GB2556031A - Bluetooth beacon - Google Patents

Abstract

A wireless notification device operable to define a region within a coverage area, the device comprising an identification code transmitter, a beam-forming subsystem and an antenna array. The beam-forming subsystem is operably coupled to the ID code transmitter and the antenna array. The beam-forming subsystem being operable to steer at least two antenna lobes such that they intersect each other within a region. The lobes transmitting an identification code identifying the region. A user device preferably within the region is arranged to receive the transmission of the identification code. The device preferably being arranged to perform a defined action based on the ID code received. The lobes preferably being steerable in orthogonal directions.

Description

(54) Title of the Invention: Bluetooth beacon Abstract Title: A wireless notification device (57) A wireless notification device operable to define a region within a coverage area, the device comprising an identification code transmitter, a beam-forming subsystem and an antenna array. The beam-forming subsystem is operably coupled to the ID code transmitter and the antenna array. The beam-forming subsystem being operable to steer at least two antenna lobes such that they intersect each other within a region. The lobes transmitting an identification code identifying the region. A user device preferably within the region is arranged to receive the transmission of the identification code. The device preferably being arranged to perform a defined action based on the ID code received. The lobes preferably being steerable in orthogonal directions.

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Bluetooth Beacon

Technical field

The present invention relates to radio-based alerting or notification equipment and in particular to a Bluetooth beacon system which is capable of accurately forming a spatial area within which a Bluetooth beacon signal may be received which may be remote from the location of the Bluetooth beacon transmission equipment.

Background

The reference in this specification to any prior publication (or information derived from it), or to any matter which is known, is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or admission or any form of suggestion that the prior publication (or information derived from it) or known matter forms part of the common general knowledge in the field of endeavour to which this specification relates.

Various mechanisms and systems exist to spatially locate and provide notifications or alerts to users who are carrying suitable user equipment (UE). In some examples, these systems rely upon the spatial location of a UE by the system itself, which may be an infrastructure-based system; in other examples, they rely upon a UE being able to spatially locate itself, perhaps with assistance from external infrastructure; in still further examples, these systems rely upon the local placement of short-range transmission equipment at a location at which alerts are required to be provided and which are only capable of alerting a UE over a very short distance. In this latter example case, the UE is not, strictly speaking, being spatially located; it is merely receiving alerts locally to its position.

Examples of systems which involve or enable geolocation may include: Wi-Fi based systems and light-based positioning systems; in both of these cases a separate alerting mechanism will typically be required.

An example of a system which relies upon the local placement of a short-range transmitting apparatus could be a Bluetooth beacon system or a Bluetooth LowEnergy (BLE) beacon system.

Various mechanisms have been proposed in order to spatially locate a person or object by means of locating a radio device which is present in the vicinity of the person or object, for example a radio unit attached to the object or located on the user’s person. One mechanism which has been proposed is to utilise modulated light, emanating from, for example, a light-emitting diode (LED) based lightbulb as a means for the UE to spatially locate itself within an area upon which that light falls. The light emanating from the bulb is picked up by a camera or other light sensor on the UE (with such cameras being commonly fitted to ‘smartphones’, for example) and by interpreting the data modulated onto the light, emanating from one or more suitablyequipped bulbs, the UE is able to ascertain its spatial position. This mechanism has the obvious disadvantages that it will not work if the UE is unable to see the modulated light, such as if the UE is carried in a pocket or handbag, or if other sources of light, such as sunlight, are stronger, masking the modulated light. A further disadvantage from the viewpoint of the infrastructure provider is that whilst the UE is enabled to determine its spatial location the infrastructure itself gains no knowledge of the UE’s location, unless the UE is willing or enabled to divulge that information. This is a particular problem in security-related applications since the UE could be programmed to ‘lie’ and report a different location to the place at which it was actually located.

Another spatial location mechanism often deployed is that of beacons. These beacons typically operate using the Bluetooth standard, since the required receiving and decoding equipment is commonly available (again being frequently included in ‘smartphone’ mobile telephony devices). A typical beacon will operate using the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol standard and will periodically transmit a short burst of data, at a low EIRP (effective isotropic radiated power) level, which identifies the presence of the beacon to a UE containing a suitably-equipped receiver (such as a smartphone) and communicates a numerical code to the receiver which uniquely identifies that beacon from others located in the same area, for example in a store or shopping mall. Based upon a digital code number received from the beacon, software associated with the receiver can ascertain the beacon’s location within an area, by means of a downloaded table of locations, and then ascertain broadly how close the receiver is located to the beacon, for example within lm of the beacon, by means of a signal strength measurement undertaken by the receiver upon the beacon’s transmission. Based upon this information, a UE can spatially locate itself within an area and, if appropriate, communicate this calculated location to an external system, via an available radio bearer, such as Wi-Fi or cellular. Note that here, again, the UE locates itself and the infrastructure has no knowledge of the UE’s location unless the UE willingly divulges this information (and does so truthfully).

A beacon-based spatial location system also suffers from a number of drawbacks. The management and maintenance of a sufficiently large number of beacons to enable accurate spatial location over a reasonable area, such as a shopping mall, is significant. Many hundreds of beacons are required and, in order to keep purchase and installation costs low, beacons are typically battery-powered. Each beacon therefore needs to be monitored regularly, to ensure that it is still operational and, in many cases, still present; beacons need to be placed very close (often <lm) to the people they are attempting to help to locate are therefore prone to theft. They are also frequently attached to their supporting surface, such as a wall, by some form of adhesive; when this fails, they fall off and are frequently lost.

Wi-Fi has also been employed to spatially locate users or objects. In a typical scenario, the Wi-Fi transmissions emanating from a UE are received by three or more Wi-Fi access points, with these access points being spatially-separated from each other by suitable distances in order to permit triangulation of the UE to be undertaken. An example scenario is shown in Figure 1; in this figure, three Wi-Fi access points are shown, 101, 103 and 105, each with a corresponding locus of equal received signal strength, 102, 104 and 106, respectively. Each access point measures the strength of the signal received from the UE and conveys this information to a location-calculation algorithm. This algorithm assumes an appropriate propagation model for the signals emanating from an access point located in the relevant environment, such as a cluttered environment or an open, uncluttered environment. Based upon the chosen propagation model and the signal strength received from the UE, a radius is calculated at which the UE is likely to be located, generating a circular locus of possible points at which the UE could be located around the access point, for example locus 102 surrounding access point 101. This process is performed independently for the three access points 101, 103, 105, generating the corresponding loci 102, 104, 106. The algorithm then calculates the point at which these three loci intersect, 107, and this forms the calculated location of the UE.

Whilst this technique is sound, in theory, it has many practical drawbacks which severely limit the accuracy which may be obtained. For example, in a cluttered and dynamic environment, such as a shopping mall containing a number of customers who are actively mobile, the measured signal strength at each access point will vary dynamically as the environment changes, caused for example by the shoppers moving around. When this is combined with the fact that the theoretical variation of signal strength with distance, at other than very short distances from an access point, is very small for relatively large changes in distance, it is evident that small measurement errors in the signal strength, by one or more of the access points, can result in very large errors (10’s of metres) in the spatial location reported by the algorithm.

A second Wi-Fi based spatial location technique involves the measurement of the difference in the signal propagation time from a UE to a number of antennas placed around the periphery of an access point. The access point implements an algorithm which searches, for example, for both the shortest propagation time and the longest propagation time for a given data burst to reach the antennas on the access point. It then assumes that the shortest propagation time corresponds to the antenna which is closest to the UE and the longest propagation time corresponds to the antenna which is furthest from the UE. The algorithm then traces a path from the antenna which registered the longest propagation time to the antenna which registered the shortest propagation time and this is interpreted to provide the bearing at which the UE sits relative to the access point. The propagation timing is then further interpreted to yield the distance at which the UE is located relative to the access point. The distance and bearing information is then combined with the known location of the access point to yield the spatial location of the UE.

Again, this approach has a number of disadvantages. Firstly, it is complex and large, typically requiring over 30 antennas to achieve a reasonable level of accuracy. Secondly, it is prone to misinterpreting information from reflected signals. Such signals will have a longer (often much longer) propagation time than will direct signals (which may be blocked by objects or people in a ‘real world’ environment). Any errors in this timing information can potentially severely impact both the bearing and distance calculations and thereby introduce significant errors into the reported spatial location.

It is the intention of one aspect of the present invention to provide an alerting system which overcomes the disadvantages of prior art Wi-Fi based spatial location and alerting systems and also the disadvantages of prior art Bluetooth-based alerting systems and specifically the requirement for multiple beacon devices to be placed at specified locations within a coverage area in order to provide alerting locally to those specified locations.

Summary of invention

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a notification or alerting system which is operable to provide notifications or alerts within one or more defined regions within a coverage area, the notification system comprising:

At least an identification code transmitter circuit, at least a beamforming system and at least an antenna array;

Wherein the at least a beamforming system and the at least an antenna array can form at least two steerable beams capable of directing radio frequency energy emanating from at least an identification code transmitter circuit in at least a specified direction;

And wherein the at least two steerable beams are steerable in non-parallel directions and are capable of being steered to providing a sufficient level of signal strength to enable adequate coverage to be achieved over a desired coverage area.

The at least a beamforming system and the at least an antenna array may alternatively or additionally be capable of varying a pointing angle of at least two antenna lobes independently under electronic control without the need to move either the antenna array or its constituent parts physically and wherein the at least two antenna lobes are arranged such that they may intersect at one or more pointing angles.

The antenna array may, for example, comprise at least a first sub-array and at least a second sub-array wherein the at least a second sub-array is oriented substantially orthogonally to the at least a first sub-array.

The at least a first sub-array may be arranged to generate at least a first lobe and the at least a second sub-array may be arranged to generate at least a second lobe wherein at least one of the first lobe and the second lobe has a shape which is substantially elongated in one plane and substantially narrower in a second, orthogonal, plane.

The at least a first lobe generated by the at least a first sub-array and the at least a second lobe generated by the at least a second sub-array may be arranged such that the direction in which the at least a first lobe is elongated is oriented substantially orthogonally to the direction in which the at least a second lobe is elongated.

The pointing angle of an antenna lobe of a first sub-array and the pointing angle of an antenna lobe of a second sub-array may be independently controllable in order to allow each to separately position a signal emanating from at least one identification code transmitter such that it covers a specified area with a specified level of signal strength.

The antenna array may further comprise an antenna array control system which can provide independent electronic control of the pointing angle for each of at least two antenna lobes.

The antenna array may further comprise a third sub-array which may be independently steerable by electronic means in order to control a pointing angle of a third antenna lobe which may also be used in a similar manner to that outlined above for the a first sub-array and the a second sub-array.

The antenna array control system may further comprise means to provide independent electronic control of the pointing angle of a third antenna lobe emanating from a third sub-array.

The at least a third sub-array may be operably-coupled to at least a third identification code transmitter circuit and at least a third beamforming system.

The antenna array control system may further comprise methods to determine, by means of calculations or otherwise, one or more spatial positions or regions at which or within which at least two of the independently-steerable antenna beams intersects or overlaps in coverage.

At least an antenna array and at least a beamforming system may be configured such that it can be shared with at least one of another transmitter or receiver from the same or a different system, wherein an example of a different system could be a Wi-Fi transceiver.

