WO2019036316A1

WO2019036316A1 - Wireless signal-based localization techniques for tracking vehicles at charging/fueling stations

Info

Publication number: WO2019036316A1
Application number: PCT/US2018/046416
Authority: WO
Inventors: Vivek Sriram YENAMANDRA GURUVENKATA; Xi Zhang
Original assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft; Siemens Corporation
Priority date: 2017-08-14
Filing date: 2018-08-13
Publication date: 2019-02-21

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are disclosed for utilizing wireless signal-based localization to uniquely identify and verify a particular vehicle located at a particular fueling/charging station among multiple vehicles that are at least partially charging/refueling concurrently across multiple charging/fueling stations.

Description

WIRELESS SIGNAL-BASED LOCALIZATION TECHNIQUES FOR TRACKING VEHICLES AT CHARGING/FUELING STATIONS

BACKGROUND

[01 ] The present invention relates generally to vehicle tracking and identification, and more specifically, to wireless signal-based techniques, in particular WiFi-based localization techniques, for tracking and identifying vehicles at charging/fueling stations.

[02] Multiple vehicles may be charging or refueling at least partially concurrently at multiple corresponding charging/fueling stations. Existing solutions for determining the identity of a particular vehicle at a particular charging station during a particular time period, among multiple vehicles that are at least partially charging/refueling concurrently, suffer from a number of drawbacks, technical solutions to which are described herein.

SUMMARY

[03] In one or more example embodiments, a method is disclosed. The method includes receiving wireless signals from multiple wireless clients, where each wireless client corresponds to a respective vehicle of multiple vehicles, and storing, at a wireless access point, channel state information associated with the wireless signals. The method further includes determining one or more wireless signal parameters from the channel state information and providing the wireless signal parameter(s) as input to a wireless signal-based localization algorithm. The method additionally includes executing the wireless signal-based localization algorithm to determine a respective physical location corresponding to each vehicle.

[04] In one or more other example embodiments, a system is disclosed. The system includes a wireless access point, which in turn, includes at least one memory storing computer-executable instructions and at least one processor configured to access at least one memory and execute the computer-executable instructions to perform a set of operations. The operations include receiving wireless signals from multiple wireless clients, where each wireless client corresponds to a respective vehicle of multiple vehicles, and storing, at a wireless access point, channel state information associated with the wireless signals. The operations further include determining one or more wireless signal parameters from the channel state information and providing the wireless signal parameter(s) as input to a wireless signal-based localization algorithm. The operations additionally include executing the wireless signal-based localization algorithm to determine a respective physical location corresponding to each vehicle.

[05] In one or more other example embodiments, a computer program product is disclosed. The computer program product includes a non-transitory storage medium readable by a processing circuit, the storage medium storing instructions executable by the processing circuit to cause a method to be performed. The method includes receiving wireless signals from multiple wireless clients, where each wireless client corresponds to a respective vehicle of multiple vehicles, and storing, at a wireless access point, channel state information associated with the wireless signals. The method further includes determining one or more wireless signal parameters from the channel state information and providing the wireless signal parameter(s) as input to a wireless signal-based localization algorithm. The method additionally includes executing the wireless signal- based localization algorithm to determine a respective physical location corresponding to each vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[06] The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only and merely depict example embodiments of the disclosure. The drawings are provided to facilitate understanding of the disclosure and shall not be deemed to limit the breadth, scope, or applicability of the disclosure. In the drawings, the left-most digit(s) of a reference numeral identifies the drawing in which the reference numeral first appears. The use of the same reference numerals indicates similar, but not necessarily the same or identical components. However, different reference numerals may be used to identify similar components as well. Various embodiments may utilize elements or components other than those illustrated in the drawings, and some elements and/or components may not be present in various embodiments. The use of singular terminology to describe a component or element may, depending on the context, encompass a plural number of such components or elements and vice versa.

[07] FIG. 1 is a schematic hybrid data flow/block diagram illustrating vehicle tracking and identification in accordance with example embodiments.

[08] FIG. 2 is a process flow diagram of an illustrative method for utilizing WiFi- based localization to determine the respective locations of vehicles in relation to charging/fueling stations in accordance with one or more example embodiments.

