Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080231449 | Method and apparatus for power management for a radio frequency identification system - A method and device of power management for a networked radio frequency identification (“RFID”) system are disclosed. The described power management methods reduce the power consumption of battery-operated RFID readers and RFID tags. These power conservation methods increase the RFID system's hours of operation and decrease the cost by allowing the RFID readers and tags to function for a longer period of time before requiring charging or replacement of their batteries. | 09-25-2008 |
20080297312 | Systems and methods for providing quality of service to RFID - Embodiments of the present invention include systems and methods for providing Quality of service to RFID. In one embodiment the present invention includes a method of providing quality of service in an RFID network comprising storing RFID priority information corresponding to the RFID network, wherein the RFID network comprises one or more tags and one or more readers mapping the RFID priority information into priority information corresponding to a second network. | 12-04-2008 |
20080319652 | Navigation system and methods for map navigation - Embodiments of the present invention include systems and methods for improved navigation using the global positioning system (GPS). A method of improved navigation includes transmitting position information from a first GPS-enabled device to a navigation server through a wireless communication channel automatically at a time interval. The method further includes receiving mapping information from the navigation server. The mapping information corresponds to the position information. The method further includes outputting the mapping information. In this manner, the most up-to-date navigation information is automatically available. | 12-25-2008 |
20080319653 | Navigation system and methods for route navigation - Embodiments of the present invention include systems and methods for improved navigation using the global positioning system (GPS). A method of improved navigation includes transmitting a destination to a navigation server through a wireless communication channel. The method further includes transmitting position information from a GPS-enabled device to the navigation server through the wireless communication channel automatically at a time interval. The method further includes generating navigation information by the navigation server. The navigation information is based on the position information and the destination. The method further includes receiving navigation information on the GPS-enabled device from the navigation server through the wireless communication channel. | 12-25-2008 |
20090121927 | Systems and Methods of Assisted GPS - Embodiments of an improved assisted global positioning system (GPS) method and system are described. Wireless access points send assistance data to GPS receivers that are integrated into cellular chipsets and other chipsets. The access points may also act as fixed location references for differential GPS (DGPS) mobile stations. Errors caused by multipath travel of the GPS signals are reduced by using fixed location reference receivers. | 05-14-2009 |
20100271263 | Method and System for Determining the Position of a Mobile Station - A method of determining the location of a mobile device is provided. The method receives a signal with a known radio transmission pattern at the mobile device from each of several transmitting devices. The method correlates each received signal with a corresponding signal that has a same known radio transmission pattern to determine the time the signal traveled between the corresponding transmitting device and the mobile device. The method determines the location of the mobile device based on the time the signal travelled between the corresponding transmitting device and the mobile device. In some embodiments, determining the location of the mobile device does not require calculating a distance between the mobile device and any of the transmitting devices. In some embodiments determining the location of the mobile device includes solving a function that is dependent on the time the signals traveled between each corresponding transmitting device and the mobile device. | 10-28-2010 |
20100309051 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING THE POSITION OF A MOBILE DEVICE - Some embodiments use scanning devices to characterize radio signals received at a number of locations within a geographical area of interest. The signal characteristics along with the location information associated with the characteristics are stored in a centralized reference database. A mobile device characterizes signals it receives at a certain location and compares the characteristics with the signal characteristics stored in the reference database to obtain accurate location information of the certain location. | 12-09-2010 |
20110035284 | LOCATION-AWARE CONTENT AND LOCATION-BASED ADVERTISING WITH A MOBILE DEVICE - Many mobile devices such as smart phones can generate content ranging from text and audio, to images and videos that are taken with their cameras. These devices are also equipped with wireless radios and magnetometers that can be used to obtain position and orientation information. It is possible to allow the user of the mobile phone to add the position and orientation information of the mobile and date/time to the content that the mobile generates. Thus, emails, Short Message Service (SMS) messages, blog entries, audio recordings, and pictures/video that are generated with the mobile can be geotagged with the mobile's position and orientation, as well as the date and time. This information can then be used by a location-based contextual advertising server to provide more relevant on-line ads. | 02-10-2011 |
20110043407 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DETERMINING THE LOCATION OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE - Embodiments of the present invention include a method of determining a location of a mobile device. The method comprises transmitting a signal between a plurality of known locations and receiving signal at device of unknown location such as a mobile device. The signal may include multiple tones having different frequencies and resulting in sets of residual phase differences. The location of the mobile device may be determined using the known locations and the frequency and phase differences between the transmitted tones. In one embodiment, OFDM signals may be used between an access point and mobile device, for example, to determine the location of the mobile device. | 02-24-2011 |
20110156640 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WIRELESSLY TRANSFERRING POWER AND COMMUNICATING WITH ONE OR MORE SLAVE DEVICES - Some embodiments provide a system for charging devices. The system includes a master device and a slave device. Some embodiments provide a method for charging devices in a system that includes a slave device and a master device. The slave device includes (1) an antenna to receive a radio frequency (RF) beam and (2) a power generation module connected to the antenna that converts RF energy received by the slave antenna to power. The master device includes (1) a directional antenna to direct RF power to the antenna of the slave device and (2) a module that provides power to the directional antenna of the master device. | 06-30-2011 |
20120057508 | Method and System for Distributed Communication - A decentralized communication device is provided that facilitates optimal positioning and orientation of one or more antennas for wireless communication with external devices. The decentralized communication device includes one or more master components and one or more slave components. The master and the slave components are physically separate and communicate wirelessly. In some embodiments the slave acts as a carrier frequency translator between the master and an external wireless device, where it communicates with the external device using a first frequency and communicates with the master using a second frequency which is different from the first frequency. In another embodiment the slave has most or all the physical layer to do the digital coding, digital modulation, data framing, data formatting and data packetization for communicating with an external device, in which case digital coding and digital modulation is distributed between the master and the slave. | 03-08-2012 |
