Mobile terminals and methods for determining a location based on acceleration information

• US 20050181810A1
• Filed: 02/13/2004
• Published: 08/18/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications USA Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Klinghult, Gunnar, Camp, William O. Jr., Bloebaum, Scott
• Granted Patent: US 7,251,493 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.600
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/10 by using measurements of speed or acceleration G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 25/00 Manufacturing, calibrating, cleaning, or repairing instruments or devices referred to in the other groups of this subclass testing, calibrating or compensating compasses G01C17/38
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/11 wherein the cooperating elements are pseudolites or satellite radio beacon positioning system signal repeaters
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/46 the supplementary measurement being of a radio-wave signal type
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0294 Trajectory determination or predictive filtering, e.g. target tracking or Kalman filtering
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/12 by co-ordinating position lines of different shape, e.g. hyperbolic, circular, elliptical or radial

Abstract

An acceleration measurement circuit is calibrated based on wireless communication signals that are received by a mobile terminal. A location of the mobile terminal is then determined using the calibrated acceleration measurement circuit.

Claims

1. A method for determining a location of a mobile terminal, comprising:

calibrating an acceleration measurement circuit of the mobile terminal based on wireless communication signals received by the mobile terminal; and

determining a location of the mobile terminal using the calibrated acceleration measurement circuit.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein calibrating an acceleration measurement circuit comprises calibrating a timing circuit, used by the acceleration measurement circuit to measure distance traveled over an elapsed time, based on the wireless communication signals.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the wireless communication signals comprise satellite signals.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the wireless communication signals comprise cellular signals.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein the wireless communication signals comprise terrestrial Wide Area Network signals.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein the wireless communication signals comprise wireless local area network signals.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the mobile terminal includes a satellite and/or terrestrial wireless signal based location determination circuit and wherein calibrating the acceleration measurement circuit comprises calibrating the acceleration measurement circuit based on location information from the wireless signal based location determination circuit.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising calibrating the acceleration measurement circuit based on a difference between location information from the wireless signal based location determination circuit and location information from the acceleration measurement circuit.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein calibrating the acceleration measurement circuit comprises filtering information from the acceleration measurement based on the location information from the wireless signal based location determination circuit.

10. The method of claim 7 further comprising selecting a time for calibrating the acceleration measurement circuit based on quality of location information from a received wireless signal.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein calibrating the acceleration measurement circuit further comprises calibrating the acceleration measurement circuit based on a temperature of the mobile terminal.

12. A method for determining a location of a mobile terminal, the method comprising:

measuring acceleration of the mobile terminal to generate acceleration information; and

determining a location of the mobile terminal based on the acceleration information and based on wireless communication signals received by the mobile terminal.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein determining a location of the mobile terminal based on the acceleration information and based on wireless communication signals comprises:

determining a first location of the mobile terminal based on wireless communication signals;

determining a distance that the mobile terminal has moved from the first location based on the acceleration information; and

combining the determined distance and the first location to determine a second location of the mobile terminal.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein determining a first location of the mobile terminal based on wireless communication signals comprises determining the first location based on GPS signals.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein determining a first location of the mobile terminal based on wireless communication signals comprises determining the first location based on cellular signals.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein determining the first location based on cellular signals comprises triangulating the location of the mobile terminal based on wireless communication signals from a plurality of terrestrial wireless communication signal transmitters.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein determining a first location of the mobile terminal based on wireless communication signals comprises determining the first location based on wireless local network signals.

18. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

determining a reference location of the mobile terminal based on wireless communication signals; and

calibrating the acceleration information based on the second location and the reference location.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising determining that the mobile terminal has moved at least a threshold distance from the first location, and wherein calibrating the acceleration information based on the second location and the reference location is carried out responsive to determining that the mobile terminal has moved at least the threshold distance from the first location.

20. The method of claim 12 wherein determining a location of the mobile terminal based on the acceleration information and based on wireless communication signals comprises:

defining a first location of the mobile terminal;

determining a distance that the mobile terminal has moved from the first location based on the acceleration information; and

combining the determined distance and the first location to determine a second location of the mobile terminal.

21. The method of claim 20 further comprising:

determining a reference location of the mobile terminal based on wireless communication signals; and

calibrating the acceleration information based on the second location and the reference location.