The identification code transmitter circuit or circuits may be capable of transmitting a number of different identification codes and may be reconfigured either locally or remotely to effect a change of one or more identification codes which may be transmitted by the identification code transmitter, wherein the reconfiguration process may be manual, for example undertaken by a system administrator, or it may be automated.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of generating a radio-based notification or alert within one or more defined regions within a coverage area, the method comprising:

Generating at least one identification code for transmission by one or more identification code transmitter circuits;

Transmitting the at least one identification code on at least one radio frequency carrier;

and

Steering the direction of radiation of the at least one radio frequency carrier by means of an electronic beam-steering system;

The method may further comprise the generation of at least two identification codes either simultaneously or sequentially by at least one identification code transmitter wherein each of the at least two identification codes are processed by separate electronic beam-steering or beamforming systems;

The above method wherein the separate electronic beam steering or beamforming systems are operably coupled to separate antenna arrays or sub-arrays;

The above method wherein the separate antenna arrays or sub-arrays are oriented such that they are non-parallel;

The above method wherein the separate antenna arrays or sub-arrays are oriented approximately orthogonally;

According to a still further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing a radio-based notification or alert within one or more defined regions within a coverage area, the method comprising:

Generating at least two identification codes for transmission by one or more identification code transmitter circuits;

Transmitting the at least two identification codes on at least one radio frequency carrier forming at least one lobe emanating from each of at least two antenna arrays or sub-arrays;

and

Independently steering the direction of radiation of the at least two radio frequency carriers by means of an electronic beam-steering system such that they intersect at at least one point or region within the coverage area.

The above method wherein the at least two identification codes may be transmitted simultaneously or sequentially on the at least one radio frequency carrier.

The above method wherein the at least two antenna arrays or sub-arrays are oriented such that they are mutually orthogonal in at least one axis and coplanar in at least one further axis.

The above method wherein at least one of the at least two lobes formed by the at least two antenna arrays or sub-arrays is arranged such that it has a shape which is substantially elongated in one plane and substantially narrower in a second, orthogonal, plane.

The above method wherein at least a first lobe is generated by the at least a first subarray and at least a second lobe is generated by the at least a second sub-array wherein the direction in which the at least a first lobe is elongated is oriented substantially orthogonally to the direction in which the at least a second lobe is elongated.

Brief description of the drawings

For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show more clearly how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the following drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows an outline view of a network architecture showing overlapping lines of constant received signal strength;

Figure 2 shows a block diagram of an access point incorporating BLE beacon functionality and a beamforming system according to one embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 3 shows a block diagram of a BLE beacon transmitter incorporating beamforming according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4 shows a coverage area for a BLE beacon system;

Figure 5 shows a detailed view of a bidirectional beamformer along with some associated elements of a BLE beacon and Wi-Fi access point system, according to one aspect of the present invention;

Figure 6 shows a detail view of an RF splitter subsystem;

Figure 7 shows a detail view of a digital subsystem which may form a part of a beamforming subsystem;

Figure 8 shows a detailed view of a unidirectional beamformer along with some associated elements of a BLE beacon system, according to one aspect of the present invention

Figure 9(a) shows a schematic planar view of an antenna array;

Figure 9(b) shows a schematic planar view of an alternative antenna array;

Figure 9(c) shows a schematic planar view of a further alternative antenna array;

Figure 9(d) shows a schematic planar view of a still further alternative antenna array;

Figure 10(a) shows a wireframe representation of a top view of an idealised approximation of an antenna radiation pattern of the form which could emanate from a horizontally-oriented linear multi-element antenna array;

Figure 10(b) shows a wireframe representation of a side view of an idealised approximation of an antenna radiation pattern of the form which could emanate from a linear multi-element antenna array;

Figure 10(c) shows a wireframe representation of a front (boresight) view of an idealised approximation of an antenna radiation pattern of the form which could emanate from a linear multi-element antenna array;

Figure 10(d) shows a wireframe representational 3D view of an approximation of an idealised antenna radiation pattern of the form which could emanate from a linear multi-element antenna array;

Figure 11(a) shows a wireframe representation of a rear (boresight) view of an approximation of two intersecting antenna radiation patterns of a form which could emanate from a horizontally-oriented linear multi-element antenna array and a vertically-oriented linear multi-element antenna array;

Figure 11(b) shows a detail view of intersecting wireframe radiation patterns of a form shown in Figure 11(a), highlighting an approximately rectilinear area of intersection;

Figure 11(c) illustrates the orientations of azimuth and elevation in relation to the diagrams shown in Figure 11(a) and Figure 11(b);

Figure 12 shows simplified 2D orthogonal radiation patterns emanating from two orthogonal antenna arrays placed on a ceiling of a room and radiating directly downward toward the floor of the room;

Figure 13 shows example simplified orthogonal radiation patterns emanating from two orthogonal antenna arrays oriented to provide a downward-pointing angle between a wall and a ceiling of a room and radiating at an angle toward the floor of the room;

Figure 14 shows a locus of the intersection between the two example simplified orthogonal radiation patterns shown in Figure 13 and a projection of the intersection of the example simplified orthogonal radiation patterns themselves with the floor of the room.

Detailed description

An example of a ‘virtual’ Bluetooth beacon system, which is capable of replicating the essential functionality associated with placing one or more Bluetooth beacons at any defined point or points within its coverage area, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The virtual Bluetooth beacon system to be described may make use of the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol and may make use of hardware, including integrated circuits, which has been designed for use with that protocol standard. Beacons designed to utilise the BLE protocol and which adhere to other aspects of the associated standards are typically referred to as BLE beacons.

The virtual Bluetooth beacon transmission system to be described herein consists of two main elements:

a) An electronically-steerable antenna system capable of forming at least two, independently-steerable beams wherein at least one of the independentlysteerable beams may be steered in a direction which is non-parallel (and, in a preferred embodiment, orthogonal) to the direction of steerage of at least another of the independently steerable beams;

b) One or more BLE transmitter modules or circuits which emit BLE protocolcompliant signals incorporating one or more pre-set identification codes and which are radiated by the at least two non-parallel (and typically orthogonal), independently-steerable beams;

In addition to the elements required to form a virtual Bluetooth beacon transmission system, a Bluetooth receiver will typically be utilised to receive the signals transmitted by the virtual Bluetooth beacon transmission system. For example, a UE incorporating a Bluetooth radio receiver which is capable of receiving radio signals from BLE modules or circuits and running a software program or initiating other functionality in response to one or more identification codes emitted by a BLE module may be used. Such UEs and receivers are known in the art and will only be discussed herein where relevant additional functionality may be beneficial to the operation of the overall virtual Bluetooth beacon system.

Example embodiments of these three elements will now be described in more detail, starting with an example of an electronically-steerable antenna system.

An example of the form of an access point 200 which is capable of electronic beamsteering operation and which may also incorporate accurate geolocation functionality and a virtual Bluetooth beacon capability is shown in Figure 2. The access point connects to a data network, for example an Internet Protocol (IP) network, via an interconnection 210, which could, for example, take the form of a CAT5, CAT5e or CAT6 cable or a fibre-optic cable or any other suitable connection means.

Network data signals are transmitted over a data network and received from a data network by means of network interface 201. Network interface 201 translates the data signals to and from a network protocol, such as the Internet Protocol, and feeds user data and other data to a processor/control system 202. Processor/control system 202 fulfils at least two primary functions: firstly it performs further processing upon user and other data received from network interface 201 and passes this further processed data to transceiver circuits 203 as well as, separately, processing the data received from transceiver circuits 203 and performing processing on this data before feeding it to network interface 201; secondly it generates control signals which are fed to beamforming subsystems 204, 205 and 206. In many access point implementations, processor/control system 202 and transceiver circuits 203 are implemented as integrated circuits and in some of these implementations processor/control system 202 and transceiver circuits 203 are integrated into the same integrated circuit.

The example of an access point system provided in Figure 2 shows three beamforming subsystems 204, 205 and 206, however this should not be taken as a limiting example and a greater or a lesser number of beamforming subsystems may be controlled by processor/control system 202. Specifically, in an example configuration in which transceiver circuits 203 consist of 4x4 multiple-input, multiple-output (ΜΙΜΟ) transceiver circuits, then up to four beam-forming subsystems could be connected to processor/control system 202. Likewise, in a further example configuration in which transceiver circuits 203 consist of 2x2 multiple-input, multiple-output (ΜΙΜΟ) transceiver circuits, then as few as two beam-forming subsystems may be connected to processor/control system 202.

Beamforming subsystems 204, 205 and 206 are connected to antenna elements forming antenna arrays 207, 208 and 209 respectively. For example, beam-forming subsystem 204 connects to antenna elements 207a, 207b, 207c and 207d in antenna array 207. Likewise, beam-forming subsystem 205 connects to antenna elements 208a, 208b, 208c and 208d in antenna array 208 and beam-forming subsystem 206 connects to antenna elements 209a, 209b, 209c and 209d in antenna array 209. The operation of beamforming subsystems 204, 205 and 206, together with antenna arrays 207, 208 and 209 and transceiver circuits 203 will be described in more detail below.

In one embodiment, transceiver circuits 203 could consist of digital transmitter and receiver circuits which act to form digital representations of modulated signals to be transmitted, in their transmit circuitry, or to decode or demodulate digital representations of modulated received signals, in their receive circuitry, or both. In this embodiment, signals transmitted to and received from beam-formers 204, 205 and 206 could be digital signals and the beam-formers 204, 205 and 206 could be digital beam-formers, in which amplitude and/or phase weightings are imposed upon the signals they process digitally (separately or together in either transmit or receive directions), for example by means of digital multiplication of these amplitude and phase weightings with digital representations of the signals passing through the beamformers, in order to present signals which, when converted to or from analogue form, serve to point the beams formed by antenna arrays 207, 208 and 209 in one or more desired directions.

In another embodiment, transceiver circuits 203 could consist of both digital and analogue transmitter and receiver circuits which act to form analogue modulated signals to be transmitted, in their transmit circuitry, or to decode or demodulate analogue modulated received signals, in their receive circuitry. In this embodiment, signals transmitted to and received from beamformers 204, 205 and 206 could be analogue signals and the beamformers 204, 205 and 206 could be analogue beamformers, in which amplitude and/or phase weightings are imposed upon the signals they process using passive or active analogue signal processing techniques (separately or together in either transmit or receive directions), for example by means of a Rotman Lens, a Butler Matrix, a Blass Matrix or a Nolen Matrix or any other suitable circuit configuration as is known in the art, in order to present signals which serve to point the beams formed by antenna arrays 207, 208 and 209 in one or more desired directions.

In a still further embodiment, transceiver circuits 203 could additionally or alternately consist of BLE beacon transmitter circuits acting to form BLE beacon signals, which are typically generated and modulated onto a carrier within a single integrated circuit with the output from that integrated circuit being in the form of an analogue RF signal. In this embodiment, signals transmitted to beamformers 204, 205 and 206 could be analogue signals and the beamformers 204, 205 and 206 could be analogue beamformers, in which amplitude and/or phase weightings are imposed upon the signals they process using passive or active analogue signal processing techniques (separately or together in either transmit or receive directions), for example by means of a Rotman Lens, a Butler Matrix, a Blass Matrix or a Nolen Matrix or any other suitable circuit configuration as is known in the art, in order to present signals which serve to point the beams formed by antenna arrays 207, 208 and 209 in one or more desired directions.

