WO2019058015A1

WO2019058015A1 - Location detection

Info

Publication number: WO2019058015A1
Application number: PCT/FI2017/050662
Authority: WO
Inventors: Veli-Matti KOLMONEN; Olli Alanen
Original assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2017-09-20
Filing date: 2017-09-20
Publication date: 2019-03-28

Abstract

This relates to the use of indoor location detection. The specification describes a method comprising: receiving a predefined condition to be satisfied by anchor node signals to initiate one or more device functions of a user device (100), wherein the predefined condition comprises a range of phase differences of the anchor node signals (102) indicative that the user device is within a defined geographic location; receiving, from an antenna array in the user device, one or more anchor node signals; determining whether the predefined condition is satisfied by the one or more anchor node signals; and in the event of a positive determination that the predetermined condition is met, triggering the one or more device functions.

Description

Location Detection

Field

This relates to the field of location detection. More particularly, this relates to the use of indoor location detection.

Background

It is a known problem of GPS location of devices that it does not work well indoors. However, indoor positioning of user devices would enable many new use cases for the devices. Therefore, several different technologies exist to solve the issue. Some existing systems utilise proprietary radio signalling and some rely on existing systems, such as BlueTooth or Wi-Fi, and measuring the signal strengths, Time of Arrival, or Angle of Arrivals of signals. Traditionally, a device to be positioned transmits a signal which is recorded by the positioning infrastructure and the position is calculated on the infrastructure side. Another way to perform positioning of a device is to send consecutive signals to the device being positioned from the infrastructure using multiple antennas. The device being positioned receives these signals and then inspects the phase differences of the signals. If the receiving device knows the relative positions and orientations of the transmitting antenna elements, it can calculate its relative angle to the transmitting device. This can be used to calculate the angle of departure on the receiving device. When such angle of departure information is gotten from multiple transmitting devices, transmitted from different locations, the information may be combined to get the relative position of the receiving device.

Such solutions require that the receiver needs to know the positions and orientation of the antenna elements of each infrastructure node. Furthermore, it may be an expensive operation in terms of computationally complexity, storage requirements and the network usage. However, the device being positioned does not need to reveal its position to the network, and the accuracy of the positioning may be some tens of centimetres, because the angle-of-departure type of measurement in general provides much better accuracy than the signal strength, in an indoor environment. Summary

According to a first aspect, the specification describes a method comprising: receiving a predefined condition to be satisfied by anchor node signals to initiate one or more device functions of a user device, wherein the pre-defined condition is indicative that the user device is within a defined geographic location; receiving, from an antenna array in the user device, one or more anchor node signals; determining whether the predefined condition is satisfied by the one or more anchor node signals; and in the event of a positive determination that the predetermined condition is met, triggering the one or more device functions.

The predefined condition may comprise: a phase difference of the anchor node signals; the angle of arrival (AoA) of the anchor node signals at the device; the angle of departure (AoD) of the anchor node signals from the device and/or anchor node; the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of the anchor node signals; and/or the time of arrival (ToA) of the anchor node signals.

According to a second aspect, the specification describes a method comprising:

receiving a predefined condition to be satisfied by anchor node signals to initiate one or more device functions of a user device, wherein the pre-defined condition comprises a range of phase differences of the anchor node signals indicative that the user device is within a defined geographic location; receiving, from an antenna array in the user device, one or more anchor node signals; determining whether the predefined condition is satisfied by the one or more anchor node signals; and in the event of a positive determination that the predetermined condition is met, triggering the one or more device functions.

The method may further comprise receiving the anchor node signals from a first antenna in the antenna array; receiving the anchor node signals from a second antenna in the antenna array; and determining a phase difference between the anchor node signals received at the first antenna and the anchor node signals received at the second antenna, wherein determining whether the predefined condition is satisfied by the one or more anchor node signals comprises determining if the phase difference lies within the range of phase differences. According to third aspect, the specification describes a method comprising:

determining a predefined condition to be satisfied by anchor node signal received by a user device to initiate a device function of the user device, wherein the pre-defined condition comprises a range of phase differences of the anchor node signals indicative that the user device is within a defined geographic location; causing the transmission of the predefined condition to the user device; and causing the transmission of one or more anchor node signals to the user device.

