CN111866702A

CN111866702A - Positioning tracking method and multi-point communication system

Info

Publication number: CN111866702A
Application number: CN201910281275.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 蔡守冠
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2019-04-09
Filing date: 2019-04-09
Publication date: 2020-10-30

Abstract

The invention discloses a positioning tracking method and a multipoint communication system, wherein the multipoint communication system comprises a plurality of movable node devices which are connected with each other by wireless first communication paths to form a mesh network, and the node devices do not need to contain positioning receivers; and a plurality of movable communication devices connected with the corresponding node devices through the second communication paths. The node device includes a first communication protocol and a distinct second communication protocol. The node devices transmit and receive data to each other, so as to share data.

Description

Positioning tracking method and multi-point communication system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a positioning and tracking method and a multipoint communication system.

Background

A Zigbee (Zigbee) is a low-power, low-bandwidth, low-data-rate wireless communication protocol, which is based on the wireless network specification of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.4. Since the effective transmission distance (transmission distance) of the Zigbee (Zigbee) communication protocol is only several hundred meters, the Zigbee communication protocol is mainly used to construct a personal area network (personal area network) in a small area range, and is mainly used in applications in a small area range such as home automation (home automation) or internet of things (IoT).

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based radio navigation (radi) system, which receives signals from a global positioning system receiver (GPS receiver) to obtain positioning data. However, since the signal of the global positioning system is very weak, it is easily blocked by an obstacle (e.g., a building) and reception fails.

Most current mobile devices (such as mobile phones) are equipped with gps receivers to allow users to know the location in real time. When using gps for positioning and tracking applications, a gps receiver is usually installed on an object to be tracked (e.g., a car, a human or an animal), and after receiving the positioning data, the positioning data needs to be transmitted via a wireless network (e.g., a broadband mobile network) to enable a remote tracker to know the position of the object to be tracked. However, broadband mobile networks are expensive and are not provided in remote locations.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide a novel localization tracking mechanism to improve the shortcomings of the conventional localization tracking system.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the foregoing, an objective of the embodiments of the present invention is to provide a multipoint communication system, which can perform real-time location tracking at a low cost and is not hindered by environmental conditions.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a multicast system includes a plurality of mobile node devices and a plurality of mobile communication devices. The mobile node devices are connected to each other by a wireless first communication path to form a mesh network, and the node devices do not need to contain a positioning receiver. The mobile communication device is connected with the corresponding node device through a second communication path. The node device comprises a first communication protocol and a second communication protocol, wherein the second communication protocol is different from the first communication protocol, the first communication path uses the first communication protocol for communication, and the second communication path uses the second communication protocol for communication. The node devices transmit and receive data to each other, so as to share data.

Further, the node device comprises a mesh device.

Further, the communication device comprises a mobile phone, a computer or a tablet computer.

Further, the multi-point communication system further comprises the internet, and the communication device is connected to the internet by a third communication path.

Further, the first communication protocol comprises a mesh-cellular communication protocol, and the second communication protocol comprises a bluetooth, wireless network, or/and universal serial bus communication protocol.

Further, the shared data includes a global positioning system location, temperature, altitude, or humidity. According to another embodiment of the present invention, a localization tracking method comprises the following steps: (a) providing a plurality of mobile node devices and a plurality of mobile communication devices; (b) the node device obtains the positioning data of the person to be tracked from the corresponding communication device; (c) transmitting the positioning data to other node devices; and (d) the communication device of the tracker obtains the positioning data of the person to be tracked from the corresponding node device.

Further, the step (b) comprises: the node devices adjacent to the person to be tracked obtain the positioning data from the corresponding communication device.

Further, the step (d) comprises: when the communication device falls within the effective transmission distance of the node device of the person to be tracked, the communication device transmits the positioning data to the corresponding node device of the person to be tracked.

Further, the node device comprises a mesh device.

Further, the positioning data comprises a position of a global positioning system.

Further, the plurality of node devices are connected with each other by a wireless first communication path to form a mesh network, and the plurality of communication devices are connected with the corresponding node devices by a second communication path.

Further, the node device includes a first communication protocol and a second communication protocol, the second communication protocol is different from the first communication protocol, the first communication path communicates using the first communication protocol, and the second communication path communicates using the second communication protocol.

The positioning tracking method and the multipoint communication system can effectively reduce the execution cost of real-time positioning tracking, reduce the occurrence of receiving failure caused by the fact that the positioning tracking is easily blocked by an obstacle in the prior art, and improve the stability of the real-time positioning tracking.

