POSITIONING METHOD, POSITIONING APPARATUS, AND RECORDING MEDIUM

• US 20100017116A1
• Filed: 07/13/2009
• Published: 01/21/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: HTC Corporation
• Original Assignee: HTC Corporation
• Inventors: Lee, Yu-Cheng
• Application Number:
  US12/501,490
• Publication Number:
  US 20100017116A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/208
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0221 Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02521 using a radio-map
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0257 Hybrid positioning by coordinating position lines of different shape G01S5/12

Abstract

A positioning method, a positioning apparatus, and a recording medium are provided. First, m cell towers and n hotspots around an electronic communication device are detected, and an identification code and a signal strength value of each cell tower and hotspot are obtained, wherein m and n are integers greater than or equal to 1, and m+n is an integer greater than or equal to 3. Next, positioning information corresponding to the cell towers and the hotspots is queried according to the identification codes of the cell towers and the hotspots. Finally, positioning information of the electronic communication device is obtained according to the positioning information and the signal strength values of the cell towers and the hotspots.

Claims

1. A positioning method, suitable for an electronic communication device, the positioning method comprising:

detecting m cell towers around the electronic communication device, and obtaining an identification code and a signal strength value of each of the cell towers;

detecting n hotspots around the electronic communication device, and obtaining an identification code and a signal strength value of each of the hotspots,

wherein m and n are positive integers greater than or equal to 1, and m+n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 3;

querying positioning information of the cell towers and the hotspots according to the identification codes of the cell towers and the identification codes of the hotspots; and

obtaining the positioning information of the electronic communication device according to the positioning information and the signal strength values of the cell towers and the hotspots.

2. The positioning method according to claim 1, wherein the identification code of each of the hotspots is a media access control (MAC) address.

3. The positioning method according to claim 2, wherein the step of obtaining the positioning information of the electronic communication device according to the positioning information and the signal strength values of the cell towers and the hotspots is through a triangulation method.

4. The positioning method according to claim 3, wherein the step of calculating the positioning information of the electronic communication device according to the positioning information and the signal strength values of the cell towers and the hotspots through the triangulation method comprises:

comparing the signal strength values of the cell towers and the hotspots, and selecting three of the cell towers and the hotspots having the highest signal strength values to calculate the positioning information of the electronic communication device.

5. The positioning method according to claim 2, wherein the step of querying the positioning information of the cell towers and the hotspots according to the identification codes of the cell towers and the identification codes of the hotspots comprises:

querying the positioning information corresponding to the identification codes of the cell towers and the MAC addresses of the hotspots from a positioning information mapping table stored in the electronic communication device.

6. The positioning method according to claim 2, wherein the step of querying the positioning information of the cell towers and the hotspots according to the identification codes of the cell towers and the identification codes of the hotspots comprises:

transmitting the identification codes of the cell towers and the MAC addresses of the hotspots to a server;

querying the positioning information corresponding to the identification codes and the MAC addresses from a positioning information mapping table by the server; and

receiving the positioning information from the server and using the received positioning information to calculate the positioning information of the electronic communication device.

7. The positioning method according to claim 1, further comprising:

assisting a satellite positioning system of the electronic communication device in obtaining a precise position of the electronic communication device according to the obtained positioning information.

8. The positioning method according to claim 1, wherein the cell towers comprise supporting a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) system, a Personal Handy-phone System (PHS), or a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system;

and the hotspots comprise wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) hotspots, radio repeaters, or radio broadcasters.

9. The positioning method according to claim 1, wherein the signal strength values comprise received signal strength indication (RSSI) values.

10. A recording medium, executing the positioning method according to claim 1 via an electronic device.

11. A positioning apparatus, comprising:

a first type communication module, for detecting m cell towers around an electronic communication device and obtaining an identification code and a signal strength value of each of the cell towers;

a second type communication module, for detecting n hotspots around the electronic communication device and obtaining an identification code and a signal strength value of each of the hotspots, wherein m and n are positive integers greater than or equal to 1, and m+n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 3;

a query module, for querying positioning information of the cell towers and the hotspots according to the identification codes of the cell towers detected by the first type communication module and the identification code of the hotspots detected by the second type communication module; and

a calculation unit, for calculating the positioning information of the electronic communication device according to the positioning information and the signal strength values of the cell towers and the hotspots.

12. The positioning apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the identification code of each of the hotspots is a media access control (MAC) address.

13. The positioning apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the calculation unit calculates the positioning information of the electronic communication device according to the positioning information and the signal strength values of the cell towers and the hotspots through a triangulation method.

14. The positioning apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the calculation unit compares the signal strength values of the cell towers and the hotspots and selects three of the cell towers and the hotspots having the highest signal strength values to calculate the positioning information of the electronic communication device through the triangulation method.

15. The positioning apparatus according to claim 12 further comprising:

a storage unit, for storing a positioning information mapping table which is provided for the query module to query the positioning information corresponding to the identification codes of the cell towers and the MAC addresses of the hotspots.

16. The positioning apparatus according to claim 11 further comprising:

a satellite positioning system, for obtaining a precise position of the electronic communication device according to the calculated positioning information.

17. The positioning apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the first type communication module comprises supporting a GSM system, a PHS, or a CDMA system.

18. The positioning apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the second type communication module comprises a Wi-Fi device, a radio repeater, or a radio broadcaster.

19. The positioning apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the signal strength values comprise RSSI values.

20. A positioning apparatus, comprising:

a cell tower detecting means for detecting m cell towers around the electronic communication device, and obtaining an identification code and a signal strength value of each of the cell towers;

a hotspot detecting means for detecting n hotspots around the electronic communication device, and obtaining an identification code and a signal strength value of each of the hotspots,

wherein m and n are positive integers greater than or equal to 1, and m+n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 3;

a querying means for querying positioning information of the cell towers and the hotspots according to the identification codes of the cell towers and the identification codes of the hotspots; and

a positioning means for obtaining the positioning information of the electronic communication device according to the positioning information and the signal strength values of the cell towers and the hotspots.