[09] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative networked architecture configured to implement one or more example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[010] Example embodiments relate to, among other things, systems, methods, computer-readable media, techniques, and methodologies for uniquely identifying and verifying a particular vehicle located at a particular fueling/charging station using wireless-based localization. Example embodiments provide a technical effect and benefit, for example, in scenarios in which charging equipment is automatically connected to a vehicle. Typically, wireless communication is established between a charging station and a vehicle to guide the vehicle to the correct charging station. After the vehicle is parked at a charging station, the charging system must verify that the correct vehicle is parked at the correct location before activating the connection system. Activating the connection system involves automatically connecting charging equipment at the charging station to a counterpart on a vehicle. If the connection system is activated without a proper counterpart being present and in a correct position, damage to property and/or persons can occur. Conventional solutions require installing additional components at the charging station such as a radio frequency identification (RFID) system or a camera system to verify that a correct vehicle is parked correctly at the charging station. Example embodiments of the invention eliminate the need for such additional components by using a wireless signal-based approach for vehicle localization. Example embodiments can also be used, for example, to uniquely identify a particular vehicle at a particular charging/fueling station to determine charging/fueling costs incurred by that vehicle at that station such that an appropriate service provider can be billed for the

charging/fueling costs.

[Oi l ] An illustrative method in accordance with example embodiments of the invention will now be described. It should be noted that any given operation of the method 200 may be performed by one or more of the program modules or the like depicted in FIG. 3, whose operation will be described in more detail hereinafter. These program modules may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. In certain example embodiments, one or more of these program modules may be implemented, at least in part, as software and/or firmware modules that include computer-executable instructions that when executed by a processing circuit cause one or more operations to be performed. A system or device described herein as being configured to implement example embodiments may include one or more processing circuits, each of which may include one or more processing units or nodes. Computer- executable instructions may include computer-executable program code that when executed by a processing unit may cause input data contained in or referenced by the computer-executable program code to be accessed and processed to yield output data.

[012] FIG. 1 is a schematic hybrid data flow/block diagram illustrating vehicle tracking and identification in accordance with example embodiments. FIG. 2 is a process flow diagram of an illustrative method 200 for utilizing wireless signal-based localization to determine the respective locations of vehicles in relation to charging/fueling stations in accordance with one or more example embodiments. FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described in conjunction one another hereinafter.

[013] Referring first to FIG. 1, an example environment in which multiple vehicles are charging/fueling or attempting to charge/fuel at various charging/fueling stations is depicted. The vehicles may be in different stages of charging/fueling or attempting to charge/fuel. However, in example embodiments, there is at least some overlap in the charging/fueling status of multiple vehicles. That is, in example embodiments, at least two vehicles are concurrently charging/fueling at respective charging/fueling stations for least some period of time.

[014] For instance, in example embodiments, a vehicle 104 may be currently charging/fueling at a corresponding charging/fueling station 102. As another non-limiting example, another vehicle 116 may be approaching another charging/fueling station as vehicle 104 is charging/fueling. Similarly, as yet another non-limiting example, another vehicle 118 may be departing a corresponding charging/fueling station after having completed charging/fueling. As still another non-limiting example, a vehicle 120 may be departing a charging/fueling station, while at the same time, another vehicle 122 may be approaching the same charging/fueling station. In example embodiments, two or more of the vehicles 104, 116, 118, and 120/122 may be charging/fueling at respective charging/fueling stations at least partially at the same time.

[015] In example embodiments, a charging/fueling station 102 may be equipped with a wireless device 108 such as commercially-off-the-shelf (COTS) wireless device that is capable of receiving and transmitting wireless signals 110 in accordance with one or more wireless communication standards. In example embodiments, the wireless communication standard may include a large bandwidth standard such as a WiFi standard that is suitable for use in connection with a local area network (LAN). As used herein, WiFi includes any wireless communication in accordance with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 set of wireless standards. [016] In example embodiments, each vehicle may be equipped with a wireless client (e.g., a WiFi radio) that is capable of receiving and transmitting wireless signals. For instance, the vehicle 104 is illustratively shown as including a wireless client 104 configured to transmit and receive wireless signals 114. Further, in example

embodiments, each charging/fueling station may be equipped with a wireless device similar to the wireless device 108, while in other example embodiments, a

charging/fueling station hub may be equipped with the wireless device 108 and may be configured to communicate with the wireless clients of the vehicles (e.g., wireless client 104).

