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EP-4118847-B1 - PASSIVE ASSET TRACKING USING OBSERVATIONS OF PSEUDO WI-FI ACCESS POINTS

EP4118847B1EP 4118847 B1EP4118847 B1EP 4118847B1EP-4118847-B1

Inventors

  • CATALENA, Cody

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20210308

Claims (14)

  1. A method of passive asset tracking comprising: associating, in an asset tracking database (1010), unique identifying information of a pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) with a moveable asset (920, 930, 940, 950) to be tracked, wherein the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) is disposed on, attached to, or integrated with the moveable asset (920, 930, 940, 950), wherein one or more indirect reporting wireless devices (150) that encounter the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) report observation data including the unique identifying information of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) and second location information of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) to a Wi-Fi AP Database (1030), wherein there is no communication between the asset tracking database (1010) and the one or more indirect reporting wireless devices (150) that report encounters with the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) to the Wi-Fi AP Database (1030), and wherein the one or more indirect reporting wireless devices (150) are not required to authenticate to, associate with, or establish connectivity with any particular Wi-Fi access point (600); receiving, at the asset tracking database (1010), second observation data from the Wi-Fi AP Database (1030) comprising the unique identifying information of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) and the second location information of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600); determining, at the asset tracking database(1010), a location of the moveable asset (150) based, at least in part, on the second observation data of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) received from the Wi-Fi AP Database (1030); and providing a user of the asset tracking database (1010) the location of the moveable asset (920, 930, 940, 950).
  2. A method of passive asset tracking comprising: associating, at an asset tracking database (1010), unique identifying information of a pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) with a moveable asset (920, 930, 940, 950) to be tracked; wherein the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) is disposed on, attached to, or integrated with the moveable asset (920, 930, 940, 950), wherein one or more indirect reporting wireless devices (150) that encounter the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) report second observation data including the unique identifying information of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) and second location information of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) to a Wi-Fi AP Database (1030), wherein there is no communication between the asset tracking database (1010) and the one or more indirect reporting wireless devices (150) that report encounters with the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) to the Wi-Fi AP Database (1030); receiving, at the asset tracking database (1010), first observation data from one or more direct reporting wireless devices(150) that encounter the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) comprising the unique identifying Information of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) and first location information of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600); wherein the one or more indirect reporting wireless devices (150) and the one or more direct reporting wireless devices (150) are not required to authenticate to, associate with, or establish connectivity with any particular Wi-Fi access point (600); receiving, at the asset tracking database (1010), second observation data from the Wi-Fi AP Database (130) comprising the unique identifying information of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) and the second location information of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600); determining, at the asset tracking database (1010), a location of the moveable asset (920, 930, 940, 950) based, at least in part, on the first and/or the second observation data of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600), and providing a user of the asset tracking database (1010) the location of the moveable asset (920, 930, 940, 950).
  3. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, further comprising: storing the location of the moveable asset (920, 930, 940, 950)in the asset tracking database (1010).
  4. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the unique identifying information of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) comprises a BSSID of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600).
  5. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the location information of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) comprises a latitude and a longitude of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600).
  6. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the location information of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) comprises a latitude and a longitude of the reporting wireless device (150) at or near the time of the encounter with the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600).
  7. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the location information of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) comprises a received signal strength of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) measured by the reporting wireless device (150) at or near the time of the encounter with the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600).
  8. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the location information of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) comprises a latitude and a longitude of one or more Wi-Fi access points (500) or other pseudo Wi-Fi access points (600) near the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) at or near the time of a reporting wireless device's (150) encounter with the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600).
  9. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the location information of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) comprises a received signal strength of one or more Wi-Fi access points (500) or other pseudo Wi-Fi access points (600) near the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) at or near the time of a reporting wireless device's (150) encounter with the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600).
  10. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein determining the location of the moveable asset (920, 930, 940, 950) comprises using a latitude and longitude of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) as the location of the moveable asset (920, 930, 940, 950).
  11. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein determining the location of the moveable asset (920, 930, 940, 950) comprises using a latitude and longitude of a reporting wireless device (150) as the location of the moveable asset (920, 930, 940, 950).
  12. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein determining the location of the moveable asset comprises using a received signal strength of the pseudo Wi-Fi access point measured by a reporting wireless device at or near the time of its encounter with the pseudo Wi-Fi access point to determine the location of the moveable asset.
  13. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein determining the location of the moveable asset (920, 930, 940, 950) comprises using a latitude and longitude of one or more Wi-Fi access points (500) or other pseudo Wi-Fi access points (600) encountered by a reporting wireless device (150) at or near the time of its encounter with the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) to determine the location of the moveable asset (920, 930, 940, 950).
  14. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein determining the location of the moveable asset (920, 930, 940, 950) comprises using a received signal strength of one or more Wi-Fi access points (500) or other pseudo Wi-Fi access points (600) measured by a reporting wireless device (150) at or near the time of its encounter with the pseudo Wi-Fi access point (600) to determine the location of the moveable asset (920, 930, 940, 950).

