Positioning method, device and systemTechnical FieldThe present application relates to the field of short-range wireless communications, and in particular, to a positioning method, apparatus, and system.
BackgroundAt present, the short-distance wireless communication technology is widely applied in the scenes of intelligent vehicles, intelligent transportation, intelligent terminals, intelligent home, intelligent manufacturing and the like. In these scenarios, the user may wish the device to provide different services when the user is in different locations. For example, keyless entry and activation (PASSIVE ENTRY PASSIVE START, PEPS) is an example of a short-range wireless communication technology in an in-vehicle scenario where a user desires that the door be automatically unlocked when the user carries a car key/phone close to the vehicle, or where the user desires that the door be automatically locked when the user carries the car key/phone away from the vehicle. And these needs of the user must rely on locating the target device (e.g., car key/phone).
How to locate a target device in a short-range wireless communication scenario is a technical problem that needs to be solved.
Disclosure of Invention
The application provides a positioning method, a positioning device and a positioning system, which are used for positioning target equipment in a short-distance wireless communication scene.
In a first aspect, a positioning method is provided, which can be applied to any short-range wireless communication scene, such as an indoor positioning scene or a vehicle-mounted positioning scene, and the method includes: the first equipment receives a positioning instruction from the second equipment, wherein the positioning instruction is used for indicating the first equipment to execute positioning operation on the target equipment; the first device sends a first positioning signal and/or receives a second positioning signal from the target device according to the positioning instruction, and a positioning measurement result aiming at the target device is obtained; the first device sends the positioning measurement to the second device. In a specific scenario, the distance between the first device and the second device is less than a threshold that is less than or equal to a maximum distance corresponding to the short-range communication technology. Among them, short-range communication technologies include, but are not limited to, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), bluetooth, or Ultra Wide Band (UWB), star flash (SPARKLINK), etc. The short-range communication technology is a technology adopted by the first device and the second device for the communication.
In the embodiment of the application, the second equipment controls the first equipment to execute the positioning operation on the target equipment, so that the technical effect of positioning the target equipment in the short-distance wireless communication scene can be realized, further, corresponding services can be provided for the user based on the position information of the target equipment, and the user experience can be improved.
In one possible design, the first device may not be a dedicated positioning station (or the first device is a non-dedicated positioning station), but rather a device having communication functionality that is originally intended to perform functions other than positioning. In other words, the second device may control other devices than the dedicated positioning station to function as the positioning station, and control it to perform a positioning operation on the target device, implementing the same or similar positioning function as the dedicated positioning station.
Therefore, the number of available positioning stations in a scene can be effectively increased, so that the number of positioning stations with Line-of-Signt (LOS) paths is increased, the geometric precision attenuation factor (Geometric Dilution of Precision, GDOP) value is reduced with high probability, and the positioning precision of target equipment is further effectively improved; meanwhile, since the first device has communication capability (the first device itself has an antenna), additional hardware cost (such as a new antenna) is not required, and the cost for additionally disposing the positioning station can be saved.
In the embodiment of the present application, in the case that the first device is a non-dedicated positioning station, the first device may have one or more of the following characteristics:
1) The first device and the second device are powered by the same set of power supply system. For example, in an in-vehicle positioning scenario, both the first device and the second device are powered by an in-vehicle battery of the same vehicle. For example, in an indoor positioning scenario, both the first device and the second device are powered by the mains system of the same building.
2) After the first device receives the positioning instruction, the second device establishes communication connection with the target device, and then the first device is switched from a dormant state to an awake state or from a power-down state to a power-up state. Therefore, the first equipment can be in a dormant or powered-down state under the condition of no positioning, and electric energy can be saved.
3) The positional relationship of the first device and the second device satisfies at least one of: the relative position is fixed; the first device is located outside or inside the cabin and the second device is located inside the cabin. Alternatively, the cabin may be a cabin of a vehicle.
4) The location information of the first device is pre-stored at the second device. Thus, the problems of frequently requesting the position information of the first device by the second device, frequently calculating and refreshing the GDOP of the positioning device during positioning and the like can be avoided, the positioning efficiency can be improved, and the power consumption can be saved.
5) The first device reports the position information of the first device to the second device. Therefore, the second device can be ensured to acquire the position information of the first device, and whether the first device is selected as a positioning station for reference is judged for the second device.
6) The first device may send or receive communication data. It should be noted that "communication data" as described herein may not include data related to a positioning function (such as a positioning instruction, a positioning signal, etc.), or "communication data" is used to implement a function or functions that are different from the positioning function. Wherein the communication data includes, for example, but is not limited to, one or more of audio data, video data, or internet data. Further, the first device may have at least one of the following capabilities: the ability to collect communication data, the ability to display communication data, the ability to play communication data.
It is to be understood that the above six features are exemplary only and not limiting.
In one possible design, before the first device receives the positioning instruction from the second device, the first device may further measure the signal sent by the target device to obtain a signal quality measurement result; the first device transmits a signal quality measurement to the second device, wherein the signal quality measurement is used by the second device to determine the first device from the plurality of devices.
Therefore, the second device can select the device with higher signal quality from at least one device as the positioning station and control the positioning station to execute positioning operation on the target device, so that the positioning accuracy is further improved.
In one possible design, the resources used by the first device to transmit the first positioning signal do not overlap with the resources used by the third device to transmit or receive the communication data; wherein the first device and the third device are located in the cabin, or the first device and the third device are located outside the cabin, or the first device and the third device are located indoors, or the first device and the third device are located outdoors. In other words, the resources used by the first device location inside the pod do not overlap with the resources that are original or scheduled by the third device inside the pod, or the resources used by the first device location outside the pod do not overlap with the resources that are original or scheduled by the third device outside the pod.
The resources used by the first device for sending or receiving the communication data overlap or do not overlap with the resources used by the fourth device for sending the third positioning signal to the target device or the positioning control node; wherein the fourth device is located outside the cabin and the first device is located in the cabin, or the fourth device is located in the cabin and the first device is located outside the cabin, or the fourth device is located outdoors and the first device is located indoors, or the fourth device is located indoors and the first device is located outdoors. In other words, the resources used by the first device located outside the cabin to locate may overlap with the original or scheduled resources of the fourth device outside the cabin.
It is to be appreciated that the resources referred to herein include time domain resources and/or frequency domain resources.
Thus, the resource utilization rate can be improved while avoiding resource conflict between devices.
In one possible design, the fourth device is a dedicated positioning station; or the fourth device has the capability to send or receive communication data and positioning capabilities, i.e. the fourth device may not be a dedicated positioning station.
In one possible design, the first device has a first antenna that covers an in-cabin area and an out-cabin area, or the first antenna covers an indoor area and an outdoor area; the first antenna is used for sending or receiving communication data and is used for sending a first positioning signal and/or receiving a second positioning signal; or the first device has a second antenna and a third antenna, the second antenna covering an in-cabin area and the third antenna covering an out-cabin area, or the second antenna covering an indoor area and the third antenna covering an outdoor area; the second antenna is used for sending or receiving communication data, and the third antenna is used for sending the first positioning signal and/or receiving the second positioning signal.