In one embodiment, processor/control system 202 may provide beam position information, coefficients or co-ordinates, in the form of gain, amplitude or phase weightings, in-phase and quadrature weightings, or any other suitable mechanism and in a suitable format such that beam-formers 204, 205 and 206 can direct one or more beams emanating from antenna arrays 207, 208 and/or 209 in directions determined by the processor/control system 202. In this way, processor/control system 202 is able to control the direction of beams formed by beam-formers 204, 205 and 206 in either or both of transmit and receive directions and is further capable of steering beams in different directions for transmit and receive signals from the same antenna array by means of applying different beam-forming coefficients to received signals than those applied to transmit signals. This may be possible, without recourse to duplex or diplex filtering of transmit and receive signals, since many systems, for example WiFi systems, such as those based upon the IEEE 802.11 standards, utilise a timedivision duplex (TDD) protocol with transmission and reception times being divided into separate time-slots or frames and it is therefore possible to select different beamsteering coefficients during receive time-slots to those used during transmit time-slots. Furthermore, it is possible to steer individual transmit and receive beams to individual

UEs, since each time-slot, from a given access point, is typically dedicated to transmitting signals to or receiving signals from a single UE.

Take, as an example, an access point AP#1 which has two UEs: UE#1 and UE#2, associated with it. Both UEs are assumed to be actively transmitting and receiving data from the access point quasi-simultaneously. UE#1 transmits its first data packet to access point AP#1 in time-slot #1 and beamformers 204, 205 and 206 accept beamsteering coefficients 204-UE#l-Rx, 205-UE#l-Rx and 206-UE#l-Rx respectively. It is not necessary that the beams formed by the three arrays 207, 208 and 209 point in the same or a similar direction as each other; it may be, for example, that one or more beams are directed to receive one or more strong reflected signals from UE#1 rather than a direct signal.

In time-slot #2, UE#2 is expecting to receive its first data packet from access point AP#1 and beamformers 204, 205 and 206 in access point AP#1 accept beam-steering coefficients 204-UE#2-Tx, 205-UE#2-Tx and 206-UE#2-Tx respectively, which act to direct transmit beams from access point AP#1 to best serve UE#2 with its intended data packet. Again, beams formed by the three arrays 207, 208 and 209 may not point in the same direction as each other.

In time-slot #3, UE#1 is expecting to receive its first data packet from access point AP#1 and beamformer 204, 205 and 206 in access point AP#1 accept beam-steering coefficients 204-UE#l-Tx, 205-UE#l-Tx and 206-UE#l-Tx respectively, which act to direct transmit beams from access point AP#1 to best serve UE#1 with its intended data packet. Again, beams formed by the three arrays 207, 208 and 209 may not point in the same direction as each other.

In time-slot #4, UE#2 is expecting to transmit its first data packet from access point AP#1 and the beam-formers 204, 205 and 206 in access point AP#1 accept beamsteering coefficients 204-UE#2-Rx, 205-UE#2-Rx and 206-UE#2-Rx respectively, which act to direct transmit beams from access point AP#1 to best receive a data packet from UE#2. Again, beams formed by the three arrays 207, 208 and 209 may not point in the same direction as each other.

This process of beam-steering to best serve UEs in respect of their transmitted and received data packets can continue in a similar manner, utilising different or the same beam-steering coefficients for each UE and different or the same beam-steering coefficients for transmit (downlink) or receive (uplink) signals. Note that the order of transmit and receive data packets outlined above is not proscriptive. For example, it may be that two or more downlink data packets occur directed at a single UE or separately at more than one UE and that these packets are consecutive, with no intervening uplink data packet. Likewise, it may be that two or more uplink data packets occur directed at a single UE or separately at more than one UE and that these packets are consecutive, with no intervening downlink data packet. Beamforming coefficients may be assigned to each packet in the manner outlined above, with different or the same coefficients being used in the uplink or downlink directions and different or the same coefficients being used for one or more UEs.

The above discussion has been simplified for clarity and does not include discussion of any broadcast packets, such as Wi-Fi beacon packets, any acknowledgement packets and the like.

In an alternative embodiment, beamformers 204, 205 and 206 may accept beamsteering coefficients 204-BLE#l, 205-BLE#l and 206-BLE#l respectively and steer their respective antenna beams in a direction toward a UE. In this embodiment, for example, beamformer 204 could receive a signal containing a first BLE identification code, from transceiver circuits 203, whilst beamformer 205 could simultaneously or subsequently receive a signal containing a second BLE identification code, from transceiver circuits 203 and, optionally, beamformer 206 could simultaneously or subsequently receive a signal containing a third BLE identification code, from transceiver circuits 203. These signals may then be processed by their respective beamformers 204, 205, 206 and passed to antenna arrays 207, 208, 209 respectively. Each antenna array may then radiate a signal in the form of a beam containing its respective BLE identification code in a direction determined by its respective beamsteering coefficients 204-BLE#l, 205-BLE#l and 206-BLE#l. In a typical scenario, at least two of these signal beams would intersect at a desired location in space, such that a first UE located at that location would receive strong signals containing at least two different BLE identification codes and a second UE which was placed at a different location, such that it was not at an intersection of at least two beams, would experience a poorer signal strength for at least one signal containing at least one BLE identification code.

A UE may be required to receive at least two BLE identification codes simultaneously or in relatively quick succession, such that a UE is unlikely to have moved a significant distance between receiving each of the at least two identification codes. Furthermore, a UE may additionally be required to receive the at least two identification codes at a similar level of signal strength to each other such that, say, there is less than XdB of difference between their signal strength levels at their respective quasi-simultaneous times of measurement. If a UE receives BLE signals which meet these criteria, then it may test the identification codes against a database of identification codes and ascertain if the codes are recognised; if so, then the UE may undertake one or more subsequent actions based upon one or both of the codes, for example it may run a piece of software, such as an ‘Ap’ or it may provide information or an alert to a user of the UE in at least one of an auditory or visual format or it may undertake any other appropriate action.

In a further alternative embodiment, only a single identification code may be employed at a given location. Here, again, beamformers 204, 205 and 206 accept beam-steering coefficients 204-BLE#l, 205-BLE#l and 206-BLE#l respectively and steer their respective antenna beams in a direction toward a UE. In this example embodiment, however, beamformer 204 could receive a signal containing a first BLE identification code, from transceiver circuits 203, and also beamformer 205 could subsequently receive a signal containing the same, first, BLE identification code, from transceiver circuits 203 and, optionally, beamformer 206 could subsequently receive a signal again containing a first BLE identification code, from transceiver circuits 203. These signals may then be processed by their respective beamformers 204, 205, 206 and provided to antenna arrays 207, 208, 209 respectively, as previously. Each antenna array will then radiate a signal beam containing a first BLE identification code in a direction determined by its respective beam-steering coefficients 204BLE#1, 205-BLE#l and 206-BLE#l, however each subsequent signal will be delayed with respect to the first signal transmitted such that a UE will receive distinct transmissions, one after another (although not necessarily immediately after each other), each containing the same or a similar identification code. In a typical scenario, at least two of these signal beams would again intersect at a desired location in space, albeit possibly with a time delay between their respective existences, such that a first UE located at that location may receive at least two relatively strong signals containing the same BLE identification code at slightly differing times and a second UE which was placed at a different location, such that it was not at an intersection of at least two beams, may experience a poorer signal strength for at least one signal containing the BLE identification code.

As previously, a UE may be required to receive a first BLE identification code twice in relatively quick succession, such that a UE is unlikely to have moved a significant distance between receiving each of the at least two versions of the same identification code. Furthermore, a UE may additionally be required to receive the at least two versions of the same identification code at a similar level of signal strength to each other such that, say, there is less than XdB of difference between their signal strength levels at their respective quasi-simultaneous times of measurement. If a UE receives BLE signals which meet these criteria, then it may test the identification code against a database of identification codes and ascertain if the code is recognised; if so, then the UE may again undertake one or more subsequent actions based upon the received code, for example it may run a piece of software, such as an ‘Ap’ or it may provide information or an alert to a user of the UE in at least one of an auditory or visual format or it may undertake any other appropriate action.

The above apparatus and methods result in a system in which a valid ‘ping’, notification or alert is only likely to be recognised by a UE when a valid identification code is received and when it is received whilst the UE is placed at a particular location or within a particular region of a coverage area, as determined by the beam positions set by at least two of beamformers 204, 205, 206 in response to at least two of beamsteering coefficients 204-BLE#l, 205-BLE#l and 206-BLE#l. If one or more of at least two of beam-steering coefficients 204-BLE#l, 205-BLE#l and 206-BLE#l are altered by an appreciable amount, then the spatial position or positions at which a valid ‘ping’, notification or alert is recognised by a UE may change location. The area over which the ‘ping’, notification or alert is recognised and acted upon by a UE is typically set by the value of X (the maximum allowable signal strength difference, in dB, discussed above) - a larger value for X will result in a greater area over which a UE will accept an identification code as potentially being valid.

Thus a ‘virtual’ BLE beacon can be realised the valid coverage area of which may be placed at any one or more chosen locations or regions within an overall coverage area, wherein a coverage area is typically defined by the limits to a steering capability of the beam-steering antenna system.

In any of the above example embodiments, BLE beacon signals and Wi-Fi signals may be combined for transmission using partially or wholly the same antenna array. This may take the form of a summation process in which a BLE beacon signal on frequency FI and a Wi-Fi signal on frequency F2, where F2 does not equal FI, are summed together at radio frequency (for example by means of a hybrid combiner or any other suitable combining technique). Alternatively, one or more BLE beacon signals and one or more Wi-Fi signals may be combined in the time domain, for example by ensuring that all Wi-Fi transmission frames are off or suspended at a time when a BLE transmission is required to take place, or vice-versa; this combining mechanism may allow both Wi-Fi and BLE signals to occupy the same or overlapping frequencies.

Figure 3 shows another example embodiment of a virtual BLE beacon system 300 in which aspects of a complete wireless access point solution have been omitted. Figure

3 bears many similarities to Figure 2 and like components are provided with like reference numerals and thus will not be described further herein.

In Figure 3 processor/control system 302 no longer has a wired or physical connection to an external network either directly or via a network interface module. Processor/control system 302 is able to communicate a BLE beacon code or codes to

BLE beacon circuits 303 via connection 310. Alternatively, processor/control system 302 is able to stimulate the transmission of a defined BLE beacon code or codes by BLE beacon circuits 303 via signals transmitted along connection 310. In this or a similar manner, one or more pre-defined BLE beacon codes may be transmitted to a specified area or areas via at least any two of beamformers 304, 305 and 306.

In a further embodiment of a virtual BLE beacon system, it is possible to transmit an identification code or codes multiple times with each being transmitted at a slightly different beam position for one or more of the beams; in this way a larger virtual BLE beacon area or an arbitrarily-shaped area may be created. For example, to create an area which is very precisely defined, a low value for X may be chosen, perhaps in the range l-3dB, and a relatively large number of slightly different beam positions used to provide spots of overlapping BLE coverage which, when taken together, encompass the required valid coverage area; this scenario is illustrated in Figure 4.

On the left-hand side of Figure 4, four example BLE coverage areas 401, 402, 403, 404 are illustrated, each centred on a slightly different location, with each, for example, being the result of a slightly different beam-steering location having been chosen for one or more beamformers to which at least one BLE beacon circuit has been connected. These beam-steering locations may, for example, be switched sequentially, in rapid succession, or they may be interspersed with other beamsteering locations which may form other clusters or individual, single, locations or any other combination of locations (or none).

Taken together, the four example BLE coverage areas 401, 402, 403, 404 illustrated in Figure 4 effectively combine to form a single BLE coverage area 405 which is illustrated by the shaded amorphous shape shown on the right-hand side of Figure 4. If the separate beam-steering positions forming BLE coverage areas 401, 402, 403, 404 are revisited by the beam steering system sufficiently quickly, a UE may be unlikely to have transited the combined single BLE coverage area 405 or potentially any significant part of that area, without having received at least a transmission from the BLE beacon. In this manner, single BLE coverage area 405 can effectively form a single, arbitrarily-shaped, BLE beacon coverage area resulting from a combination of BLE coverage areas 401, 402, 403, 404.

