US 10,834,547 B1Granted

Electromagnetic user tracking system

AssigneeAmazon Technologies, Inc.

InventorsPatrick Ian McCleary, Jeremy Samuel De Bonet, James Stephanick, Somasundaram Niranjayan, Nikolai Orlov, Nathan Pius O'Neill, Camerin Cole Hahn

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Abstract

A facility is equipped with floor tiles, each tile having several segments, each segment with an antenna. Each segment on a tile is associated with a particular timeslot. A transmitter at the tile transmits on a specific frequency. During the particular timeslot for that segment, a signal at the specific frequency is transmitted and radiated from the antenna for that segment. A user electromagnetically couples to one or more antennas of the tile, acting as a signal path for the signal. A receiver in a second tile detects the signal, and information about the frequency detected, timeslot for the signal, and relative signal strength is generated. Where the user has stepped from is determined using the information. By concatenating these steps, a path of the user may be determined. Receivers in shelves facilitate disambiguation of one user from another when interacting with items.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A smart floor tile comprising:

a flooring material;
a support structure configured to support the flooring material;
a transmitter to generate a signal at a first frequency;
a first antenna configured to radiate the signal, wherein the first antenna is underneath a first portion of the flooring material;
a second antenna configured to radiate the signal, wherein the second antenna is underneath a second portion of the flooring material;
a switch configured to selectively connect the transmitter to one or more of the first antenna or the second antenna;
a first memory, storing first computer-executable instructions;
and
a first hardware processor to execute the first computer-executable instructions to:
activate the switch to connect the first antenna and the second antenna to the transmitter;
transmit an initial signal at the first frequency using the transmitter, wherein the initial signal is radiated by the first antenna and the second antenna;
determine a first amount of time has elapsed since the transmission of the initial signal;
activate the switch to connect the first antenna to the transmitter and disconnect the second antenna from the transmitter;
transmit, after the first amount of time has elapsed, a first segment signal using the transmitter, wherein the first segment signal is radiated by the first antenna;
determine a second amount of time has elapsed since the transmission of the initial signal;
activate the switch to connect the second antenna to the transmitter and disconnect the first antenna from the transmitter;
and
transmit, after the second amount of time has elapsed, a second segment signal, wherein the second segment signal is radiated by the second antenna.

15 more elements

A system comprising:

a first smart floor tile comprising:
a first segment;
a second segment;
one or more transmitters configured to generate a first segment signal and a second segment signal;
a first antenna of the first segment to radiate the first segment signal;
a second antenna of the second segment to radiate the second segment signal;
a switch configured to selectively connect the one or more transmitters to one or more of the first antenna or the second antenna;
a first memory storing first computer-executable instructions;
and
a first hardware processor to execute the first computer-executable instructions to:
activate the switch to connect the first antenna to the one or more transmitters;
transmit the first segment signal during a first timeslot using the one or more transmitters and the first antenna;
activate the switch to connect the second antenna to the one or more transmitters;
and
transmit the second segment signal during a second timeslot using the one or more transmitters and the second antenna.

12 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/353,471Filed 16 Nov 2016
Granted: 10 Nov 2020
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification8 codes

H04W 4/33
Services specially adapted for particular environments, situations or purposes: for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
H04B 17/318
Measuring or estimating channel quality parameters: received signal strength
H04L 69/28
Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass:…
H04W 4/029
Services making use of location information: location-based management or tracking services