Thus, the signal coverage capability of the first equipment can cover at least a part of the area outside the cabin besides the inside of the cabin, and further the positioning of the target equipment outside the cabin can be realized; or the signal coverage capability of the first device can cover at least a part of outdoor area besides indoor area, so that the first device can realize the original application function and provide positioning service for the outdoor target device.
In one possible design, the first device may transmit a first positioning signal at a higher transmit power than when transmitting communication data.
Therefore, the signal coverage of the first equipment can be further ensured to meet the requirement of positioning the target equipment, and the positioning reliability is improved.
In one possible design, the devices involved in positioning (including non-dedicated positioning stations and dedicated positioning stations) in embodiments of the present application use the same communication technology, e.g., the first device and the fourth device use the same communication technology. The communication technology includes conventional short-range wireless communication technology, such as Wi-Fi, bluetooth, BLE, UWB, etc., and may also include evolving communication technology or other communication technologies that may occur in the future, such as star flash (SPARKLINK) technology, including star flash basic access technology SLB, star flash low-power access technology SLE, etc., which is not limited by the present application.
Therefore, the interaction mode of the target equipment and the first equipment can be used along with the interaction mode of the target equipment and the special positioning station, and the positioning flow of the target equipment is not required to be additionally changed, so that standardized management is facilitated, and the implementation is easy.
In a second aspect, a positioning method is provided, including: the second device sends a positioning instruction to each device in the at least one device, wherein the positioning instruction is used for instructing each device to execute positioning operation on the target device, and the at least one device comprises the first device; the second equipment receives the positioning measurement result reported by the at least one equipment and determines the position information of the target equipment according to the positioning measurement result reported by the at least one equipment; in a specific scenario, the distance between the first device and the second device is less than a threshold that is less than or equal to a maximum distance corresponding to the short-range communication technology. Short-range communication technologies include, for example, but are not limited to, wireless fidelity, bluetooth, or ultra wideband, star flash, etc. The short-range communication technology is a technology adopted by the first device and the second device for the communication.
In one possible design, the first device and the second device are powered by the same set of power supply systems.
In one possible design, the positional relationship of the first device and the second device satisfies at least one of the following: the relative position is fixed; the first device is located outside or inside the cabin and the second device is located inside the cabin.
In one possible design, the second device stores the location information of the first device in advance, or the second device receives the location information of the first device reported by the first device.
In one possible design, a first device may have the capability to send or receive communication data; the communication data includes one or more of audio data, video data, or internet data; the first device also has at least one of the following capabilities: the ability to collect communication data, the ability to display communication data, the ability to play communication data.
In one possible design, the second device receives the signal quality measurement reported by the at least one device before the second device sends a positioning instruction to each of the at least one device; and the second equipment determines the first equipment from the at least one equipment according to the signal quality measurement result reported by the at least one equipment.
In one possible design, the second device configures resources for the first device to transmit the first positioning signal, and configures resources for the third device to transmit or receive communication data; wherein, the resources used by the first device to send the first positioning signal do not overlap with the resources used by the third device to send or receive the communication data; wherein the first device and the third device are located in the cabin, or the first device and the third device are located outside the cabin, or the first device and the third device are located indoors, or the first device and the third device are located outdoors; and/or the second device configures resources used for transmitting or receiving communication data for the first device and configures resources used for transmitting a third positioning signal for the fourth device; wherein, the resource used by the first device to send or receive the communication data overlaps or does not overlap with the resource used by the fourth device to send the third positioning signal to the target device or the positioning control node; the fourth device is located outside the cabin and the first device is located inside the cabin, or the fourth device is located inside the cabin and the first device is located outside the cabin, or the fourth device is located outside the cabin and the first device is located inside the cabin, or the fourth device is located inside the cabin and the first device is located outside the cabin.
In one possible design, the fourth device is a dedicated positioning station; or the fourth device has the capability to send or receive communication data and positioning capabilities.
In one possible design, the first device and the fourth device use the same communication technology, where the communication technology includes one or more of Wi-Fi, bluetooth, BLE, or UWB.
In a third aspect, there is provided a positioning device, which may be a first apparatus, or a chip in a first apparatus, comprising means for implementing the method described in the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect.
Illustratively, the apparatus may include: the receiving and transmitting unit is used for receiving a positioning instruction from the second equipment, and the positioning instruction is used for indicating the first equipment where the positioning device is positioned to execute positioning operation on the target equipment; the processing unit is used for controlling the receiving and transmitting unit to transmit a first positioning signal and/or receive a second positioning signal from the target equipment according to the positioning instruction, and acquiring a positioning measurement result aiming at the target equipment; the receiving and transmitting unit is also used for transmitting a positioning measurement result to the second equipment; in a specific scenario, the distance between the first device and the second device is less than a threshold that is less than or equal to a maximum distance corresponding to the short-range communication technology. Short-range communication technologies include, for example, but are not limited to, wireless fidelity, bluetooth, or ultra wideband, star flash, etc. The short-range communication technology is a technology adopted by the first device and the second device for the communication.
In a fourth aspect, there is provided a positioning device, which may be a second apparatus or a chip in a second apparatus, comprising means for implementing the method described in the second aspect or any one of the possible designs of the second aspect.
Illustratively, the apparatus may include: the device comprises a receiving and transmitting unit, a first device and a second device, wherein the receiving and transmitting unit is used for transmitting a positioning instruction to each device in at least one device, the positioning instruction is used for instructing each device to execute positioning operation on a target device, and the at least one device comprises a first device; receiving a positioning measurement result reported by at least one device; the processing unit is used for determining the position information of the target equipment according to the positioning measurement result reported by the at least one equipment; in a specific scenario, the distance between the first device and the second device where the positioning device is located is smaller than a threshold, where the threshold is smaller than or equal to a maximum distance corresponding to the short-range communication technology. Short-range communication technologies include, for example, but are not limited to, wireless fidelity, bluetooth, or ultra wideband, star flash, etc. The short-range communication technology is a technology adopted by the first device and the second device for the communication.
In a fifth aspect, there is provided a positioning device comprising: at least one processor and interface circuitry; the interface circuit is for receiving signals from other devices than the device and sending or receiving signals from the processor to other devices than the device, the processor being for implementing the method as described in the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the second aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect by logic circuitry or executing code instructions.
In a sixth aspect, there is provided a positioning system comprising: a first device for performing the method as described in the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect; and a second device for performing the method as described in the second aspect or any one of the possible designs of the second aspect.
A seventh aspect provides a terminal device, including: a first device for performing the method as described in the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect; and a second device for performing the method as described in the second aspect or any one of the possible designs of the second aspect.