Returning, now, to a possible internal architecture for one or more of the beamformers 204, 205 and 206 shown in Figure 2 or their equivalents in Figure 3, Figure 5 shows an example architecture 500 for a complete beamforming system comprising a single bi-directional beamforming subsystem 515, together with an antenna array 507 and some of the ancillary elements of a transceiver and control system including blocks

501, 502 and 503. In Figure 5, blocks 501, 502 and 503 have analogous functions to blocks 201, 202 and 203 respectively shown in Figure 2 and in particular, block 503 may incorporate a BLE transmitter or BLE transmitter functionality in addition to, for example, Wi-Fi transmitter or transceiver functionality.

At a high-level, example architecture 500 consists of a bi-directional beamforming subsystem 515, an antenna array 507 and elements of a transceiver system and a network interface, including: transceiver/BLE circuits 503, processor/control system 502 and network interface circuits 501.

Data signals and data traffic are received and transmitted from an external data network, for example an IP-based network, via interface 514. These signals are processed by network interface circuits 501 and relevant parts of the data are passed to, or accepted from, processor/control system 502. Processor/control system 502 typically forms payload data into packets ready for transmission by transceiver/BLE circuits 503 or extracts payload data from received packets before passing this data to network interface circuits 501, depending upon the direction in which the data is intended to travel, either to or from connected UEs, for example.

Taking an example of a downlink transmission, such as a transmission from an access point to a UE; transceiver/BLE circuits 503 may send a radio-frequency transmission to splitter/combiner 506 containing payload data intended for a UE plus additional preamble, synchronisation and other control data to ensure that payload data is received safely by a UE. At roughly the same time, processor/control system 502 may send a burst or stream of beam pointing data using connection 502a to digital circuits 504 where this beam pointing data contains information regarding the desired beam pointing direction in which the payload data should be directed by antenna array 507. Beam pointing data travelling along connection 502a may be of any suitable format, for example it could provide direct angular pointing values in degrees relative to a boresight direction for an antenna array, it could provide a series of arbitrarilydetermined numbers with which to address a look-up table within digital circuits 504 or it could directly contain values to feed through to digital-to-analogue converter array 505 such that when these values are loaded into digital-to-analogue converters housed in the array then a resulting beam formed by the remainder of the beamformer, as will be described below, can point in a desired direction, to serve a UE for example or it could contain any other suitable values, encoded or otherwise, which can be used or interpreted in order to steer an antenna beam to point in a desired direction.

It should be noted that whilst Figure 5 illustrates an embodiment in which connection 502a is formed between processor/control system 502 and digital circuits 504, in a second embodiment connection 502a could be formed between transceiver/BLE circuits 503 and digital circuits 504, since transceiver/BLE circuits 503 may also contain or alternately contain or be able to derive, data corresponding to a desired pointing angle and packet transmission order for RF data packets which are required to be radiated by antenna array 507.

Data travelling along connection 502a relating to a desired beam pointing angle for a data packet intended for a given UE may be provided immediately prior to a transmission of a packet intended for that UE or it may be provided simultaneously with a transmission of a packet intended for that UE. In the latter case, given that it will take a finite amount of time for any data transmitted along connection 502a to be processed by digital circuits 504, digital-to-analogue converter array 505 and the remaining circuits contained within bi-directional beamforming subsystem 515, it is possible that a beam may not be directed in a desired direction, say toward a UE, prior to the start of transmission of a data packet intended for that UE. This is not typically of concern since the beginning of a typical data packet may contain preamble or synchronisation or other non-payload data and this preamble or other non-payload data is typically repeated a number of times; the loss of a part or all of a single repeat or a minority of repeats of this information is therefore typically of little concern.

Processor/control system 502 is able to communicate a BLE beacon code or codes to transceiver/BLE circuits 503 via connection 502b. Alternatively, processor/control system 502 is able to stimulate the transmission of a defined BLE beacon code or codes by transceiver/BLE circuits 503 via signals transmitted along connection 502b. In this or a similar manner, one or more pre-defined BLE beacon codes may be transmitted to a specified area or areas via at least any two beamformers, a single example for which is bi-directional beamforming subsystem 515.

Digital circuits 504 may receive beam-steering directional information which has travelled along connection 502a and interpret, translate or otherwise process this information in order to provide one or more digital values to pass to digital-toanalogue converter array 505. Processing carried out by digital circuits 504 may take many forms, such as decoding, look-up-table based processing or any other suitable digital processing in order to transform beam-steering directional information received along connection 502a into one or more digital values to be loaded into one or more digital-to-analogue converters within digital-to-analogue converter array 505. One example architecture for digital circuits 504 will be described below with reference to Figure 7.

In one embodiment of a beam-steering subsystem, digital-to-analogue converter array 505 contains four digital-to-analogue converters as shown in block 705 of Figure 7. Each digital-to-analogue converter connects to a corresponding variable gain or attenuation element for example variable attenuator elements 508a, 508b, 508c, 508d shown in Figure 5; these variable attenuator elements may be constructed by any suitable means, including PIN diodes, Field Effect Transistors (FETs), quadrature hybrid circuits, variable ‘T’ or ‘Pi’ attenuator circuits or any other suitable bidirectional attenuator circuits. It is thus possible for processor/control system 502 (or, in an alternative embodiment, transceiver/BLE circuits 503) to control an amount of radio-frequency (RF) signal permitted to pass through variable attenuator elements 508a, 508b, 508c, 508d. An amount of RF signal passing through variable attenuator elements 508a, 508b, 508c, 508d can therefore change in response to each new piece of beam-steering directional information which passes into digital circuits 504 along connection 502a. It could typically, for example, change for each Wi-Fi data packet or BLE beacon data packet to be transmitted to each UE, thereby enabling RF attenuation values imposed upon each individual data packet by variable attenuator elements 508a, 508b, 508c, 508d to be different or the same. As will be shown below, this ability to impose individual RF attenuation values upon each individual data packet allows a suitably-designed beamformer to point in a particular specified direction for a particular individual packet. Thus individual packets may be directed to individual UEs or specific spatial positions resulting in each individual UE benefitting from its own antenna beam or beams at any and all times at which packets intended for that UE or that spatial locationare being transmitted.

Consider, now, an RF signal path through the example beamformer system shown in Figure 5. Transceiver/BLE circuits 503 may transmit an RF packet to splitter/combiner 506. As will be discussed below in relation to Figure 6, splitter/combiner 506 splits an RF input signal emanating from transceiver/BLE circuits 503, in this example, into four RF outputs (or combines four RF paths into a single output path, in the case of received or uplink packets, for onward transmission to transceiver/BLE circuits 503). Taking a downlink or transmit-direction example, splitter/combiner 506 receives an RF packet from transceiver/BLE circuits 503 and splits this signal into four RF outputs which are approximately equal in power but with differing relative phases. Each RF output from splitter/combiner 506 feeds a variable attenuator element 508a, 508b, 508c, 508d and these variable attenuator elements impose specified amounts of attenuation upon signals passing through them, in response to a desired beam-steering angle provided by processor/control system 502 (or transceiver/BLE circuits 503) and interpreted by digital circuits 504 and digital-to-analogue converter array 505, as discussed above. Thus, the output signal powers from variable attenuators 508a, 508b, 508c, 508d may not be equal, unlike their input signal powers which are typically approximately equal.

The RF signals emanating from variable attenuators 508a, 508b, 508c, 508d are connected to transmit/receive switches 509a, 509b, 509c and 509d respectively. In cases where it is desired to transmit a packet, these switches are set to their transmit positions (as shown in Figure 5) and feed RF signals from variable attenuators 508a, 508b, 508c, 508d through to RF power amplifiers 511a, 511b, 511c and 51 Id respectively. In cases where it is desired to receive a packet, these switches are set to their receive positions and feed RF signals from low noise amplifiers 512a, 512b, 512c and 512 through to variable attenuators 508a, 508b, 508c and 508d respectively.

Taking, again, a downlink example scenario, output signals from RF power amplifiers 511a, 511b, 511c, 51 Id are passed to second transmit/receive switches 510a, 510b, 510c and 510d respectively, with these switches being set to their transmit positions (as shown in Figure 5). The RF output signals from these switches then feed beamformer circuits 513. Beamformer circuits 513 may consist of active or passive elements as are known in the art which alter either or both of the amplitude and phase of their incident RF signals (in this downlink example, these incident signals come from second transmit/receive switches 510a, 510b, 510c, 510d) in order to create a phase taper, an amplitude taper or both for the signals emanating from the beamformer circuits 513. This taper is arranged such that when the resulting individual signals emanating from beamformer circuits 513 are radiated by antenna elements 507a, 507b, 507c, 507d of antenna array 507 the resulting spatially-combined signal forms a beam in a far-field of the antenna array which is angled relative to boresight by an amount determined by the relative amplitude and phase of the input signals to beamformer circuits 513.

Examples of known beamformer circuits which may be utilised in part or in whole as beamfomer circuits 513 include but are not limited to: one or more Rotman Lenses, Butler matrices, Blass matrices, Nolen matrices, arrays of phase-shifting devices, microstrip, stripline, waveguide or coplanar-waveguide passive structures or any other suitable circuit configuration as are known in the art.

The above discussion of Figure 5 has largely concentrated upon its utilisation in a downlink (transmit) direction. It is equally possible to utilise the same or a similar architecture for uplink or receive signals, for example Wi-Fi signals, with each element performing a similar function to that just described. In an uplink or signal reception example, signals to be received are incident upon antenna elements 507a, 507b, 507c, 507d of antenna array 507 and are fed to beamformer circuits 513. Beamformer circuits 513 are typically formed from passive, bi-directional components, such as microstrip lines or stripline elements and can therefore pass signals in either direction. In this uplink or reception example, received signals from antenna elements 507a, 507b, 507c, 507d of antenna array 507 are processed by beamformer circuits 513 and fed to second transmit/receive switches 510a, 510b, 510c, 510d which are now set to their receive positions. The receive outputs of second transmit/receive switches 510a, 510b, 510c, 510d are connected to low-noise amplifiers 512a, 512b, 512c, 512d where they are amplified prior to feeding the receive ports of transmit/receive switches 509a, 509b, 509c and 509d respectively. Transmit/receive switches 509a, 509b, 509c and 509d are now switched to pass the output signals from low-noise amplifiers 512a, 512b, 512c, 512d through to variable attenuators 508a, 508b, 508c, 508d, respectively.

As was the case when operating in a downlink direction the attenuation levels imposed upon the signals passing through the variable attenuators 508a, 508b, 508c, 508d are determined by the beam-steering directional information which passes into digital circuits 504 along connection 502a. The variable attenuators 508a, 508b, 508c, 508d are bi-directional and will pass signals similarly well in both directions and impose a similar level of attenuation, in response to the control voltages fed to them from digital-to-analogue converter array 505, irrespective of the direction in which the RF signals travel through them.

The RF output signals from variable attenuators 508a, 508b, 508c, 508d are passed to splitter/combiner 506, which now acts as an RF signal combiner. The combined signal output from splitter/combiner 506 feeds RF signals to transceiver/BLE circuits 503 which process and decode them, as appropriate, typically feeding data packets to processor/control system 502 which, in turn, feeds payload data to network interface circuits 501. Finally, network interface circuits 501 appropriately encode, packetize and send the payload data on to a data network via interface 514.