The device function may comprise initiating a measurement by a sensor in the device.

The device function triggered may comprise a data transfer between the device and a data hub.

The data transferred from the user device to the data hub may comprise measurement data obtained by a sensor in the device

The predefined condition may be indicative of an angle of arrival the anchor node signals. The predefined condition may be indicative of an angle of departure of an anchor node signal.

The predefined condition may further comprise one or more of a signal strength or a time of flight.

According to a fourth aspect, the specification describes apparatus comprising: one or more processors; and a memory; the memory containing instruction that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the device to perform any of the methods described herein.

According to a fifth aspect, the specification describes apparatus comprising: one or more processors; and a memory; the memory containing instruction that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the device to perform the steps of:

According to a sixth aspect, the specification describes apparatus configured to perform the method of any of the methods described herein. According to a seventh aspect, the specification describes a system comprising: a user device comprising an antenna array; and one or more anchor nodes for transmitting anchor node signals, wherein the system is configured to perform any of the methods described herein. According to an eighth aspect, the specification describes a system comprising: a user device comprising an antenna array; and one or more anchor nodes for transmitting anchor node signals, wherein the system is configured to:receive a predefined condition to be satisfied by anchor node signals to initiate one or more device functions of a user device, wherein the pre-defined condition comprises a range of phase differences of the anchor node signals indicative that the user device is within a defined geographic location; receive, from the antenna array in the user device, one or more anchor node signals; determine whether the predefined condition is satisfied by the one or more anchor node signals; and in the event of a positive determination that the

predetermined condition is met, trigger the one or more device functions.

According to a ninth aspect, the specification describes computer readable instructions which, when executed by computing apparatus, cause the computing apparatus to perform any of the methods described herein. According to a tenth aspect, the specification describes a non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable code stored thereon, the computer readable code, when executed by at least one processor, causing performance of the steps of: receiving a predefined condition to be satisfied by anchor node signals to initiate one or more device functions of a user device, wherein the pre-defined condition comprises a range of phase differences of the anchor node signals indicative that the user device is within a defined geographic location; receiving, from an antenna array in the user device, one or more anchor node signals; determining whether the predefined condition is satisfied by the one or more anchor node signals; and in the event of a positive determination that the predetermined condition is met, triggering the one or more device functions.

List of Figures

Embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures:

Figure l shows an example of a location detection system;

Figure 2 shows a flow diagram of an example of a method for location detection of a user device;

Figure 3 shows an example of a method for providing a user device with predefined conditions for location detection;

Figure 4a shows a schematic example of a receiving antenna array;

Figure 4b shows a schematic example of a transmitting antenna array;

Figure 5 shows a schematic example of an antenna array receiving an anchor node signal;

Figure 6 shows a schematic example of a user device; and

Figure 7 shows a schematic example of an anchor node.

Detailed description Networked devices are increasingly being used to collect and transmit data relating to our everyday lives as part of the "Internet of Things". Some devices, such as sensors, might be required to run for extended periods of time with a limited power source. Low power consumption is therefore advantageous for such devices. The previously described positioning methods often require complex calculations, which can quickly drain the power of such devices. However, location determination by the device may still be desirable in order to trigger the device to perform certain functions. For example, the device could connect to a gateway and report measurement data determined by the device if it is within a certain location. Thus, a network could, for example, request data (such as temperature measurements for example) only from sensors in defined location. Minimizing the power consumption of the device in such situations can be achieved by moving as many functions and operations as possible from the device to the cloud or edge cloud.

For localisation of the device, anchor nodes can be used. An anchor node comprises a source of anchor node signals, such as a radio-frequency beacons or Wi-Fi beacons for example. The anchor node can transmit the anchor node signals to user devices within its range. Properties of the anchor node signals can be measured to determine distance and/or orientation of the device with respect to the anchor node. Examples of such properties can include: the angle of arrival (AoA) of the signals at the device; the angle of departure (AoD) of the signals from the device and/or anchor node; the received signal strength indicator (RSSI); and/or the time of arrival (ToA) of the signals.

