WO2025059895A1

WO2025059895A1 - Method and system for indoor navigation

Info

Publication number: WO2025059895A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/119948
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yanping DANG
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Current assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Priority date: 2023-09-20
Filing date: 2023-09-20
Publication date: 2025-03-27
Anticipated expiration: 2026-03-20

Abstract

An indoor navigation method (100) and an indoor navigation system (200). The indoor navigation method (100) includes: locating, by a positioning device mounted to a first fixed indoor position, current position of a user (101); obtaining a destination of the user (102); determining a moving direction of next move of the user, based on the current position and the destination (103); and displaying, by a display device mounted to a second fixed indoor position, the moving direction (104).

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INDOOR NAVIGATION

TECHNICAL FIELD

The non-limiting and exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the technical field of information processing, and specifically to a method and a system for indoor navigation.

BACKGROUND

This section introduces aspects that may facilitate a better understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about��what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.

With the development of navigation hardware and software applications, people are enjoying more and more convenience of navigation for vehicle travelling, biking, hiking, etc.

However, current navigation is mainly based on satellite positioning technique and cellular communication technique. Satellite positioning technique and base station triangulation are not accurate for indoor navigation. And current navigation is not convenient for indoor scenarios.

For example, in a parking lot, a user wants to find the position of his car. He only remembers the parking lot number. He cannot rely on navigation application to find his car, instead he needs to look for the car in a map which is difficult to use.

In another example, in a museum, a user wants to find a particular exhibition item. He can only ask the staff or look for the item in the map.

In another example, in a shopping mall, a user wants to find a particular store. He may find it difficult to map the position on the map to the real world, he doesn’ t know which direction is the right one for the route in the navigation application.

There is a need to develop a technology capable of navigating user hand by hand and step by step, directly, without having to map the route in map or navigation application to the real world, especially in indoor scenarios.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

To overcome or mitigate at least one of the above mentioned problems or other problems or provide a useful solution, embodiments of the present disclosure propose a method and a system for indoor navigation.

In a first aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an indoor navigation method. The method comprises: locating, by a positioning device mounted to a first fixed indoor position, current position of a user; obtaining a destination of the user; determining a moving direction of next move of the user, based on the current position and the destination; and displaying, by a display device mounted to a second fixed indoor position, the moving direction.

In an embodiment, the locating comprises at least one of the following: capturing, by the positioning device, an image and/or a video of the user, thereby determining and/or tracking the current position of the user; and communicating, by the positioning device and a portable device carried by the user, through short range communication, thereby determining and/or tracking the current position of the user.

In an embodiment, the located current position of the user comprises: a position of the positioning device itself or an area within which the positioning device is mounted.

In an embodiment, the obtaining comprises at least one of the following: obtaining, by the positioning device, the destination directly from the user; obtaining, by the positioning device, the destination from the portable device, through the short range communication; and obtaining, by a server, the destination, via the positioning device and/or the portable device.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises: displaying, by the display device, at least one of the following: ID/name/nickname of the user, the destination, distance/range of the next move, realistic picture of the next move and landmark of the next move.

In an embodiment, the positioning device and the display device are separate device, or integrated into one device.

In an embodiment, the fixed indoor position comprises at least one of: ground, wall, column, pillar, pole and rod.

In a second aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an indoor navigation system. The system comprises: a positioning device, mounted to a first fixed indoor position and configured to locate current position of a user; a calculating device, comprising: a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor, whereby the calculating device is operative to: obtain a destination of the user; and determine a moving direction of next move of the user, based on the current position and the destination; and a display device, mounted to a second fixed indoor position and configured to display the moving direction.

In an embodiment, the positioning device is further configured to perform at least one of the following: capturing an image and/or a video of the user, thereby determining and/or tracking the current position of the user; and communicating, with a portable device carried by the user, through short range communication, thereby determining and/or tracking the current position of the user.