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Wireless networking refers to the wireless exchange of information between network nodes with electromagnetic signaling. Standards setting organizations, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ("IEEE"), coordinate, develop, promulgate, and maintain technical standards that facilitate implementation of wireless network standards that ensure compatibility between competing original equipment manufacturers and thereby seek to achieve widespread adoption of their respective technologies. The ubiquitous IEEE 802.11 standard specifies a Wireless Local Area Network ("WLAN") technology, commonly referred to as Wi-Fi, that facilitates wireless communication between devices and often serves as a bridge to a network carrying Internet Protocol traffic. Wi-Fi typically operates at either the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz frequency bands in the radio portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. In its first iterations, the IEEE 802.11a/b standards specified transfer rates of up to 11 Mbps at a range of up to 150 feet. The IEEE 802.11g amendment implemented various improvements, including Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing ("OFDM"), to increase transfer rates to up to 54 Mbps while maintaining backward compatibility with IEEE 802.11b. The IEEE 802.11n amendment added Multiple Input Multiple Output ("MIMO") functionality where multiple transmitters and receivers operate simultaneously at one or both ends of the link to facilitate transfer rates of up to 300 Mbps and even higher if additional antennae are used. The IEEE 802.11ac amendment added support for spatial streams and increased channel widths to substantially increase transfer rates from 433 Mbps to several Gbps and works exclusively in the less crowded 5 GHz frequency band and at a range of up to 300 feet or more. The IEEE 802.11 standard remains an evolving technical standard and future amendments will likely seek to increase transfer rates, improve connectivity in challenging environments, and enhance security. As such, Wi-Fi remains the most widely adopted wireless networking standard in the world. International Patent Application Publication No. WO2019/060954 describes a wireless electronic device that executes the steps of: (a) receiving, from a plurality of electronic devices, a unique identifier associated with each electronic device; (b) identifying, from the plurality of electronic devices, at least one listening agent device; and (c) sending scan data to the listening agent device. The scan data includes the unique identifiers received from one or more of the plurality of electronic devices other than the listening agent device, and a unique tracking identifier associated with the wireless electronic device. The steps (a) to (c) are performed using a wireless communications protocol, such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. For Wi-Fi, the unique identifier is received in a first 802.11 management frame of a probe response; and the scan data is sent in a vendor-specific information element (VSIE) of a second 802.11 management frame of a probe request. US Patent Application Publication No. US2019/327161 describes a cloud based processing system receives location information and health status information of a plurality of beacon devices. The location information indicates real-time locations of the plurality of beacon devices, and the health status information indicates real-time conditions of the plurality of beacon devices. The processing system tracks movements of at least some of the plurality of beacon devices based on the location information and identifies problematic beacon devices based on the health status information. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is defined by the independent claims. Further embodiments of the invention are defined by the dependent claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a conventional Wi-Fi wireless network.FIG. 2A shows a passive scanning mode as part of the IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi wireless network discovery process.FIG. 2B shows an active scanning mode as part of the IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi wireless network discovery process.FIG. 2C shows a sequence of IEEE 802.11 management frames typically exchanged between a wireless device and a Wi-Fi access point as part of Wi-Fi wireless network discovery process.FIG. 3A shows the subtypes of IEEE 802.11 management frames.FIG. 3B shows the structure of a conventional IEEE 802.11 management frame representative of the type of management frames transferred between a wireless device and a Wi-Fi access point.FIG. 4A shows various technologies that may be used to determine a location of a wireless device and one or more Wi-Fi access points.FIG. 4B shows a diagram of a wireless device reporting observations of one or more Wi-Fi access points it encounters to a Wi-Fi AP Database.FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a conventional Wi-Fi access point.FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a pseudo Wi-Fi access point in accordance with one or more embodiments of