20120120998 | Dynamic Allocation of Transceivers and Frequency Channels in MIMO Systems - A communication system is provided that switches the communication of multi-antenna transmitter and receiver terminals between MIMO and frequency-bundle modes. In MIMO mode all transmitter and receiver antennas operate in the same frequency channel while in frequency-bundle mode each pair of one transmitter antenna and one receiver antenna is tuned to a different frequency channel. The communication system includes one or more control modules that collect, analyze, and apply configurations to the terminals and switch the operation of one or more transmit/receive terminal pairs between the MIMO and frequency-bundle modes based on the collected information and metrics. The monitored information and metrics include the availability of idle frequency channels in the available frequency band, propagation channel conditions, peak throughput demand by different users, power consumption budget and battery lives of different terminals, distance between transmitter and receiver antennas in each communicating transmitter/receiver pair, and overall traffic demand by terminals. | 05-17-2012 |
20120144464 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IMPROVED SECURITY - An improved authentication method and system is provided where a user securely accesses a variety of target servers for online email, online banking, credit card purchases, ecommerce, brokerage services, corporate databases, and online content (movies, music and software). The method involves a bridge server performing authentication tasks that allow a user to access a server or a group of servers with multiple security levels. The method eliminates the need for the user to remember multiple usernames/passwords for each target server. The method also allows one bridge server and one set of security devices to be used to authenticate the user for multiple servers, thereby reducing security costs and increasing user convenience. A location-based password-ID generating device is also described for secure location-based access. | 06-07-2012 |
20120179516 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COLLECTIVE AND GROUP DISCOUNT PROCESSING MANAGEMENT - Discount processing auction methods and systems are provided where buyers pool their purchasing power in order to get more competitive offers from sellers. Instead of sellers directly bidding for the buyer's shopping lists, the sellers update their discount rules and a discount processing method processes the sellers' latest discount rules and presents the results to the buyers while the auction is active. Buyers dynamically form a group and invite others to join the group to increase their purchasing power and maximize the discounts. Customers can form a social network with other buyers to share wish-lists, shopping carts, and discount scenarios. Consumers who commit to buy a total number of items over a period of time increase their effective purchasing power across time. Sellers also group together to offer higher total discount on a combination of items to buyers. | 07-12-2012 |
20120280859 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF ASSISTED GPS - Embodiments of an improved assisted global positioning system (GPS) method and system are described. Wireless access points send assistance data to GPS receivers that are integrated into cellular chipsets and other chipsets. The access points may also act as fixed location references for differential GPS (DGPS) mobile stations. Errors caused by multipath travel of the GPS signals are reduced by using fixed location reference receivers. | 11-08-2012 |
20120316938 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR USER-BASED DISCOUNT DEAL FORMATION AND ADVERTISING - A system and method is described where an advertising server targets store coupon advertisements to people carrying wireless devices. In some embodiments the advertisement server tracks the position of several of its subscribed members in an area. The server then computes statistical measures, dynamically generates nearby store discount deals that match subgroups of the members or uses pre-existing deals from nearby stores, and forwards the deal advertisements to the wireless devices of the members. The advertised deals involve one or more items from the same store or multiple items from different stores. The members then use ad-hoc networking to build spontaneous social networks, advertise the deals to nearby shoppers, and get referral rewards. The advertising server also provides a portal shopping network web site where shoppers can search for deals, post their shopping/wish lists and deal referrals, and use forums to discuss products and stores. | 12-13-2012 |
20120316939 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISCOUNT DEAL REFERRAL AND REWARD SHARING - A system and method where the members of an advertising server that markets store deal coupons use conventional wired/wireless networking and ad-hoc networking to build spontaneous social networks, advertise the deals to other shoppers, and get referral rewards. Shoppers who receive the referral advertisements and are not members register and advertise the deal further to other shoppers to get rewards. Referring members specify the percentage of the referral reward they plan to share with the buyers. Referring members specify different reward sharing percentages for the same deal to different buyers. Shoppers who receive multiple referrals of the same deal from different members negotiate and buy the deal with the referral that gives them the best shared reward. Shoppers perform an indirect self-referral where they network and find another user to refer them to a deal that has a referral reward and they share the referral reward together. | 12-13-2012 |
20120316940 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PEER-TO-PEER COMMUNICATION AND DEAL ADVERTISING - A system and method is described where the members of an advertising server that markets store deal coupons use peer-to-peer wireless networking to advertise the deals to nearby shoppers and get referral rewards. The member who makes the referral and the member who purchases the deal use an ad-hoc social networking application on their mobile devices to exchange profiles. A profile matching component running on the members' mobile devices alerts the members of a match with a nearby referring or purchasing member. The system also rewards shoppers whose mobile devices are used as routers in a multi-hop ad-hoc network that connects the seller to the buyer. | 12-13-2012 |
20120316941 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INDIRECT SELF-REFERRAL AND REWARD SHARING - A system and method of indirect self-referral and reward sharing is described for deals that are offered by sellers who do not offer referral rewards to users that directly purchase a deal from them, but do offer referral rewards to users that refer the deal to others. Each deal has a referral reward for referring the deal to other users. A user who wishes to purchase an item and also get referral rewards, sets a portion of the referral reward as the portion that the user is willing to share with another user who refers the item back and broadcasts the deal to other users. When the user purchases the item that is referred back by another user, the user receives a reward equal to the difference between the referral reward and the portion of the referral reward that the user set to share with the referring user. | 12-13-2012 |