In general, the device location can be measured either by the device or by the infrastructure anchors. In examples where the anchors measure the device location, the device transmits a signal which is received by the anchors and the received signal, or signals in case of multiple anchors, are used to determine the location of the device. To determine the location of the device the characteristics of the anchors need to be known. These include the location, orientation, antenna characteristics etc. of the anchors. This information is often readily available in the anchor/infrastructure side and it is thus a convenient place to do the required signal processing.

The device location can also be determined on the device side. In these examples, all the characteristics of the anchor nodes need to be transmitted to the device in order for it to determine its location. This can use a lot of device power, which is not always desirable, especially in examples where the device has a low power supply. However, location determination by the device can prevent the location of the device from being exposed to the infrastructure. This can enhance privacy.

Figure 1 shows a schematic example of a device location system 10. A user device 100 receives anchor node signals 102 from one or more anchor nodes 104. The user device 100 is operable to perform one or more device functions. The device 100 uses the received anchor node signals 102 to determine the device location. If the device 100 is determined to be within a defined area 106 (herein also referred to as a defined geographic location), then a device function can be triggered. In this example, determining that the device 100 is located within the defined area 106 triggers the device 100 to initiate a data transfer with a data hub 108. However, other examples are possible, such as triggering the device 100 to perform a measurement with any sensors present in the device 100. In some embodiments, the data hub 108 may act as one of the anchor nodes 104. In general, the anchor nodes 104 can be located within the defined area 106, outside of the defined area 106, or a combination of both, as shown in Figure 1. The device 100 will not in general receive signals 102 from all of the anchor nodes 104 covering the defined area 106. In some situations, signals from one or more of the anchor nodes 104 may be blocked from being received by the device 100. For example, features in the defined location may interfere with the anchor node signals 102 from one or more of the anchor nodes 104 and/or the range of the anchor node signals 102 from one or more of the anchor nodes 104 may not cover the whole of the defined area 106.

Therefore, the device 100 can, in some embodiments, be configured to determine its location based on a subset of the anchor nodes 104 covering the defined area 106.

One or more of the anchor nodes 104 can, in some embodiments, provide anchor node signals 102 covering a further one or more defined areas 106.

Performing a complex device location procedure can result in excessive power usage by the device 100. Figure 2 shows a flow chart of an example of a method for determining whether a device is within a defined area.

At operation 110, one or more predefined conditions are received by the device 100. The predefined condition provides a condition for the anchor node signals 102 that, when satisfied, indicates that the user device 100 is within a defined area 106. In some embodiments, the anchor nodes 104 transmit the predefined conditions to the user device 100. In other embodiments, a further transmitting device transmits the predefined conditions to the device. The predefined conditions comprise one or more rules for anchor node signals received by the user device to satisfy to indicate that the device is within a predefined area. The predefined conditions are, for example, a range of signal strengths from one or more anchor nodes 104 in the system 10, a range of times-of-flight of signals from one or more anchor nodes 104 in the system 10 , and/or a range of phase differences of an anchor node signals 102 received by the device 100. Here the term predefined is preferably used to connote that the conditions are determined before transmittal to the device 100.

At operation 112, the device receives one or more anchor node signals 102 from one or more anchor nodes 104. In some embodiments, a plurality of anchor nodes 104 covers the defined area 106.

At operations 114 and 116, the device 100 determines whether the predefined conditions are met. In some embodiments, the determination that the device 100 is within the defined area 106 will be made if a subset of the predefined conditions covering that defined area 106 are met. For example, the defined area may be covered by multiple anchor nodes 104 transmitting anchor node signals 102 to the device 100. If the device determines that the predefined condition for one or more of these anchor node signals 102 is met, the device 100 will be determined to be within the defined area 106. In some embodiments, specific combinations of a plurality of predefined conditions are used to determine if the device 100 is within the defined area 106.

If none of the predefined conditions are met (or if specific combinations of predefined conditions are not met), then the device 100 returns to monitoring received anchor node signals 102.

