Selective crowdsourcing for multi-level positioning

• US 10,051,434 B2
• Filed: 03/24/2016
• Issued: 08/14/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2016
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Chang, Daniel, Venkatraman, Sai Pradeep, Thukral, Saket
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAN, MONG-THUY THI
• Application Number:
  US15/079,492
• Publication Number:
  US 20170280301A1
• Time in Patent Office: 873 Days
• Field of Search: 4554565
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/206 specially adapted for indoor navigation
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/02 Indoor
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0244 Accuracy or reliability of position solution or of measurements contributing thereto
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02524 Creating or updating the radio-map
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02526 using non-dedicated equipment, e.g. user equipment or crowd-sourcing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings

Abstract

Example methods, apparatuses, and/or articles of manufacture are disclosed herein that may be utilized, in whole or in part, to facilitate and/or support one or more operations and/or techniques for selective crowdsourcing for multi-level positioning, such as positioning in a multi-level structure, for example.

Claims

1. A method comprising, at a mobile device:

detecting a transition of a location of the mobile device between levels of a structure based, at least in part, on a change in an environmental condition detected via one or more sensors disposed on the mobile device;

obtaining observations of wireless signals responsive to detecting the transition between the levels of the structure, wherein the obtaining the observations of wireless signals includes performing a batch processing of the obtained observations to be included in one or more messages;

performing a reliability assessment with respect to the obtained observations;

selecting the obtained observations for inclusion in one or more measurement batches in combination with observations of wireless signals obtained prior to the detected transition based, at least in part, on the reliability assessment; and

transmitting the one or more messages to a server comprising the combined batched observations in association with the detected transition.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtained observations comprise at least one of the following:

identifiers of wireless transmitters;

characteristics of the wireless signals;

or any combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors disposed on the mobile device comprise at least one of the following:

one or more inertial sensors;

one or more environment sensors;

or any combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the change in the environmental condition comprises at least one of the following:

a change in a barometric pressure;

a change in altitude;

a change in acceleration;

a change in scenery;

or any combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 1, and further comprising:

obtaining a position fix via at least one of the following;

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning;

wireless local area network (WLAN) positioning;

computer vision-based positioning;

visible light communications (VLC) positioning;

or any combination thereof;

determining a particular level of the levels based, at least in part, on the obtained position fix; and

including the determined particular level of the levels in the one or more messages.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the levels of the structure comprise floors of a building.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the reliability assessment is based, at least in part, on a comparison of a signal strength measurement with a propagation time measurement.

8. The method of claim 1, and further comprising excluding at least one of the obtained observations from the one or more messages based, at least in part, on the reliability assessment.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more messages are transmitted for creating a virtual stack or a portion thereof corresponding to the levels of the structure.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the observations of wireless signals are obtained from at least one of the following:

a WLAN access point;

a wireless local area network (WWAN) access point;

a femtocell;

a picocell;

a wireless transmitter;

or any combination thereof.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the change in the environmental condition is detected over a measurement time window.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the measurement time window comprises a time window in a range between approximately 5.0 seconds and 5.0 minutes.

13. The method of claim 1, and further comprising corroborating or contradicting the detecting the transition based, at least in part, on one or more measurements from the one or more sensors.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more messages further comprise a particular level of the levels determined based, at least in part, on at least one of the following:

a user input;

a known location of a wireless transmitter;

dead reckoning;

or any combination thereof.

15. An apparatus comprising:

means for detecting a transition of a location of a mobile device between levels of a structure based, at least in part, on a change in an environmental condition detected via one or more sensors disposed on the mobile device;

means for obtaining observations of wireless signals responsive to detecting the transition between the levels of the structure, wherein the means for obtaining the observations of wireless signals include means performing a batch processing of the obtained observations to be included in one or more messages;

means for performing a reliability assessment with respect to the obtained observations;

means for selecting the obtained observations for inclusion in one or more measurement batches in combination with observations of wireless signals obtained prior to the detected transition based, at least in part, on the reliability assessment; and

means for transmitting the one or more messages to a server comprising the combined batched observations in association with the detected transition.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the change in the environmental condition comprises at least one of the following:

a change in a barometric pressure;

a change in altitude;

a change in acceleration;

a change in scenery;

or any combination thereof.

17. An apparatus comprising:

one or more processors coupled to a memory, the one or more processors and the memory configured to;

detect a transition of a location of a mobile device between levels of a structure based, at least in part, on a change in an environmental condition detected via one or more sensors disposed on the mobile device; and

a wireless transceiver to communicate with an electronic communications network to;

obtain observations of wireless signals responsive to detecting the transition between the levels of the structure, wherein to obtain the observations of wireless signals includes a performance of a batch processing of the obtained observations to be included in one or more messages;

perform a reliability assessment with respect to the obtained observations;

select the obtained observations for inclusion in one or more measurement batches in combination with observations of wireless signals obtained prior to the detected transition based, at least in part, on the reliability assessment; and

transmit the one or more messages to a server comprising the combined batched observations in association with the detected transition.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the change in the environmental condition comprises at least one of the following:

a change in a barometric pressure;

a change in altitude;

a change in acceleration;

a change in scenery;

or any combination thereof.