Figure 6 shows a detail view of one embodiment of a bi-directional splitter/combiner 600 of a type which could be employed as splitter/combiner 506 of Figure 5. When operating as a splitter, a signal enters bi-directional splitter/combiner 600 via port 601. The signal passes to an in-phase splitter/combiner 602 which divides the signal into two near-identical signals with approximately equal amplitudes and relative phases. The upper output signal from in-phase splitter/combiner 602 feeds a 180 degree splitter/combiner 603 whilst the lower output signal from in-phase splitter/combiner 602 feeds a second 180 degree splitter/combiner 604. The upper output signal from 180 degree splitter/combiner 603 is connected to port 605 and this output signal is approximately equal in amplitude to, but 180 degrees out of phase with, the lower output signal from 180 degree splitter/combiner 603, which is in turn connected to port 606. Likewise, the upper output signal from the second 180 degree splitter/combiner 604 is connected to port 607 and this output signal is approximately equal in amplitude to, but 180 degrees out of phase with, the lower output signal from

180 degree splitter/combiner 604, which is in turn connected to port 608. Thus the relative amplitudes of the signals present at ports 605, 606, 607 and 608 are typically approximately equal, assuming that all four ports are terminated by similar terminating impedances, and their relative phase relationships will be approximately:

Upper port (605): 180 degrees

Upper middle port (606): 0 (Zero) degrees

Lower middle port (607): 0 (zero) degrees

Lower port (608): 180 degrees

Alternatively, these approximate phase relationships could equally be stated as:

Upper port (605): 0 (Zero) degrees

Upper middle port (606): 180 degrees

Lower middle port (607): 180 degrees

Lower port (608): 0 (Zero) degrees

Or any other sets of values in which the following approximate phase differences 15 apply:

Approximate phase difference between upper port 605 and upper middle port 606: +/-180 degrees

Approximate phase difference between upper middle port 606 and lower middle port 607: 0 (zero) degrees

Approximate phase difference between lower middle port 607 and lower port

608: +/-180 degrees

Approximate phase difference between upper port 605 and lower port 608: 0 (zero) degrees

When operating as a combiner, bi-directional splitter/combiner 600 has four input ports 605, 606, 607, 608 and one output port 601. Signals entering bi-directional splitter/combiner 600 via ports 605 and 606 are combined in inverse phase; this could be viewed as one of the signals, say that entering via port 605, undergoing an approximately 180 degree phase shift prior to combining with a signal entering via port 606. Likewise, signals entering bi-directional splitter/combiner 600 via ports 607 and 608 are also combined in inverse phase; this could be viewed as one of the signals, say that entering via port 608, undergoing an approximately 180 degree phase shift prior to combining with a signal entering via port 607. The output signals from 180 degree splitter/combiner 603 (which would emanate from its terminal labelled “I/O” in Figure 6) and the output signals from 180 degree splitter/combiner 604 (which would also emanate from its terminal labelled “I/O” in Figure 6) are then combined, approximately in phase, by in-phase splitter/combiner 602 with the resulting combined signal providing an output signal at port 601.

Figure 7 shows a digital beam position decoding mechanism 700 consisting of an example detailed view 704 of digital circuits 504 shown in Figure 5 and a further example detailed view 705 of digital-to-analogue converter array 505 shown in Figure 5 together with some of the interconnections between them. In this example, data corresponding to a desired beam steering angle enters digital circuits 704 via port 701. This data could take the form of a serial data stream, a parallel data stream or any other form of data transmission, protocol or methodology. Data entering at port 701 is supplied to decoding processing 702 within which it is converted to a format which can be used to index a look-up-table. Decoding processing 702 could, for example, incorporate a serial-to-parallel conversion process, a storage process, a numerical scaling or calculation process, a translation process, for example translating from a beam angle expressed in degrees to an index or pointer value in order to index or point to a value or values in one or more look-up-tables or any other required processing.

A decoded, translated or otherwise processed value or set of values resulting from processing undertaken in decoding processing 702 is provided to look-up-table processing 703. Look-up-table processing 703 takes a value or values provided by decoding processing 702, which represent a desired beam-pointing angle, and converts the value or values into a number of digital representations of desired analogue voltages or currents needed to apply appropriate attenuation levels in variable attenuators 508a, 508b, 508c, 508d of Figure 5 in order to steer a beam in a desired direction. Look-up-table processing 703 typically takes the form of a deterministic process meaning that a given input value or values will typically generate a similar or the same set of output values each time it is presented, with these output values then being sent to digital-to-analogue converters 705a, 705b, 705c, 705d of digital-toanalogue converter array 705 which in turn will generate a similar set of voltages or currents to those generated at any other time the same (given) input value or values are provided at port 701. Whilst a look-up table is one solution to the processing required in look-up-table processing element 703 it is not the only option and any other digital logic or computer-executable software or code which is capable of fulfilling a similar function could equally be used. An advantage in choosing a hardware or firmware implementation, however, is that of speed, which in turn can minimise the portion of any preamble data which may not be correctly directed at the desired UE (as the decoding/steering process has yet to complete its operation due to the finite processing time required within digital circuits 704 and digital-to-analogue converter array 705). One example implementation method for digital circuits 704 is that of a look-up-table implemented in a form of programmable logic device, such as a Combinatorial Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) or any other appropriate logic device.

Four basic interconnections are shown between digital circuits 704 and digital-toanalogue converter array 705 in Figure 7; each of these interconnections could consist of n physical connections, where n may be the number of bits of resolution of a digital-to-analogue converter in an example embodiment in which parallel digital-toanalogue converters are employed in digital-to-analogue converter array 705. In one embodiment n could be 8 for example, or n could be any other suitable integer. In addition to the four basic interconnections shown between digital circuits 704 and digital-to-analogue converter array 705 in Figure 7, further interconnections (not shown) may be required, such as chip-select lines, lines to indicate to which digital-toanalogue converter a given set of bits should be directed or connections to facilitate any other control or other functionality required in a particular implementation.

The analogue voltage or current outputs from digital-to-analogue converters 705a, 705b, 705c, 705d of digital-to-analogue converter array 705 are provided at ports 706a, 706b, 706c and 706d respectively.

Figure 8 shows a further example embodiment of a virtual BLE beacon system 800 in which aspects of a complete wireless access point solution have been omitted. Figure 8 bears many similarities to Figure 5 and like components are provided with like reference numerals and thus will not be described further herein.

Figure 8 illustrates a BLE beacon system in isolation and not as a part of a wireless access point. In this case a number of the elements shown in Figure 5 may no longer be required, since the system is now unidirectional and only processes transmit data packets. The elements of Figure 5 which may be omitted in this case include: the lownoise amplification elements 512a, 512b, 512c 512d, together with the switch elements 509a, 509b, 509c, 509d and 510a, 510b, 510c, 510d. The remaining elements form a unidirectional beamformer 815 and this operates in a similar manner to the downlink or transmit-direction example discussed above in relation to Figure 5 although with the switches omitted, which renders their positions, as described above in relation to Figure 5, mute.

Processor/control system 802 is able to communicate at least a BLE beacon code or codes to transceiver/BLE circuits 803 via connection 802b. Alternatively, processor/control system 802 is able to stimulate the transmission of a defined BLE beacon code or codes by transceiver/BLE circuits 803 via signals transmitted along connection 802b. In this or a similar manner, one or more pre-defined BLE beacon codes may be transmitted to a specified area or areas via at least any two beamformers, a single example of which is unidirectional beamforming subsystem 815.

In order to utilise the above-discussed or similar beam-forming techniques for spatial location or BLE beacon transmission purposes, the configuration and orientation of beam-forming antenna arrays 207, 208 and 209 (and their equivalents in Figure 3, Figure 5 and Figure 8) is important. This aspect of the system will now be discussed with reference to Figure 9.

Combined antenna array 900, shown in Figure 9(a), consists of three main arrays corresponding to an intended application in a 3x3 ΜΙΜΟ system and an optional fourth array which could be employed where a 4x4 ΜΙΜΟ system is required. The three main arrays are formed as follows: array #1 consists of antenna elements 901a, 901b, 901c and 901d; array #2 consists of antenna elements 902a, 902b, 902c and 902d; array #3 consists of antenna elements 903a, 903b, 903c and 903d and optional array #4 consists of antenna elements 904a, 904b, 904c and 904d. In Figure 9(a), the antenna arrays are configured in an approximately square arrangement, with four antenna elements corresponding to a single antenna array and each antenna array is arranged to be oriented in a perpendicular direction to its neighbouring arrays, to form combined antenna array 900.

It should be appreciated that although antenna arrays of four elements each are shown in Figure 9(a), with a total combined antenna array size of 16 elements being shown in that figure, arrays of other sizes, numbers of elements and configurations are possible, some of which will be outlined below. Individual antenna arrays consisting of larger numbers of elements will typically result in a narrower main lobe beam being formed in at least one axis by each individual antenna array, when fed with suitably-phased signals as provided by one of the beam-formers 207, 208, 209 of Figure 2 and assuming that the spacing between the individual antenna elements is similar in both cases. Likewise, individual antenna arrays consisting of smaller numbers of elements will typically result in a broader main lobe beam being formed in at least one axis by each individual antenna array, when fed with suitably-phased signals as provided by one of the beam-formers 207, 208, 209 of Figure 2 and assuming that the spacing between the individual antenna elements is again similar in both cases. Other, typical, individual antenna array sizes could be, for example, two elements (giving a combined antenna array 900 size of, for example, 8 elements for a 4x4 ΜΙΜΟ system), eight elements (giving a combined antenna array 900 size of, for example, 32 elements for a 4x4 ΜΙΜΟ system) and sixteen elements (giving a combined antenna array 900 size of, for example, 64 elements for a 4x4 ΜΙΜΟ system) although other options are also possible.

The individual antenna elements, for example antenna elements 901a to 90ld, 902a to 902d, 903a to 903d, 904a to 904d, shown in Figure 9(a) can be implemented in a wide variety of ways, including as: microstrip patch elements, air-spaced patch elements, dielectric-spaced (e.g. insulating foam spaced) patch elements, monopole antennas, dipole antennas, helical antennas, dielectric resonator antennas, ‘chip’ dielectric antennas, inverted-F type antennas, Yagi antennas with any number of directors and/or reflectors and whether formed from wire, etched copper on a dielectric substrate or rigid metal structures, horn antennas, reflector/dish-based antennas, wire antennas or any other form of antenna element whether linearly, circularly, slant or otherwise polarised. The main stipulations for these antenna elements are that, within a given antenna array, they should be capable of emanating or receiving signals which combine coherently to form a recognised beam shape and which permit the beam to be manipulated by means of altering the amplitude and/or phase of one or more of the signals feeding, or being sourced from, one or more of the antenna elements. In this instance, ‘manipulated’ is defined as some or all of altering the shape, make-up including the number of lobes, side-lobes, nulls and other beam characteristics, and pointing direction of a main lobe, a side-lobe or a null of at least one of the transmit and receive beam characteristics.