If the device is determined to be within the defined area 106, at operation 118 a device function is triggered. The device function may, in some embodiments, comprise taking a measurement using a device sensor. For example, the device 100 may use a device sensor to measure a temperature, a pressure, a field strength of an electromagnetic or gravitational field, an acceleration, and/or a noise level at the device 100 location. Many other examples are possible. In some embodiments, the device 100 can be triggered to begin recording a video and/or an audio track, and/or take a picture. In some embodiments, the device function comprises transmitting data collected by the device 100 to a data hub 108 in the system 10.

Figure 3 shows a flow diagram of an example of a method for providing a user device 100 with predefined conditions for location detection. At operation 120, one-or-more conditions (herein referred to as predefined conditions) are determined that a device 100 can use to determine if the device 100 is within a defined area 106 (herein also referred to as a defined geographic location). At least one of predefined conditions can, in some embodiments, be determined by the anchor nodes 104 of the system 10. In some embodiments, at least one of the pre-defined conditions can be determined by a computing device (not shown) in the system 10. The computing device may be located remotely from the defined geographic location 106.

At operation 122, the predefined condition is transmitted to the device 100. In some embodiments, one or more anchor nodes 106 transmit at least some of the predefined conditions to the device 100. In some embodiments, the predefined conditions are transmitted to the device 100 by one or more data hubs 108 in the system 10.

At operation 124, one or more anchor node signals 102 are caused to be transmitted to the device 100 from one or more anchor nodes 104 in the system 10. The anchor node signals 102 are used together with the one or more predefined conditions to determine if the device is within the defined geographic location 106.

An example of a predefined condition relates to the angle-of-arrival (AoA) or angle-of- departure (AoD) of anchor node signals received at or transmitted from an antenna array. Figures 4a and 4b show examples of the AoA and AoD respectively.

Figure 4a shows a schematic example of an antenna array 126 receiving a signal 128 from a signal source 130, such as an anchor node 104 as described in relation to Figure 1. The antenna array comprises a plurality of antennas 132. In example, three antennas are shown, though in general two or more can be used. The angle of arrival 134 is the angle at which the signals arrive relative to some reference. In the example shown, it is the angle relative to the direction of alignment 136 of the antenna array 126.

Figure 4b shows a schematic example of an antenna array 126 transmitting a signal 128 to a signal receiver 131, such as an anchor node as described in relation to Figure 1. The antenna array 126 comprises a plurality of antennas 132. In example, three antennas are shown, though in general two or more can be used. The angle of departure 140 is the angle at which the signals are transmitted relative to some reference. In the example shown, it is the angle relative to the direction of alignment 136 of the antenna array. The following description is provided in relation to the angle-of-arrival (AoA) of signals. However, the skilled person will recognise that it is equally applicable to embodiments using the angle-of-departure (AoD) due to the reciprocity of the system.

Figure 5 shows an anchor node signal being detected by an antenna array. Given an antenna array 126 of antenna elements 132 in a known configuration, for example in a uniform linear form, the angle of arrival (AoA) 134 of the incoming signal 128 can be determined based on the signals recorded from the antenna elements 132. The incoming signal 128 can be recorded by using multiple transceivers. Alternatively, the incoming signal 128 can be recorded by utilizing a switching principle where one transceiver is connected to the different antenna elements 132 and switched in a synchronized manner.

When a signal 128 arrives to the antenna array 126 the signal received at individual elements 132 is affected by the angle-of-arrival 134 at which the signal 128 impinges to the array elements 132. In this example, the antenna array 126 comprises a first antenna 132a and a second antenna 132b. The two antennas are separated by a distance d 142. Signals 128 impinge on the antenna array at an AoA 134 of . In general, the antenna array will comprise a plurality of antenna arranged in a known configuration.

Signals arriving at the second antenna 132b will have travelled an extra distance 1 138 relative to the signals received at the first antenna 132a. This extra distance is given by:

I = d cos a.

This extra distance in case of isotropic antenna elements will cause the phase of the signal 128 measured at the second antenna 132b to be different (larger or smaller depending on the angle-of-arrival 134) than the phase of the signal measured at the first antenna 132a. The phase difference Δ will be given by:

^ _ g/kd cos a where k = 2π/λ, λ = c/f, λ is the signal 128 wavelength, / is the signal 128 frequency, and c is the speed of light. This equation indicates that the phase difference between the signal measured by the antenna elements 132 depends on the angle of the arriving signal 128.