In an embodiment, the positioning device is further configured to perform at least one of the following: obtaining the destination directly from the user; and obtaining the destination from the portable device, through the short range communication; OR wherein the calculating device is further operative to: obtaining the destination, via the positioning device and/or the portable device.

In an embodiment, the display device is further configured to display at least one of the following: ID/name/nickname of the user, the destination, distance/range of the next move, realistic picture of the next move and landmark of the next move.

In an embodiment, the calculating device is a server, or the calculating device is integrated with the positioning device and/or the display device.

In a third aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method according to the first aspect.

With the present invention, the user can get direct navigation guide hand by hand, step by step, just like being guided by a dedicated staff. The user does not need to look at the route in the map and map the route to the real world, does not need to locate himself in the map. The navigation is easy to use, accurate in indoor scenarios and is cost efficient.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and benefits of various embodiments of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent, by way of example, from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals or letters are used to designate like or equivalent elements. The drawings are illustrated for facilitating better understanding of the embodiments of the disclosure and not necessarily drawn to scale, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of an indoor navigation method 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an indoor navigation system 200 according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that these embodiments are discussed only for the purpose of enabling those skilled persons in the art to better understand and thus implement the present disclosure, rather than suggesting any limitations on the scope of the present disclosure. Reference throughout this specification to features, advantages, or similar language does not imply that all of the features and advantages that may be realized with the present disclosure should be or are in any single embodiment of the disclosure. Rather, language referring to the features and advantages is understood to mean that a specific feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics of the disclosure may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize that the disclosure may be practiced without one or more of the specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the disclosure.

References in the specification to “one embodiment” , “an embodiment” , “an example embodiment” , and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It shall be understood that although the terms “first” and “second” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed terms.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a” , “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” , “comprising” , “has” , “having” , “includes” and/or “including” , when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/or combinations thereof.

It is noted that the terms as used in this document are used only for ease of description and differentiation among nodes, devices or networks etc. With the development of the technology, other terms with the similar/same meanings may also be used.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

The indoor navigation method 100 may be performed by a system which comprises one or more positioning device, one or more display device, and one or more calculating device, or by one or more apparatus each of which integrates one or more positioning device, one or more display device, and one or more calculating device.

The positioning device may be mounted to a first fixed indoor position, e.g., ground (on the ground and/or in the ground) , wall (on the wall and/or in the wall) , column, pillar, pole, rod, or other suitable place that is fixed and can have items mounted thereon/therein.

The positioning device may be configured to locate current position of a user. For example, the positioning device may detect and establish a communication link with a portable device carried by the user by means of short range communication technique (s) so that the positioning device is aware that the user is nearby, i.e., within the range of the used short range communication technique (s) . Short range communication techniques may comprise Bluetooth, Zigbee, NFC (Near Field Communication) , RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) , etc.

In an example scenario (referred to as “RFID scenario” thereafter) , a user parks his car in the parking lot of a shopping mall and takes one RFID stick from a box near his car, the RFID stick is the portable device carried by the user and contains information of the parking location of his car. When the user wants to find his way back from a store in the shopping mall to the parking location, the user’s RFID stick can be located by RFID reader (i.e., the positioning device) mounted on the wall, since the RFID reader’s position is known, the user’s position can be determined.

The calculating device is operative to: obtain a destination of the user; and determine a moving direction of next move of the user, based on the current position and the destination. The calculating device may be a separate device with respect to the positioning device/the display device, or may be integrated with the positioning device and/or the display device. The calculating device may be a portable device of the user, e.g., a smart phone.

The display device may be mounted to a second fixed indoor position, e.g., ground (on the ground and/or in the ground) , wall (on the wall and/or in the wall) , column, pillar, pole, rod, or any other suitable place that is fixed and can have items mounted thereon/therein. The display device is configured to display the moving direction. In the above mentioned RFID scenario, the user takes a look at the arrow displayed by the display device on the ground and knows his direction step by step towards his car. It feels like a dedicated servant is guiding the user to the place he wants to go to. It’s very easy and convenient and one cannot miss the right way.

At block 101, the positioning device may locate the current position of the user.