Returning now to combined antenna array 900, shown in Figure 9(a), and which can be seen to consist of three main antenna arrays (excluding elements 904a, 904b, 904c and 904d shown using dashed lines in Figure 9(a)) as discussed above for example when considering an intended application in a 3x3 ΜΙΜΟ system. It can be seen that array #1, consisting of antenna elements 901a, 901b, 901c and 90Id, and array #2 consisting of antenna elements 902a, 902b, 902c and 902d, are arranged orthogonally to one another. Likewise array #1, consisting of antenna elements 901a, 901b, 901c and 90Id, and array #3 consisting of antenna elements 903a, 903b, 903c and 903d, are arranged orthogonally to one another. This configuration, shown in Figure 9(a), may typically yield beams and beam patterns which are orthogonal to one another, specifically a beam pattern emanating from array #1 will typically be orthogonal to a corresponding beam pattern emanating from array #2; likewise, a beam pattern emanating from array #1 will typically be orthogonal to a corresponding beam pattern emanating from array #3. Such orthogonality is not limited to orthogonality of polarisation, which may or may not result of an orthogonality of array orientation, depending upon how the individual antenna elements for example 901a, 901b, 901c and 90Id and 902a, 902b, 902c and 902d are driven from a polarisation perspective, it will also encompass or exclusively encompass the shape of the respective beams or beam patterns. For example, if array #1, consisting of antenna elements 901a, 901b, 901c and 90Id were to form a main lobe which was substantially broader in the elevation plane than it was in the azimuth plane, then array #2, consisting of antenna elements 902a, 902b, 902c and 902d and which is of similar construction to array #1 but with a vertical arrangement of elements rather than the horizontal arrangement shown in the case of array #1, could form a main lobe which was substantially broader in the azimuth plane than it was in the elevation plane. Likewise, in this example, array #3 which consists of antenna elements 902a, 902b, 902c and 902d and which is again of similar construction to array #1 but with a vertical arrangement of elements rather than the horizontal arrangement shown in the case of array #1, could form a main lobe which was again substantially broader in the azimuth plane than it was in the elevation plane.

It should be remembered that these three beams, with their respective main lobe shapes, emanating from array #1, array #2 and array #3 respectively, are typically formed, simultaneously, from independent transmission streams, one for each of the three ΜΙΜΟ channels in this example, and are not typically formed from three identical copies of the same transmission stream, although this example should not be taken as limiting to the invention described herein. These three transmission streams can therefore be analysed independently by the UE, if it has such capabilities. For example, signal strength values can be measured for each of the three streams independently. Likewise, transmissions from the UE, even single-stream transmissions in the case where a UE is not configured to generate 3x3 or 2x2 ΜΙΜΟ signals, will be received independently by the three ΜΙΜΟ antenna arrays making up combined array 900. Each of the three main antenna arrays, 901a - 901 d, 902a 902d, 903a - 903d, making up combined array 900 can measure the strength of a signal emanating from the (or each) UE and thereby judge from what angle to boresight, a main lobe, a side-lobe or a null the UE’s transmission is emanating, as will be outlined below. The ability to make two or more (three in the above example) independent signal strength measurements, from two or more (three in the above example) independent antenna arrays any of at least two of which are at least one of being orthogonal to each other and capable of generating orthogonal beam pattern shapes, is a unique benefit of the access point disclosed here and one aspect of forming a spatial location capability using a single access point.

Figure 9(b) shows an alternative form 910 of an antenna array according to a further aspect of the present invention. The arrangement shown in Figure 9(b) can illustrate at least three different options: a 2x2 ΜΙΜΟ configuration with orthogonal beam pattern shapes; a 3x3 ΜΙΜΟ configuration with at least two orthogonal beam pattern shapes and a 4x4 ΜΙΜΟ configuration with at least two orthogonal beam pattern shapes, as will now be described.

Taking the 2x2 ΜΙΜΟ case, antenna elements 911a, 911b, 911c and 91 Id form antenna array #11 and antenna elements 912a, 912b, 912c and 912d form antenna array #12; antenna array #11 and antenna array #12 are similar arrays, with antenna array #11 being mounted orthogonally to antenna array #12. Both antenna array #11 and antenna array #12 are typically, although not necessarily, single polarisation arrays consisting of single-polar antenna elements, 911a, 911b, 911c, 91 Id and 912a, 912b, 912c, 912d respectively. Combined array 910 is therefore capable of fulfilling, in conjunction with one or more beam-formers and other elements of an access point or BLE beacon system, the desired aims of, at least, generating independentlysteerable, orthogonal, beam-pattern shapes an elevation beam-pattern of which is significantly different to that of a corresponding azimuth beam-pattern, simultaneously from at least two independent transmission or reception streams, such as ΜΙΜΟ channels.

Taking now the 3x3 ΜΙΜΟ case, antenna elements 911a, 911b, 911c and 91 Id for example now form two antenna arrays which are now required to radiate two polarisations simultaneously, antenna array #11A and antenna array #11B, with antenna array #11A having, say, vertical polarisation and antenna array #11B having horizontal polarisation and antenna elements 912a, 912b, 912c and 912d, forming antenna array #12, a single-polarisation array, as before. Antenna array #11A and antenna array #11B would typically share the same radiating elements as shown in Figure 9(b), although this need not always be the case for example if crossed-dipole or crossed Yagi antenna elements are used; the two co-located antenna arrays would typically be distinguished by utilising separate feed-systems, to achieve two orthogonal polarisations for the electromagnetic waves emanating from the radiating element(s), with suitable antenna element and feed-system designs including, but not limited to; dual-probe fed patch antennas, dual-aperture fed patch antennas, crosseddipole antennas, crossed-Yagi antennas, left and right-hand circular polarisation radiating structures and any other suitable structures capable of generating two substantially orthogonal polarisations.

Antenna array #11, consisting of antenna array #11A and antenna array #1 IB, and antenna array #12 are ostensibly similar arrays to one another, excepting the features discussed above, a key difference being, however, that antenna array #11 is oriented orthogonally to antenna array #12. Antenna array 910 is therefore capable of fulfilling, in conjunction with one or more beam-formers and other elements of an access point or BLE beacon system, the desired aims of, at least, generating independently-steerable, orthogonal, beam-pattern shapes the elevation beam-pattern of which is significantly different to that of the corresponding azimuth beam-pattern, simultaneously from at least two (and in this case, three) independent transmission or reception streams, such as ΜΙΜΟ channels.

A further embodiment, similar in operation to that just described, consists of a singlepolarisation array, antenna array #11, formed from antenna elements 911a, 911b, 91 lc, 91 Id and a dual-polarisation array, consisting of antenna array #12a and antenna array #12b and comprising antenna elements 912a, 912b, 912c, 912d which are now required to radiate two polarisations simultaneously. In effect, this embodiment simply swaps the dual-polarisation aspects of the earlier embodiment from antenna elements 911a, 911b, 911c and 91 Id to antenna elements 912a, 912b, 912c and 912d. In other respects operation is similar to that just described.

A yet further embodiment, which can also be illustrated by Figure 9(b), involves the use of two dual-polarisation antenna arrays, with each array/polarisation being fed by a separate ΜΙΜΟ channel in say a 4x4 ΜΙΜΟ system implementation. Dual-polar antenna array #11 consists of, for example, vertical polarisation antenna array #11A and horizontal polarisation antenna array #11B, both of which are formed using antenna elements 911a, 911b, 911c and 91 Id which are capable of radiating electromagnetic waves in both polarisations simultaneously. Dual-polar antenna array #12 consists of, for example, vertical polarisation antenna array #12A and horizontal polarisation antenna array #12B, both of which are formed using antenna elements 912a, 912b, 912c and 912d which are also capable of radiating electromagnetic waves in both polarisations simultaneously. The operation of this combined antenna array is similar to that discussed above in relation to the 3x3 ΜΙΜΟ example, however now with an extra ΜΙΜΟ channel and an extra polarisation with which to accommodate that channel. Any two polarised beams with typically one each from a verticallyoriented array consisting of antenna elements 912a, 912b, 912c, 912d and a horizontally-oriented array consisting of antenna elements 91 la, 91 lb, 91 lc, 91 Id, are capable of fulfilling, in conjunction with one or more beamformers and other elements of an access point or BLE beacon system, the desired aims of, at least, generating independently-steerable, orthogonal, beam-pattern shapes an elevation beam-pattern of which is significantly different to that of a corresponding azimuth beam-pattern, simultaneously from at least two (and in this case, three) independent transmission or reception streams, such as ΜΙΜΟ channels.

Whilst the embodiments described above discuss the formation of orthogonal linear polarisations utilising two feed systems in antenna array #11 or antenna array #12 or both, it is also possible to utilise orthogonal circular polarisations, such as left-hand and right-hand circular polarisation, to achieve the same goal.

The above embodiments discuss specific ‘vertical’ and ‘horizontal’ orientations for the various antenna arrays, however such vertical and horizontal arrays could be interchanged with typically no loss of functionality. Likewise the combined arrays 900, 910, 920, 930 shown in Figure 9(a) - (d) can be rotated to any arbitrary angle without impacting operation in most cases; specifically a rotation of any of the combined arrays 900, 910, 920, 930 by a multiple of 90 degrees could be undertaken without loss of functionality in many applications. Furthermore, it is possible to rotate the individual antenna arrays, for example antenna array #1 discussed in relation to Figure 9(a) or antenna array #12 discussed in relation to Figure 9(b) or any other array discussed in relation to any of Figure 9(a) - (d), by an arbitrary angle with potentially only a minor loss of functionality. The ideal angle between any two notionally orthogonal arrays shown in any of Figure 9(a) - (d) is 90 degrees and the larger the deviation from this figure, either increasing or decreasing, typically the poorer will be the geolocation or spatial BLE transmission location performance until a deviation of +/-90 degrees has been reached (i.e. the angle between two arrays reaches zero degrees or 180 degrees) when a very poor level of spatial location or geolocation accuracy is likely to result. Any array which is capable of producing a measurable beam intersection between two beams generated by two physically-separated antenna arrays, served by different ΜΙΜΟ channels from the same access point or BLE beacon system will fulfil the basic requirements necessary for the operation of the spatial location or geolocation system of a form described herein.

Figure 9(c) shows a combined antenna array 920 which consists of three separate antenna arrays, with the first formed from antenna elements 921a, 921b, 921c, 92Id, the second formed from antenna elements 922a, 922b, 922c, 922d and the third formed from antenna elements 923a, 923b, 923c, 923d. In a similar manner to that discussed in relation to Figure 9(b), an antenna array formed from antenna elements 922a, 922b, 922c, 922d may be a dual-polarisation array similar to that of an array formed from antenna elements 912a, 912b, 912c, 912d shown in Figure 9(b). Likewise an antenna array formed from antenna elements 921a, 921b, 921c, 92Id may be a single-polarisation array similar to that of an array formed from antenna elements 901a, 901b, 901c, 90Id shown in Figure 9(a) and an antenna array formed from antenna elements 923a, 923b, 923c, 923d may be a single-polarisation array similar to that of an array formed from antenna elements 901a, 901b, 901c, 90Id shown in Figure 9(a). The operation of these arrays and the beam-patterns formed are similar to the corresponding array operation and beam patterns discussed in relation to the corresponding diagrams discussed above. Furthermore, whilst the above discussion was based around dual-polar operation of an antenna array formed from antenna elements 922a, 922b, 922c, 922d, it is equally possible that an antenna array formed from antenna elements 921a, 921b, 921c, 92Id could be dual-polarisation, with the remaining two arrays shown in Figure 9(c) being single polarisation and likewise, it is also possible that an antenna array formed from antenna elements 923a, 923b, 923c, 923d could be dual-polarisation, with the remaining two arrays shown in Figure 9(c) being single polarisation

Figure 9(d) is, in essence, a modified version of Figure 9(b), with antenna elements 931a, 931b, 931c and 93Id corresponding to antenna elements 911a, 911b, 911c and 91 Id respectively and antenna elements 932a, 932b, 932c and 932d corresponding to antenna elements 912a, 912b, 912c and 912d respectively. It could simply be viewed as a version of Figure 9(b) in which antenna elements 912a, 912b, 912c and 912d have been moved to the right, such that they now form a rotated ‘L’ or comer shape in conjunction with antenna elements 911a, 911b, 911c and 91 Id (which have been renumbered as 931a, 931b, 931c and 93Id in Figure 9(d)). The operation of the configuration shown in Figure 9(d) is therefore similar to that of Figure 9(b) in relation to all of the ΜΙΜΟ variants discussed above in relation to that figure, including 2x2 ΜΙΜΟ with single-polarisation antenna elements, 3x3 ΜΙΜΟ utilising a combination of a single polarisation antenna array and a dual-polarisation antenna array and 4x4 ΜΙΜΟ utilising two dual-polarisation antenna arrays.