Drawings

Fig. 1 shows a system block diagram of a multipoint communication system of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of the node apparatus and communication apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a system block diagram of a localization tracking system of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a location tracking method of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a system block diagram of another localization tracking system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of another localization tracking method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[ notation ] to show

100 multipoint communication system

11 node device

11_1 first communication protocol

11_2 second communication protocol

111 first communication path

12 communication device

12_1 positioning receiver

121 second communication path

122 third communication path

13 Internet

14 cloud database

300A positioning and tracking system

300B positioning and tracking system

11A node device

11B node device

11C node device

11D node device

12A communication device

12B communication device

12D communication device

400A positioning and tracking method

400B positioning and tracking method

41 provides a node device and a communication device

42 node devices adjacent to the person to be tracked obtain positioning data from the corresponding communication device

42B node device of person to be tracked obtains positioning data from corresponding communication device

43 transmit the location data to other node devices according to the data sharing mechanism

44 the communication device of the tracker obtains the positioning data of the person to be tracked from the corresponding node device

Detailed Description

The following detailed description of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be given with reference to the accompanying drawings. Aside from the detailed description, this invention is capable of general implementation in other embodiments and its several details are capable of modifications and equivalents in various alternative embodiments that are within the scope of this disclosure and are subject to the claims. In the description of the specification, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the invention; however, the present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known process steps or components have not been described in detail in order to not unnecessarily obscure the present invention.

Fig. 1 shows a system block diagram of a multi-point communication system 100 of an embodiment of the present invention. The multi-point communication system 100 mainly includes a plurality of mobile node devices 11 connected to each other via a wireless first communication path 111 to form a mesh (mesh) network or a multi-point network. Wherein each node apparatus 11 is connectable with one or more node apparatuses 11. In one embodiment, the node device 11 may include a mesh (Zigbee) device, such as a mesh chip or module. However, in other embodiments, the node apparatus 11 may also use a communication protocol (current or future) similar to mesh bee (Zigbee), such as Z-wave (Z-wave).

The multicast system 100 may include a plurality of mobile communication devices 12 (e.g., mobile phones, computers, tablets, etc.) connected to corresponding node devices 11 via a second communication path 121, which may be wired or wireless. In the present embodiment, the term "corresponding to" means that the communication device 12 is located within an effective transmission distance (transmission distance) of the node device 11, and thus can access data to the node device 11. As shown in fig. 1, the communication device 12 may also be connected to the Internet (Internet)13 via a third communication path 122, and may further access the cloud database 14 via the Internet 13.

According to one feature of the present embodiment, the node device 11 may comprise a plurality of different communication protocols (protocols) for communicating with other node devices 11 and various communication devices 12. Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the node device 11 and the communication device 12 shown in fig. 1, wherein the node device 11 includes a first communication protocol 11_1 (e.g., a mesh-cellular (Zigbee) communication protocol) and a second communication protocol 11_2 (e.g., Bluetooth (Bluetooth), a wireless network (Wi-Fi), or/and a Universal Serial Bus (USB) communication protocol). The second communication protocol 11_2 is different from the first communication protocol 11_ 1. In an embodiment, the node device 11 does not need to contain a positioning receiver, however, the communication device 12 may comprise a positioning receiver 12_1, such as a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, for receiving the positioning data.

In the present embodiment, the first communication path 111 between the node devices 11 communicates using a first communication protocol 11_1 (e.g., mesh bee (Zigbee)), and the second communication path 121 between the node devices 11 and the communication device 12 communicates using a second communication protocol 11_2 (e.g., Bluetooth (Bluetooth), Wi-Fi, or Universal Serial Bus (USB)).

According to another feature of the present embodiment, the node devices 11 can transmit and receive data (such as location, temperature, altitude, humidity, etc. of a Global Positioning System (GPS)) to each other, so as to share the data. Therefore, the node devices 11 can be used as communication interfaces between the communication devices 12, so that the communication devices 12 can transmit or receive required data.

In addition, the communication device 12 can upload data to the internet 13 via the third communication path 122, and can store the data in the cloud database 14. Other communication devices 12 may also obtain the required data from the internet 13 via the third communication path 122. Thereby, the data sharing of the multicast system 100 can be further facilitated.

Fig. 3 shows a system block diagram of a localization and tracking system 300A according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 shows a flow chart of a position tracking method 400A according to an embodiment of the invention. The structure of the localization tracking system 300A of the present embodiment is the same as the multicast system 100 shown in fig. 1, and therefore the same component names and symbols are used. The localization tracking system 300A mainly includes a plurality of mobile node devices (e.g., the illustrated

node devices

11A, 11B, 11C, and 11D) and a plurality of mobile communication devices 12 (step 41). The node device 11A is a node device of a person to be tracked, and the communication device 12D is a communication device of a tracker. The node device 11A of the person to be tracked can be disposed on the object to be tracked, such as an automobile, a human or an animal.