In an embodiment, the positioning device may capture an image and/or a video of the user, thereby determining and/or tracking the current position of the user. For example, the positioning device is a camera and the user’ image and/or video may be captured, and then processed (e.g., face recognition, face tracking, etc. ) locally or in the calculating device, so as to identify that the user is now near the camera, e.g., in the same room, and the camera’s position is already known, so that the current position of the user is determined.

In another embodiment, the positioning device may communicate with a portable device carried by the user, through short range communication. Since the short range communication is limited by certain range, the communication with the portable device implies that the distance between the positioning device and the portable device is within the certain range of the short range communication. Through the communication, the user identity may be identified, so that the user’s current position is thus determined/tracked. For example, in the above mentioned RFID scenario, the RFID stick and the RFID reader (s) mounted on the wall can communicate (including that RFID reader (s) detects the RFID stick) only within the range of RFID technology, so that the user carrying the RFID stick must be near the RFID reader (s) . The current position of the user may be determined as the position of the RFID reader (s) , or a certain range with respect to the RFID reader (s) . The user’s current position can be determined or tracked.

That is, the located current position of the user comprises: a position of the positioning device itself or an area within which the positioning device is mounted.

The located current position of the user may be transmitted from the positioning device to the calculating device.

At block 102, a destination of the user may be obtained.

In an embodiment, the positioning device may obtain the destination directly from the user. For example, the user may input his destination to the positioning device, using various input method.

In another embodiment, the positioning device may obtain the destination from the portable device, through the short range communication. The portable device may contains the destination by itself, such as RFID stick with the parking position/number, or the user may input his destination to the portable device and the portable device transmits the destination to the positioning device.

In yet another embodiment, the calculating device may obtain the destination, via the positioning device and/or the portable device.

The calculating device may be a server, or the calculating device may be integrated with the positioning device and/or the display device. The calculating device may be the portable device carried by the user.

At block 103, a moving direction of next move of the user may be determined based on the current position and the destination.

The calculating device may perform this step and send the moving direction to the display device. Series of next move constitute the route that the user should follow so as to arrive at his destination.

At block 104, the display device may display the moving direction.

The moving direction may be in the form of arrow or other suitable ways. The display device may additionally display at least one of the following: ID/name/nickname of the user, the destination, distance/range of the next move, realistic picture of the next move and landmark of the next move. These information may be received from the positioning device, the portable device carried by the user, and/or the calculating device.

The display may display any other information to guide the user and/or to differentiate the users.

a navigation system 200 may comprise a positioning device 201, mounted to a first fixed indoor position and configured to locate current position of a user; a calculating device 202, comprising: a processor 2021; and a memory 2022 coupled to the processor, said memory 2022 containing instructions executable by said processor 2021, whereby the calculating device 202 is operative to perform the actions, e.g., of the procedure described earlier in conjunction with Fig. 1; and a display device 203, mounted to a second fixed indoor position and configured to display the moving direction.

In an embodiment, the calculating device is a server, or the calculating device is integrated with the positioning device and/or the display device. In case that the position device, the calculating device and the display device are integrated together, the indoor navigation system is a single apparatus.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product in the form of a non-volatile or volatile memory, e.g., a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM) , a flash memory and a hard drive. The computer program product includes a computer program. The computer program includes: code/computer readable instructions, which when executed by the processor causes the system 200 to perform the actions, e.g., of the procedure described earlier in conjunction with Fig. 1.

The computer program product may be configured as a computer program code structured in computer program modules. The computer program modules could essentially perform the actions of the flow illustrated in Fig. 1.

The processor may be a single CPU (Central processing unit) , but could also comprise two or more processing units. For example, the processor may include general purpose microprocessors; instruction set processors and/or related chips sets and/or special purpose microprocessors such as Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASICs) . The processor may also comprise board memory for caching purposes. The computer program may be carried by a computer program product connected to the processor. The computer program product may comprise a non-transitory computer readable storage medium on which the computer program is stored. For example, the computer program product may be a flash memory, a Random-access memory (RAM) , a Read-Only Memory (ROM) , or an EEPROM, and the computer program modules described above could in alternative embodiments be distributed on different computer program products in the form of memories.