Figure 10 shows a range of views of an idealised example of an antenna radiation pattern of the form discussed above in relation to Figure 9: a pattern which is broader in one plane than it is in an orthogonal plane.

Figure 10(a) shows a wireframe representation of a top view of an idealised approximation of an antenna radiation pattern of a form which could emanate from a horizontally-oriented linear multi-element antenna array, such as that formed from antenna elements 901a, 901b, 901c and 90Id in Figure 9(a). The view shown in Figure 10(a) is equivalent to looking from a vantage point above the plane 1001 of antenna array 900 shown in Figure 9(a) or, in other words, the plane 1001 of antenna array 900 could appear as a horizontal line, running from left to right across the page, as shown, below the radiation pattern shown in Figure 10(a). The view shown in this figure and, indeed, all of the parts of Figure 10 is idealised in that it shows a perfectlysymmetrical main lobe and no side-lobes. Whilst this is clearly not representative of a typical antenna radiation pattern, it serves to highlight a fundamental shape of a main lobe of an antenna radiation pattern, to illustrate the principles of a spatial location or BLE beacon projection technique which may be realised with an access point or BLE beacon system and antenna structure of the form described herein.

Figure 10(b) shows a wireframe representation of the side view of an idealised approximation of an antenna radiation pattern of a form which could emanate from a horizontally-oriented linear multi-element antenna array, such as that formed from antenna elements 901a, 901b, 901c and 90Id in Figure 9(a). The view shown in Figure 10(b) is equivalent to looking from a vantage point to the left or right of a plane 1001 of antenna array 900 shown in Figure 9(a) or, in other words, a plane 1001 of antenna array 900 could appear as a vertical line, running from top to bottom down the page, as shown, to the left of the radiation pattern illustrated in Figure 10(b).

Figure 10(c) shows a wireframe representation of a front (boresight) view of an idealised approximation of an antenna radiation pattern of a form which could emanate from a horizontally-oriented linear multi-element antenna array such as that formed from antenna elements 901a, 901b, 901c and 901d in Figure 9(a). The view shown in Figure 10(c) is equivalent to looking from a vantage point in front of a plane 1001 of antenna array 900 shown in Figure 9(a). It is clear from this view, in particular, that the shape of the beam, which consists purely of a main-lobe in this idealised example, is much larger in a vertical direction that it is in a horizontal direction. As a non-limiting example, the 3dB beamwidth of the main lobe shown in Figure 10 could be approximately 90 degrees in an elevation plane and perhaps 10 30 degrees in an azimuth plane.

Figure 10(d) shows a wireframe representation three-dimensional view of an approximation of an idealised antenna radiation pattern of a form which would emanate from a horizontally-oriented linear multi-element antenna array; the viewpoint is taken from the rear and to the right-hand side of the antenna array, for example an array which could be formed from antenna elements 901a, 901b, 901c and 90Id in Figure 9(a).

In one embodiment of a spatial location or geolocation system, independently formed and steerable beams emanating from an antenna array which is operably-coupled to an access point or BLE beacon system may be steered to enable communication with a UE and an intersection of two or more beams emanating from an antenna array which is operably-coupled to an access point or BLE beacon system, which may be the same access point or BLE beacon system, may be used wholly or in part to approximately spatially-locate a UE or provide that UE with spatially-differentiated BLE beacon signals.

Figure 11(a) shows an example wireframe representation of a rear (boresight) view, looking away from an antenna array or arrays in a direction of propagation of electromagnetic waves radiating from the array or arrays, detailing an approximation of two intersecting antenna radiation patterns of a form which could emanate from a horizontally-oriented linear multi-element antenna array and a vertically-oriented linear multi-element antenna array, for example of the form shown in Figure 9(b) or Figure 9(d). Note that Figure 11(a) is intended to show a far-field view of an antenna radiation pattern such that the spatial separation of a horizontally-oriented linear multi-element antenna array and a vertically-oriented linear multi-element antenna array appears negligible and the resulting beam patterns appear to be emanating from the same point.

Figure 11(b) shows a detail view of an intersection of the wireframe representations of the radiation patterns illustrated in Figure 11(a), highlighting an approximately rectilinear area of intersection 1101, shown by means of cross-hatched shading, and lines of constant relative antenna gain 1102 and 1103 which delineate this area of intersection. Lines of constant relative antenna gain 1102 join together two separate loci of points at which the antenna array gain of a vertically-oriented antenna array (not shown), which is capable of generating elevation radiation pattern 1104, are X dB below its peak antenna array gain at a given elevation angle from the boresight position of its main lobe, at the current azimuth bearing to which the antenna’s main lobe is steered. Likewise, lines of constant relative antenna gain 1103 join together two separate loci of points at which the antenna array gain of a horizontally-oriented antenna array (not shown), which is capable of generating azimuth radiation pattern 1105, is Y dB below its peak antenna array gain at a given azimuth angle from the boresight position of its main lobe, at the current elevation altitude to which the antenna’s main lobe is steered. In a typical embodiment, X may be equal to Y, although this need not be the case and should not be taken as a limiting example.

Take, for example, a horizontally-oriented first antenna array which is steered to a bearing of 10 degrees off boresight in azimuth (i.e. a plane in which its main-lobe is relatively narrow) and which has a main lobe with a peak gain of +10dBi at that beam position and a vertically-oriented (i.e. orthogonal to the first antenna array) second antenna array which is steered to a bearing of 15 degrees off boresight, in elevation (i.e. a plane in which its main-lobe is relatively narrow) and which has a main lobe with a peak gain of +8dBi at that beam position. With X and Y both set equal to say 1 dB for this example, a locus of points 1102 would connect all points with a main-lobe gain of +9dBi for the horizontally-oriented first antenna and a locus of points 1103 would connect all points with a main lobe gain of +7dBi for the vertically oriented second antenna, assuming that the approximately rectangular area of intersection 1101 is sufficiently small that the variation in gain across this region, in the direction in which the main lobe is widest in each case, is negligible. This may be considered as a reasonable assumption for a beam shape, such as those discussed above, which is much wider in one plane than it is in an orthogonal plane.

Lines of constant relative antenna gain 1102 and 1103 may represent, respectively, the resolution to which received signal strength can be measured by a receiver system connected to the antenna elements (not shown) which generate elevation 1104 and azimuth 1105 radiation patterns. In this case, approximately rectangular area of intersection 1101 represents an area of uncertainty anywhere within which a UE could be located. In such a case, the centre of approximately rectangular area of intersection 1101 could be computed and this could be assumed to be a location of the UE from which the signals emanate. This approach could have the benefit of minimising the average error resulting from reporting, separately or together, a spatial location coordinate set for of a large number of UEs for which the same received signal strength characteristics are obtained from a receiver system or systems connected to the antenna elements (not shown) which generate elevation 1104 and azimuth 1105 radiation patterns similar to those shown in Figure 11(a).

Figure 11(c) indicates the orientations of azimuth and elevation in the above discussion of Figure 11.

Figure 12(a) and Figure 12(b) show two views of a more realistic representation of an antenna beam pattern than did Figure 10(a) - (c). Figure 12(a) again shows a wireframe representation 1200 of a top view of an approximation of an antenna radiation pattern of the form which would emanate from a horizontally-oriented linear multi-element antenna array, such as that formed from antenna elements 901a, 901b, 901c and 901d in Figure 9(a); it is thus a more realistic equivalent of Figure 10(a). The view shown in Figure 6(a) is equivalent to looking from a vantage point above the plane of the combined antenna array 900 shown in Figure 9(a) or, in other words, the plane of the combined antenna array 900 would appear as a horizontal line 1206 (shown dashed), running from left to right, across the page, below the representation of the radiation pattern 1200 shown in Figure 12(a).

Wireframe representation 1200 of a top view of an approximation of an antenna radiation pattern consists of main lobe 1201, a left-hand side-lobe 1202 and a righthand side-lobe 1203, together with a left-hand null 1204 and a right-hand null 1205. Left-hand null 1204 and right-hand null 1205 represent areas of the antenna’s radiation pattern where the antenna possesses, locally, very low levels of antenna gain relative to those present at main lobe 1201 or at side-lobes 1202 and 1203, such that the antenna radiates relatively low levels of electromagnetic radiation in those directions and will receive even strong signals incident from those directions relatively weakly, resulting in low RF signal levels being sent from the antenna’s connector to any attached receiver circuits.

Figure 12(b) shows a wireframe representation three-dimensional view of an approximation of an antenna radiation pattern of the form which would emanate from a horizontally-oriented linear multi-element antenna array with a two-dimensional, top-view, radiation pattern similar to that shown in Figure 12(a); the viewpoint is taken from a location looking from below and down upon the antenna array itself as if floating in space above the plane of the antenna array. The main lobe 1201, side-lobes 1202, 1203 and nulls (e.g. 1205) can clearly be seen in this view.

Figure 13(a) shows a similar view to that of Figure 11(a) in that it shows a wireframe representation 1300 of a rear (boresight) view, looking away from an antenna array or arrays in a direction of propagation of the electromagnetic waves radiating from the antenna array or arrays, detailing an approximation of two intersecting antenna radiation patterns of a form which could emanate from a horizontally-oriented linear multi-element antenna array and a vertically-oriented linear multi-element antenna array, for example of the form shown in Figure 9(b) or Figure 9(d). In the case of Figure 13(a), however, the approximately rectangular area of intersection 1101 highlighted in Figure 11(b) has been replaced by an intersection of two separate loci of points 1303, 1304, representing a peak gain of an antenna array, in azimuth and elevation, as will now be described.

Locus 1303 shows a line joining points representing roughly a peak value of gain, whether of a main-lobe or a side-lobe, of a horizontally-oriented antenna array (not shown), which is capable of generating azimuth radiation pattern 1302 at a given azimuth angle from a boresight position of its main lobe or a side-lobe, at the current elevation altitude to which the antenna’s main lobe or a side-lobe is steered. The antenna array could, for example, be formed using antenna elements 901a, 901b, 901c and 90Id in Figure 9(a).

Locus 1304 shows a line joining points representing roughly a peak value of gain, whether of a main-lobe or a side-lobe, of a vertically-oriented antenna array (not shown), which is capable of generating elevation radiation pattern 1301 at a given elevation angle from the boresight position of its main lobe or a side-lobe, at the current azimuth bearing to which the antenna’s main lobe or a side-lobe is steered. The antenna array could, for example, be formed using antenna elements 902a, 902b, 902c and 902d in Figure 9(a).

If elevation radiation pattern 1301 is steered in azimuth, i.e. left-to-right or right-toleft as viewed in Figure 13(a), and azimuth radiation pattern 1302 is steered in elevation, i.e. top-to-bottom or bottom-to-top as viewed in Figure 13, independently, such that the peak gain of each is directed at a UE, then intersection 1309 of locus 1303 and locus 1304, representing the peak gains in azimuth and elevation respectively, indicates an azimuth and elevation bearing respectively for the UE with respect to a datum based upon a feature of the antenna arrays, for example their unsteered boresight direction or a plane of one or both arrays. In this way, a UE may be located in two dimensions in space by reading or recording the bearings to which radiation patterns 1301 and 1302 are steered.