For a generic antenna array 126 with the antenna elements 132 characterized by a 5 function g_n(u_r), with antenna elements 126 located in locations r₁₍ .. , r_n the signal response s_n of the n^th element can be written as:

S„(u_r) = e^^'k^ ^r" * flf„( r), (1)

10 where u_r is a unit vector indicating the AoA or AoD, r„is the position vector of n^th element, and g_n is the measured radiation pattern of the n^th element. By measuring the signal response s_n of multiple antenna as an anchor node signal 102 is received by the antenna array 126, the unit vector u_rcan be determined, and hence the angle of arrival.

15 However, if the device 100 to be positioned is to calculate the angle of arrival 134, the infrastructure needs to provide the abovementioned information (or in case of other localisation systems similar type of information) to the device 100 in addition to the position of the anchor node 104 from which the anchor node signal 102 originates. Using this information, the device 100 can calculate its position. However, performing 0 this calculation at the device 100 can result in excessive power consumption by the device 100.

Instead, an infrastructure node transmits a predefined condition to the device 100 that will determine if the device 100 is in a defined area 106 or not. For example, the limits

25 of the phase differences Δ between the anchor node signals 102 received by different antenna on an antenna array in the device can be used. The device 100 compares the received anchor node signal 106 phases to the limits of phase provided in the condition to determine if it is within the allowed range or not. This approach can significantly reduce the requirement to store information and perform calculations on the device 0 100.

For example, when using the Uniform Linear antenna Array (ULA) 126 described above with f=2.5Ghz and with d = λ/2 the equation (1) becomes

Q/- p(jkd cos a ) _ p(J n/ - / -cos a) ) _ p(jn cos(a) ) /V> ) Assume, for example, that the device 100 will be within the defined area 106 if it measures an angle of arrival of between 10 and 50 degrees. An AoA of 10 degrees causes a phase angle difference between the first and the second antenna element to be -177.27 degrees. An AoA of 50 degrees causes a phase angle difference between the first and the second antenna element to be of -115.70 degrees. Therefore to determine that the device 100 is between 10 and 50 degree angles from the anchor node 104, the two phase angle values that define the range of phase angles covering the defined area 106 (i.e. 115.70 and 177.27) are communicated to the device 100. The device 100 measures the phase difference of received anchor node signals and checks whether the phase difference is between the two thresholds. This removes the need for the full radiation pattern information of the anchor nodes. In this example, the pre-defined condition would therefore be the measurement of a phase difference within a phase difference range.

In general, the infrastructure would pre-define criteria and pre-calculate the values to which the criteria should conform to. The infrastructure will then communicate the pre-determined condition to the device 100. For example, a transmitter device in the infrastructure broadcasts the threshold values to devices 100 within its range. Each of the devices 100 to be positioned determines whether they are within the defined thresholds, and therefore within the defined area 106. The determination that the device 100 is within the defined area 106 is used to trigger a device function, for example to transmit data to a data hub 108. Additional examples of pre-defined criteria that can be used include the time of flight of the anchor node signals. For example, a range of times-of-flight of anchor node signals 102 from their transmittal by an anchor to receipt by the device 100. Anchor node signals 102 may be time stamped. Upon receiving a time stamped anchor node signal 102, the device 100 compares the time stamped time with the time the user device 100 received the signal to determine the time of flight. If the signal is within one or more ranges of times-of-flight provided by the infrastructure, then the device 100 will be determined to be within the defined area 106.

A plurality of the criteria can be used together by the user device 100 to determine whether the device is within the defined area 106. Figure 6 shows an example of a schematic representation of the electronics system of a device 100. Figure 7 shows an example of a schematic representation of the electronics system of a transmitter device, such as an anchor node. The electronics systems of the user device 100 and transmitter device comprise a processor arrangement 146. The processor arrangement 146 and other hardware components may be connected via a system bus (not shown). Each hardware component may be connected to the system bus either directly or via an interface. A power supply is arranged to provide power to the electronics system.