[017] In example embodiments, a wireless access point (AP) 106 may be provided. In example embodiments, the AP 106 may be provided in lieu of providing the wireless device 108 at each charging/fueling station. The AP 106 may be capable of receiving wireless signals from multiple wireless clients of multiple vehicles. For instance, the AP 106 may be capable of receiving wireless signals 114 from wireless client 112 associated with vehicle 104 and wireless signals 128 from wireless client 126 associated with vehicle 118. It should be appreciated that the architecture depicted in FIG. 1 is merely illustrative and that the AP 106, if provided, may be capable of receiving wireless signals from any number of wireless clients. In certain example embodiments, the AP 106 may be provided in addition to one or more wireless devices 110 provided at respective charging/fueling stations.

[018] In example embodiments, the AP 106 is, for example, a multi-antenna access point. In example embodiments, the AP 106 may be configured to communicate a remote computing device 130 via one or more networks 124. The network(s) 124 may enable network communication in accordance with any of a variety of suitable wireless communication standards. In example embodiments, wireless signal-based processing described herein as being performed at the AP 106 may be performed, at least in part, by the computing device 130. Similarly, in example embodiments, the wireless device 108 may be configured to communicate with the computing device 130 via the network(s) 124. In those example embodiments in which one or more COTS wireless devices 108 are provided, wireless signal-based processing described herein as being performed by the wireless device(s) 108 may be performed, at least in part, by the computing device 130.

[019] While the operations of the illustrative method 200 of FIG. 2 may be described as being performed at the AP 106, it should be appreciated that in alternative example embodiments, such as those in which wireless devices 108 are provided at respective charging/fueling stations, the wireless devices 108 may each perform the operations of the method 200. Referring now to FIG. 2 in conjunction with FIG. 1, at block 202 of the method 200, wireless signals (e.g., wireless signals 114, 128, etc.) may be received from a plurality of wireless clients (e.g., wireless client 114, wireless client 126, etc.) associated with a plurality of vehicles (e.g., vehicle 104, vehicle 118, etc.). The wireless clients that transit the wireless signals may include, for example, WiFi radios on the vehicles. In certain example embodiments, metallic surfaces of the vehicles may serve as passive reflectors of the wireless signals.

[020] At block 204 of the method 200, the AP 106 may store channel state information (CSI) of the received wireless signals. The stored CSI may include, for example, signal strength indicator (RSSI) values for the wireless signals, phase measurements, or the like. In certain example embodiments, the AP 106 may also store a unique identifier corresponding to each wireless client, which can be determined from wireless signals received from each wireless client. The AP 106, or more specifically, one or more CSI sampling module(s) residing thereon may sample the wireless signals to determine the CSI.

[021 ] At block 206 of the method 200, one or more wireless signal parameter determination modules may determine one or more wireless signal parameters from the CSI and provide the wireless signal parameter(s) as input to a wireless signal-based localization algorithm. The wireless signal parameter(s) may include, for example, angle- of-arrival (AoA) and time-of-flight (ToF) values determined from the CSI. The algorithm may be, for example, a WiFi-based localization algorithm.

[022] At block 208 of the method 200, in example embodiments, the wireless signal-based localization algorithm is executed to determine a respective physical location corresponding to each vehicle. In particular, the wireless signal-based localization algorithm may be executed on the extracted AoA and ToF values to localize the sources of the received wireless signals (e.g., WiFi radios on the vehicles), and thus, determine respective instantaneous locations of the vehicles. In example embodiments, the wireless signal-based localization algorithm may be configured to track reflections of wireless signals off of metallic surfaces of the vehicles with the goal of making the placement of the wireless clients on the vehicles more effective for wireless signal transmission.