The techniques described herein may be implemented by various means so that an apparatus implementing one or more functions of a corresponding apparatus described with an embodiment comprises not only prior art means, but also means for implementing the one or more functions of the corresponding apparatus described with the embodiment and it may comprise separate means for each separate function or means that may be configured to perform two or more functions. For example, these techniques may be implemented in hardware (one or more apparatuses) , firmware (one or more apparatuses) , software (one or more modules) , or combinations thereof. For a firmware or software, implementation may be made through modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein.

Exemplary embodiments herein have been described above with reference to block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods and apparatuses. It will be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, respectively, can be implemented by various means including computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the subject matter described herein, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any implementation or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments of particular implementations. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a sub-combination or variation of a sub-combination.

It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as the technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. The above described embodiments are given for describing rather than limiting the disclosure, and it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as those skilled in the art readily understand. Such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope of the disclosure and the appended claims. The protection scope of the disclosure is defined by the accompanying claims.

Claims

An indoor navigation method, comprising:

locating, by a positioning device mounted to a first fixed indoor position, current position of a user;

obtaining a destination of the user;

determining a moving direction of next move of the user, based on the current position and the destination; and

displaying, by a display device mounted to a second fixed indoor position, the moving direction.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the locating comprises at least one of the following:

capturing, by the positioning device, an image and/or a video of the user, thereby determining and/or tracking the current position of the user; and

communicating, by the positioning device and a portable device carried by the user, through short range communication, thereby determining and/or tracking the current position of the user.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the located current position of the user comprises: a position of the positioning device itself or an area within which the positioning device is mounted.
The method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the obtaining comprises at least one of the following:

obtaining, by the positioning device, the destination directly from the user;

obtaining, by the positioning device, the destination from the portable device, through the short range communication; and

obtaining, by a server, the destination, via the positioning device and/or the portable device.
The method according to any one of claims 1-4, further comprising:

displaying, by the display device, at least one of the following: ID/name/nickname of the user, the destination, distance/range of the next move, realistic picture of the next move and landmark of the next move.
The method according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein the positioning device and the display device are separate device, or integrated into one device.
The method according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein the fixed indoor position comprises at least one of: ground, wall, column, pillar, pole and rod.
An indoor navigation system, comprising:

a positioning device, mounted to a first fixed indoor position and configured to locate current position of a user;

a calculating device, comprising: a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor, whereby the calculating device is operative to: obtain a destination of the user; and determine a moving direction of next move of the user, based on the current position and the destination; and

a display device, mounted to a second fixed indoor position and configured to display the moving direction.
The system according to claim 8, wherein the positioning device is further configured to perform at least one of the following:

capturing an image and/or a video of the user, thereby determining and/or tracking the current position of the user; and

communicating, with a portable device carried by the user, through short range communication, thereby determining and/or tracking the current position of the user.
The system according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the located current position of the user comprises: a position of the positioning device itself or an area within which the positioning device is mounted.
The system according to any one of claims 8-10, wherein the positioning device is further configured to perform at least one of the following:

obtaining the destination directly from the user; and

obtaining the destination from the portable device, through the short range communication; OR

wherein the calculating device is further operative to: obtaining the destination, via the positioning device and/or the portable device.
The system according to any one of claims 8-11, wherein the display device is further configured to display at least one of the following: ID/name/nickname of the user, the destination, distance/range of the next move, realistic picture of the next move and landmark of the next move.
The system according to any one of claims 8-12, wherein the positioning device and the display device are separate device, or integrated into one device.
The system according to any one of claims 8-12, wherein the calculating device is a server, or the calculating device is integrated with the positioning device and/or the display device.
The system according to any one of claims 8-14, wherein the fixed indoor position comprises at least one of: ground, wall, column, pillar, pole and rod.
A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-7.