METHOD ENABLING INDOOR LOCAL POSITIONING AND MOVEMENT TRACKING IN WIFI CAPABLE MOBILE TERMINALS

• US 20080161011A1
• Filed: 12/29/2006
• Published: 07/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Zhang, Chuntao (Charles), Song, Guoshu, Mathew, Tom, Babin, Thomas S., Bani Hani, Mohammad S., Wu, Xiaohua, Wang, Yinyan
• Application Number:
  US11/617,772
• Publication Number:
  US 20080161011A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A method, apparatus, and electronic device for determining a location of a mobile device are disclosed. A receiver may asynchronously receive an access signal from at least three access points of a wireless local area network with the mobile device. A processor may measure an access signal strength for the access signal for each access point. A transmitter may transmit the access signal strengths to a location server to determine the location of the mobile device.

Claims

1. A method for locating a mobile device, comprising:

asynchronously receiving an access signal from each of at least three access points of a wireless local area network with the mobile device;

measuring an access signal strength for each access signal; and

transmitting the access signal strengths to a location server to determine a first location of the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless local area network is a public network.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

transmitting a mobile signal to the at least three access points; and

receiving from the location server a reference location based on a first triangulation of the mobile signals.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising storing the reference location.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

comparing the reference location to the first location.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying each position of the at least three access points based on media access layer data.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying positions of the at least three access points based on access point identifiers for each access point.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless local area network is a private network.

9. A mobile telecommunications apparatus that self-locates, comprising:

a receiver that asynchronously receives an access signal from each of at least three access points of a wireless local area network;

a processor that measures an access signal strength for each access signal; and

a transmitter that transmits the access signal strengths to a location server to determine a first location.

10. The mobile telecommunications apparatus of claim 9, wherein the transmitter transmits a mobile signal to the at least three access points and the receiver receives from the location server a reference location based on a first triangulation of the mobile signals.

11. The mobile telecommunications apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a memory that stores the reference location.

12. The mobile telecommunications apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor compares the first location to the reference location.

13. The mobile telecommunications apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processor identifies each position of the at least three access points based on media access layer data.

14. The mobile telecommunications apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processor identifies positions of the at least three access points based on access point identifiers for each access point.

15. An electronic device that self-determines its own location, comprising:

a receiver that asynchronously receives an access signal from each of at least three access points of a wireless local area network;

a processor that measures an access signal strength for each access signal; and

a transmitter that transmits the access signal strengths to a location server to determine a first location.

16. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the transmitter transmits a mobile signal to the at least three access points and the receiver receives from the location server a reference location based on a first triangulation of the mobile signals.

17. The electronic device of claim 16, further comprising a memory that stores the reference location.

18. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein the processor compares the first location to the reference location.

19. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the processor identifies each position of the at least three access points based on media access layer data.

20. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the processor identifies positions of the at least three access points based on access point identifiers for each access point.