22. The method of claim 21 further comprising determining that the mobile terminal has moved at least a threshold distance from the first location, and wherein calibrating the acceleration information based on the second location and the reference location is carried out responsive to determining that the mobile terminal has moved at least the threshold distance from the first location.

23. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

identifying a time indication in the wireless communication signals;

calibrating a timing circuit that is internal to the mobile terminal based on the identified time indication;

measuring an elapsed time based on the calibrated timing circuit; and

determining the location of the mobile terminal based on the acceleration information and based on the elapsed time.

24. The method of claim 12 further comprising compensating the acceleration information based on a temperature of the mobile terminal.

25. A mobile terminal comprising:

a receiver configured to receive wireless communication signals;

an acceleration measurement circuit that is configured to generate acceleration information based on acceleration of the mobile terminal;

a calibration circuit that is configured to calibrate the acceleration measurement circuit based on received wireless communication signals; and

a location determination circuit that is configured to determine a location of the mobile terminal based on acceleration information from the calibrated acceleration measurement circuit.

26. The mobile terminal of claim 25 further comprising a timing circuit, wherein the calibration circuit is configured to calibrate the timing circuit based on received wireless communication signals, and wherein the location determination circuit is configured to measure a distance traveled over an elapsed time based on signals from the calibrated timing circuit.

27. The mobile terminal of claim 25 wherein the location determination circuit is configured to determine the location of the mobile terminal based on GPS signals, cellular signals, and/or wireless local network signals, and wherein the calibration circuit is configured to calibrate the acceleration measurement circuit based on the determined location of the mobile terminal.

28. The mobile terminal of claim 27 wherein the calibration circuit is configured to calibrate the acceleration measurement circuit based on a difference between a location that is determined based on GPS signals, cellular signals, and/or wireless local network signals and a location that is determined based on the acceleration information.

29. The mobile terminal of claim 25 wherein the calibration circuit is configured to calibrate the acceleration measurement circuit by filtering the acceleration information based on the determined location of the mobile terminal.

30. The mobile terminal of claim 25 wherein the calibration circuit is configured to calibrate the acceleration measurement circuit based on a signal strength of a received wireless communication signal.

31. The mobile terminal of claim 25 further comprising a temperature sensor that is configured to generate a temperature signal, and wherein the calibration circuit is configured to calibrate the acceleration measurement circuit based on the temperature signal.

32. A mobile terminal comprising:

a receiver that is configured to receive wireless communication signals;

an acceleration measurement circuit that is configured to generate acceleration information that is based on acceleration of the mobile terminal; and

a location determination circuit that is configured to determine a location of the mobile terminal based on the acceleration information and based on the wireless communication signals.

33. The mobile terminal of claim 32 wherein the location determination circuit is configured to determine a first location of the mobile terminal based on the wireless communication signals, and is configured to determine a distance that the mobile terminal has moved from the first location based on the acceleration information, and is configured to combine the determined distance and the first location to determine a second location of the mobile terminal.

34. The mobile terminal of claim 33 further comprising a calibration circuit that is configured to calibrate the acceleration measurement circuit based on the wireless communication signals, wherein the location determination circuit is configured to determine a reference location of the mobile terminal based on the wireless communication signals, and wherein the calibration circuit is configured to calibrate the acceleration measurement circuit based on the second location and the reference location.

35. The mobile terminal of claim 34 wherein the location determination circuit is configured to determine that the mobile terminal has moved at least a threshold distance from the first location, and wherein the calibration circuit is configured to carry out the calibration of the acceleration measurement circuit in response to the determination that the mobile terminal has moved at least the threshold distance from the first location.

36. The mobile terminal of claim 32 wherein the location determination circuit is configured to define a first location of the mobile terminal, and is configured to determine a distance that the mobile terminal has moved from the first location based on the acceleration information, and is configured to combine the determined distance and the first location to determine a second location of the mobile terminal.

37. The mobile terminal of claim 36 further comprising a calibration circuit that is configured to calibrate the acceleration measurement circuit based on the wireless communication signals, wherein the location determination circuit is configured to determine a reference location of the mobile terminal based on wireless communication signals, and wherein the calibration circuit is configured to calibrate the acceleration measurement circuit based on the second location and the reference location.

38. The mobile terminal of claim 37 wherein the location determination circuit is configured to determine that the mobile terminal has moved at least a threshold distance from the first location, and wherein the calibration circuit is configured to carry out the calibration of the acceleration measurement circuit in response to the determination that the mobile terminal has moved at least the threshold distance from the first location.