20120316963 | Method and System for Communicating Location of a Mobile Device for Hands-Free Payment - Certain aspects of a method and system for communicating location of a mobile device for hands-free payment may include a peer-to-peer ad-hoc network that comprises a plurality of mobile devices, a plurality of access points, and a plurality of point of sale (POS) devices. A first mobile device may determine its location coordinates and communicate them to a selected POS device via the peer to peer ad-hoc network. At least one of the plurality of mobile devices and/or the plurality of access points may be within a defined proximity of the selected POS device. In some instances, the first POS device may receive via one or more intermediate mobile devices in the peer-to-peer ad-hoc network, location coordinates and payment transaction information of a selected mobile device. At least one of the intermediate mobile devices may be within a defined proximity of the first POS device. | 12-13-2012 |
20130015957 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING QUALITY OF SERVICE TO RFID - Embodiments of the present invention include systems and methods for providing Quality of service to RFID. In one embodiment the present invention includes a method of providing quality of service in an RFID network comprising storing RFID priority information corresponding to the RFID network, wherein the RFID network comprises one or more tags and one or more readers mapping the RFID priority information into priority information corresponding to a second network. | 01-17-2013 |
20130029685 | DISTRIBUTED METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING THE POSITION OF A MOBILE DEVICE USING LONG-RANGE SIGNALS AND CALIBRATING THE POSITION USING SHORT-RANGE SIGNALS - A method and system is described where a plurality of position reference devices use short-range wireless communication protocols to transmit positioning assistance data to nearby mobile devices, and the mobile devices use the assistance data to model errors and re-calibrate their positioning systems. The short-range communication methods include NFC, RFID, Bluetooth®, short-range 802.11, Wi-Fi Direct, and high frequency focused beams such as 60 GHz. The position reference devices are passive or active NFC tags, passive or active RFID tags, other devices that include such tags as their components, Bluetooth®-enabled devices, 60 GHz-enabled devices, and 802.11 access points that can lower their transmit power. The reference devices are located at various indoor and outdoor locations such as smart posters, kiosks, ATM machines, malls, store checkout counters, store security gates, wireless access points, cellular base-stations, tollbooths, traffic lights, and street lamp posts. | 01-31-2013 |
20130029686 | DISTRIBUTED METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CALIBRATING THE POSITION OF A MOBILE DEVICE - A method and system is described where a plurality of position reference devices use short-range wireless communication protocols to transmit positioning assistance data to nearby mobile devices, and the mobile devices use the assistance data to re-calibrate their positioning systems. In some embodiments, mobile device includes an accelerometer and the accelerometer measurements are used to calculate an updated velocity of the mobile device and an updated position of the mobile device based on the accelerometer measurements and previous velocity and position of the mobile device. The short-range communication methods include NFC, RFID, Bluetooth®, short-range 802.11, Wi-Fi Direct, and high frequency focused beams such as 60 GHz. The position reference devices are passive or active NFC tags, passive or active RFID tags, other devices that include such tags as their components, Bluetooth®-enabled devices, 60 GHz-enabled devices, and 802.11 access points that can lower their transmit power. | 01-31-2013 |
20130030931 | Method and System for Location Based Hands-Free Payment - Certain aspects of a method and system for location based hands-free payment may include a network that comprises a plurality of mobile devices and a plurality of point of sale devices. A first mobile device may determine its location coordinates and communicate them to a selected point of sale device. An authorization to execute a payment transaction may be triggered on the first mobile device when it is within a defined proximity of the selected point of sale device. In another embodiment of the invention, a first point of sale device may determine the location coordinates of a selected mobile device and trigger a notification based on a generated geo-fence when the selected mobile device is within a defined proximity of the first point of sale device. | 01-31-2013 |
20130035090 | REPEATER DEVICE FOR REDUCING THE ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION TRANSMITTED FROM CELLULAR PHONE ANTENNAS AND EXTENDING PHONE BATTERY LIFE - A cellular communication system and method is described where a low-cost repeater is used to reduce the transmit power of a cell phone. The cell phone transmits a low-power modulated carrier signal to a nearby repeater. The repeater amplifies the signal and transmits it to a cellular base-station. The reduction of cell phone transmit power lowers the exposure of humans to RF radiation and increases the battery life of the cell phone. | 02-07-2013 |
20130054280 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ONLINE RENTAL OF NETWORKED REMOTE DEVICES - An online reservation method and system is described where networked remote devices, such as networked cameras, telescopes, and radio controlled cars, planes, ships, toys, robots are rented to interested renters. Renters use the reservation system to select devices from a group of remote devices offered for rent, reserve the devices for available time slots, and control the reserved devices remotely. Some embodiments provide tools for the users to record remotely operated sessions and to share live or previously recorded sessions with other users. The reservation system also manages auctions for reserving the use of high demand remote devices during certain time slots. Some embodiments allow a user who has reserved a remotely operated device for a time slot to rent it back to other users for a same or a different price that the user originally paid to reserve the use of the device during the time slot. | 02-28-2013 |
20130076568 | RFID LOCATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Embodiments of the present invention include radio frequency identification location systems and methods. In one embodiment, RF signals are transmitted from one or more RFID readers, and in accordance therewith, backscattered signals are received from a tag to be located. A plurality of measured position parameters are used to determine a location of the tag. In one embodiment, one reader may transmit and three readers may receive signals to determine the position of a tag. In other embodiments, multiple readers may transmit and receive. In another embodiment, one reader may transmit from different positions to locate a tag. Embodiments of the invention may be used to track a moving tag. A reader's position may be determined using GPS, reference tags, or the reader may be positioned in a known location. A map may be provided to a user to display the location or movement of a tag or a corresponding item. | 03-28-2013 |