[023] At block 210 of the method 200, the respective physical location determined for each vehicle may be associated with a corresponding charging/fueling station. For instance, in example embodiments, the respective locations of the charging/fueling stations may be known and these locations can be compared to the locations of the vehicles determined based on execution of the wireless signal-based localization algorithm to determine the closest charging/fueling station to each respective physical vehicle location. Once this association is determined, activation of charging equipment at the charging/fueling station can be initiated if it is determined that the correct vehicle is located at the correct position with respect to the charging/fueling. In other example embodiments, vehicle charging/fueling costs incurred at a particular charging/fueling station (e.g., station 102) can be automatically billed to a service provider associated with the vehicle 104 that is determined to be located closest to the station 102, and thus, assumed to be charging/fueling at this station.

[024] Example embodiments described herein provide a number of technical effects and technical benefits over existing solutions. In particular, example embodiments provide the technical effect and benefit of allowing for vehicles to be tracked and uniquely identified with respect to corresponding charging/fueling stations at which the vehicles are charging/fueling without requiring the installation of any additional hardware on the vehicles (assuming the vehicles are already equipped with some type of wireless client such as a WiFi radio) and with only minimal additional hardware infrastructure required at the charging/fueling stations (e.g., a COTS wireless device) or at a charging/fueling hub (e.g., an AP). In addition, example embodiments also provide the technical effect and benefit of eliminating the need for vehicle original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to be involved in the vehicle identification procedure because the identification and signal processing algorithms (e.g., the wireless signal-based localization algorithm) are executed on the infrastructure side.

[025] Thus, example embodiments provide a technological improvement over existing solutions that typically require additional hardware for the vehicles as well as on the charging infrastructure side. Existing solutions may utilize RFID technology or camera-based technology for vehicle identification. With both of these approaches, a vehicle may communicate its unique identifier to a charging station over wireless communication as it approaches the station, which may then be verified over a second channel when the vehicle reaches the station (e.g., RFID or camera). A disadvantage of these approaches is that they require additional hardware (e.g., RFID tags and

interrogators, cameras, etc.) to be installed at each charging/fueling station, and thus, significantly increase the cost of the system. In addition, these existing approaches hinder standardization development for interoperability because a vehicle that is perhaps designed for RFID communication may be not identifiable by a charging/fueling station equipped with camera detection technology. Example embodiments provide technical solutions to these disadvantages of existing solutions by providing a solution that requires only minimal additional hardware on the infrastructure side and no additional hardware on the vehicles and that allows for standard interoperability.

[026] One or more illustrative embodiments of the disclosure are described herein. Such embodiments are merely illustrative of the scope of this disclosure 1 and are not intended to be limiting in any way. Accordingly, variations, modifications, and equivalents of embodiments disclosed herein are also within the scope of this disclosure. For example, the data key generation process described herein in accordance with example embodiments can be expanded to use multiple data seeds to produce one set of unique and reproducible data for each data seed.

[027] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative networked architecture 300 configured to implement one or more example embodiments of the disclosure. The networked architecture 300 may include a computing device 302. The computing device 302 may be communicatively coupled to the AP 106 and/or the wireless device 108 and may include, without limitation, a server, a personal computer (PC), a tablet, a smartphone, a wearable device, a voice-enabled device, or the like. In example embodiments, the computing device 302 may receive CSI from the AP 106 and/or the wireless device 108 and execute the wireless signal-based localization algorithm. In other example embodiments, program modules depicted as residing on the computing device 302 may instead reside the AP 106 or at the wireless device 108 such that corresponding processing performed by such program modules may be performed, in part or fully, by the AP 106 or the wireless device 108.

[028] The networked architecture 300 may further include wireless clients 328, which may include any of the wireless clients (e.g., wireless client 112) provided on vehicles, as described in reference to FIG. 1. In addition, the networked architecture 300 may also include wireless devices 330 that may include the COTS wireless device 108 provided at respective charging/fueling stations and/or the AP 106 capable of communicating with multiple wireless clients 328. In example embodiments, the wireless clients 328 and the wireless devices/AP 330 may be configured to communicate with each other via a local area network connection establish over, for example, WiFi. While any particular component of the networked architecture 300 may be described herein in the singular, it should be appreciated that multiple instances of any such component may be provided, and functionality described in connection with a particular component may be distributed across multiple ones of such a component.