Alternatively, the terminal device may be a vehicle, an unmanned aerial vehicle, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, an intelligent transportation device, or an intelligent home device, etc. The embodiment of the application does not limit the specific form of the terminal equipment.
In an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer readable storage medium having stored therein a computer program or instructions which, when executed by a communication device, implement a method as described in the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect or the second aspect or any one of the possible designs of the second aspect.
In a ninth aspect, there is provided a computer program product having instructions stored therein which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as described in the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect or the second aspect or any one of the possible designs of the second aspect.
The advantages of the second aspect to the ninth aspect are specifically referred to the technical effects that can be achieved by the corresponding designs in the first aspect, and the detailed description is not repeated here.
DrawingsFig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a possible application scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application;
fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of another possible application scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application;
FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a positioning method according to an embodiment of the present application;
Fig. 4A is a schematic diagram of a networking manner according to an embodiment of the present application;
Fig. 4B is a schematic diagram of another networking manner according to an embodiment of the present application;
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a resource allocation according to an embodiment of the present application;
Fig. 6A is a schematic diagram of an antenna design according to an embodiment of the present application;
Fig. 6B is a schematic diagram of another antenna design according to an embodiment of the present application;
Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle PEPS function according to an embodiment of the present application;
fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a positioning device according to an embodiment of the present application;
fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of another positioning device according to an embodiment of the present application.
Detailed DescriptionThe technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application can be applied to various short-distance wireless communication scenes, such as vehicle-mounted positioning/ranging/sensing scenes (such as PEPS (Peer Passive entry) in particular), indoor positioning/ranging/sensing scenes, or other wide-area wireless communication or local wireless communication scenes, and is not limited. It will be appreciated that in embodiments of the present application, positioning, ranging, angulation, sensing, etc. are performed with similar steps, and thus "positioning" terms may be used to refer to "positioning," "ranging," "angulation," "sensing," etc. at the same time.
Referring to fig. 1, a schematic diagram of a possible application scenario is provided in an embodiment of the present application. In the vehicle-mounted positioning scene, special positioning stations are deployed at 4 corners outside the vehicle, at least one special positioning station is deployed in the vehicle (such as inside a rearview mirror or a roof of the vehicle, and the like), and a positioning control node (specifically, for example, a PEPS control node) is deployed near a center console in the vehicle. The vehicle (specifically, the vehicle may be in or out of the vehicle) further includes a display screen, a microphone, a speaker, a camera, a vehicle-mounted communication terminal (TELEMATICS BOX, T-BOX), an intelligent rearview mirror, a vehicle-mounted sound device, and other vehicle-mounted devices (not shown in fig. 1) having a communication function. The car key is a target device which needs to be positioned by the positioning control node, and the specific implementation of the car key can be a traditional car key with a positioning function, a mobile phone/wearable device with the positioning function and the like. It will be appreciated that the type, number, location, etc. of devices in the scenario shown in fig. 1 are merely examples and are not particularly limiting.
Referring to fig. 2, a schematic diagram of another possible application scenario is provided in an embodiment of the present application. In the indoor positioning scene, at least one special positioning station is deployed on the ceiling of a room, the indoor environment further comprises electronic devices (only some of which are shown in fig. 2) with communication functions, such as intelligent sound boxes, intelligent televisions, computers, intelligent refrigerators, intelligent mobile phones, routers, washing machines, dish washers, sweeping robots and the like, and at least one electronic device in the indoor environment can be used as a positioning control node (fig. 2 is an example of the intelligent sound boxes and is not limited to the intelligent sound boxes). Outdoor includes camera, intelligent cat eye, intelligent lock etc. (only the camera is shown in fig. 2). A mobile phone, a wearable device, an electronic key, an electronic tag or the like with a positioning function is a target device which needs to be positioned by a positioning control node. It will be appreciated that the type, number, location, etc. of devices in the scenario shown in fig. 2 are merely examples and are not particularly limiting.
Of course, the above two scenarios are only examples, and in practical application, the embodiment of the present application may also be applied to other short-distance wireless communication scenarios, which are not necessarily exemplified by the present application.
Referring to fig. 3, a flowchart of a positioning method according to an embodiment of the present application may be applied to a short-range wireless communication scenario, such as the scenario shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2. The method comprises the following steps:
S301, the second equipment sends a positioning instruction to each equipment in at least one equipment; accordingly, each of the at least one device (e.g., including the first device) receives a positioning instruction from the second device.
The first device is a device capable of performing positioning operation on the target device, and the second device is a device for controlling the first device to perform positioning on the target device. The target device is the device that needs to be located.
Taking the vehicle-mounted positioning scenario shown in fig. 1 as an example, the target device may be a user mobile phone or a vehicle key. The second device may be a device to which the positioning control node in the vehicle-mounted positioning scene belongs; the first device may be any device in the vehicle-mounted positioning scenario having communication functionality and being able to communicate with a positioning control node, such as a dedicated positioning station, or a display screen, microphone, speaker, camera, T-BOX, etc.
Taking the indoor positioning scenario shown in fig. 2 as an example, the target device may be a mobile phone or a wearable device, or an electronic key or an electronic tag, etc. The second device may be a positioning control node in the indoor positioning scene, and the first device may be any device that has a communication function in the indoor positioning scene and is capable of communicating with the positioning control node, for example, a dedicated positioning station, or a smart sound box, a smart television, a smart refrigerator, a smart phone, a smart cat eye, or the like.
In the embodiment of the present application, the first device and the second device may communicate through a wired manner (for example, a power line, or a controller area network (Controller Area Network, CAN) bus, etc.), or may communicate through a wireless manner, which is not limited by the present application.
When the first device and the second device communicate wirelessly, the first device and the second device may specifically communicate in a short-range wireless communication technology, such as, but not limited to, one or more of wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), bluetooth low energy (Bluetooth Low Energy, BLE), or Ultra Wideband (UWB), star flash (SPARKLINK) short-range communication technology, and the like.
The distance between the first device and the second device is less than a certain threshold. The size of the threshold is determined by the short-distance communication capability of the first device and the second device, and the threshold is smaller than or equal to the maximum distance corresponding to the short-distance communication of the first device and the second device. For example, if the first device and the second device communicate in Wi-Fi, the threshold may be set to a value between 5 meters and 200 meters; for example, if the first device and the second device communicate in bluetooth/BLE fashion, the threshold may be set to a value within 200 meters; for example, if the first device and the second device communicate in UWB, the threshold may be set to a value within 100 meters; for example, if the first device and the second device communicate in the star flash technique, the threshold may be set to a value within 0-200 meters. It is understood that the above several threshold magnitudes are merely examples and are not particularly limiting. Alternatively, the threshold may relate to a communication technology employed by the first device and the second device, or the threshold may be a maximum communication distance supported by a communication scheme used by the first device and the second device.