20130094439 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CENTRALIZED DISTRIBUTED TRANSCEIVER MANAGEMENT - A master application device comprises a plurality of distributed transceivers, a central baseband processor, and a network management engine that manages operation of the master application device and end-user application devices. The master application device communicates data streams to the end-user devices utilizing one or more distributed transceivers selected from the plurality of distributed transceivers. The selected distributed transceivers are dynamically configured to switch between spatial diversity mode, frequency diversity mode, multiplexing mode and MIMO mode based on corresponding link quality and propagation environment. Digital signal processing needed for the selected distributed transceivers is performed by the central baseband processor. The network management engine continuously monitors communication environment information to configure beamforming settings and/or antenna arrangement for the selected distributed transceivers. Connection types, communication protocols, and/or transceiver operation modes are determined for the selected distributed transceivers. Resources are allocated to the selected distributed transceivers to continue subsequent data communication. | 04-18-2013 |
20130094440 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CENTRALIZED OR DISTRIBUTED RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN A DISTRIBUTED TRANSCEIVER NETWORK - A master application device comprises a plurality of distributed transceivers, a central baseband processor, and a network management engine that manages operation of the master application device and end-user application devices. The master application device communicates data streams to the end-user devices utilizing one or more distributed transceivers selected from the plurality of distributed transceivers. The selected distributed transceivers and the end-user devices are concurrently configured by the network management engine based on corresponding link quality and propagation environment. The network management engine allocates resources to the selected distributed transceivers and the end-user devices during the data communication. The network management engine continuously monitors communication environment information to configure beamforming settings and/or antenna arrangement for the selected distributed transceivers. Beam patterns are selected for the selected distributed transceivers so as to minimize power consumption and/or based on the location and orientation information of the end-user application devices. | 04-18-2013 |
20130094522 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR UTILIZING MULTIPLEXING TO INCREASE THROUGHPUT IN A NETWORK OF DISTRIBUTED TRANSCEIVERS WITH ARRAY PROCESSING - A communication device that comprises a plurality of distributed transceivers, a central processor and a network management engine, may be configured for a multiplexing mode of operation. Configuring of the multiplexing mode of operation may include configuring one or more communication modules for multiplexing a plurality of data streams. Each of the communication modules may comprise one or more antennas and/or antenna array elements and one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers associated with said one or more antennas and/or antenna array elements. The communication modules may be configured to be spatially distinct and/or to use different frequency channels. The data streams may be communicated to a single target device or to a plurality of target devices. | 04-18-2013 |
20130094544 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MIMO TRANSMISSION IN A DISTRIBUTED TRANSCEIVER NETWORK - A transmitting device comprises a plurality of distributed transceivers, a baseband processor and a network management engine. Data streams are generated at baseband by the baseband processor. Diversity coding such as space-time coding may be performed over the generated data streams in the baseband. The transmitting device concurrently transmits each of the coded streams in a same radio frequency (RF) band to a receiving device over the entire distributed transceivers through associated antennas. When needed, the network management engine may identify one or more auxiliary devices providing available transceivers and antenna beamformers to the transmitting device for sharing. Beam patterns and antenna orientations may be determined for associated antennas of the available transceivers for the transmitting device. Each of the coded data streams in the same radio frequency band may be transmitted to the receiving device over the entire available transceivers for the transmitting device through the associated antennas. | 04-18-2013 |
20130095747 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR A REPEATER NETWORK THAT UTILIZES DISTRIBUTED TRANSCEIVERS WITH ARRAY PROCESSING - A device that comprises a plurality of distributed transceivers, a central processor and a network management engine may be configured to function as relay device, relaying an input data stream from a source device to at least one other device. The relaying may include configuring one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers to particular mode of relay operation and receiving the input data stream from the source device via at least one of the configured one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers. The relaying may also include transmitting at least one relay data stream corresponding to the input data stream to the at least one other device, via at least one of the configured one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers. | 04-18-2013 |
20130095770 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR HIGH-THROUGHPUT AND LOW-POWER COMMUNICATION LINKS IN A DISTRIBUTED TRANSCEIVER NETWORK - A device comprises a plurality of distributed transceivers, a plurality of distributed beamformers, a baseband processor, and a network management engine. The distributed transceivers perform beamforming in a radio frequency band. The distributed beamformers, however, performs beamforming in an intermediate frequency band. Each of the distributed transceivers is coupled to a corresponding one of the distributed beamformers. Each transceiver-beamformer pair is coupled to the baseband processor utilizing a same communication medium such as a cable. For transmission, a data stream generated at baseband is converted to intermediate frequencies. With a low-power transmission, the distributed beamformers transmit the data stream wirelessly in the intermediate frequencies to a receiving device. With a normal-power transmission, the distributed transceivers transmit the data stream to the receiving device in the radio frequency band. The transceivers and the beamformers are turned OFF whenever not being used. A high-throughput communication link may be established through resource sharing. | 04-18-2013 |
20130095874 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING DIVERSITY IN A NETWORK THAT UTILIZES DISTRIBUTED TRANSCEIVERS AND ARRAY PROCESSING - A communication device that comprises a plurality of distributed transceivers, a central processor and a network management engine may be configured based on one or more diversity modes of operations. The diversity modes of operations may comprise a spatial diversity mode, a frequency diversity mode, and/or a polarization diversity mode. Diversity mode configuration may comprise forming, based on selected diversity mode, a plurality of communication modules from the plurality of distributed transceivers, wherein each of the plurality of communication modules may comprise one or more antennas and/or antenna array elements, and one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers associated with said one or more antennas and/or antenna array elements. The plurality of communication modules may be utilized to concurrently communicate multiple data streams. The multiple data streams may comprise the same data. | 04-18-2013 |
20130120116 | Method and Apparatus for Power Management for a Radio Frequency Identification System - A method and device of power management for a networked radio frequency identification (“RFID”) system are disclosed. The described power management methods reduce the power consumption of battery-operated RFD) readers and REED tags. These power conservation methods increase the RFID system's hours of operation and decrease the cost by allowing the RFID readers and tags to function for a longer period of time before requiring charging or replacement of their batteries. | 05-16-2013 |