[029] The computing device 302 and the wireless devices/ AP 330 may be configured to communicate with one another via one or more networks 332 (which may include the network(s) 124). The network(s) 332 may include, but are not limited to, any one or more different types of communications networks such as, for example, cable networks, public networks (e.g., the Internet), private networks (e.g., frame-relay networks), wireless networks, cellular networks, telephone networks (e.g., a public switched telephone network), or any other suitable private or public packet-switched or circuit-switched networks. The network(s) 332 may have any suitable communication range associated therewith and may include, for example, global networks (e.g., the Internet), metropolitan area networks (MANs), wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), or personal area networks (PANs). In addition, the network(s) 332 may include communication links and associated networking devices (e.g., link-layer switches, routers, etc.) for transmitting network traffic over any suitable type of medium including, but not limited to, coaxial cable, twisted-pair wire (e.g., twisted-pair copper wire), optical fiber, a hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) medium, a microwave medium, a radio frequency communication medium, a satellite communication medium, or any combination thereof.

[030] In an illustrative configuration, the computing device 302 may include one or more processors (processor(s)) 304, one or more memory devices 306 (generically referred to herein as memory 306), one or more input/output ("I/O") interface(s) 308, one or more network interfaces 310, and data storage 314. The computing device 302 may further include one or more buses 312 that functionally couple various components of the computing device 302.

[031 ] The bus(es) 312 may include at least one of a system bus, a memory bus, an address bus, or a message bus, and may permit the exchange of information (e.g., data (including computer-executable code), signaling, etc.) between various components of the computing device 302. The bus(es) 312 may include, without limitation, a memory bus or a memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and so forth. The bus(es) 312 may be associated with any suitable bus architecture including, without limitation, an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA), an Enhanced ISA (EISA), a Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) architecture, an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) architecture, a Peripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) architecture, a PCI-Express architecture, a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) architecture, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) architecture, and so forth.

[032] The memory 306 may include volatile memory (memory that maintains its state when supplied with power) such as random access memory (RAM) and/or nonvolatile memory (memory that maintains its state even when not supplied with power) such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), and so forth. Persistent data storage, as that term is used herein, may include non-volatile memory. In certain example embodiments, volatile memory may enable faster read/write access than non-volatile memory. However, in certain other example embodiments, certain types of non-volatile memory (e.g., FRAM) may enable faster read/write access than certain types of volatile memory.

[033] In various implementations, the memory 306 may include multiple different types of memory such as various types of static random access memory (SRAM), various types of dynamic random access memory (DRAM), various types of unalterable ROM, and/or writeable variants of ROM such as electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, and so forth. The memory 306 may include main memory as well as various forms of cache memory such as instruction cache(s), data cache(s), translation lookaside buffer(s) (TLBs), and so forth. Further, cache memory such as a data cache may be a multi- level cache organized as a hierarchy of one or more cache levels (LI, L2, etc.). [034] The data storage 314 may include removable storage and/or non-removable storage including, but not limited to, magnetic storage, optical disk storage, and/or tape storage. The data storage 314 may provide non-volatile storage of computer-executable instructions and other data. The memory 306 and the data storage 314, removable and/or non-removable, are examples of computer-readable storage media (CRSM) as that term is used herein.

[035] The data storage 314 may store computer-executable code, instructions, or the like that may be loadable into the memory 306 and executable by the processor(s) 304 to cause the processor(s) 304 to perform or initiate various operations. The data storage 314 may additionally store data that may be copied to memory 306 for use by the processor(s) 304 during the execution of the computer-executable instructions. Moreover, output data generated as a result of execution of the computer-executable instructions by the processor(s) 304 may be stored initially in memory 306 and may ultimately be copied to data storage 314 for non-volatile storage.