The positioning instruction is used for instructing each device receiving the positioning instruction to perform positioning operation on the target device. For example, after receiving the positioning instruction, the first device performs a positioning operation on the target device according to the positioning instruction. Wherein the positioning instruction carries information of the target device, for example, including but not limited to at least one of the following: layer2ID/MAC address of the target device), name of the target device, channel number, start time of transmission of the positioning signal by the target device, duration of transmission of the positioning signal by the target device, and the like.
S302, each device (such as a first device) in the at least one device executes positioning operation on the target device according to the received positioning instruction, and a positioning measurement result for the target device is obtained.
Wherein the positioning operation comprises transmitting a first positioning signal and/or receiving a second positioning signal from the target device.
The first device may send a first positioning signal after receiving the positioning instruction, where the target device receives and measures the first positioning signal to obtain a first result, and reports the first result to the first device; in addition, the target device may also send a second positioning signal, and the first device receives and measures the second positioning signal to obtain a second result. The first device may obtain a positioning measurement result according to the first result and/or the second result, where the positioning measurement result may be the first result and/or the second result, or may be a result obtained by further calculating the first result and/or the second result, which is not limited by the present application.
It can be understood that in practical application, the positioning measurement process may be unilateral, that is, only the first device measures the second positioning signal sent by the target device or the target device measures the first positioning signal sent by the first device, or bilateral, that is, the first device measures the second positioning signal sent by the target device and the target device measures the first positioning signal sent by the first device.
S303, each device (including the first device) in the at least one device reports a positioning measurement result to the second device; accordingly, the second device receives the positioning measurement results reported by each device (including the first device) of the at least one device.
Among other things, the positioning measurements include, but are not limited to, the following: ranging information (e.g., a relative distance of the target device from the first device, or a time of flight of the positioning signal between the target device and the first device, etc.), angle information (e.g., angle information of the target device relative to the first device), location information of the target device (e.g., a coordinate axis in a certain coordinate system), and a time corresponding to the ranging information.
S304, the second equipment determines the position information of the target equipment according to the positioning measurement result reported by the at least one equipment.
For example, the number of devices of at least one device is greater than or equal to 3, and the second device may determine the location information of the target device based on the location measurement results reported by at least three devices (such as the first device, the third device, the fourth device, etc.) by using a trilateration method (three-circle intersection point). The process of performing the positioning operation for the third device and the fourth device may refer to the process of performing the positioning operation for the first device, which is not described herein.
In the embodiment of the application, the second equipment controls the first equipment to execute the positioning operation on the target equipment, so that the technical effect of positioning the target equipment in the short-distance wireless communication scene can be realized, further, corresponding services can be provided for the user based on the position information of the target equipment, and the user experience can be improved.
In the scenes of vehicle-mounted positioning, indoor positioning and the like, if the positioning is realized only by relying on a special positioning station, the problems of few available deployment positions and high deployment cost exist, and the problems of few positioning stations with Line-of-Signt (LOS) diameters and even the number of the least positioning stations required by positioning cannot be reached easily occur in the positioning process. For example, in an in-vehicle scenario, of the 4 corner deployed locating stations outside the vehicle, some locating stations may not have an LOS path due to body/ambient occlusion. When the number of positioning stations with LOS paths is small, the geometric dilution of precision (Geometric Dilution of Precision, GDOP) becomes high. Wherein the GDOP reflects the amplification of the ranging error by the geometry composed between the target device and the positioning station: under the condition of the same ranging accuracy, the higher the GDOP value is, the larger the amplifying effect on the ranging error is, and the lower the positioning accuracy is.
In view of this, in the embodiment of the present application, the second device may control other devices than the dedicated positioning station to function as the positioning station, and control it to perform positioning operation on the target device to increase the number of available positioning stations. For example, the at least one device may include a first device and a dedicated positioning station.
Among them, the dedicated positioning station is a device for realizing a positioning function, which functions are factory set as a positioning function, in other words, the dedicated positioning station is only used to perform positioning-related operations without transmitting effective communication data (e.g., audio data, video data, internet data, etc.). For example, the dedicated positioning station may perform one or more of the following operations: transmitting positioning signals, receiving positioning signals, measuring positioning signals, transmitting positioning measurements to other devices, or receiving positioning measurements transmitted by other devices, etc., the application is not limited.
The first device is a device for implementing a preset application function, which is different from the positioning function, and the preset application function includes, for example, but not limited to, a network function, an information indication, an entertainment function, a security function, a household function, or the like.
Optionally, the preset application function is a native application function of the first device, such as a factory-set application function.
In the scenario shown in fig. 1, the original application function of the display screen is to display an image, and when the display screen is used as the first device, the display screen may perform a positioning operation on the target device under the control of the second device; the original application function of the loudspeaker is to play audio, and when the loudspeaker is used as the first device, the loudspeaker can execute positioning operation on the target device under the control of the second device; the original application function of the camera is to collect image data, when the camera is used as the first device, the camera can perform positioning operation on the target device under the control of the second device, and the like.
In the scenario shown in fig. 2, the application function of the smart tv script is to play a program, and when the smart tv script is used as the first device, the smart tv may perform a positioning operation on the target device under the control of the second device; the original application function of the intelligent sound equipment is to play audio, and when the intelligent sound equipment is used as the first equipment, the intelligent sound equipment can execute positioning operation on the target equipment under the control of the second equipment; the original application functions of the smart phone are communication, surfing the internet and the like, and when the smart phone is used as the first device, the smart phone can execute positioning operation on the target device under the control of the second device, and the like.
In the above design, based on the communication capability of the first device, the first device is multiplexed as a positioning station, so that the positioning station can achieve the same or similar positioning function as a special positioning station (for example, the first device performs positioning operation on the target device), so that the number of available positioning stations in a short-distance wireless communication scene can be effectively increased, the number of positioning stations with LOS paths is increased, the GDOP value is reduced with high probability, and the positioning precision on the target device is further effectively improved; meanwhile, since the first device has communication capability (the first device itself has an antenna), additional hardware cost (such as a new antenna) is not required, and the cost for additionally disposing the positioning station can be saved.
In the embodiment of the present application, the node for controlling the first device to implement the original application function and the node for controlling the first device to implement the positioning function (i.e., the positioning control node) may logically be two different nodes, and in terms of physical entity implementation, may belong to different devices respectively, or may belong to the same device, which is not limited by the present application.
For convenience of explanation, an in-vehicle positioning scenario is taken as an example (for convenience of description, a node for controlling the first device to implement its original application function is defined as an in-vehicle device control node, and the name of the node in practical application is not limited thereto):
The vehicle-mounted positioning scene comprises a positioning control node and a vehicle-mounted equipment control node, wherein the positioning control node is mainly responsible for controlling related positioning functions, such as positioning of a vehicle key by a positioning station, and the like, and the vehicle-mounted equipment control node is mainly responsible for controlling the vehicle-mounted equipment to realize original vehicle-mounted application functions, such as controlling a display screen to display images, controlling a microphone to collect audio data, controlling a loudspeaker to play audio data, controlling a camera to collect video data, controlling T-BOX to interact with a system background/mobile phone APP, and the like.
As shown in fig. 4A, in example 1, the positioning control node and the in-vehicle device control node belong to the same device, i.e., the second device, and are specifically implemented, for example, as a cabin domain controller (Cockpit Domain Controller, CDC) or a body control module (Body Control Module, BCM). In this case, taking the star-flashing technology as an example, the second device is taken as a master node (G node, i.e. a management node), and the special positioning station and the vehicle-mounted devices such as a display screen, a microphone, a loudspeaker, a camera, a T-BOX and the like are taken as slave nodes (T nodes, i.e. terminal nodes) controlled by the second device to jointly form a communication domain in the star-flashing technology. The slave nodes can be used as positioning stations on the premise of guaranteeing the completion of the original vehicle-mounted application functions, and the special positioning stations, the vehicle keys and the like are also used as slave nodes controlled by second equipment to perform positioning, but only have the positioning functions of the positioning stations. In other words, the second device can control the vehicle-mounted device to realize the original vehicle-mounted application function, and can also control the special positioning station, the vehicle key, the vehicle-mounted device and other devices to realize the function of positioning the vehicle key. The positioning function may use part of the control signaling and/or measurement signals defined by the star flash technology, for example, using broadcast messages of the star flash access layer for initial link setup, or using various types of reference signals (e.g., first Training Symbols (FTS)) in the star flash technology as positioning measurement signals.
Example 2 as shown in fig. 4B, the positioning control node and the in-vehicle device control node respectively belong to two different devices, in which the positioning control node is located at the second device and the in-vehicle device control node is located at the fifth device. The specific implementation of the second device and the fifth device may be, for example, two different BCMs or CDCs, etc. When the original vehicle-mounted application function of the vehicle-mounted equipment is realized, the fifth equipment is used as a master node, and the vehicle-mounted equipment such as a display screen, a microphone, a loudspeaker, a camera and a T-BOX are used as slave nodes, so that the slave nodes can complete the original vehicle-mounted application function under the control of the fifth equipment. When the positioning function is realized, the second equipment is used as a master node, and the fifth equipment, the vehicle-mounted equipment, the special positioning station, the vehicle key and the like can be all used as slave nodes of the positioning controller, so that the function of positioning the vehicle key is realized under the control of the second equipment. When the second device performs positioning operation during controlling the vehicle-mounted device, the first device can be specifically scheduled by the fifth device to serve as a positioning station, so that the positioning station performs positioning operation, specifically, for example, the second device sends a positioning instruction to the fifth device first, and then the fifth device forwards the positioning instruction to the first device.
It will be appreciated that, whether the positioning control node and the vehicle-mounted device control node belong to the same device or belong to two different devices respectively, because the vehicle-mounted devices (display screen, microphone, speaker, camera, T-BOX, etc.) and the positioning station and the vehicle key can adopt the same communication technology, the vehicle-mounted devices belong to the same logic network as the positioning station and the dedicated positioning station, while the positioning control node is the main node of the positioning function of the logic network, and is responsible for selecting which devices participate in positioning as the positioning stations and controlling these positioning stations to perform positioning operations.
In one possible design, the first device is a device having the capability to transmit communication data. Correspondingly, the method can further comprise the steps of: the first device transmits communication data, e.g., the first device transmits communication data and/or receives communication data. The first device may transmit the communication data and the first device may perform the positioning operation on the target device at the same time, or may respectively occur at different times, which is not limited in the present application.
It should be noted that "communication data" as described herein may not include data related to a positioning function (such as a positioning instruction, a positioning signal, etc.), or "communication data" is used to implement a function or functions that are different from the positioning function. The "transmission" described herein may be "transmission" or "reception" or "transmission and reception", and the present application is not limited thereto.
Illustratively, the communication data includes, but is not limited to, one or more of audio data, video data, or internet data. The internet data refers to data in the internet or mobile internet, for example, data is transmitted through a hypertext transfer protocol (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol, HTTP).
Further, the first device may have one or more of the following capabilities: the ability to collect communication data, the ability to display communication data, or the ability to play communication data, etc.
Taking a vehicle-mounted positioning scene as an example: the first device may be a display screen, and may transmit audio data, video data, and internet data, and may collect and/or play audio data, video data, and internet data; or the first device may be a microphone, may transmit audio data, and may also collect audio data; or the first device may be a speaker, may transmit audio data, and may also play audio data; or the first device may be a camera, may transmit video data, and may also collect video data; or the first device may be a T-BOX, may communicate with a background system/mobile Application (APP), and may transmit internet data. Of course, the above examples are only examples, and in practical application, any vehicle-mounted device having a communication function may be used as the positioning station and the first device. The first device may be disposed in the vehicle (i.e., in the cabin of the vehicle) or may be disposed outside the vehicle (i.e., outside the cabin of the vehicle), and the present application is not limited thereto.
Taking an indoor positioning scene as an example: the first device can be a smart television, a computer, a smart mobile phone or the like, can transmit audio data, video data and internet data, and can collect and/or play the audio data, the video data and the internet data; or the first device can be an intelligent sound or a loudspeaker, and the like, can transmit audio data and can play the audio data; or the first device may be a camera, an intelligent lock, an intelligent cat eye, etc., and may transmit video data, and may also collect video data; or the first device may be a smart refrigerator, may communicate with a background system/mobile phone APP, and may transmit internet data. Of course, the above examples are only examples, and in practical application, any home electronic device having a communication function may be used as the positioning station as the first device. The first device may be disposed indoors or outdoors, and the present application is not limited thereto.
In one possible design, the first device and the second device are powered by the same set of power supply systems. For example, in the vehicle-mounted positioning scenario shown in fig. 1, the positioning control node and the on-board devices such as the display screen, the microphone, the speaker, the camera, the T-BOX, the intelligent rearview mirror, and the on-board sound are all powered by the on-board battery of the same vehicle. For example, in the indoor positioning scenario shown in fig. 2, the positioning control node and the electronic devices such as the smart speakers, the smart televisions, the computers, the smart refrigerators, the smart phones, the smart locks, the routers, the washing machines, the dish washers, the sweeping robots and the like are all powered by the same building's mains system.
Optionally, control information interaction (for example, power line communication (Power Line Communication, PLC) CAN be performed between the first device and the second device through the power line that is connected, so that an additional CAN cable CAN be avoided, and cost is saved.
In one possible design, the second device may need to establish a communication connection with the first device before sending a positioning instruction to the first device. Taking the vehicle-mounted positioning scene shown in fig. 1 as an example: after the car key is awakened by the motion sensor, a secure communication link can be established with the positioning controller through a short-distance wireless communication technology (such as Bluetooth, wi-Fi, BLE or UWB, or other short-distance wireless communication technologies possibly occurring in the future (such as star flash technology), and the like) for transmitting positioning control information and positioning data information required by positioning. The positioning control information may include, for example, the number, the name, etc. of the positioning stations, and the positioning data information may include various measurement quantities such as positioning/ranging/angle measurement between the positioning stations and the car key. In this way, a communication link can be prepared for subsequent positioning measurement procedures, and positioning reliability can be improved.
