Determining a location or position using information from multiple location and positioning technologies and applications using such a determined location or position

• US 20050107953A1
• Filed: 11/17/2004
• Published: 05/19/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sarmo Technology Inc.
• Original Assignee: Sarmo Technology Inc.
• Inventors: Sugla, Binay
• Granted Patent: US 7,904,244 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/300
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/206 specially adapted for indoor navigation
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02585 at least one of the measurements being a non-radio measurement

Abstract

A location may be determined by accepting location information from at least two sources using at least two location technologies, for each set of location information from each source, adjusting the location information using at least one of (A) confidence in the source, (B) error range of the source, (C) an error model for the source, and (D) application-specific context information, and combining adjusted locations to generate a final location these location technologies assume a degree of cooperation. The location technologies may include a combination of a “tag” that is placed on the object to be tracked, and one or more receivers/transmitters that work in concert with the tag to locate the object.

Claims

1. A machine-implemented method for determining a location using location information from multiple location systems of different types, the machine-implemented method comprising:

a) accepting multiple location information corresponding to various different location and positioning systems for one or more devices;

b) estimating and recording the accuracy of the received location information;

c) interpreting the received location information using a unified model;

d) combining the location information pieces with contextual information based on an application;

e) accepting requirements from the application for further refinement of location and position; and

f) directing and configuring the various location and positioning systems to carry out further actions to locate the desired target object.

2. The machine-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

g) using multiple location and positioning systems to improve accuracy of location of the desired object.

3. The machine-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

g) using multiple location and positioning systems to reduce cost to achieve a desired statistical accuracy.

4. The machine-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

g) using multiple location and positioning systems to achieve wider coverage.

5. The machine-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

g) using multiple location and positioning systems to achieve a more seamless location tracking.

6. The machine-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

g) using multiple location and positioning systems to correlate and associate different objects that are being tracked.

18. A machine-readable medium storing machine-executable instructions which, when executed by a machine, perform the method of claim 1.

7. A machine-implemented method comprising:

a) accepting location information from at least two sources using at least two location technologies;

b) for each set of location information from each source, adjusting the location information using at least one of (A) confidence in the source, (B) error range of the source, (C) an error model for the source, and (D) application-specific context information; and

c) combining adjusted locations to generate a final location.

8. The machine-implemented method of claim 7 further comprising, for at least one of the sources, issuing a control command to the source.

9. The machine-implemented method of claim 7 wherein at least one of the at least two location technologies is radio frequency tag.

10. The machine-implemented method of claim 7 wherein a first of the at least two location technologies is one that works well outside buildings but not as well inside buildings and a second of the at least two location technologies is one that works well inside buildings.

11. The machine-implemented method of claim 10 wherein the first of the at least two location technologies is global positioning satellite.

12. The machine-implemented method of claim 10 wherein the second of the at least two location technologies is radio frequency tag.

13. The machine-implemented method of claim 10 wherein the second of the at least two location technologies is Wi-Fi.

14. The machine-implemented method of claim 7 wherein a first of the at least two location technologies is one that works well for altitude, and a second of the at least two location technologies is one that works well for latitude and longitude but not as well for altitude.

15. The machine-implemented method of claim 7 wherein a first of the at least two location technologies is used to determine a floor of a multi-floor building on which the object is located, and a second of the at least two location technologies is used to determine a location of the object on the determined floor.

16. Apparatus for determining a location using location information from multiple location systems of different types, the apparatus comprising:

a) means for accepting multiple location information corresponding to various different location and positioning systems for one or more devices;

b) means for estimating and recording the accuracy of the received location information;

c) means for interpreting the received location information using a unified model;

d) means for combining the location information pieces with contextual information based on an application;

e) means for accepting requirements from the application for further refinement of location and position; and

f) means for directing and configuring the various location and positioning systems to carry out further actions to locate the desired target object.

17. Apparatus comprising:

a) means for accepting location information from at least two sources using at least two location technologies;

b) means for adjusting, for each set of location information from each source, the location information using at least one of (A) confidence in the source, (B) error range of the source, (C) an error model for the source, and (D) application-specific context information; and

c) means for combining adjusted locations to generate a final location.