[036] More specifically, the data storage 314 may store one or more operating systems (O/S) 316; one or more database management systems (DBMS) 318 configured to access the memory 306 and/or one or more external datastores 324; and one or more program modules, applications, engines, managers, computer-executable code, scripts, or the like such as, for example, one or more CSI sampling modules 320, one or more wireless signal parameter determination modules 322, and a wireless signal-based localization algorithm 324. Any of the components depicted as being stored in data storage 314 may include any combination of software, firmware, and/or hardware. The software and/or firmware may include computer-executable instructions (e.g., computer- executable program code) that may be loaded into the memory 306 for execution by one or more of the processor(s) 304 to perform any of the operations described earlier in connection with correspondingly named modules. [037] Although not depicted in FIG. 3, the data storage 314 may further store various types of data utilized by components of the computing device 302 (e.g., data stored in the datastore(s) 326). Any data stored in the data storage 314 may be loaded into the memory 306 for use by the processor(s) 304 in executing computer-executable instructions. In addition, any data stored in the data storage 314 may potentially be stored in the datastore(s) 326 and may be accessed via the DBMS 318 and loaded in the memory 306 for use by the processor(s) 304 in executing computer-executable instructions.

[038] The processor(s) 304 may be configured to access the memory 306 and execute computer-executable instructions loaded therein. For example, the processor(s) 304 may be configured to execute computer-executable instructions of the various program modules, applications, engines, managers, or the like of the computing device 302 to cause or facilitate various operations to be performed in accordance with one or more embodiments of the disclosure. The processor(s) 304 may include any suitable processing unit capable of accepting data as input, processing the input data in accordance with stored computer-executable instructions, and generating output data. The processor(s) 304 may include any type of suitable processing unit including, but not limited to, a central processing unit, a microprocessor, a Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) microprocessor, a Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC) microprocessor, a microcontroller, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a System-on-a-Chip (SoC), a digital signal processor (DSP), and so forth. Further, the processor(s) 304 may have any suitable microarchitecture design that includes any number of constituent components such as, for example, registers, multiplexers, arithmetic logic units, cache controllers for controlling read/write operations to cache memory, branch predictors, or the like. The

microarchitecture design of the processor(s) 304 may be capable of supporting any of a variety of instruction sets.

[039] Referring now to other illustrative components depicted as being stored in the data storage 314, the O/S 316 may be loaded from the data storage 314 into the memory 306 and may provide an interface between other application software executing on the computing device 302 and hardware resources of the computing device 302. More specifically, the O/S 316 may include a set of computer-executable instructions for managing hardware resources of the computing device 302 and for providing common services to other application programs. In certain example embodiments, the O/S 316 may include or otherwise control the execution of one or more of the program modules, engines, managers, or the like depicted as being stored in the data storage 314. The O/S 316 may include any operating system now known or which may be developed in the future including, but not limited to, any server operating system, any mainframe operating system, or any other proprietary or non-proprietary operating system.

[040] The DBMS 318 may be loaded into the memory 306 and may support functionality for accessing, retrieving, storing, and/or manipulating data stored in the memory 306, data stored in the data storage 314, and/or data stored in the datastore(s) 326. The DBMS 318 may use any of a variety of database models (e.g., relational model, object model, etc.) and may support any of a variety of query languages. The DBMS 318 may access data represented in one or more data schemas and stored in any suitable data repository. As such, data stored in the datastore(s) 326 may include, for example, channel state information values, RSSI values, AoA values, ToF values, and so forth. The datastore(s) 326 that may be accessible by the computing device 302 via the DBMS 318 may include, but are not limited to, databases (e.g., relational, object-oriented, etc.), file systems, flat files, distributed datastores in which data is stored on more than one node of a computer network, peer-to-peer network datastores, or the like.

[041 ] Referring now to other illustrative components of the computing device 302, the input/output (I/O) interface(s) 308 may facilitate the receipt of input information by the computing device 302 from one or more I/O devices as well as the output of information from the computing device 302 to the one or more I/O devices. The I/O devices may include any of a variety of components such as a display or display screen having a touch surface or touchscreen; an audio output device for producing sound, such as a speaker; an audio capture device, such as a microphone; an image and/or video capture device, such as a camera; a haptic unit; and so forth. Any of these components may be integrated into the computing device 302 or may be separate. The I/O devices may further include, for example, any number of peripheral devices such as data storage devices, printing devices, and so forth.