20130120118 | Method and Apparatus for Power Management for a Radio Frequency Identification System - A method and device of power management for a networked radio frequency identification (“RFID”) system are disclosed. The described power management methods reduce the power consumption of battery-operated RFID readers and RFID tags. These power conservation methods increase the RFID system's hours of operation and decrease the cost by allowing the RFID readers and tags to function for a longer period of time before requiring charging or replacement of their batteries. | 05-16-2013 |
20130143595 | Determining the Position of a Mobile Device Using the Characteristics of Received Signals and a Reference Database - Some embodiments use scanning devices to characterize radio signals received at a number of locations within a geographical area of interest. The signal characteristics along with the location information associated with the characteristics are stored in a centralized reference database. A mobile device characterizes signals it receives at a certain location and compares the characteristics with the signal characteristics stored in the reference database to obtain accurate location information of the certain location. | 06-06-2013 |
20130184002 | WIRELESS POSITIONING APPROACH USING TIME-DELAY OF SIGNALS WITH A KNOWN TRANSMISSION PATTERN - A method of determining the location of a mobile device is provided. The method receives a signal with a known radio transmission pattern at the mobile device from each of several transmitting devices. The method correlates each received signal with a corresponding signal that has a same known radio transmission pattern to determine the time the signal traveled between the corresponding transmitting device and the mobile device. The method determines the location of the mobile device based on the time the signal travelled between the corresponding transmitting device and the mobile device. In some embodiments, determining the location of the mobile device does not require calculating a distance between the mobile device and any of the transmitting devices. In some embodiments determining the location of the mobile device includes solving a function that is dependent on the time the signals traveled between each corresponding transmitting device and the mobile device. | 07-18-2013 |
20130241468 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR WIRELESS BATTERY CHARGING UTILIZING ULTRASONIC TRANSDUCER ARRAY BASED BEAMFORMING - An ultrasound power transmitter comprising a transmit ultrasonic transducer array has a plurality of transmit ultrasonic transducers. The ultrasound power transmitter activates a set of transmit ultrasonic transducers in close proximity of an electronic device to be arranged to beam ultrasound energy to the electronic device. Alignment magnets of the ultrasound power transmitter are aligned with corresponding alignment magnets of the electronic device to manage the ultrasound beaming. The ultrasound energy may be converted into electric power to charge the battery of the electronic device. Feedbacks may be provided by the electronic device to the ultrasound power transmitter to increase power transmission efficiency. The ultrasound power transmitter may pair the electronic device with other different electronic devices utilizing ultrasonic signals. A spacer with good ultrasound power transmission properties may be located between the ultrasound power transmitter and an ultrasound power receiver of an intended electronic device to enhance power transmission. | 09-19-2013 |
20130241474 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR A BATTERY CHARGING STATION UTILIZING MULTIPLE TYPES OF POWER TRANSMITTERS FOR WIRELESS BATTERY CHARGING - A battery charging station is equipped with radio frequency power transmitters, induction power transmitters, and ultrasound power transmitters so as to concurrently charge electronic devices. The battery charging station is operable to network the electronic devices through wireless communication. In this regard, the battery charging station may coordinate or arrange the radio frequency power transmitters, the induction power transmitters and/or the ultrasound power transmitters so that the resulting power transmission from the battery charging station to one or more intended networked electronic devices may be maximized. The battery charging station may wirelessly communicate with the electronic devices for device networking. The networked electronic devices may be connected to a computer network for various network services such as, for example, network advertising and software downloading or uploading. Both direct and in-direct device-to-device communication may be supported among the networked electronic devices. The battery charging station maintains data communication during battery charging. | 09-19-2013 |
20130246268 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DEDICATED SECURE PROCESSORS FOR HANDLING SECURE PROCESSING IN A HANDHELD COMMUNICATION DEVICE - A communication device may comprise one or more dedicated secure processors and one or more other non-secure processors. The one or more dedicated secure processors may be utilized for handling secure transactions in the communication device. Each of the dedicated secure processors may run independent of the other processors in the communication device, and may utilize dedicated software that is unique for a particular payment provider for handling of secure transactions. The dedicate software may comprise a dedicated operating system and/or application for use in handling the secure transactions. Each of the dedicated secure processors may utilize dedicated resources in the communication device during handling of secure transactions. Handling secure transactions may comprise authenticating the user and/or the transactions, based on information relating to and/or provided by the user. | 09-19-2013 |
20130260798 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DEVICE POSITIONING UTILIZING DISTRIBUTED TRANSCEIVERS WITH ARRAY PROCESSING - A mobile device receives signals from base stations each with multiple distributed transceivers. Each distributed transceiver may operate at different carrier frequencies. Each distributed transceiver is equipped with an independently configurable antenna array handling transmissions of the radio frequency signals to the mobile device. The mobile device generates channel measurements for the received signals, and subsequently receives a position estimate from a remote location server. The location server determines corresponding transmit diversity configurations applied to the base stations for conducting the channel measurements for the mobile device, and channel measurements at scanned locations in a location scanning region. The location server selects and utilize a signature function to calculate the position estimate for the mobile device over the transmit diversity configurations. A multi-level positioning process may be performed by adopting various signature functions, subsets of transmit configurations and/or subspaces of the location scanning region for accurate device positioning. | 10-03-2013 |
20130262856 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR STATE MACHINE SECURITY DEVICE - A security device may be utilized to provide security measures to an electronic device that may incorporate the security device or be coupled to it. The security measures may comprise authentication (e.g., authentication of devices, users, or activities), and/or encryption measures (e.g., encrypting or decrypting exchanged data). A transaction or access via the security device may be authenticated by communicating an authentication request by the security device to an authentication server, which may generate, in response, a sequence of information requests that are sent to the security device. The security device may then generate, in response, a sequence of responses that are sent to the authentication server, with the sequence of responses comprising a sequence of reported values each of which are unique. The authentication server may then authenticate the security device based on comparing of the sequence of reported values with a sequence of expected values that identifies the security device. | 10-03-2013 |
