Autonomous geographical location determination using mesh network

A method performed by a node in a wireless mesh network for determining a geographical location of the node, the method comprising:

• determining in-range primary nodes for the node that are in a communication range of the node, wherein geographical locations of the in-range primary nodes are known;
• receiving respective location information of the in-range primary nodes from the corresponding in-range primary nodes, the location information specifying the respective geographical locations of the in-range primary nodes;
• determining that a number of the in-range primary nodes is above a threshold;
• in response to determining that a number of the in-range primary nodes is above a threshold,
• determining a physical distance between the node and each of at least three in-range primary nodes;
• calculating a geographical location of the node based on the physical distances between the node and the at least three in-range primary nodes and the respective geographical locations of the at least three in-range primary nodes;
• and
• transmitting data specifying the calculated geographical location to a headend system over the wireless mesh network;
• wherein the at least three in-range primary nodes comprise more than three in-range primary nodes, and
• wherein calculating a geographical location of the node based on the physical distances between the node and at least three in-range primary nodes comprises:
• determining a plurality of subsets of three in-range primary nodes from the at least three in-range primary nodes;
• for each subset of three in-range primary nodes, calculating a candidate location of the node based on the physical distances between the node and the three in-range primary nodes;
• and
• calculating the geographical location of the node by applying a weighted summation of the candidate locations of the node.

A node in a wireless mesh network, comprising:

• a processor configured to execute computer-readable instructions;
• and
• a memory configured to store the computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
• determining in-range primary nodes for the node that are in a communication range of the node, wherein geographical locations of the in-range primary nodes are known;
• receiving respective location information of the in-range primary nodes from the corresponding in-range primary nodes, the location information specifying the respective geographical locations of the in-range primary nodes;
• determining that a number of the in-range primary nodes is above a threshold;
• in response to determining that a number of the in-range primary nodes is above a threshold,
• determining a physical distance between the node and each of at least three in-range primary nodes;
• calculating a geographical location of the node based on the physical distances between the node and the at least three in-range primary nodes and the respective geographical locations of the at least three in-range primary nodes;
• and
• transmitting data specifying the calculated geographical location to a headend system over the wireless mesh network;
• wherein the at least three in-range primary nodes comprise more than three in-range primary nodes, and
• wherein calculating a geographical location of the node based on the physical distances between the node and at least three in-range primary nodes comprises:
• determining a plurality of subsets of three in-range primary nodes from the at least three in-range primary nodes;
• for each subset of three in-range primary nodes, calculating a candidate location of the node based on the physical distances between the node and the three in-range primary nodes;
• and
• calculating the geographical location of the node by applying a weighted summation of the candidate locations of the node.