Location sharing and tracking using mobile phones or other wireless devices

A circuit board for wireless communications includes communication circuitry for modulating and/or demodulating a radio frequency (RF) signal and an antenna apparatus for transmitting and receiving the RF signal, the antenna apparatus having selectable antenna elements located near one or more peripheries of the circuit board. A first antenna element produces a first directional radiation pattern; a second antenna element produces a second directional radiation pattern offset from the first radiation pattern. The antenna elements may include one or more reflectors configured to provide gain and broaden the frequency response of the antenna element. A switching network couples one or more of the selectable elements to the communication circuitry and provides impedance matching regardless of which or how many of the antenna elements are selected. Selecting different combinations of antenna elements results in a configurable radiation pattern; alternatively, selecting several elements may result in an omnidirectional radiation pattern.

Circuit board having a peripheral antenna apparatus with selectable antenna elements

The progress of a endovascular aneurysm repair can be monitored by inserting a pressure transducer sensor using a catheter into the sac during endovascular aneurysm repair and then using a small, hand-held read out device to measure pressure easily, safely, inexpensively and accurately. In one aspect a sensor is introduced into the body by the steps of loading the sensor into a catheter, and deploying into the aneurysm sac. This invention also has other applications for measuring physical properties in patients or in other sites.

Implantable wireless sensor

Location-based messaging in which a location-aware device receives a transmitted message and processes at least a portion of the message content using at least one criterion that is based on the device's location.

System, apparatus, and methods for location managed message processing

Described is a technology by which by which information (an electronic note from a producer) that is available for delivery to a client consumer is only selectively delivered. The selective delivery may be based on metadata associated with the information, client identity data and other criteria, including a location of a client device. The information to selectively deliver may be obtained from an external information source, or generated by a service, such as when the user is near a location of interest. The client may report location changes, such as a rate corresponding to a rate of location change of the client. An information service scale to any practical number of clients via client state servers and location (of interest) servers, with each client state server associated with a set of one or more clients, and each location server associated with a set of one or more regions.

Selective communication of targeted information

A wireless communication base station consistent with certain embodiments of the present invention collects user transmissions and creates and maintains a database storing data that relates communication parameters to a geographic location. A base station receiver receives data packets containing data describing a geographic location of a mobile communication node. The base station predicts a future geographic location of the mobile communication node, and transmits communication parameters to the mobile communication node associated with the predicted future geographic location. The mobile communication node consistent with certain embodiments of the invention has a GPS positioning device that determines a geographic location of the communication node. A transceiver transmits data representing the geographic location and receives data representing communication parameters determined as a function of the data representing the geographic location. The mobile communication node adjusts its communication parameters in response thereto for the predicted geographic location.

Position optimized wireless communication

An equalizer and corresponding methods is arranged and constructed to mitigate adverse effects of a wireless channel (300). The equalizer includes a delay line (503) coupled to an input signal (501) and comprising a delay circuit coupled to an output combiner (507) that is operable to provide an interim signal (g0 ... gN) and a feed forward circuit (505) coupled to the delay line and operable to provide a feed forward signal (506) that comprises a hard decision scaled according to a scaling factor corresponding to an estimate of channel parameters, wherein the output combiner is operable to combine the feed forward signal and the interim signal to provide an output signal (509) that is compensated for an adverse effect of the wireless channel on the input signal.

Decision feed forward equalizer system and method

A process is provided for determining the distance between two devices by sending ranging packets between them. The local device sends a first ranging packet, which the remote device sends holds for a first hold time before sending a second ranging packet in return. The local device also sends a third ranging packet, which the remote device sends holds for a second hold time before sending a fourth ranging packet in return. If the second hold time is twice the first hold time, then the propagation time for signals between the two devices can be determined solely by time measurements made by the local device. For received signals, these time measurements can be adjusted to provide accurate time estimates for a direct line of sight signal, which corresponds to a shortest transmission distance between the two devices. The propagation time can then be used to determine distance between the devices.

Method and system for performing ranging functions in an ultrawide bandwidth system

A method is provided for receiving a data frame in an ultrawide bandwidth network. In this method, a device receives an ultrawide bandwidth signal containing a data frame. The device then performs an acquisition operation during a first preamble in the data frame, and identifies a marker after the first preamble that indicates that the first preamble has ended. After this, the device performs a signal processing operation during a second preamble in the data frame. After the training, the device then receives a header in the data frame, and then receives a payload in the data frame. By having a marker between the two preambles, this method provides a receiving device with critical information regarding the timing of the preamble section of a frame.

System and method for passing data frames in a wireless network

A process is provided for determining the distance between two devices (310, 320) by sending ranging packets between them. The local device (310) sends a first ranging packet, which the remote device (320) sends holds for a first hold time before sending a second ranging packet in return. The local device (310) also sends a third ranging packet, which the remote device (320) sends holds for a second hold time before sending a fourth ranging packet in return. If the second hold time is twice the first hold time, then the propagation time for signals between the two devices (310, 320) can be determined solely by time measurements made by the local device. For received signals, these time measurements can be adjusted to provide accurate time estimates for a direct line of sight signal, which corresponds to a shortest transmission distance between the two devices. The propagation time can then be used to determine distance between the devices (310, 320).

Paul R. Runkle

Papers

Position optimized wireless communication

Decision feed forward equalizer system and method

Method and system for performing ranging functions in an ultrawide bandwidth system

System and method for passing data frames in a wireless network

Method for performing ranging functions in an uwb system