20130293423 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING THE LOCATION OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE USING MULTI-TONE FREQUENY SIGNALS - Embodiments of the present invention include a method of determining a location of a mobile device. The method comprises transmitting a signal between a plurality of known locations and receiving signal at device of unknown location such as a mobile device. The signal may include multiple tones having different frequencies and resulting in sets of residual phase differences. The location of the mobile device may be determined using the known locations and the frequency and phase differences between the transmitted tones. In one embodiment, OFDM signals may be used between an access point and mobile device, for example, to determine the location of the mobile device. | 11-07-2013 |
20130325924 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SERVER-ASSISTED REMOTE PROBING AND DATA COLLECTION IN A CLOUD COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT - A client device receives probing information from an application server on a computing cloud comprising cloud services. The probing information comprises available resources for resource sharing. The client device manages associated sensors based on the received probing information and data traffic (category/QoS) handled by the associated sensors. Sensor data collected by sensors managed by client devices in an associated user group is utilized by the application server to generate the probing information. The locally collected sensor data is processed and aggregated over the user group by the application server to identify possible causes and/or possible solutions, which are communicated as probing information to the client device together with geographical locations and corresponding environmental conditions. Sensors in the user group are managed based on corresponding geographical locations for specific sensor behavior. Data traffic in the user group are managed based on corresponding QoS requirements and secured utilizing RSA encryption. | 12-05-2013 |
20140044041 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DISTRIBUTED TRANSCEIVERS FOR DISTRIBUTED ACCESS POINTS CONNECTIVITY - A controlling entity communicates with a plurality of network devices having a plurality of distributed transceivers and one or more corresponding antenna arrays. The controlling entity receives information, such as location information, propagation environment characteristics, physical environment characteristics and/or link parameters and quality from the network devices and/or communication devices that are communicatively coupled to the plurality of network devices. The controlling entity coordinates communication of data streams for the distributed transceivers and the antenna arrays based on the received information. The network device comprises an access point, a router, a switching device, a gateway and/or a set top box. The controlling entity is located within or external to one of the network devices. One or more functions performed by the controlling entity are split between the controlling entity and one or more of the network devices. | 02-13-2014 |
20140044042 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INTELLIGENTLY CONTROLLING PROPAGATION ENVIRONMENTS IN DISTRIBUTED TRANSCEIVER COMMUNICATIONS - A communication device comprising a plurality of distributed transceivers and one or more corresponding antenna arrays is operable to determine characteristics of one or more objects that are sensed within a surrounding communication environment of the communication device. The communication device may configure one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers and/or one or more of the corresponding antenna arrays to handle communication of one or more data streams based on the determined characteristics. Exemplary characteristics may comprise reflective property and/or refractive property of the sensed one or more objects within the surrounding communication environment of the communication device. The communication device may be operable to store the determined characteristics, corresponding temporal information and/or spatial information for the sensed one or more objects, and/or signal propagation characteristics within a surrounding communication environment of the communication device. | 02-13-2014 |
20140044043 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OPTIMIZING COMMUNICATION IN LEAKY WAVE DISTRIBUTED TRANSCEIVER ENVIRONMENTS - A communication device may comprise a plurality of distributed transceivers and one or more corresponding antenna arrays. A processor may configure a first distributed transceiver to receive signals comprising one or more first data streams via one or more first communication links. The processor may configure a second distributed transceiver to receive signals comprising one or more second data streams via one or more second communication links. The processor may determine a channel response matrix associated with communication of the one or more first data streams via the one or more first communication links and/or the one or more second data streams via the one or more second communication links. The processor may optimize one or both of link capacity and/or link reliability of the one or more first communication links and/or the one or more second communication links based on the determined channel response matrix. | 02-13-2014 |
20140045478 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR A DISTRIBUTED CONFIGURABLE TRANSCEIVER ARCHITECTURE AND IMPLEMENTATION - In communication device comprising a plurality of distributed transceivers and one or more corresponding antenna arrays, a first distributed transceiver is configured to receive signals comprising one or more first data streams and a second distributed transceiver is configured to receive signals comprising one or more second data streams. One or more components within a transmit processing chain of the first distributed transceiver and/or one or more components within a transmit processing chain of the second distributed transceiver are adjusted to maximize beamforming gain for the one or more first data streams and/or second data streams. A phase of the one or more first data streams and/or the one or more second data streams may be adjusted by the one or more components within a transmit processing chain of the first distributed transceiver and/or the one or more components within a transmit processing chain of the second distributed transceiver. | 02-13-2014 |
20140045526 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DEVICE POSITIONING UTILIZING DISTRIBUTED TRANSCEIVERS WITH ARRAY PROCESSING - A mobile device receives RF signals from base stations each having a plurality of distributed transceivers. Each distributed transceiver comprises an independently configurable antenna array for transmitting the radio frequency signals to the mobile device. The mobile device determines channel characteristics for the received RF signals, generates channel measurements for the received RF signals, and receives a position estimate for the mobile device from a remote location server (RLS). The corresponding transmit diversity configurations are determined by the RLS and applied to the base stations for the (1) channel measurements for mobile device and (2) channel measurements at scanned locations in a location scanning region, which are both calculated by the RLS. The RLS weights the generated channel measurements utilizing one or more scaling factors, which are utilized to determine a relative reliability and contribution of the generated channel measurements. | 02-13-2014 |