[042] The I/O interface(s) 308 may also include an interface for an external peripheral device connection such as universal serial bus (USB), Fire Wire, Thunderbolt, Ethernet port or other connection protocol that may connect to one or more networks. The I/O interface(s) 308 may also include a connection to one or more antennas to connect to one or more networks via a wireless local area network (WLAN) (such as Wi- Fi) radio, Bluetooth, and/or a wireless network radio, such as a radio capable of communication with a wireless communication network such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, WiMAX network, 3G network, etc.

[043] The computing device 302 may further include one or more network interfaces 310 via which the computing device 302 may communicate with other components of the networked architecture 300 via the network(s) 330. The network interface(s) 310 may enable communication, for example, between the computing device 302 and the wireless devices/AP 330 via one or more of the network(s) 332.

[044] It should be appreciated that the program modules/engines depicted in FIG. 3 as being stored in the data storage 314 are merely illustrative and not exhaustive and that processing described as being supported by any particular module may alternatively be distributed across multiple modules, engines, or the like, or performed by a different module, engine, or the like. In addition, various program module(s), script(s), plug-in(s), Application Programming Interface(s) (API(s)), or any other suitable computer- executable code hosted locally on the computing device 302 and/or other computing devices accessible via one or more networks, may be provided to support functionality provided by the modules depicted in FIG. 3 and/or additional or alternate functionality. Further, functionality may be modularized in any suitable manner such that processing described as being performed by a particular module may be performed by a collection of any number of program modules, or functionality described as being supported by any particular module may be supported, at least in part, by another module. In addition, program modules that support the functionality described herein may be executable across any number of cluster members in accordance with any suitable computing model such as, for example, a client-server model, a peer-to-peer model, and so forth. In addition, any of the functionality described as being supported by any of the modules depicted in FIG. 3 may be implemented, at least partially, in hardware and/or firmware across any number of devices.

[045] It should further be appreciated that the computing device 302 may include alternate and/or additional hardware, software, or firmware components beyond those described or depicted without departing from the scope of the disclosure. More particularly, it should be appreciated that software, firmware, or hardware components depicted as forming part of the computing device 302 are merely illustrative and that some components may not be present or additional components may be provided in various embodiments. While various illustrative modules have been depicted and described as software modules stored in data storage 314, it should be appreciated that functionality described as being supported by the modules may be enabled by any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. It should further be appreciated that each of the above-mentioned modules may, in various embodiments, represent a logical partitioning of supported functionality. This logical partitioning is depicted for ease of explanation of the functionality and may not be representative of the structure of software, hardware, and/or firmware for implementing the functionality. Accordingly, it should be appreciated that functionality described as being provided by a particular module may, in various embodiments, be provided at least in part by one or more other modules. Further, one or more depicted modules may not be present in certain embodiments, while in other embodiments, additional program modules and/or engines not depicted may be present and may support at least a portion of the described functionality and/or additional functionality. [046] One or more operations of the method 200 may be performed by a computing device 302 having the illustrative configuration depicted in FIG. 3, or more specifically, by one or more program modules, engines, applications, or the like executable on such a device. It should be appreciated, however, that such operations may be implemented in connection with numerous other device configurations.

[047] The operations described and depicted in the illustrative method of FIG. 2 may be carried out or performed in any suitable order as desired in various example embodiments of the disclosure. Additionally, in certain example embodiments, at least a portion of the operations may be carried out in parallel. Furthermore, in certain example embodiments, less, more, or different operations than those depicted in FIG. 2 may be performed.

[048] Although specific embodiments of the disclosure have been described, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that numerous other modifications and alternative embodiments are within the scope of the disclosure. For example, any of the functionality and/or processing capabilities described with respect to a particular system, system component, device, or device component may be performed by any other system, device, or component. Further, while various illustrative implementations and architectures have been described in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that numerous other modifications to the illustrative

implementations and architectures described herein are also within the scope of this disclosure. In addition, it should be appreciated that any operation, element, component, data, or the like described herein as being based on another operation, element, component, data, or the like may be additionally based on one or more other operations, elements, components, data, or the like. Accordingly, the phrase "based on," or variants thereof, should be interpreted as "based at least in part on."

[049] The present disclosure may be a system, a method, and/or a computer program product. The computer program product may include a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present disclosure.

[050] The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire.

