Power ramping of beacon signals to enhance location accuracy

A method for locating asset tracking tags, the method comprising:

• obtaining, by a receiver device, a ramped sequence of beacon signals from a beacon tracking tag, the ramped sequence of beacon signals including at least one minimum power signal and at least one maximum power signal, each beacon signal in the sequence including tag identification information and an initial signal strength value indicating a transmitted power level for that beacon signal;
• associating, by one or more processors of the receiver device, each beacon signal in the ramped sequence with a timestamp indicating a reception time at which that beacon signal was received by a reader device;
• associating, by the one or more processors of the receiver device, each beacon signal in the ramped sequence with a received signal strength at the reception time;
• estimating, by the one or more processors of the receiver device, a location of the beacon tracking tag according to each beacon signal in the ramped sequence based on the difference between the initial signal strength value and the received signal strength for each respective beacon signal;
• identifying, by the one or more processors, a position of the reader device based on the estimated location of the beacon tracking tag, identifying of the position of the reader device includes comparing signal strength information obtained by the reader device against stored calibration data and the comparing includes performing a second comparison for a second received signal strength obtained by a second reader device at the reception time and corresponding to the beacon tracking tag;
• and
• identifying, by the one or more processors, a location of an asset tracking tag based on the identified position of the reader device and one or more data packets received by the reader device from the asset tracking tag.

A system configured to locate asset tracking tags, the system comprising:

• memory configured to store location information for one or more beacon tracking tags, one or more readers, or one or more asset tracking tags, wherein the one or more beacon tracking tags are attached to a fixture of an environment of the system;
• and
• one or more processors configured to:
• obtain, via a receiver device, a ramped sequence of beacon signals from a beacon tracking tag, the ramped sequence of beacon signals including at least one minimum power signal and at least one maximum power signal, each beacon signal in the sequence including tag identification information and an initial signal strength value indicating a transmitted power level for that beacon signal;
• associate each beacon signal in the ramped sequence with a timestamp indicating a reception time at which that beacon signal was received by a reader device;
• associate each beacon signal in the ramped sequence with a received signal strength at the reception time;
• estimate a location of the beacon tracking tag according to each beacon signal in the ramped sequence based on the difference between the initial signal strength value and the received signal strength for each respective beacon signal;
• identify a position of the reader device based on the estimated location of the beacon tracking tag;
• and
• identify a location of an asset tracking tag based on the identified position of the reader device and one or more data packets received by the reader device from the asset tracking tag.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, causing the one or more processors to implement a method for locating asset tracking tags, the method comprising:

• obtaining, via a receiver device, a ramped sequence of beacon signals from a beacon tracking tag, the ramped sequence of beacon signals including at least one minimum power signal and at least one maximum power signal, each beacon signal in the sequence including tag identification information and an initial signal strength value indicating a transmitted power level for that beacon signal, wherein the beacon tracking tag is attached to a fixture of an environment;
• associating each beacon signal in the ramped sequence with a timestamp indicating a reception time at which that beacon signal was received by a reader device;
• associating each beacon signal in the ramped sequence with a received signal strength at the reception time;
• estimating a location of the beacon tracking tag according to each beacon signal in the ramped sequence based on the difference between the initial signal strength value and the received signal strength for each respective beacon signal;
• identifying a position of the reader device based on the estimated location of the beacon tracking tag;
• and
• identifying a location of an asset tracking tag based on the identified position of the reader device and one or more data packets received by the reader device from the asset tracking tag.