# US 10,368,783 B2 · Position determination system

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- Number: US 10,368,783 B2
- Document ID: US10368783B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/066,763
- Filed: 2016-03-10
- Published: 2016-07-07
- Granted: 2019-08-06
- Earliest claimed: 2010-10-20
- Assignees: Sonitor Technologies AS
- Applicants: Sonitor Technologies AS
- Inventors: Wilfred Edwin Booij; Oystein Haug Olsen
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10368783B2

## CPC

- A61B 5/1113: {Local tracking of patients, e.g. in a hospital or private home}
- A61B 5/002: {Monitoring the patient using a local or closed circuit, e.g. in a room or building (A61B5/0017 takes precedence)}
- A61B 5/0026: {characterised by the transmission medium}
- A61B 5/1117: {Fall detection}
- A61B 5/6801: {specially adapted to be attached to or worn on the body surface}
- A61B 5/6824: {Arm or wrist}
- A61B 5/7246: {using correlation, e.g. template matching or determination of similarity}
- A61B 5/7282: {Event detection, e.g. detecting unique waveforms indicative of a medical condition (cough events A61B5/0823; seizures A61B5/4094; sleep apnoea A61B5/4818)}
- A61B 5/746: {Alarms related to a physiological condition, e.g. details of setting alarm thresholds or avoiding false alarms}
- G01C 5/06: by using barometric means
- G01C 21/005: {with correlation of navigation data from several sources, e.g. map or contour matching (G01C21/30 takes precedence)}
- G01C 21/206: {specially adapted for indoor navigation}
- G01S 5/021: {Calibration, monitoring or correction (G01S5/0252 takes precedence)}
- G01S 5/18: using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
- G08B 21/043: {detecting an emergency event, e.g. a fall}
- G08B 21/18: Status alarms (G08B21/02 takes precedence)
- H04W 48/04: based on user or terminal location or mobility data, e.g. moving direction, speed
- H04W 64/00: Locating users or terminals {or network equipment} for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
- A61B 2560/0223: of calibration, e.g. protocols for calibrating sensors
- A61B 2560/0242: adapted to measure environmental factors, e.g. temperature, pollution
- A61B 2562/0247: Pressure sensors
- G01S 5/02585: {at least one of the measurements being a non-radio measurement}
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)
- G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S)
- G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
- G08B: SIGNALLING SYSTEMS, e.g. PERSONAL CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)

## Abstract

A monitoring system is provided that includes a three dimensional position determination system for determining the three dimensional coordinates of one or more mobile units. The system includes at least one zone in which the system is arranged to raise an alarm when the rate of change of a vertical coordinate of a mobile unit is less than a predetermined value.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A monitoring system, comprising:
one or more mobile units; and
a three dimensional position determination system arranged to determine three dimensional coordinates of the one or more mobile units, said system comprising at least two zones;
wherein the system is arranged to determine which zone a selected one of the one or more mobile units is in based on its horizontal position; and
wherein in one of said zones the system is arranged to raise an alarm when the rate of change of a vertical coordinate of the selected one of the one or more mobile units is less than a predetermined value; and
wherein the position determination system comprises one or more fixed base units, wherein the system is arranged to determine the horizontal position of a mobile unit of the one or more mobile units based on the proximity of said mobile unit to at least one base unit and wherein the system is arranged to determine the height of said mobile unit based on the air pressure sensed at the mobile unit and the air pressure sensed at one or more of the base units.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The monitoring system as claimed in claim 1, wherein in another of said at least two zones the system is arranged to raise an alarm when the rate of change of a vertical coordinate of a mobile unit is greater than a predetermined value.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The monitoring system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the position determination system comprises a plurality of base units and wherein the system is arranged to determine a reference air pressure based on an average of the air pressures sensed at each of the plurality of base units.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The monitoring system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the position determination system comprises at least one height reference base unit and wherein the system is arranged such that when a mobile unit is determined to be within a certain proximity of said height reference base unit the system determines that the mobile unit is at a predetermined mobile unit reference height.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The monitoring system as claimed in claim 4, wherein in response to said proximity determination, the system instructs the mobile unit to perform a calibration based on the mobile unit reference height.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The monitoring system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system comprises a height calibration zone, said height calibration zone comprising a plurality of base units positionally arranged so as to be capable of determining the height of a mobile unit based on the proximity of said mobile unit to each of said plurality of base units.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The monitoring system as claimed in claim 6, wherein in response to said height determination, the system instructs the mobile unit to perform a calibration based on the determined height.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The monitoring system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system is arranged to raise an alarm based on one or more criteria being met by a mobile unit.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The monitoring system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the alarm criteria depend on the current position of said mobile unit.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The monitoring system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the alarm is arranged to indicate an identification of said mobile unit and a current position of said mobile unit.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The monitoring system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said one or more fixed base units and said one or more mobile units are arranged to communicate via ultrasound.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The monitoring system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said base unit and said mobile unit are arranged to communicate via radio communication.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The monitoring system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the height determination of the mobile unit based on pressure data is combined with height determination based on proximity to the base units.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The monitoring system as claimed in claim 1, wherein a stationary mobile unit is arranged to act as an additional base unit.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

A building comprising a monitoring system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said building comprising one or more monitoring zones for positioning mobile units, wherein at least one monitoring zone comprises only one base unit.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The building as claimed in claim 15, wherein one or more monitoring zones each correspond to a room within the building.

### Claim 17 (depends on 15)

The building as claimed in claim 15, wherein said position determination system is adapted to receive data from one or more building sensors within said building, said building sensors including at least one of: a light switch sensor, a motion sensor, a door sensor and a telephone activity sensor.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The building as claimed in claim 17, wherein the position determination system is adapted to raise an alarm based on one or more criteria being met by a mobile unit and based on the output of said building sensors.