Abstract: This application relates to location systems suitable for monitoring the locations of people or objects within a group. Each person or object has a master or slave unit, which has a short-range wireless transceiver. Each unit has a unique identifier, and an ad-hoc mesh network is created between the units using short-range wireless connections between the units. Each unit periodically broadcasts its ID, which is received by other in-range units, and which compiles a list of received IDs and routing data (the IDs of the other units from which each ID was received). The IDs and routing data are shared on the ad-hoc mesh network, enabling the locations of the units to be approximately triangulated by placing the master or slave units in a virtual map in which the routing data for each received ID corresponds to that of second data signal, and wherein the placement of the master or slave units in the virtual map is also correct with regard to the estimated range of each master or slave unit.

Abstract: This application relates to location systems suitable for monitoring the locations of people or objects within a group. Each person or object has a master or slave unit, which has a short-range wireless transceiver. Each unit has a unique identifier, and an ad-hoc mesh network is created between the units using short-range wireless connections between the units. Each unit periodically broadcasts its ID, which is received by other in-range units, and which compiles a list of received IDs and routing data (the IDs of the other units from which each ID was received). The IDs and routing data are shared on the ad-hoc mesh network, enabling the locations of the units to be approximately triangulated by placing the master or slave units in a virtual map in which the routing data for each received ID corresponds to that of second data signal, and wherein the placement of the master or slave units in the virtual map is also correct with regard to the estimated range of each master or slave unit.