As shown in fig. 3, in step 42, the node device 11B adjacent to the person to be tracked (i.e. the node device 11A) obtains positioning data, such as positioning data of a Global Positioning System (GPS), from the corresponding communication device 12B via the second communication path 121 and using a second communication protocol 11_2 (e.g. Bluetooth (Bluetooth), Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi), or Universal Serial Bus (USB)). Since the node device 11A of the person to be tracked is adjacent to the node device 11B (and the communication device 12B), the position of the node device 11A of the person to be tracked is approximately the same as the position of the adjacent node device 11B (and the communication device 12B)

Next, in step 43, according to the aforementioned data sharing mechanism, the positioning data is directly or indirectly transmitted to another node device, such as the node device 11D corresponding to the tracker, via the first communication path 111 and using the first communication protocol 11_1 (e.g., the mesh-bee (Zigbee) communication protocol).

In step 44, when the communication device 12D of the tracker is within the effective transmission distance of the node device 11D, the communication device 12D obtains the positioning data of the person to be tracked from the corresponding node device 11D by using the second communication path 121 and the second communication protocol 11_2 (such as Bluetooth (Bluetooth), Wi-Fi or Universal Serial Bus (USB)), so as to obtain the position of the person to be tracked according to the obtained positioning data.

FIG. 5 is a system block diagram of another localization tracking system 300B according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 shows a flow chart of another localization tracking method 400B according to an embodiment of the present invention. The localization tracking system 300B shown in fig. 5 is similar to the localization tracking system 300A shown in fig. 3, except that the node device 11A to be tracked is not adjacent to the node device 11B. In step 42B, when the communication device 12A falls within the effective transmission distance of the node device 11A of the person to be tracked, the communication device 12A transmits positioning data (e.g., positioning data of a Global Positioning System (GPS)) to the corresponding node device 11A via the second communication path 121 and using a second communication protocol 11_2 (e.g., Bluetooth (Bluetooth), Wi-Fi or Universal Serial Bus (USB)).

Next, in step 43, according to the aforementioned data sharing mechanism, the positioning data is directly or indirectly transmitted to another node device, such as the node device 11D of the tracker, via the first communication path 111 and using the first communication protocol 11_1 (e.g., the mesh-bee (Zigbee) communication protocol).

In another embodiment, the situation shown in fig. 5 can be obtained by conventional methods such as triangulation (triangulation) method and/or signal strength ranging (rssi) method to obtain the location of the person to be tracked at the node device 11A.

The above description is only for the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention; other equivalent changes and modifications without departing from the spirit of the disclosure are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A multipoint communication system, comprising:

a plurality of mobile node devices interconnected by a wireless first communication path to form a mesh network, the node devices not having to include a positioning receiver; and

a plurality of mobile communication devices connected to the corresponding node devices via second communication paths;

wherein the node device comprises a first communication protocol and a second communication protocol, the second communication protocol being different from the first communication protocol, and the first communication path communicates using the first communication protocol, and the second communication path communicates using the second communication protocol;

the plurality of node devices transmit and receive data to each other, so that data sharing is achieved.

2. The multipoint communication system of claim 1, wherein the node means comprises a mesh device.

3. The multipoint communication system of claim 1, wherein the communication device comprises a mobile phone, a computer or a tablet computer.

4. The multipoint communication system of claim 1, further comprising the internet, the communication device being connected to the internet via a third communication path.

5. The multipoint communication system of claim 1, wherein the first communication protocol comprises a mesh cellular communication protocol and the second communication protocol comprises bluetooth, wireless network or/and universal serial bus communication protocols.

6. The multipoint communication system of claim 1, wherein the shared data comprises global positioning system location, temperature, altitude or humidity.

7. A method for location tracking, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a plurality of mobile node devices and a plurality of mobile communication devices;

(b) the node device obtains the positioning data of the person to be tracked from the corresponding communication device;

(c) transmitting the positioning data to other node devices; and

(d) the communication device of the tracker obtains the positioning data of the person to be tracked from the corresponding node device.

8. The position tracking method of claim 7, wherein step (b) comprises:

the node devices adjacent to the person to be tracked obtain the positioning data from the corresponding communication device.

9. The position tracking method of claim 7, wherein step (b) comprises:

when the communication device falls within the effective transmission distance of the node device of the person to be tracked, the communication device transmits the positioning data to the corresponding node device of the person to be tracked.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the node device comprises a mesh device.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the communication device comprises a mobile phone, a computer or a tablet computer.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the positioning data comprises a GPS position.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the plurality of node devices are interconnected by a first wireless communication path to form a mesh network, and the plurality of communication devices are connected to the corresponding node devices by a second wireless communication path.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the node device comprises a first communication protocol and a second communication protocol, the second communication protocol is different from the first communication protocol, and the first communication path communicates using the first communication protocol and the second communication path communicates using the second communication protocol.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first communication protocol comprises a webcam communication protocol and the second communication protocol comprises bluetooth, a wireless network, or/and a universal serial bus communication protocol.