The processor arrangement 146 controls operation of the other hardware components of the electronics system. The processor arrangement 146 may be an integrated circuit of any kind. The processor arrangement 146 may for instance be a general purpose processor. It may be a single core device or a multiple core device. The processor arrangement 146 may be a central processing unit (CPU) or a general processing unit (GPU). Alternatively, it may be a more specialist unit, for instance a RISC processor or programmable hardware with embedded firmware. Multiple processors may be included. The processor arrangement 146 may be termed processing means. The electronics system comprises a working or volatile memory 148. The processor arrangement 146 may access the volatile memory 148 in order to process data and may control the storage of data in memory. The volatile memory 148 may be a RAM of any type, for example Static RAM (SRAM), Dynamic RAM (DRAM), or it may be Flash memory. Multiple volatile memories may be included, but are omitted from the Figure.

The electronics system comprises a non-volatile memory 150. The non-volatile memory 150 stores a set of operation instructions 152 for controlling the normal operation of the processor arrangement. The non-volatile memory 150 may be a memory of any kind such as a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Flash memory or a magnetic drive memory. Other non-volatile memories may be included, but are omitted from the Figure.

The processor arrangement 146 operates under the control of the operating instructions 152. The operating instructions 152 may comprise code (i.e. drivers) relating to the hardware components of the electronics system, as well as code relating to the basic operation of the apparatus. The operating instructions 152 may also cause activation of one or more software modules stored in the non-volatile memory 150. Generally speaking, the processor arrangement 146 executes one or more instructions of the operating instructions 152, which are stored permanently or semi-permanently in the non-volatile memory 150, using the volatile memory 148 temporarily to store data generated during execution of the operating instructions.

The processor arrangement 146, the volatile memory 148 and the non-volatile memory 150 may be provided as separate integrated circuit chips connected by an off-chip bus, or they may be provided on a single integrated circuit chip. The processor arrangement 146, the volatile memory 148 and the non-volatile memory 150 may be provided as a microcontroller.

The electronics system further comprises an antenna array 126. The antenna array 126 comprises a plurality of connected antennas connected to a receiver and/or transmitter. The antenna array is operable to transmit or receive electromagnetic signals.

The electronics system comprises a clock 154. The clock 154 may be a clock crystal, for example, a quartz crystal oscillator. The clock 154 may be a separate component to the processor arrangement 146 which is configured to provide a clock signal to the processor arrangement 146. The processor arrangement 146 may be configured to provide a real time clock based on the signal from the clock 154. Alternatively, the clock 154 may be a clock crystal which is provide on a single integrated circuit chip with the processor arrangement 146.

In some embodiments, the electronics system comprises one or more network interfaces 156. The network interfaces 156 facilitate the connection of the apparatus to one or more computer networks and the bi-directional exchange of information between the apparatus and other members of the networks. These networks may include the Internet, a Local Area Network, or any other network required by the apparatus to communicate with the data centre and/or contact centre. The network interfaces 156 comprise a network interface controller, such as an Ethernet adaptor, a Wi-Fi adaptor and/or a Bluetooth adaptor. The network interfaces 156 are associated with one or more network addresses for identifying the apparatus on the network. The one or more network addresses may be in the form of an IP address, a MAC address, and/or an IPX address. In some embodiments, the network interface is provided by and/or as part of the antenna array 126. The electronics system may be provided with a battery 158 to supply power to the user device 100 and the transmitter device and the electronics system.

Embodiments may be implemented in software, hardware, application logic or a combination of software, hardware and application logic. The software, application logic and/or hardware may reside on memory, or any computer media. In example embodiments, the application logic, software or an instruction set is maintained on any one of various conventional computer-readable media. In the context of this document, a "memory" or "computer-readable medium" may be any media or means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate or transport the instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer.

Reference to, where relevant, "computer-readable storage medium", "computer program product", "tangibly embodied computer program" etc., or a "processor" or "processing circuitry" etc. should be understood to encompass not only computers having differing architectures such as single/multi-processor architectures and sequencers/parallel architectures, but also specialised circuits such as field

programmable gate arrays FPGA, application specify circuits ASIC, signal processing devices and other devices. References to computer program, instructions, code etc. should be understood to express software for a programmable processor firmware such as the programmable content of a hardware device as instructions for a processor or configured or configuration settings for a fixed function device, gate array,

programmable logic device, etc.