In one possible design, after the first device establishes a communication connection with the second device before receiving the positioning instruction, the second device controls the first device to switch from the sleep state to the awake state, or from the power-down state to the power-up state. In other words, the first device may remain dormant or powered down until the second device establishes a communication connection with the target device; after the second device establishes communication connection with the positioning target, the second device wakes up a plurality of first devices in a dormant or powered-down state, and then controls the first devices to start to execute positioning related operations, such as configuring resources used by positioning for the first devices, sending positioning instructions to the first devices, and the like.
For example, in the scenario shown in fig. 1, when the user carries the car key that is not within the preset range of the car, the door is locked, so that the in-car device in the car can be controlled to be in a dormant or powered-down state, and when the user carries the car key that is close to the car, the in-car device is woken up or powered on.
For example, in the scenario shown in fig. 2, when the user carries the smart phone without entering the room or without being within a preset range of the room, some devices (such as a smart tv, a smart air conditioner, etc.) in the room may be controlled to be in a dormant or powered-down state, and when the user carries the smart phone close to the room or enters the room, these devices are woken up or powered on.
By the design, the first equipment can be in a dormant or powered-down state under the condition of no positioning, and electric energy can be saved.
In one possible design, the positional relationship of the first device and the second device satisfies at least one of the following: the relative position is fixed; the first equipment is positioned outside the cabin or in the cabin, and the second equipment is positioned in the cabin; the first device is located outdoors or indoors and the second device is located indoors.
Taking the scenario shown in fig. 1 as an example, the first device may be a display screen in a vehicle or an intelligent rearview mirror outside the vehicle, and the second device may be a CDC in the vehicle, where the relative positions of the display screen or the intelligent rearview mirror and the CDC are fixed. Similarly, the first device may also be a camera located outside the vehicle in a look-around application for the vehicle 360, and the second device may also be a CDC/BCM within the vehicle with the relative positions of the camera and CDC/BCM fixed.
Taking the scenario shown in fig. 2 as an example, the first device may be an indoor smart television or an outdoor camera, and the second device may be an indoor smart sound, where the relative positions of the smart television or the camera and the smart sound are fixed.
In one possible design, the location information of the first device is stored in advance in the second device, and/or the first device reports the location information of the first device to the second device.
For example, in the vehicle positioning scenario, after the first device is powered on or wakes up, the first device may report its own location information to the second device together with the device information (layer 2ID or MAC address, etc.), and the second device stores the device information and the location information of the first device. During the subsequent positioning, the second device can directly acquire the device information and the position information of the first device stored before without requesting the device information and the position information of the first device, so that the positioning efficiency can be improved and the power consumption can be saved.
For example, in an indoor positioning scene, the second device may select a device with a relatively fixed position as the first device, for example, a smart television, a camera, and the like, and store the position information of the devices in advance, during the subsequent positioning, the second device does not need to frequently refresh the position information of the device and calculate the GDOP for refreshing the positioning device, so that the positioning efficiency can be improved and the power consumption can be saved. For devices with less position variation, such as an intelligent refrigerator, an intelligent sound box and the like, after the devices are in communication connection with the second device resume for the first time, or the positions are changed (such as the movement of the devices is detected by a motion sensor), the second device is sent with a positioning request for the second device again, so that the second device refreshes the position information of the devices, the devices are prevented from frequently reporting and refreshing the position information of the second device during positioning, the positioning efficiency can be improved, and the power consumption can be saved.
In one possible design, before the second device sends a positioning instruction to each of at least one device (the first device receives the positioning instruction from the second device), each of the at least one device measures a signal sent by the target device, obtains a signal quality measurement result, and reports the signal quality measurement result to the second device; after the second device receives the signal quality measurement result reported by the at least one device, the device participating in the positioning operation is determined from the at least one device according to the signal quality measurement result reported by each device in the at least one device, and the determined device comprises the first device.
Wherein the signal quality measurements include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following: LOS, non-Line Of Sight (NLOS), received signal strength Indication (RECEIVED SIGNAL STRENGTH Indication, RSSI), signal-to-noise ratio (Signal to Noise Ratio, SNR), reference signal received Power (REFERENCE SIGNAL RECEIVED Power, RSRP), or reference signal received Quality (REFERENCE SIGNAL RECEIVED Quality, RSRQ), etc.
Of course, in addition to the signal quality measurement result, the second device may also select a device participating in performing the positioning operation in combination with other factors such as GDOP, which is not limited by the present application.
Through the design, the second equipment can select equipment with higher signal quality from at least one equipment as a positioning station to perform positioning operation on the target equipment, so that the positioning accuracy is further improved.
In one possible design, the second device may also configure the various devices in the positioning scenario with the resources required for transmitting communication data and/or performing positioning operations.
The following vehicle-mounted positioning scenes are taken as examples:
(1) The first device and the third device are located in the pod: the second device may configure resources used for transmitting the first positioning signal for the first device, and configure resources used for transmitting communication data for the third device; wherein the resources used by the first device to transmit the first positioning signal do not overlap with the resources used by the third device to transmit the communication data. Wherein the third device may not be a dedicated positioning station, e.g. a speaker, a microphone, a display screen, etc.
In brief, the first device (e.g., speaker or microphone, etc.) located within the pod locates the resources used that do not overlap with the resources that were original or scheduled by the other devices (i.e., third device, e.g., speaker, microphone, display, etc.) within the pod. Wherein the original or scheduled resources comprise resources required for transmitting communication data and/or resources required for performing a positioning operation.
Therefore, resource conflict among a plurality of devices in the cabin can be avoided, and the positioning process can be ensured to be carried out smoothly while the original communication process of the devices is not influenced.
(2) The first device and the third device are located outside the cabin: the second device may configure resources used for transmitting the first positioning signal for the first device, and configure resources used for transmitting communication data for the third device; wherein the resources used by the first device to transmit the first positioning signal do not overlap with the resources used by the third device to transmit the communication data. Wherein the third device is not a dedicated positioning station, such as a smart car light or a smart back mirror.
In brief, the first device located outside the cabin (e.g., a camera located outside the vehicle in a 360-degree look-around application) locates the resources used that do not overlap with the original or scheduled resources of the off-cabin device (e.g., a smart car light). Wherein the original or scheduled resources comprise resources required for transmitting communication data and/or resources required for performing a positioning operation.
Therefore, resource conflict among a plurality of devices outside the cabin can be avoided, and the positioning process can be ensured to be carried out smoothly while the original communication process of the devices is not influenced.