[051 ] Computer readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing/processing device receives computer readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium within the respective computing/processing device.

[052] Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the present disclosure may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages. The computer readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field- programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present disclosure.

[053] Aspects of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable program instructions. [054] These computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a

programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

[055] The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

[056] The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: receiving wireless signals from a plurality of wireless clients, wherein each wireless client corresponds to a respective vehicle of a plurality of vehicles; storing, at a wireless access point, channel state information associated with the wireless signals for each wireless client; determining one or more wireless signal parameters from the channel state information; providing the one or more wireless signal parameters as input to a wireless signal- based localization algorithm; and executing the wireless signal-based localization algorithm to determine a respective physical location corresponding to each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: associating each respective physical location with a corresponding vehicle charging/fueling station.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising: determining a charging/fueling cost at a particular charging/fueling station; identifying a particular vehicle located at the respective physical location corresponding to the particular charging/fueling station; and billing an entity associated with the particular vehicle.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the one or more wireless signal parameters from the channel state information comprises extracting angle-of-arrival information and time-of-flight information for the wireless signals from the channel state information.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the wireless signals are communicated over a large bandwidth wireless medium.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the wireless signals include one or more wireless signals reflected off of one or more of the plurality of vehicles.

7. The computer- implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that the respective physical location of a particular vehicle corresponds to a desired location with respect to a corresponding charging/fueling station; and sending a signal to activate charging/fueling equipment at the charging/fueling station.

8. A system, comprising: a wireless access point comprising: a plurality of antennas; at least one memory storing computer-executable instructions; and at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to access the at least one memory and execute the computer-executable instructions to: identify wireless signals transmitted from a plurality of wireless clients, wherein each wireless client corresponds to a respective vehicle of a plurality of vehicles; store channel state information associated with the wireless signals for each wireless client; determine one or more wireless signal parameters from the channel state information; provide the one or more wireless signal parameters as input to a wireless signal-based localization algorithm; and execute the wireless signal-based localization algorithm to determine a respective physical location corresponding to each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to: associate each respective physical location with a corresponding vehicle charging/fueling station.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to: determine a charging/fueling cost at a particular charging/fueling station; identify a particular vehicle located at the respective physical location

corresponding to the particular charging/fueling station; and bill an entity associated with the particular vehicle.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the at least one process is configured to determine the one or more wireless signal parameters from the channel state information by executing the computer-executable instructions to extract angle-of-arrival information and time-of-flight information for the wireless signals from the channel state information.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the wireless signals are communicated over a large bandwidth wireless medium.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the wireless signals include one or more wireless signals are reflected off of one or more of the plurality of vehicles.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to: determine that the respective physical location of a particular vehicle corresponds to a desired location with respect to a corresponding charging/fueling station; and send a signal to activate charging/fueling equipment at the charging/fueling station.

15. A computer program product comprising a storage medium readable by a processing circuit, the storage medium storing instructions executable by the processing circuit to cause a method to be performed, the method comprising: receiving wireless signals from a plurality of wireless clients, wherein each wireless client corresponds to a respective vehicle of a plurality of vehicles; storing, at a wireless access point, channel state information associated with the wireless signals for each wireless client; determining one or more wireless signal parameters from the channel state information; providing the one or more wireless signal parameters as input to a wireless signal- based localization algorithm; executing the wireless signal-based localization algorithm to determine a respective physical location corresponding to each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, the method further comprising: associating each respective physical location with a corresponding vehicle charging/fueling station.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, the method further comprising: determining a charging/fueling cost at a particular charging/fueling station; identifying a particular vehicle located at the respective physical location corresponding to the particular charging/fueling station; and billing an entity associated with the particular vehicle.

18. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein determining the one or more wireless signal parameters from the channel state information comprises extracting angle- of-arrival information and time-of-flight information for the wireless signals from the channel state information.

19. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the wireless signals include one or more wireless signals reflected off of one or more of the plurality of vehicles.

20. The computer program product of claim 15, the method further comprising: determining that the respective physical location of a particular vehicle corresponds to a desired location with respect to a corresponding charging/fueling station; and sending a signal to activate charging/fueling equipment at the charging/fueling station.