SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING LOCATION BASED SERVICES (LBS) UTILIZING WLAN AND/OR GPS SIGNALS FOR SEAMLESS INDOOR AND OUTDOOR TRACKING

• US 20090196267A1
• Filed: 01/23/2009
• Published: 08/06/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jonathan B. Walker Sr
• Original Assignee: Jonathan B. Walker Sr
• Inventors: WALKER, Jonathan B. SR.
• Granted Patent: US 8,279,840 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/46 the supplementary measurement being of a radio-wave signal type
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/48 by combining or switching between position solutions derived from the satellite radio beacon positioning system and position solutions derived from a further system

Abstract

Systems and methods for tracking a wireless device are disclosed. According to one aspect, the wireless device includes a hybrid global positioning system (GPS) and wireless local area network (WLAN) circuit board for seamless indoor and outdoor tracking. In embodiments, GPS and WLAN data are combined to obtain a position estimate of the device. In other embodiments, the circuit board automatically switches between WLAN and GPS data for indoor and outdoor environments. A Location Based Services (LBS) algorithm for determining the position of a wireless device using WLAN and/or GPS signals is also disclosed. The LBS algorithm is implemented by way of method steps including: sensing GPS and/or WLAN signals, measuring and/or converting the sensed signals to obtain distance data, fusing the distance data, and applying one or more approximation algorithms to the distance data to obtain a position estimate of the wireless device. A method for rendering position data using a Marching Cubes algorithm is further disclosed.

Claims

1. A method for seamless indoor and outdoor tracking of a wireless device having global positioning system (GPS) and wireless local area network (WLAN) capability, the method comprising:

sensing GPS and WLAN signals using the wireless device;

measuring the sensed signals to obtain GPS and WLAN data;

fusing the GPS and WLAN data; and

applying one or more approximation algorithms to the GPS and WLAN data to obtain a position estimate of the wireless device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of sensing WLAN signals includes sensing two or more components or subcomponents at the physical layer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the measuring step further includes converting the GPS and WLAN data to distance data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the approximation algorithm(s) correspond to one or more of:

Discrete Least Squares (DLS), Discrete Least Squares (DLS) on Exponential Data, or Fast Fourier Transform (FFT).

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the method steps are iteratively performed.

6. A system for seamless indoor and outdoor tracking of a wireless device, the system comprising:

a wireless device having a hybrid global positioning system (GPS) and wireless local area network (WLAN) circuit board, the circuit board comprising;

a GPS device capable of sensing GPS satellite signals;

a WLAN device capable of sensing WLAN signals;

a processor that measures the GPS signals to obtain GPS data;

a processor that measures the WLAN signals to obtain WLAN data;

a processor capable of fusing GPS and WLAN data; and

a processor that receives the fused data and applies one or more approximation algorithms to the data to obtain a position estimate of the wireless device.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the circuit board further includes a switch capable of switching between GPS signal data and WLAN signal data based on received signal strength.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the WLAN signals correspond to two or more components or subcomponents at the physical layer.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the processors that measure GPS and WLAN signals are further capable of converting the measured data to distance data.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the approximation algorithm(s) correspond to one or more of:

Discrete Least Squares (DLS), Discrete Least Squares (DLS) on Exponential Data, or Fast Fourier Transform (FFT).

11. A method for determining a location of a fixed or mobile wireless device, the method comprising:

sensing two or more WLAN signals at the physical layer using the wireless device;

measuring the sensed signals to obtain WLAN measurement data; and

applying one or more approximation algorithms to the WLAN data to obtain a position estimate of the wireless device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the measuring step further includes converting the measurement data to units of dBm.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the measuring step further includes converting the measurement data to units of distance.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the approximation algorithm(s) correspond to one or more of:

Discrete Least Squares (DLS), Discrete Least Squares (DLS) on Exponential Data, or Fast Fourier Transform (FFT).

15. A system for determining a position of a wireless device, the system comprising:

a wireless device capable of sensing WLAN signal data;

a processor that measures and/or converts WLAN signal data to distance data; and

a processor configured to apply the distance data to one or more approximation algorithms to obtain a position estimate of the wireless device.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the sensed signal data corresponds to two or more components or subcomponents at the physical layer.

17. A method of displaying the location of a wireless device having WLAN and/or GPS capability in two or three dimensions, the method comprising:

obtaining position coordinates for the wireless device;

applying a Marching Cubes algorithm to the coordinates to extract surface information;

rendering the surface information in two or three dimensions; and

displaying the two or three dimensional rendering on a display.

18. A method for determining the position of a wireless device, the method comprising:

sensing GPS and/or WLAN signals using the wireless device;

measuring the sensed signals to obtain GPS and/or WLAN data;

applying one or more approximation algorithms to the GPS and WLAN data to obtain a position estimate of the wireless device;

iteratively performing the above steps to obtain one or more position coordinates for the device;

applying a Marching Cubes algorithm to the coordinates to extract surface information;

rendering the surface information in two or three dimensions; and

displaying the two or three dimensional rendering on a display.