presented connection in the described embodiments is to be understood in a way that the involved components are operationally coupled. Thus, the connections can be direct or indirect with any number or combination of intervening elements, and there may be merely a functional relationship between the components.

(68) Further, as used in this text, the term ‘circuitry’ refers to any of the following:

(69) (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry)

(70) (b) combinations of circuits and software (and/or firmware), such as: (i) to a combination of processor(s) or (ii) to sections of processor(s)/software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone, to perform various functions) and

(71) (c) to circuits, such as a microprocessor(s) or a section of a microprocessor(s), that require software or firmware for operation, even if the software or firmware is not physically present.

(72) This definition of ‘circuitry’ applies to all uses of this term in this text, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this text, the term ‘circuitry’ also covers an implementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) or section of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term ‘circuitry’ also covers, for example, a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone.

(73) Any of the processors mentioned in this text, in particular but not limited to processors 201, 301 and 401 of FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, could be a processor of any suitable type. Any processor may comprise but is not limited to one or more microprocessors, one or more processor(s) with accompanying digital signal processor(s), one or more processor(s) without accompanying digital signal processor(s), one or more special-purpose computer chips, one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAS), one or more controllers, one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICS), or one or more computer(s). The relevant structure/hardware has been programmed in such a way to carry out the described function.

(74) Moreover, any of the actions or steps described or illustrated herein may be implemented using executable instructions in a general-purpose or special-purpose processor and stored on a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., disk, memory, or the like) to be executed by such a processor. References to ‘computer-readable storage medium’ should be understood to encompass specialized circuits such as FPGAs, ASICs, signal processing devices, and other devices.

(75) The wording “A, or B, or C, or a combination thereof” or “at least one of A, B and C” may be understood to be not exhaustive and to include at least the following: (i) A, or (ii) B, or (iii) C, or (iv) A and B, or (v) A and C, or (vi) B and C, or (vii) A and B and C.

(76) It will be understood that all presented embodiments are only exemplary, and that any feature presented for a particular exemplary embodiment may be used with any aspect of the invention on its own or in combination with any feature presented for the same or another particular exemplary embodiment and/or in combination with any other feature not mentioned. It will further be understood that any feature presented for an example embodiment in a particular category may also be used in a corresponding manner in an example embodiment of any other category.