(3) The fourth device is located outside the cabin and the first device is located in the cabin, or the fourth device is located in the cabin and the first device is located outside the cabin: the second device may configure resources used for transmitting communication data for the first device, and configure resources used for transmitting the third positioning signal for the fourth device; wherein the resources used by the first device to transmit the communication data overlap or do not overlap with the resources used by the fourth device to send the third positioning signal to the target device or the positioning control node. The fourth device may be a dedicated positioning station, or may not be a dedicated positioning station, but may be other vehicle-mounted devices, for example, an intelligent rearview mirror, an intelligent vehicle lamp, or the like, where the fourth device has a capability of transmitting communication data and a positioning capability.
In brief, resources used for locating (e.g., resources used for transmitting locating signals) by a first device (e.g., car stereo, etc.) located within the pod may overlap with resources that are original or scheduled by a fourth device (e.g., camera located outside the vehicle in 360-degree look-around application, smart lights, dedicated locating stations, etc.). Wherein the original or scheduled resources comprise resources required for transmitting communication data and/or resources required for performing a positioning operation. This is because the attenuation of the metallic parts of the vehicle is greater and the transmission of the locating signal by the off-board device has less interference with the communication of the on-board device, so that the resources of the on-board device and the off-board device may overlap in the time and/or frequency domain.
In this way, the resource utilization can be improved.
It is to be appreciated that the resources referred to herein include time domain resources and/or frequency domain resources.
Referring to fig. 5, a schematic diagram of a possible resource allocation is shown, where the resources used for positioning by the device in the cabin and the resources used for transmitting communication data in the cabin do not overlap in the time domain, and the resources used for positioning outside the cabin and the resources used for transmitting communication data in the cabin may overlap in the time domain or not.
Of course, the above examples of several resource configurations are merely examples, and are not intended to be limiting.
For the resource allocation manner in the indoor positioning scenario, reference may be made to the resource allocation manner in the above-mentioned vehicle positioning scenario, for example, the resources used for positioning the indoor device do not overlap with the original or scheduled resources in the room, and the resources used for positioning the outdoor device may overlap with the original or scheduled resources in the room (i.e. overlap or do not overlap), which is not illustrated herein.
In a specific implementation process, the resource configuration process may be implemented by a wired communication manner (for example, the second device in the vehicle-mounted scene sends resource configuration information to the special positioning station and the vehicle-mounted device through a power line or a CAN bus), or may be implemented by a wireless communication manner (for example, the second device in the vehicle-mounted scene sends resource configuration information to the vehicle-mounted device, the special positioning station, the vehicle key and the like through Wi-Fi, bluetooth, BLE, UWB and the like), which is not limited in the application.
Through the design, the conflict of resources among devices in a scene can be avoided, and the utilization rate of the resources can be improved.
In one possible design, the first device has a first antenna that covers an in-cabin area and an out-cabin area, or the first antenna covers an indoor area and an outdoor area; the first antenna is used for transmitting communication data and for transmitting a first positioning signal and/or receiving a second positioning signal.
For example, referring to fig. 6A, the first device is a speaker, the antenna of the speaker is an omni/quasi-omni antenna, and the area identified by the dashed line in fig. 6A represents the coverage area of the antenna.
In another possible design, the first device has a second antenna and a third antenna, the second antenna covering an in-cabin area and the third antenna covering an out-cabin area, or the second antenna covering an indoor area and the third antenna covering an outdoor area; the second antenna is used for transmitting communication data, and the third antenna is used for transmitting the first positioning signal and/or receiving the second positioning signal.
For example, referring to fig. 6B, the first device is a speaker, the speaker is designed with multiple sets of antennas, the speaker uses the antenna 1 in the covering cabin when implementing its original application function (for example, playing audio), and a sector area marked with a solid line in fig. 6B indicates a coverage area of the antenna 1; when the loudspeaker performs a positioning operation (transmitting positioning signals and/or receiving positioning signals), an antenna 2 outside the cabin is used, and the sector area identified by the dashed line in fig. 6B represents the coverage area of the antenna 2.
Through the two design modes, the signal coverage capability of the first equipment can cover at least a part of areas outside the cabin besides the interior of the cabin, so that the target equipment outside the cabin can be positioned; or the signal coverage capability of the first device can cover at least a part of outdoor area besides indoor area, so that the first device can realize the original application function and provide positioning service for the target device.
In one possible design, the first device may transmit a first positioning signal at a higher transmit power than when transmitting communication data.
For example, in an on-board scenario, when the first device is located in the cabin, the first device needs to boost the transmit power in addition to having an antenna covering the cabin interior and exterior, to fit the antenna covering the cabin exterior area. For example, the first device uses a lower transmit power (e.g., 10 dBm) when transmitting communication data, and a higher transmit power (e.g., 20 dBm) when the first device locates an off-cabin car key. Alternatively, the specific power of the first device for transmitting the first positioning signal may be calculated according to parameters such as coverage R of the positioning station outside the vehicle, antenna gain x of the positioning station inside the vehicle, penetration loss L of window glass, path loss PL, receiving sensitivity R, and margin B, for example, the transmission power required for the first device for transmitting the first positioning signal is P, where P > R-x+l+pl+b. In the above formula, P, r are in decibel milliwatts (dBm) and the other variables are in decibels (dB).
Therefore, the signal coverage of the first equipment can be further ensured to meet the requirement of positioning the target equipment, and the positioning reliability is improved.
In one possible design, devices participating in positioning (including non-dedicated positioning stations, e.g., a first device, and dedicated positioning stations, e.g., a fourth device) in embodiments of the present application use the same communication technology. The communication technology includes conventional short-range wireless communication technologies, such as Wi-Fi, bluetooth, BLE, UWB, etc., and may also include evolving communication technologies or other communication technologies that may occur in the future, such as star flash (SPARKLINK) technologies, including star flash basic access technologies (SPARKLINK BASIC, SLB), star flash low-power access technologies (SPARKLINK LOW ENERGY, SLE), etc., which are not limiting to the present application.
Therefore, the communication technology used by the first equipment and the special positioning station enables the interaction mode of the target equipment and the first equipment to be used along with the interaction mode of the target equipment and the special positioning station, and further, the positioning flow of the target equipment does not need to be additionally changed, standardized management is facilitated, and implementation is easy.
In one possible design, the second device provides different services to the user when the target device is located in a different location. Referring to fig. 7, taking a vehicle-mounted PEPS as an example: 1) In the sensing area, the second equipment starts to position the car key by using a short-distance wireless communication technology; 2) After the second device detects that the car key enters the welcome area, the second device turns on car light (car lights, car atmosphere lights and the like) to flash and/or turns on car music/sound to show welcome to the user, and meanwhile helps the user find the specific position of the car; 2) The second equipment continuously positions the car key, and when the car key is detected to enter an unlocking zone, the car door is controlled to be automatically unlocked, or a user touches a car door handle to be unlocked; 3) The second equipment continuously positions the car key, and when the car key is detected to enter the car, the second equipment controls the car to start automatically, so that the PEPS function is realized.
It will be appreciated that the designs described above may be implemented separately or in combination with one another and that the application is not limited thereto.
