Location determination of a mobile device based on various parameters

• US 10,051,451 B1
• Filed: 08/03/2016
• Issued: 08/14/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intrado Life & Safety Incorporated
• Original Assignee: West Corporation
• Inventors: Ray, Amar Nath, Eich, William J., Geiman, Gilbert
• Primary Examiner(s): Heiber, Shantell L
• Application Number:
  US15/227,690
• Time in Patent Office: 741 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

Locating a mobile device in the event of an emergency may be based on common location techniques, such as GPS and geolocation. Additional location techniques may be performed in a sample method of operation which may include determining location information and environmental factor information at a mobile device, recording the location information and the environmental factor information, calculating deviations for the location information and the environmental factor information based on pre-stored location information and pre-stored environmental information, and calculating a confidence factor based on the calculated deviations, determining the mobile device location based on the confidence factor.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining location information and environmental factor information at a mobile device;

recording the location information and the environmental factor information;

calculating deviations for the location information and the environmental factor information based on pre-stored location information and pre-stored environmental information;

calculating a confidence factor based on the calculated deviations; and

determining the mobile device location based on the confidence factor;

wherein the environmental factor information comprises at least one of luminosity, distance from walls, ceiling height of an indoor structure, indoor acoustic signatures dependent upon the distance from walls and ceiling height of the indoor structure, altitude, precipitation levels, allergen levels, and outdoor acoustic signatures dependent upon the altitude and precipitation levels;

wherein at least one of the indoor acoustic signatures and the outdoor acoustic signatures comprises an acoustic signature of at least one mechanical device or electrical device; and

wherein the pre-stored location information and pre-stored environmental information comprises data determined to be constant after readings gathered and recorded from successive events remain constant over a predefined time interval.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

weighting the location information with a modified weightage factor value between 0.1 and 1.0.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

weighting the environmental location information with a modified weightage factor value between 0.1 and 1.0.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the location information comprises at least one of a GPS location, a triangulated location, and a power level of a signal received from the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the mobile device location is in an indoor environmental area or an outdoor environmental area.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving an environmental factor baseline from a database;

comparing the at least one environmental factor to the environmental factor baseline to determine a certainty level; and

determining a location of the mobile device when the comparing yields a certainly level above a predefined certainty level threshold.

7. An apparatus comprising:

a memory configured to store location information; and

a processor configured to

determine the location information and environmental factor information;

record the location information and the environmental factor information;

calculate deviations for the location information and the environmental factor information based on pre-stored location information and pre-stored environmental information;

calculate a confidence factor based on the calculated deviations; and

determine a mobile device location based on the confidence factor;

wherein the environmental factor information comprises at least one of luminosity, distance from walls, ceiling height of an indoor structure, indoor acoustic signatures dependent upon the distance from walls and ceiling height of the indoor structure, altitude, wind speed, precipitation levels, and allergen levels, and outdoor acoustic signatures dependent upon the altitude and precipitation levels;

wherein at least one of the indoor acoustic signatures and the outdoor acoustic signatures comprises an acoustic signature of at least one mechanical device or electrical device; and

wherein the pre-stored location information and pre-stored environmental information comprises data determined to be constant after readings gathered and recorded from successive events remain constant over a predefined time interval.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to weight the location information with a modified weightage factor value between 0.1 and 1.0.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to weight the environmental location information with a modified weightage factor value between 0.1 and 1.0.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the location information comprises at least one of a GPS location, a triangulated location, and a power level of a signal received from the mobile device.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to

determine whether the mobile device location is in an indoor environmental area or an outdoor environmental area.

12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to

retrieve an environmental factor baseline from a database;

compare the at least one environmental factor to the environmental factor baseline to determine a certainty level, and

determine a location of the mobile device when the comparing yields a certainly level above a predefined certainty level threshold.

13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium configured to store instructions that when executed causes a processor to:

determine location information and environmental factor information at a mobile device;

record the location information and the environmental factor information;

calculate deviations for the location information and the environmental factor information based on pre-stored location information and pre-stored environmental information;

calculate a confidence factor based on the calculated deviations; and

determine the mobile device location based on the confidence factor;

wherein the environmental factor information comprises at least one of luminosity, distance from walls, ceiling height of an indoor structure, indoor acoustic signatures dependent upon the distance from walls and ceiling height of the indoor structure, altitude, precipitation levels, allergen levels, and outdoor acoustic signatures dependent upon the altitude and precipitation levels;

wherein at least one of the indoor acoustic signatures and the outdoor acoustic signatures comprises an acoustic signature of at least one mechanical device or electrical device; and

wherein the pre-stored location information and pre-stored environmental information comprises data determined to be constant after readings gathered and recorded from successive events remain constant over a predefined time interval.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to:

weight the location information with a modified weightage factor value between 0.1 and 1.0.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

weight the environmental location information with a modified weightage factor value between 0.1 and 1.0.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the location information comprises at least one of a GPS location, a triangulated location, and a power level of a signal received from the mobile device.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine whether the mobile device location is in an indoor environmental area or an outdoor environmental area;

retrieve an environmental factor baseline from a database;

compare the at least one environmental factor to the environmental factor baseline to determine a certainty level; and

determine a location of the mobile device when the comparing yields a certainly level above a predefined certainty level threshold.