METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ESTIMATING A USER POSITION IN A WLAN POSITIONING SYSTEM BASED ON USER ASSIGNED ACCESS POINT LOCATIONS
First Claim
1. A method of estimating a geographic location of a WLAN-enabled user-device in a WLAN-based positioning system having a plurality of WLAN-enabled access points, the method comprising:
- the WLAN-enabled device receiving signals transmitted by WLAN-enabled access points in range of the WLAN-enabled user-device so that observed WLAN-enabled access points identify themselves;
accessing a master database that associates WLAN-enabled access points with corresponding geographic locations for the WLAN-enabled access points as determined by an audit of a relatively large geographic area and obtaining geographic location information for any identified WLAN-enabled access point in range of the WLAN-enabled user-device;
accessing a supplemental database to obtain inferred geographic location information corresponding to any identified WLAN-enabled access point in range of the WLAN-enabled user-device, the supplemental database having a relatively small set of WLAN-enabled access points and corresponding inferred geographic locations, the inferred geographic locations being inferred based on input by a user of the WLAN-based positioning system; and
estimating a geographic location of the WLAN-enabled user-device based on the geographic location information obtained from the master database and the inferred geographic location information obtained from the supplemental database.
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Abstract
A method of estimating a location of a WLAN-enabled user-device in a WLAN-based positioning system is provided. The WLAN-enabled device receives signals transmitted by WLAN-enabled access points in range of the WLAN-enabled user-device so that observed WLAN-enabled access points identify themselves. The method includes accessing a master database that associates WLAN-enabled access points with corresponding audited locations as determined by an audit of a relatively large geographic area and obtaining location information for any identified WLAN-enabled access point. The method includes accessing a supplemental database to obtain inferred location information corresponding to any identified WLAN-enabled access point. The supplemental database has a relatively small set of WLAN-enabled access points and corresponding inferred locations. The inferred locations are inferred based on input by a user of the WLAN-based positioning system. The method includes estimating a location of the WLAN-enabled user-device based on the audited location information and the inferred location information.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method of estimating a geographic location of a WLAN-enabled user-device in a WLAN-based positioning system having a plurality of WLAN-enabled access points, the method comprising:
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the WLAN-enabled device receiving signals transmitted by WLAN-enabled access points in range of the WLAN-enabled user-device so that observed WLAN-enabled access points identify themselves;
accessing a master database that associates WLAN-enabled access points with corresponding geographic locations for the WLAN-enabled access points as determined by an audit of a relatively large geographic area and obtaining geographic location information for any identified WLAN-enabled access point in range of the WLAN-enabled user-device;
accessing a supplemental database to obtain inferred geographic location information corresponding to any identified WLAN-enabled access point in range of the WLAN-enabled user-device, the supplemental database having a relatively small set of WLAN-enabled access points and corresponding inferred geographic locations, the inferred geographic locations being inferred based on input by a user of the WLAN-based positioning system; and
estimating a geographic location of the WLAN-enabled user-device based on the geographic location information obtained from the master database and the inferred geographic location information obtained from the supplemental database. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for estimating a geographic location of a WLAN-enabled user-device in a WLAN-based positioning system having a plurality of WLAN-enabled access points, the system comprising:
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a WLAN-enabled device for receiving signals transmitted by WLAN-enabled access points in range of the WLAN-enabled user-device so that observed WLAN-enabled access points identify themselves;
a first logic for accessing a master database that associates WLAN-enabled access points with corresponding geographic locations for the WLAN-enabled access points as determined by an audit of a relatively large geographic area and obtaining geographic location information for any identified WLAN-enabled access point in range of the WLAN-enabled user-device;
a second logic for accessing a supplemental database to obtain inferred geographic location information corresponding to any identified WLAN-enabled access point in range of the WLAN-enabled user-device, the supplemental database having a relatively small set of WLAN-enabled access points and corresponding inferred geographic locations, the inferred geographic locations being inferred based on input by a user of the WLAN-based positioning system; and
a third logic for estimating a geographic location of the WLAN-enabled user-device based on the geographic location information obtained from the master database and the inferred geographic location information obtained from the supplemental database. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification