ENHANCED DATABASE INFORMATION FOR URBAN NAVIGATION

• US 20100079332A1
• Filed: 06/23/2009
• Published: 04/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Garin, Lionel Jacques
• Granted Patent: US 8,271,189 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/357.640
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/08 providing integrity information, e.g. health of satellites or quality of ephemeris data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/22 Multipath-related issues
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/28 Satellite selection
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/42 Determining position

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are provided for estimating position location of a mobile device.

Claims

1. A method for use in at least one electronic device, the method comprising:

with said at least one electronic device;

accessing satellite signal visibility mask information associated with at least one satellite enabled to transmit an RF signal;

establishing enhanced database information associated with at least a plurality of point locations based, at least in part, on said satellite signal visibility mask information; and

providing at least a portion of said enhanced database information to at least one mobile device.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said at least one satellite comprises a satellite positioning system (SPS) space vehicle (SV) and said satellite signal visibility mask information comprises SPS signal visibility mask information.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

with said at least one electronic device;

establishing said plurality of point locations geographically distributed within at least one open area portion of a region; and

establishing said signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations based, at least in part, on at least a portion of three-dimensional geographical information.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein said portion of three-dimensional geographical information is associated with a geographic information system (GIS) database specifying said at least one open area and at least a height associated with at least one object adjacent said at least one open area.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein said at least one open area comprises at least a pathway, and said at least one object comprises at least one of a building and/or a structure.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein said pathway comprises at least a street.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein at least a portion of said plurality of point locations is geographically distributed in a grid.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein said at least one area comprises at least a pathway, and wherein at least a portion of said grid is aligned with at least one of an along-pathway direction and/or an across-pathway direction.

9. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein said grid is non-uniform in at least one direction.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations comprises a mask function operatively enabled to establish expected azimuth/elevation information associated with at least one of a potential line-of-sight (LOS) signal reception, and/or a potential non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signal reception.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein said enhanced database information comprises geographical coordinates for each of said plurality of point locations and said mask function for each of said plurality of point locations.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said enhanced database information comprises geographical coordinates for each of said plurality of point locations and said signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations.

13. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

with said at least one electronic device, storing at least a portion of said enhanced database information to at least one mobile device.

14. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein providing at least said portion of said enhanced database information to said at least one mobile device comprises storing at least said portion of said enhanced database information in a memory of said at least one mobile device.

15. A method comprising:

with a mobile device, estimating an across-pathway position location of said mobile device by comparing an expected satellite positioning system (SPS) satellite reception pattern and an observed SPS satellite reception pattern.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, further comprising:

with said mobile device, estimating an along-pathway position location of a mobile device based, at least in part, on at least one SPS signal acquired from at least one satellite, wherein said at least one SPS signal is received line-of-sight (LOS) by said mobile device.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising:

with said mobile device, accessing enhanced database information for a plurality of point locations corresponding to said estimated along-pathway position location, said enhanced database further comprising SPS signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations.

18. The method as recited in claim 17, further comprising:

with said mobile device, for each of said plurality of point locations, determining said expected SPS satellite reception pattern based, at least in part, on said SPS signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations.

19. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein said plurality of point locations are geographically distributed within at least one pathway, wherein at least a portion of the at least one pathway extends in an along-pathway direction and an across-pathway direction, and wherein said at least one pathway is adjacent to at least one object.

20. The method as recited in claim 19, wherein said at least one pathway comprises a street and said at least one object comprises at least one of a building and/or a structure.

21. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein at least a portion of said plurality of point locations is geographically distributed in a grid.

22. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein said portion of said grid is aligned with at least one of an along-pathway direction and/or an across-pathway direction.

23. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein said grid is non-uniform in at least one direction.

24. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein determining said expected SPS satellite reception pattern comprises:

with said mobile device, for each of said plurality of point locations, using a mask function operatively enabled to establish expected, azimuth/elevation information associated with at least one of a potential line-of-sight (LOS) SPS signal reception, and/or a potential non-line-of-sight (NLOS) SPS signal reception.

25. The method as recited in claim 24, wherein said enhanced database information comprises geographical coordinates for each of said plurality of point locations and said SPS signal visibility mask information comprises said mask function for each of said plurality of point locations.

26. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein accessing said enhanced database information comprises:

with said mobile device, reading said enhanced database information from at least one computer-readable medium.

27. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein accessing said enhanced database information comprises:

with said mobile device, receiving said enhanced database information over at least one communication link.

28. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein accessing said enhanced database information comprises:

with said mobile device, accessing an electronic map stored in a memory of said mobile device.

29. The method as recited in claim 15, further comprising:

with said mobile device, establishing said observed SPS satellite reception pattern based, at least in part, on SPS signal reception determination of a LOS/NLOS detector within said mobile device.

30. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein said SPS signal reception determination of said LOS/NLOS detector is probabilistic.

31. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein determining said expected SPS satellite reception pattern further comprises:

with said mobile device, determining said expected SPS satellite reception pattern based, at least in part, on estimated SPS satellite positions.

32. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein said estimated SPS satellite positions are determined by said mobile station based, at least in part, on ephemeris information associated with said SPS satellites.

33. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein comparing said expected SPS satellite reception pattern and said observed SPS satellite reception pattern comprises:

with said mobile device, identifying said estimated across-pathway position location as corresponding to one of said plurality of point locations based, at least in part, on at least one probabilistic attribute.

34. The method as recited in claim 33, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is operatively used in at least one of a Bayesian network calculation and/or hidden Markov chain calculation.

35. The method as recited in claim 33, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is associated with at least one of a previous estimated across-pathway position location, and/or a previous estimated along-pathway position location.

36. The method as recited in claim 35, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is associated with at least one of a time attribute and/or a measured mobile device movement attribute.

37. The method as recited in claim 33, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is associated with at least one estimated SPS satellite position.

38. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein estimating said along-pathway position location further comprises:

with said mobile device, for each of said at least one SPS signal acquired from said single satellite, estimating a pseudorange between said satellite and said mobile device.

39. An apparatus comprising:

means for establishing satellite signal visibility mask information for each of a plurality of point locations based, at least in part, on three-dimensional geographical information, said satellite signal visibility mask information being associated with at least one satellite enabled to transmit an RF signal; and

means for establishing enhanced database information associated with at least said plurality of point locations based, at least in part, on said signal visibility mask information.

40. The apparatus as recited in claim 39, wherein said at least one satellite comprises an satellite positioning system (SPS) space vehicle (SV) and said satellite signal visibility mask information comprises SPS signal visibility mask information.

41. The apparatus as recited in claim 39, further comprising:

means for accessing said three-dimensional geographical information associated with a region; and

means for establishing said plurality of point locations geographically distributed within at least one open area portion of said region.

42. The apparatus as recited in claim 41, further comprising:

means for identifying said at least one open area and at least a height associated with at least one object adjacent said at least one open area.

43. The apparatus as recited in claim 42, wherein said at least one open area comprises at least a pathway, and said at least one object comprises at least one of a building and/or a structure.

44. The apparatus as recited in claim 43, wherein said pathway comprises at least a street.

45. The apparatus as recited in claim 41, wherein at least a portion of said plurality of point locations is geographically distributed in a grid.

46. The apparatus as recited in claim 45, wherein said at least one area comprises at least a pathway, and wherein at least a portion of said grid is aligned with at least one of an along-pathway direction and/or an across-pathway direction.

47. The apparatus as recited in claim 45, wherein said grid is non-uniform in at least one direction.

48. The apparatus as recited in claim 40, wherein said SPS signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations comprises:

means for establishing expected azimuth/elevation information associated with at least one of a potential line-of-sight (LOS) SPS signal reception, and/or a potential non-line-of-sight (NLOS) SPS signal reception.

49. The apparatus as recited in claim 48, wherein said enhanced database information comprises geographical coordinates for each of said plurality of point locations and said means for establishing said expected azimuth/elevation information for each of said plurality of point locations.

50. The apparatus as recited in claim 40, wherein said enhanced database information comprises geographical coordinates for each of said plurality of point locations and said SPS signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations.

51. The apparatus as recited in claim 39, further comprising:

means for storing at least a portion of said enhanced database information.

52. The apparatus as recited in claim 39, further comprising:

means for providing at least a portion of said enhanced database information to at least one mobile device.

53. An apparatus comprising:

means for determining an expected satellite positioning system (SPS) satellite reception pattern for each of a plurality of point locations based, at least in part, on SPS signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations; and

means for estimating an across-pathway position location of a mobile device by comparing said expected SPS satellite reception pattern and an observed SPS satellite reception pattern.

54. The apparatus as recited in claim 53, further comprising:

means for estimating an along-pathway position location of said mobile device based, at least in part, on at least one SPS signal acquired from at least one satellite, wherein each of said at least one SPS signal is received line-of-sight (LOS) by said mobile device; and

means for accessing enhanced database information for said plurality of point locations corresponding to said estimated along-pathway position location, said enhanced database further comprising SPS signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations.