As used in this specification, the term 'circuitry' refers to all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analogue and/or digital circuitry) and (b) to combinations of circuits and software (and/or firmware), such as (as applicable): (i) to a combination of processor(s) or (ii) to portions of processor(s)/software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and (c) to circuits, such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that require software or firmware for operation, even if the software or firmware is not physically present. This definition of 'circuitry' applies to all uses of this term in this specification, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this specification, the term "circuitry" would also cover an implementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term "circuitry" would also cover, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other network device.

If desired, the different functions discussed herein may be performed in a different order and/or concurrently with each other. Furthermore, if desired, one or more of the above-described functions may be optional or may be combined. Similarly, it will also be appreciated that flow diagram of Figures 2 and 3 are examples only and that various operations depicted therein may be omitted, reordered and or combined.

Although various aspects of the invention are set out in the independent claims, other aspects of the invention comprise other combinations of features from the described embodiments and/or the dependent claims with the features of the independent claims, and not solely the combinations explicitly set out in the claims.

It is also noted herein that while the above describes various examples, these descriptions should not be viewed in a limiting sense. Rather, there are several variations and modifications which may be made without departing from the scope as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a predefined condition to be satisfied by anchor node signals to initiate one or more device functions of a user device, wherein the pre-defined condition comprises a range of phase differences of the anchor node signals indicative that the user device is within a defined geographic location;

receiving, from an antenna array in the user device, one or more anchor node signals;

determining whether the predefined condition is satisfied by the one or more anchor node signals; and

in the event of a positive determination that the predetermined condition is met, triggering the one or more device functions.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the anchor node signals from a first antenna in the antenna array; receiving the anchor node signals from a second antenna in the antenna array; and

determining a phase difference between the anchor node signals received at the first antenna and the anchor node signals received at the second antenna,

wherein determining whether the predefined condition is satisfied by the one or more anchor node signals comprises determining if the phase difference lies within the range of phase differences.

3. A method comprising:

determining a predefined condition to be satisfied by anchor node signal received by a user device to initiate a device function of the user device, wherein the pre-defined condition comprises a range of phase differences of the anchor node signals indicative that the user device is within a defined geographic location;

causing the transmission of the predefined condition to the user device; and causing the transmission of one or more anchor node signals to the user device.

4. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the device function comprises initiating a measurement by a sensor in the device.

5. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the device function triggered comprises a data transfer between the device and a data hub.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the data transferred from the user device to the data hub comprises measurement data obtained by a sensor in the device.

7. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the predefined condition is indicative of an angle of arrival the anchor node signals.

8. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the predefined condition is indicative of an angle of departure of an anchor node signal.

9. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the predefined condition further comprises one or more of a signal strength or a time of flight.

10. Apparatus comprising:

one or more processors; and

a memory;

the memory containing instruction that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the device to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 9.

11. Apparatus comprising:

one or more processors; and

a memory;

the memory containing instruction that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the device to perform the steps of:

Apparatus configured to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 9.

13· A system comprising:

a user device comprising an antenna array; and

one or more anchor nodes for transmitting anchor node signals,

wherein the system is configured to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 9.

14· A system comprising:

a user device comprising an antenna array; and

one or more anchor nodes for transmitting anchor node signals,

wherein the system is configured to:

receive a predefined condition to be satisfied by anchor node signals to initiate one or more device functions of a user device, wherein the pre-defined condition comprises a range of phase differences of the anchor node signals indicative that the user device is within a defined geographic location;

receive, from the antenna array in the user device, one or more anchor node signals;

determine whether the predefined condition is satisfied by the one or more anchor node signals; and

in the event of a positive determination that the predetermined condition is met, trigger the one or more device functions.

15. Computer readable instructions which, when executed by computing apparatus, cause the computing apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 9.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable code stored thereon, the computer readable code, when executed by at least one processor, causing performance of the steps of:

receiving, from an antenna array in the user device, one or more anchor node signals; determining whether the predefined condition is satisfied by the one or more anchor node signals; and