Systems and Methods for Location-Aware Electronic Devices

Abstract

Methods and systems for tracking locations of a plurality of devices include initializing a computing device with a site floor plan. One or more electronic devices transmit ranging information to the computing device and their initial locations are marked on the site floor plan. Upon movement of the devices to subsequent locations, and further transmission of ranging information, the site floor plan shows movement of the devices between positions for display to a user.

1 . A method for tracking location of a plurality of electronic devices, comprising:
 initializing a computing device with a site floor plan;   receiving at the computing device ranging information transmitted by one of the electronic devices;   marking a present location of said one of the electronic devices on the site floor plan for display to a user based on said ranging information;   upon movement of said one of the electronic devices to a second location, receiving second ranging information at the computing device from the one of the electronic devices; and   showing movement on the site floor plan of said one of the electronic devices from the present location to the second location.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further including showing movement on the site floor plan for other devices of the electronic devices as said other devices move from initial to subsequent locations and transmit ranging information to the computing device. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the initializing the computing device with the site floor plan includes calibrating the site floor plan with geospatial coordinates. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , further including transmitting distance estimations between said one of the electronic devices and said other devices of the electronic devices. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further including overlaying a multi-dimensional map on the site floor plan. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further including determining an absolute location for each of the electronic devices. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further including transmitting a respective said absolute location from the computing device to said each of the electronic devices, said each of the electronic devices storing in memory the respective said absolute location and being responsive to queries over a network to provide the respective said absolute location.