Figure 13(b) shows a similar situation to that of Figure 13(a), however in this instance azimuth radiation pattern 1306 has been steered downward in elevation, such that an intersection 710 between locus 1307 (analogous to locus 1303 in Figure 13(a)) and locus 1308 (analogous to locus 1304 in Figure 13(a)) is now lower in elevation within the coverage area of the antenna arrays. Elevation radiation pattern 1305 has not been moved in this example and resides at the same bearing and altitude as elevation radiation pattern 1301 of Figure 13(a). Even in this instance, there is still an intersection of locus 1307 and locus 1308, which can indicate the location of a UE as described above in relation to locus 1303 and locus 1304, despite the absolute gain of an antenna array generating elevation radiation pattern 1305 at this elevation altitude being likely to be lower than the level it would have exhibited with the beam locations shown in Figure 13(a).

Figure 14 illustrates an example of the operation of a beam-crossing technique for spatial location or spatial projection of, for example, a BLE beacon signal in two dimensions, based upon, for example, a ceiling-mounted antenna system. An antenna system (not shown) of the form described herein or of another form capable of generating independently-steerable beams operating in at least two planes and with differing beamwidths in each plane, is placed at location 1401, for example mounted on a ceiling 1402 of a room or building. The antenna system may generate two radiation patterns which each have a beam shape which is much wider in one plane than it is in an orthogonal plane, between, say, the -3dB points of the gain of the antenna arrays relative to their peak gain values. A locus of points, termed a peak-gain locus, may be formed joining together points located in the wider plane of the beam pattern at which the gains achieved in the narrower plane of the beam pattern are at their peak values, at any given offset angle from boresight in the plane of the widerbeam. Note that the absolute gain level of these peak values will differ as the offset angle changes; the highest peak value will typically be achieved on boresight, with progressively lower values typically being achieved as the angular separation between the boresight angular location and the angular location under consideration, increases, up to the point where a side-lobe is reached.

A peak-gain locus for one example antenna main-lobe 1404 and a second peak-gain locus for a second example antenna main-lobe 1405 are shown in Figure 14. These two loci are illustrated in this figure based upon beams pointing almost directly downwards from ceiling 1402, however it should be appreciated, from the preceding discussions, that these beams may be steered to any angle or angles in a plane which lies approximately perpendicular to a virtual planar surface defined by (or substantially enclosed by) their peak gain loci 1404, 1405, and which are within a steering capability of a beam-steering system and an antenna system. Loci 1404 and 1405 can be steered within area 1403, which could be a floor area, for example, in order to serve one or more regions with one or more BLE beacon signals. For example a region centred on intersection point 1406 may be served when loci 1404 and 1405 are positioned as shown in Figure 14.

While the features and functionalities for providing notifications or alerts to spatiallylocated fixed or mobile transmitting and/or receiving devices are primarily discussed with respect to the embodiments above, it should be appreciated that the features and functionalities of one embodiment may be similarly applied to other embodiments. Furthermore, although the embodiments described above do not require use of GPS technology, it may be readily appreciated that the features and functionalities described herein may be used in conjunction with such technologies as well.

In the preceding specification, various embodiments have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto, and additional embodiments may be implemented, without departing from the broader scope of the disclosure as set forth in the claims that follow. The specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded in an illustrative rather than restrictive sense.

At this point it should be noted that providing notifications or alerts to spatiallylocated fixed or mobile transmitting and/or receiving devices in accordance with the present disclosure as described above typically involves the processing of input data and the generation of output data to some extent. This input data processing and output data generation may be implemented in hardware or software. For example, specific electronic components may be employed in a spatial location module or a notification module or similar or related circuitry for implementing the functions associated with providing notifications or alerts to spatially-located fixed or mobile transmitting and/or receiving devices in accordance with embodiments described above. Alternatively, one or more processors operating in accordance with instructions may implement the functions associated with providing notifications or alerts to spatially-located fixed or mobile transmitting and/or receiving devices in accordance with embodiments as described above. If such is the case, it is within the scope of the present disclosure that such instructions may be stored on one or more processor readable storage media (e.g., a magnetic or optical disk or other storage medium), or transmitted to one or more processors via one or more signals embodied in one or more carrier waves.

In the above discussion, the term ‘processors’ includes any digital or analogue device which is capable of processing signals or data and includes, but is not limited to, microprocessors, Peripheral Interface Controller (“PIC”) processors, complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and all similar or related devices.

The present disclosure is not to be limited in scope by the specific embodiments described herein. Indeed, other various embodiments of and modifications to the present disclosure, in addition to those described herein, will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Thus, such other embodiments and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Further, although the present disclosure has been described herein in the context of a particular implementation in a particular environment for a particular purpose, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that its usefulness is not limited thereto and that the present disclosure may be beneficially implemented in any number of environments for any number of purposes. Accordingly, the claims set forth below should be construed in view of the full breadth and spirit of the present disclosure as described herein.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous variations and modifications will become apparent. All such variations and modifications which become apparent to persons skilled in the art are considered to fall within the spirit and scope of the invention broadly appearing before described.

Claims (8)

1. Claims • · • · • · ·«

   1. A wireless notification device which is operable to define a region within a 5 coverage area, the device comprising:

   an identification code transmitter, a beamforming subsystem, and an antenna array;

   wherein the beamforming subsystem is operably coupled to the 10 identification code transmitter and the antenna array, the beamforming subsystem being operable to cause the antenna array to form at least two steerable antenna lobes using radio frequency energy provided by the identification code transmitter, each lobe being independently steerable to intersect with at least one other lobe of the at least two steerable antenna lobes

   15 within the region, wherein the radio frequency energy is encoded with an identification code identifying the region.

   A wireless notification system, comprising:

   the wireless notification device of claim 1, and a user equipment device located within the defined region configured to receive the radio frequency energy provided by the identification code transmitter when located within the defined region and operable to decode an identification code.

   The wireless notification system of claim 2 wherein the user equipment device is operable to execute a defined action or process based upon the identification code.

   The wireless notification device of claim 1 wherein the identification code transmitter operates utilising the Bluetooth or Bluetooth low energy (BLE) standard.
2. 5. The wireless notification device of claim 1 wherein the antenna array comprises a first sub-array and a second sub-array wherein the first sub-array is formed from antenna elements arranged substantially in a first line and the second sub-array is formed from antenna elements arranged substantially in a second line wherein the first line is oriented at an angle of at least 5 degrees to the second line.
3. 6. The wireless notification system of claim 5 wherein the first sub-array and the second sub-array share a common antenna element.
4. 7. The wireless notification device of claim 1 wherein the at least two steerable antenna lobes are steerable in non-parallel directions.

   • · • · • · · ·
5. 8. The wireless notification device of claim 7 wherein the at least two steerable ;·*· antenna lobes comprise a first steerable antenna lobe and a second steerable ....

   • · · antenna lobe wherein the first steerable antenna lobe is steerable in a direction . * • · · which subtends an angle of at least 5 degrees to the direction in which the second steerable antenna lobe is steerable. . ’ Ϊ
6. 9. The wireless notification device of claim 1 wherein the at least two steerable antenna lobes are steerable in substantially orthogonal directions.
7. 10. The wireless notification device of claim 1 wherein the at least a beamforming subsystem and the at least an antenna array are together capable of varying a pointing angle of at least two of the at least two antenna lobes independently under electronic control.
8. 11. The wireless notification device according to any of claims 7-10 wherein the at least an antenna array is arranged such that the at least two antenna lobes intersect at a pointing angle.

   12. The wireless notification device of claim 1 wherein the antenna array comprises at least a first sub-array and a second sub-array wherein the second sub-array is oriented substantially orthogonally to the first sub-array. 5 13. The wireless notification device of claim 12 wherein the first sub-array is 10 arranged to generate at least a first antenna lobe and the second sub-array is arranged to generate at least a second antenna lobe and wherein at least one of the at least a first antenna lobe and the at least a second antenna lobe has a shape which is substantially elongate in one plane and substantially narrower in a second, substantially orthogonal, plane. • ο • · • ··· • • · 14. The wireless notification device of claim 13 wherein the at least a first antenna lobe and the at least a second antenna lobe are arranged such that the direction in which the at least a first antenna lobe is elongate is oriented substantially .··:·. 15 ·· · • ·· · • orthogonally to the direction in which the at least a second antenna lobe is elongate. • · · · • * · • · • Λ · 15. The wireless notification device of claim 13 wherein the pointing angle of an antenna lobe formed by the first sub-array and the pointing angle of an antenna 20 lobe formed by the second sub-array are independently controllable. 25 16. The wireless notification device of claim 15 wherein the antenna array further comprises at least one control system operably coupled to the beamforming subsystem to control, electronically, the pointing angle of at least one antenna lobe. 30 17. The wireless notification device of claim 12 wherein the antenna array additionally comprises a third sub-array characterised such that the third subarray is oriented substantially orthogonally to the first sub-array or the second sub-array. 18. The wireless notification device of claim 1 wherein the antenna array and the beamforming system are configured such that they are operably coupled to at

   least one further transmitter, receiver or transceiver in addition to the identification code transmitter.

   19. The wireless notification device of claim 18 wherein the at least one further transmitter, receiver or transceiver operates using a recognised Wi-Fi standard.

   20. A method of defining a region within which wireless notifications are provided, the region being located within a coverage area, the method comprising:

   forming at least two steerable antenna lobes using radio frequency energy provided by an identification code transmitter, and steering each lobe independently to intersect with at least one other lobe of the at least two steerable antenna lobes within the region, ·· · · wherein the radio frequency energy is encoded with an identification • · code identifying the region.

   • · · · • · · • ··

   21. The method of claim 20 further comprising transmitting a first identification code by a first identification code transmitter and either simultaneously or ··.·· • « sequentially transmitting a second identification code by a second · • c identification code transmitter wherein the first identification code is radiated by a first antenna lobe of the at least two steerable antenna lobes and the second identification code is radiated by a second antenna lobe of the at least two steerable antenna lobes, wherein the first antenna lobe and the second antenna lobe emanate from the antenna array.

   22. The method of claim 21 wherein the first antenna lobe is formed at least in part using a first beamforming subsystem and the second antenna lobe is formed at least in part using a second beamforming subsystem.

   23. The method of claim 22 wherein the first beamforming subsystem is operably coupled to a first antenna array or sub-array and the second beamforming subsystem is operably coupled to a second antenna array or sub-array.

   24. The method of claim 23 wherein the first antenna array or sub-array is oriented at an angle of at least 5 degrees and not more than 175 degrees to the second antenna array or sub-array.

   5 25. The method of claim 23 wherein the first antenna array or sub-array is oriented substantially orthogonally to the second antenna array or sub-array.

   26. The method of claim 21 wherein the first antenna lobe and the second antenna lobe have a shape which is substantially elongate in one plane and

   10 substantially narrower in a second, orthogonal, plane.

   • · • · • ··· ······ • ·

   27. The method of claim 26 wherein the direction in which the first antenna lobe is elongate is oriented substantially orthogonally to the direction in which the second antenna lobe is elongate.

   ·· · · • · · ·· · • · · ···«··

   Intellectual

   Property

   Office

   Application No: GB1616376.8 Examiner: Mr Colin Walker