The method provided by the embodiment of the application is described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, and the device provided by the embodiment of the application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Based on the same technical idea, an embodiment of the present application provides a positioning device, which includes a module/unit/means for performing the method performed by the first device and/or the second device in the above method embodiment. The module/unit/means may be implemented by software, or by hardware executing corresponding software.
By way of example, the apparatus may comprise a transceiving unit 801 and a processing unit 802 with reference to fig. 8.
When the apparatus is the first device or is located in the first device, the transceiver 801 is configured to receive a positioning instruction from a second device, where the positioning instruction is used to instruct the first device where the positioning apparatus is located to perform a positioning operation on a target device; a processing unit 802, configured to control, according to the positioning instruction, the transceiver unit 801 to send a first positioning signal and/or receive a second positioning signal from the target device, and obtain a positioning measurement result for the target device; a transceiver 801, configured to send a positioning measurement result to the second device; in a specific scenario, the distance between the first device and the second device is less than a threshold, where the threshold is less than or equal to a maximum distance corresponding to the short-range communication technology. Short-range communication technologies include, for example, but are not limited to, wireless fidelity, bluetooth, or ultra wideband, star flash, etc. The short-range communication technology is a technology adopted by the first device and the second device for the communication.
Optionally, the processing unit 802 is further configured to: after the transceiver unit 801 receives the positioning instruction, the second device establishes a communication connection with the target device, and then controls the first device to switch from the sleep state to the awake state, or from the power-down state to the power-up state.
Optionally, the transceiver unit 801 is further configured to: transmitting or receiving communication data; the communication data includes one or more of audio data, video data, or internet data, and the first device has at least one of the following capabilities: the ability to collect communication data, the ability to display communication data, or the ability to play communication data.
Optionally, the processing unit 802 is further configured to: before the receiving and transmitting unit 801 receives a positioning instruction from the second device, measuring a signal sent by the target device to obtain a signal quality measurement result; the transceiver unit 801 is further configured to: the method includes transmitting a signal quality measurement to a second device, wherein the signal quality measurement is used by the second device to determine a first device from a plurality of devices.
When the apparatus is the second device or is located in the second device, the transceiver 801 is configured to send a positioning instruction to each device of at least one device, where the positioning instruction is configured to instruct each device to perform a positioning operation on a target device, and the at least one device includes a first device; receiving a positioning measurement result reported by at least one device; a processing unit 802, configured to determine location information of a target device according to a location measurement result reported by at least one device; in a specific scenario, the distance between the first device and the second device where the positioning device is located is smaller than a threshold, where the threshold is smaller than or equal to a maximum distance corresponding to the short-range communication technology. Short-range communication technologies include, for example, but are not limited to, wireless fidelity, bluetooth, or ultra wideband, star flash, etc. The short-range communication technology is a technology adopted by the first device and the second device for the communication.
Optionally, the transceiver unit 801 is further configured to: before a positioning instruction is sent to each device in at least one device, receiving a signal quality measurement result reported by the at least one device; the processing unit 802 is further configured to: and determining the first equipment from the at least one equipment according to the signal quality measurement result reported by the at least one equipment.
Optionally, the processing unit 802 is further configured to: configuring resources used for transmitting a first positioning signal for a first device and resources used for transmitting or receiving communication data for a third device; wherein, the resources used by the first device to send the first positioning signal do not overlap with the resources used by the third device to send or receive the communication data; wherein the first device and the third device are located in the cabin, or the first device and the third device are located outside the cabin, or the first device and the third device are located indoors, or the first device and the third device are located outdoors; and/or the number of the groups of groups,
Configuring resources used for transmitting or receiving communication data for the first device and resources used for transmitting a third positioning signal for the fourth device; wherein, the resource used by the first device to send or receive the communication data overlaps or does not overlap with the resource used by the fourth device to send the third positioning signal to the target device or the positioning control node; the fourth device is located outside the cabin and the first device is located inside the cabin, or the fourth device is located inside the cabin and the first device is located outside the cabin, or the fourth device is located outside the cabin and the first device is located inside the cabin, or the fourth device is located inside the cabin and the first device is located outside the cabin.
It should be understood that all relevant contents of each step involved in the above method embodiments may be cited to the functional descriptions of the corresponding functional modules, and are not described herein.
In particular embodiments, the device may have a variety of product configurations, and several possible product configurations are described below.
Referring to fig. 9, an embodiment of the present application also provides a positioning device comprising at least one processor 901 and interface circuitry 902; the interface circuit 902 is configured to receive signals from other devices than the device and send or receive signals to the processor 901 or send signals from the processor 901 to other communication devices than the device, and the processor 901 is configured to implement the method performed by the first apparatus or the second apparatus by logic circuits or executing code instructions.
It should be understood that the processors mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by hardware or may be implemented by software. When implemented in hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or the like. When implemented in software, the processor may be a general purpose processor, implemented by reading software code stored in a memory.
By way of example, the Processor may be a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU), but may also be other general purpose processors, digital signal processors (DIGITAL SIGNAL Processor, DSP), application SPECIFIC INTEGRATED Circuit (ASIC), off-the-shelf programmable gate array (Field Programmable GATE ARRAY, FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware components, or the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.
It should be understood that the memory referred to in embodiments of the present application may be volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The nonvolatile Memory may be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash Memory. The volatile memory may be random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM) which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (STATIC RAM, SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DYNAMIC RAM, DRAM), synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate Synchronous dynamic random access memory (Double DATA EATE SDRAM, DDR SDRAM), enhanced Synchronous dynamic random access memory (ENHANCED SDRAM, ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SYNCHLINK DRAM, SLDRAM), and Direct memory bus RAM (DR RAM).
It should be noted that when the processor is a general purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware components, the memory (storage module) may be integrated into the processor.
It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.
Based on the same technical idea, the embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium including a program or instructions that, when run on a computer, cause a method performed by the second device or the first device as described above to be performed.
Based on the same technical idea, embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product comprising instructions stored therein, which when run on a computer, cause a method performed by the above-mentioned second device or first device to be performed.
Based on the same technical concept, the embodiment of the application also provides a positioning system which comprises the second equipment and the first equipment.
Based on the same technical concept, the embodiment of the application also provides a terminal device, which comprises the second device and the first device. The terminal equipment can be a vehicle, an unmanned aerial vehicle, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, intelligent transportation equipment, intelligent household equipment or the like. The embodiment of the application does not limit the specific form of the terminal equipment.
In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or", describes an association relationship of an association object, and indicates that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, and may indicate: a alone, a and B together, and B alone, wherein a, B may be singular or plural. In the text description of the present application, the character "/", generally indicates that the associated objects are an or relationship; in the formula of the present application, the character "/" indicates that the front and rear associated objects are a "division" relationship. "including at least one of A, B and C" may mean: comprises A; comprises B; comprising C; comprises A and B; comprises A and C; comprises B and C; including A, B and C.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.
The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, 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 specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.