# US 11,442,138 B2 · Method and system for determining a position of a plurality of transmitting nodes > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,442,138 B2 - Document ID: US11442138B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/254,749 - Filed: 2019-06-20 - Published: 2021-09-02 - Granted: 2022-09-13 - Earliest claimed: 2018-06-22 - Applicants: Humanitas Solutions Inc. - Inventors: Abdo Shabah; Luca G. Gianoli; Alexandra Aguiar - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11442138B2 ## CPC - G01S 5/0289: {of multiple transceivers, e.g. in ad hoc networks} - G01S 11/06: using intensity measurements - H04B 17/27: for locating or positioning the transmitter - H04W 28/0268: {using specific QoS parameters for wireless networks, e.g. QoS class identifier [QCI] or guaranteed bit rate [GBR] (negotiating SLA or negotiating QoS H04W28/24)} - H04W 64/00: Locating users or terminals {or network equipment} for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management - G01S 5/14: Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location - H04W 84/18: Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks - 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 - H04B: TRANSMISSION - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract A method is disclosed for estimating a position of a plurality of transmitting nodes. The method comprises installing a telecommunication application in each of the plurality of transmitting nodes; transmitting a plurality of data packets; generating a plurality of transmission quality coefficients using the plurality of data packets; determining a corresponding plurality of transmission scores; estimating a distance between each pair of transmitting nodes, wherein the estimating of the distance between each pair of transmitting nodes is performed using a corresponding transmission score and a lookup table; generating an estimation of a position of the plurality of transmitting nodes using the plurality of estimated distances; providing the generated estimation. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for estimating a position of a plurality of transmitting nodes, the method comprising: installing a telecommunication application in each of the plurality of transmitting nodes forming a virtual communication network; transmitting a plurality of data packets, each data packet transmitted between a pair of transmitting nodes; generating a plurality of transmission quality coefficients using the plurality of data packets, each transmission quality coefficient indicative of a quality of transmission between a given pair of transmitting nodes; determining a corresponding plurality of transmission scores using the generated plurality of transmission quality coefficients and data associated with each of the plurality of transmitting nodes, each transmitting score associated with two corresponding transmitting nodes; estimating a distance between each pair of transmitting nodes using the telecommunication application, wherein the estimating of the distance between each pair of transmitting nodes is performed using a corresponding transmission score and a lookup table; generating an estimation of a position of the plurality of transmitting nodes using the plurality of estimated distances; providing the generated estimation of the position of the plurality of transmitting nodes; and wherein the lookup table associates a transmission score with a corresponding distance. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual communication network is a virtual ad-hoc telecommunication network (MANET) formed by the plurality of transmitting nodes. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein each transmitting node is one of a mobile node and a fixed node. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting of the plurality of data packets comprises generating data packets at a constant frequency between any couple of interconnected transmitting nodes. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein the data packets are generated between any couple of interconnected transmitting nodes that are direct neighbors in the virtual communication network. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting of the plurality of data packets comprises generating data packets randomly in time according to a probability distribution. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission quality coefficients comprise quality of service (QoS) metrics. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the quality of service (QoS) metrics is selected from a group consisting of a packet loss percentage, a path latency and a jitter. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein each transmission quality coefficient indicative of a quality of transmission between a given pair of transmitting nodes is generated by a receiving node of the given pair of transmitting node. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of a corresponding plurality of transmission scores comprises combining the generated plurality of transmission quality coefficients and data associated with the plurality of transmitting nodes. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the data associated with the plurality of transmitting nodes comprises information data contained in a header of a corresponding received packet. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the information data is selected from a group consisting of a nominal maximum transmission range of network interfaces of transit nodes, corresponding intermediate transmission scores of intermediate nodes, on range-based data. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of a corresponding plurality of transmission scores using the generated plurality of transmission quality coefficients and data associated with each of the plurality of transmitting nodes comprises correlating a QoS metric to an estimated value of Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR). ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising amending the lookup table over time. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of the estimation of a position of the plurality of transmitting nodes is performed by a given transmitting node of the plurality of transmitting nodes. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of the estimation of a position of the plurality of transmitting nodes is performed by another processing unit. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the generated estimation of the position of the plurality of transmitting nodes is provided to a given processing unit. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the providing of the generated estimation of the position of the plurality of transmitting nodes comprises providing a corresponding position of a corresponding transmitting node to the corresponding transmitting node. ### Claim 19 A method for estimating a position of a plurality of transmitting nodes, the method comprising: generating a plurality of transmission quality coefficients using a plurality of data packets transmitted over a virtual communication network formed by the plurality of transmitting nodes, each transmission quality coefficient indicative of a quality of transmission between a given pair of transmitting nodes; determining a corresponding plurality of transmission scores using the generated plurality of transmission quality coefficients and data associated with each of the plurality of transmitting nodes, each transmitting score associated with two corresponding transmitting nodes; estimating a distance between each pair of transmitting nodes using the telecommunication application, wherein the estimating of the distance between each pair of transmitting nodes is performed using a corresponding transmission score and a lookup table; generating an estimation of a position of the plurality of transmitting nodes using the plurality of estimated distances; providing the generated estimation of the position of the plurality of transmitting nodes; and wherein the virtual communication network is generated by installing a telecommunication application in each of the plurality of transmitting nodes; further wherein the lookup table associates a transmission score with a corresponding distance. ### Claim 20 A non-transitory computer readable storage medium for storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed, cause a processing device to perform a method for estimating a position of a plurality of transmitting nodes, the method comprising: installing a telecommunication application in each of the plurality of transmitting nodes forming a virtual communication network; transmitting a plurality of data packets, each data packet transmitted between a pair of transmitting nodes; generating a plurality of transmission quality coefficients using the plurality of data packets, each transmission quality coefficient indicative of a quality of transmission between a given pair of transmitting nodes; determining a corresponding plurality of transmission scores using the generated plurality of transmission quality coefficients and data associated with each of the plurality of transmitting nodes, each transmitting score associated with two corresponding transmitting nodes; estimating a distance between each pair of transmitting nodes using the telecommunication application, wherein the estimating of the distance between each pair of transmitting nodes is performed using a corresponding transmission score and a lookup table; generating an estimation of a position of the plurality of transmitting nodes using the plurality of estimated distances; providing the generated estimation of the position of the plurality of transmitting nodes; and wherein the lookup table associates a transmission score with a corresponding distance. ### Claim 21 A transmitting node comprising: a central processing unit; a communication port operatively connected to the central processing unit, the communication port for operatively connecting the transmitting node to a plurality of transmitting nodes via a data network; a memory unit comprising: a telecommunication application for forming a virtual communication network between the plurality of transmitting nodes; an application for estimating a position of a plurality of transmitting nodes, the application comprising: instructions for generating a plurality of transmission quality coefficients using a plurality of data packets transmitted over the virtual communication network formed by the plurality of transmitting nodes, each transmitting score associated with two corresponding transmitting nodes; instructions for determining a corresponding plurality of transmission scores using the generated plurality of transmission quality coefficients and data associated with each of the plurality of transmitting nodes, each transmission score associated with a given pair of transmitting nodes; instructions for estimating a distance between each pair of transmitting nodes using the telecommunication application, wherein the estimating of the distance between each pair of transmitting nodes is performed using a corresponding transmission score and a lookup table; instructions for generating an estimation of a position of the plurality of transmitting nodes using the plurality of estimated distances; instructions for providing the generated estimation of the position of the plurality of transmitting nodes and wherein the lookup table associates a transmission score with a corresponding distance.