20140045527 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DEVICE POSITIONING UTILIZING DISTRIBUTED TRANSCEIVERS WITH ARRAY PROCESSING - A mobile device receives RF signals from base stations in a location scanning region. Each of the base stations includes a plurality of distributed transceivers and each distributed transceiver includes an independently configurable antenna array. The mobile device generates and communicates channel measurements for the received radio frequency signals to a remote location server (RLS). The RLS configures, utilizing one or more channel transmit settings, the independently configurable antenna array for the distributed transceivers in the location scanning region, to transmit the RF signals. The RLS determines a coarse position estimate for the mobile device for the sub-regions within the location scanning region and applies different signature functions to the determined coarse position estimate for the sub-regions to generate corresponding sub-regions position estimates. The RLS determines a position estimate for the mobile device based on the sub-regions position estimates and communicates the position estimate to the mobile device. | 02-13-2014 |
20140045528 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DEVICE POSITIONING UTILIZING DISTRIBUTED TRANSCEIVERS WITH ARRAY PROCESSING - A mobile device receives RF signals from base stations in a location scanning region. Each base station includes a plurality of distributed transceivers and each distributed transceiver includes an independently configurable antenna array. The mobile device generates and communicates channel measurements for the received radio frequency signals to a remote location server (RLS). The RLS configures, utilizing one or more channel transmit settings, the antenna array for the distributed transceivers to transmit the RF signals. The remote location server selects a subset of the communicated channel measurements for determining a position estimate for the mobile device having a desired resolution. The mobile device may receive the determined position estimate from the remote location server. The location scanning region may be determined based on GPS and/or WLAN positioning. The remote location server generates the channel transmit settings and determines the location scanning region in which the mobile device is located. | 02-13-2014 |
20140045541 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DISTRIBUTED TRANSCEIVERS AND MOBILE DEVICE CONNECTIVITY - A plurality of distributed transceivers in a mobile entity such as a car, a truck, an omnibus (bus), a trailer, a mobile home, train, bus, a forklift, construction equipment, a boat, a ship, and/or an aircraft, and/or one or more corresponding antenna arrays that are communicatively coupled to the distributed transceivers are configured to handle communication of one or more data streams among one or more of a plurality of wireless communication networks, one or more other mobile entities and/or one or more mobile communication devices. The data streams may be communicated utilizing the configured one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers and/or the one or more corresponding antenna arrays. The wireless communication networks includes a satellite network, a wireless wide area network, a wireless medium area network, a wireless local area network, a wireless personal area network, a network cloud and/or the Internet. | 02-13-2014 |
20140104040 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING QUALITY OF SERVICE TO RFID - Embodiments of the present invention include systems and methods for providing Quality of service to RFID. In one embodiment the present invention includes a method of providing quality of service in an RFID network comprising storing RFID priority information corresponding to the RFID network, wherein the RFID network comprises one or more tags and one or more readers mapping the RFID priority information into priority information corresponding to a second network. | 04-17-2014 |
20140203758 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WIRELESSLY TRANSFERRING POWER AND COMMUNICATING WITH ONE OR MORE SLAVE DEVICES - Some embodiments provide a system for charging devices. The system includes a master device and a slave device. Some embodiments provide a method for charging devices in a system that includes a slave device and a master device. The slave device includes (1) an antenna to receive a radio frequency (RF) beam and (2) a power generation module connected to the antenna that converts RF energy received by the slave antenna to power. The master device includes (1) a directional antenna to direct RF power to the antenna of the slave device and (2) a module that provides power to the directional antenna of the master device. | 07-24-2014 |
20140241218 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DISTRIBUTED COMMUNICATION - A decentralized communication device is provided that facilitates optimal positioning and orientation of one or more antennas for wireless communication with external devices. The decentralized communication device includes one or more master components and one or more slave components. The master and the slave components are physically separate and communicate wirelessly. In some embodiments the slave acts as a carrier frequency translator between the master and an external wireless device, where it communicates with the external device using a first frequency and communicates with the master using a second frequency which is different from the first frequency. In another embodiment the slave has most or all the physical layer to do the digital coding, digital modulation, data framing, data formatting and data packetization for communicating with an external device, in which case digital coding and digital modulation is distributed between the master and the slave. | 08-28-2014 |
20150023562 | HYBRID MULTI-CAMERA BASED POSITIONING - A positioning server is connected to a collection of access points, base stations, NFC stations, and image or video cameras and the collected data is used for positioning objects. A plurality of electronic devices are paired with an object by tracking the position of the object based on imaging and the position of electronic devices based on RF signals in vicinity of the object. Once a device is paired with an object, the propagation channel profile measured through the electronic device is used to develop and tune a database of channel profiles versus location. This database is used based on signature/profile matching and correlation for positioning devices and objects that do not have pairing or have poor image-based positioning accuracy or reliability. When a device is detected that cannot be paired with any object, or a device that is unpaired from a previously associated object, a theft or loss alert is generated. | 01-22-2015 |
20150029000 | Method and Apparatus for Power Management for a Radio Frequency Identification System - A method and device of power management for a networked radio frequency identification (“RFID”) system are disclosed. The described power management methods reduce the power consumption of battery-operated RFD) readers and RFD tags. These power conservation methods increase the RFID system's hours of operation and decrease the cost by allowing the RFID readers and tags to function for a longer period of time before requiring charging or replacement of their batteries. | 01-29-2015 |
20150031391 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DEVICE POSITIONING UTILIZING DISTRIBUTED TRANSCEIVERS WITH ARRAY PROCESSING - A mobile device receives signals from base stations each with multiple distributed transceivers. Each distributed transceiver may operate at different carrier frequencies. Each distributed transceiver is equipped with an independently configurable antenna array handling transmissions of the radio frequency signals to the mobile device. The mobile device generates channel measurements for the received signals, and subsequently receives a position estimate from a remote location server. The location server determines corresponding transmit diversity configurations applied to the base stations for conducting the channel measurements for the mobile device, and channel measurements at scanned locations in a location scanning region. The location server selects and utilize a signature function to calculate the position estimate for the mobile device over the transmit diversity configurations. A multi-level positioning process may be performed by adopting various signature functions, subsets of transmit configurations and/or subspaces of the location scanning region for accurate device positioning. | 01-29-2015 |
