US 11,079,481 B2Granted

Apparatus and method for measuring distance and location

AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

InventorsKwanghoon Han, Taeyoung Lee, Seong-Hee Park, Chilyoul Yang, Myounghwan Lee

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

An apparatus and a method for measuring distance by using electronic devices are provided. The apparatus includes an output unit, an input unit, and a controller. The output unit may be configured to transmit the first sound wave, and the input unit may be configured to receive the second sound wave from another apparatus that receives the first sound wave. The controller may be configured to determine the distance between the apparatus and the another apparatus based on a first value and a second value. The first value may correspond to a difference between a timing of initiating a transmission of the first sound wave and a timing of receiving the second sound wave, and the second value may correspond to a difference between a timing when the another apparatus initiates the transmission of the second sound wave and the timing when the another apparatus receives the first sound wave.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A method for operating a first apparatus, the method comprising:

determining, by the first apparatus, a delay period based on diffraction effect caused by a wavelength of a first sound wave and a wavelength of a second sound wave in a measurement cycle of a distance between the first apparatus and a second apparatus, wherein the delay period is a difference period between a timing when the first sound wave is received by the second apparatus and a timing when the second sound wave is transmitted by the second apparatus;
transmitting, from the first apparatus to the second apparatus, information for the delay period;
transmitting, from the first apparatus to the second apparatus, the first sound wave;
receiving, by the first apparatus from the second apparatus, the second sound wave that is transmitted at when the delay period elapses after the first sound wave is received by the second apparatus;
determining, by the first apparatus, the distance between the first apparatus and the second apparatus based on the delay period and a difference between a timing when the first sound wave is transmitted by the first apparatus and a timing when the second sound wave is received by the first apparatus in the measurement cycle, wherein an error of the distance between the first apparatus and the second apparatus is within one meter;
determining, by the first apparatus, whether the determined distance is within a threshold during the measurement cycle;
and
when the determined distance is within the threshold during the measurement cycle, transmitting, from the first apparatus to the second apparatus, a wireless signal to control the second apparatus to log on.

5 more elements

A first apparatus comprising:

at least one processor configured to determine a delay period based on diffraction effect caused by a wavelength of a first sound wave and a wavelength of a second sound wave in a measurement cycle of a distance between the first apparatus and a second apparatus, wherein the delay period is a difference period between a timing when the first sound wave is received by the second apparatus and a timing when the second sound wave is transmitted by the second apparatus;
at least one transceiver configured to transmit, to the second apparatus, information for the delay period;
an output unit configured to transmit, to the second apparatus, the first sound wave;
and
an input unit configured to receive, from the second apparatus, the second sound wave that is transmitted at when the delay period elapses after the first sound wave is received by the second apparatus,
wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
determine the distance between the first apparatus and the second apparatus based on the delay period and a difference between a timing when the first sound wave is transmitted by the first apparatus and a timing when the second sound wave is received by the first apparatus in the measurement cycle, wherein an error of the distance between the first apparatus and the second apparatus is within one meter,
determine whether the determined distance is within a threshold during the measurement cycle, and
control the transceiver to transmit, to the second apparatus, a wireless signal to control the second apparatus to log on when the determined distance is within the threshold during the measurement cycle.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/086,920Filed 31 Mar 2016
Priority: KR 10-2015-00469002 Apr 2015
Published: US 2016/0291141 A16 Oct 2016
Granted: 3 Aug 2021
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification8 codes

G01S 11/14
Systems for determining distance or velocity not using reflection or reradiation: using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
G01S 3/802
Using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves: systems for determining direction or deviation from predetermined direction
G01S 3/8083
Using transducers spaced apart and measuring phase or time difference between signals therefrom, i.e. path-difference systems: determining…
G01S 5/0072
Transmission of position information to remote stations: transmission between mobile stations, e.g. anti-collision systems

Family

US 2016/0291141 A1Pre-grant publication · published 6 Oct 2016
US 11,079,481 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

Timeline

Citations

Open elsewhere

Building an agent or pulling many patents? Use the API or MCP server instead of scraping pages. Get an API key