20150031407 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CENTRALIZED OR DISTRIBUTED RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN A DISTRIBUTED TRANSCEIVER NETWORK - A master application device comprises a plurality of distributed transceivers, a central baseband processor, and a network management engine that manages operation of the master application device and end-user application devices. The master application device communicates data streams to the end-user devices utilizing one or more distributed transceivers selected from the plurality of distributed transceivers. The selected distributed transceivers and the end-user devices are concurrently configured by the network management engine based on corresponding link quality and propagation environment. The network management engine allocates resources to the selected distributed transceivers and the end-user devices during the data communication. The network management engine continuously monitors communication environment information to configure beamforming settings and/or antenna arrangement for the selected distributed transceivers. Beam patterns are selected for the selected distributed transceivers so as to minimize power consumption and/or based on the location and orientation information of the end-user application devices. | 01-29-2015 |
20150051993 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LOCATION BASED HANDS-FREE PAYMENT - Certain aspects of a method and system for location based hands-free payment may include a network that comprises a plurality of mobile devices and a plurality of point of sale devices. A first mobile device may determine its location coordinates and communicate them to a selected point of sale device. An authorization to execute a payment transaction may be triggered on the first mobile device when it is within a defined proximity of the selected point of sale device. In another embodiment of the invention, a first point of sale device may determine the location coordinates of a selected mobile device and trigger a notification based on a generated geo-fence when the selected mobile device is within a defined proximity of the first point of sale device. | 02-19-2015 |
20150057016 | DISTRIBUTED METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CALIBRATING THE POSITION OF A MOBILE DEVICE - A method and system is described where a plurality of position reference devices use short-range wireless communication protocols to transmit positioning assistance data to nearby mobile devices, and the mobile devices use the assistance data to re-calibrate their positioning systems. In some embodiments, mobile device includes an accelerometer and the accelerometer measurements are used to calculate an updated velocity of the mobile device and an updated position of the mobile device based on the accelerometer measurements and previous velocity and position of the mobile device. The short-range communication methods include NFC, RFID, Bluetooth®, short-range 802.11, Wi-Fi Direct, and high frequency focused beams such as 60 GHz. The position reference devices are passive or active NFC tags, passive or active RFID tags, other devices that include such tags as their components, Bluetooth®-enabled devices, 60 GHz-enabled devices, and 802.11 access points that can lower their transmit power. | 02-26-2015 |
20150057017 | DISTRIBUTED METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING THE POSITION OF A MOBILE DEVICE USING LONG-RANGE SIGNALS AND CALIBRATING THE POSITION USING SHORT-RANGE SIGNALS - A method and system is described where a plurality of position reference devices use short-range wireless communication protocols to transmit positioning assistance data to nearby mobile devices, and the mobile devices use the assistance data to model errors and re-calibrate their positioning systems. The short-range communication methods include NFC, RFID, Bluetooth®, short-range 802.11, Wi-Fi Direct, and high frequency focused beams such as 60 GHz. The position reference devices are passive or active NFC tags, passive or active RFID tags, other devices that include such tags as their components, Bluetooth®-enabled devices, 60 GHz-enabled devices, and 802.11 access points that can lower their transmit power. The reference devices are located at various indoor and outdoor locations such as smart posters, kiosks, ATM machines, malls, store checkout counters, store security gates, wireless access points, cellular base-stations, tollbooths, traffic lights, and street lamp posts. | 02-26-2015 |
20150057919 | RFID LOCATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Embodiments of the present invention include radio frequency identification location systems and methods. In one embodiment, RF signals are transmitted from one or more RFID readers, and in accordance therewith, backscattered signals are received from a tag to be located. A plurality of measured position parameters are used to determine a location of the tag. In one embodiment, one reader may transmit and three readers may receive signals to determine the position of a tag. In other embodiments, multiple readers may transmit and receive. In another embodiment, one reader may transmit from different positions to locate a tag. Embodiments of the invention may be used to track a moving tag. A reader's position may be determined using GPS, reference tags, or the reader may be positioned in a known location. A map may be provided to a user to display the location or movement of a tag or a corresponding item. | 02-26-2015 |
20150058125 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR COMMUNICATING LOCATION OF A MOBILE DEVICE FOR HANDS-FREE PAYMENT - Certain aspects of a method and system for communicating location of a mobile device for hands-free payment may include a peer-to-peer ad-hoc network that comprises a plurality of mobile devices, a plurality of access points, and a plurality of point of sale (POS) devices. A first mobile device may determine its location coordinates and communicate them to a selected POS device via the peer to peer ad-hoc network. At least one of the plurality of mobile devices and/or the plurality of access points may be within a defined proximity of the selected POS device. In some instances, the first POS device may receive via one or more intermediate mobile devices in the peer-to-peer ad-hoc network, location coordinates and payment transaction information of a selected mobile device. At least one of the intermediate mobile devices may be within a defined proximity of the first POS device. | 02-26-2015 |
20150082400 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IMPROVED SECURITY - An improved authentication method and system is provided where a user securely accesses a variety of target servers for online email, online banking, credit card purchases, ecommerce, brokerage services, corporate databases, and online content (movies, music and software). The method involves a bridge server performing authentication tasks that allow a user to access a server or a group of servers with multiple security levels. The method eliminates the need for the user to remember multiple usernames/passwords for each target server. The method also allows one bridge server and one set of security devices to be used to authenticate the user for multiple servers, thereby reducing security costs and increasing user convenience. A location-based password-ID generating device is also described for secure location-based access. | 03-19-2015 |