55. The apparatus as recited in claim 53, wherein said plurality of point locations are geographically distributed within at least one pathway, wherein at least a portion of the at least one pathway extends in an along-pathway direction and an across-pathway direction, and wherein said at least one pathway is adjacent to at least one object.

56. The apparatus as recited in claim 55, wherein said at least one pathway comprises a street and said at least one object comprises at least one of a building and/or a structure.

57. The apparatus as recited in claim 53, wherein at least a portion of said plurality of point locations is geographically distributed in a grid.

58. The apparatus as recited in claim 57, wherein said portion of said grid is aligned with at least one of an along-pathway direction and/or an across-pathway direction.

59. The apparatus as recited in claim 57, wherein said grid is non-uniform in at least one direction.

60. The apparatus as recited in claim 54, further comprising:

means for establishing expected azimuth/elevation information for each of said plurality of point locations, said expected azimuth/elevation information being associated with at least one of a potential line-of-sight (LOS) SPS signal reception, and/or a potential non-line-of-sight (NLOS) SPS signal reception.

61. The apparatus as recited in claim 60, wherein said enhanced database information comprises geographical coordinates for each of said plurality of point locations and said SPS signal visibility mask information comprises said mask function for each of said plurality of point locations.

62. The apparatus as recited in claim 54, further comprising:

means for reading said enhanced database information from at least one computer-readable medium.

63. The apparatus as recited in claim 54, further comprising:

means for receiving said enhanced database information over at least one communication link.

64. The apparatus as recited in claim 54, further comprising:

means for accessing an electronic map stored in a memory of said mobile device.

65. The apparatus as recited in claim 54, further comprising:

means for establishing said observed SPS satellite reception pattern based, at least in part, on a LOS/NLOS SPS signal reception determination.

66. The apparatus as recited in claim 65, wherein said LOS/NLOS SPS signal reception determination is probabilistic.

67. The apparatus as recited in claim 54, further comprising:

means for determining said expected SPS satellite reception pattern based, at least in part, on estimated SPS satellite positions.

68. The apparatus as recited in claim 67, wherein said estimated SPS satellite positions are determined by said mobile station based, at least in part, on ephemeris information associated with said SPS satellites.

69. The apparatus as recited in claim 53, further comprising:

means for identifying said estimated across-pathway position location as corresponding to one of said plurality of point locations based, at least in part, on at least one probabilistic attribute.

70. The apparatus as recited in claim 69, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is operatively used in at least one of a Bayesian network calculation and/or hidden Markov chain calculation.

71. The apparatus as recited in claim 69, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is associated with at least one of a previous estimated across-pathway position location, and/or a previous estimated along-pathway position location.

72. The apparatus as recited in claim 71, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is associated with at least one of a time attribute and/or a measured mobile device movement attribute.

73. The apparatus as recited in claim 69, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is associated with at least one estimated SPS satellite position.

74. The apparatus as recited in claim 54, further comprising:

means for estimating a pseudorange difference between each of said different satellites said and said mobile device.

75. An apparatus comprising:

memory having stored therein three-dimensional geographical information associated with at least one open area portion of a region; and

at least one processing unit operatively coupled to said memory and enabled to establish enhanced database information associated with at least a plurality of point locations geographically distributed within at least said at least one open area and satellite positioning system (SPS) signal visibility mask information.

76. The apparatus as recited in claim 75, wherein said at least one processing unit is further operatively enabled to:

establish said plurality of point locations; and

establish said SPS signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations based, at least in part, on at least a portion of said three-dimensional geographical information.

77. The apparatus as recited in claim 75, wherein said three-dimensional geographical information identifies said at least one open area and at least a height associated with at least one object adjacent said at least one open area.

78. The apparatus as recited in claim 77, wherein said at least one open area comprises at least a pathway, and said at least one object comprises at least one of a building and/or a structure.

79. The apparatus as recited in claim 75, wherein at least a portion of said plurality of point locations is geographically distributed in a grid, and wherein said at least one area comprises at least a pathway, and wherein, at least a portion of said grid is aligned with at least one of an along-pathway direction and/or an across-pathway direction.

80. The apparatus as recited in claim 79, wherein said grid is non-uniform in at least one direction.

81. The apparatus as recited in claim 75, wherein said at least one processing unit is further operatively enabled to establish expected azimuth/elevation information associated with at least one of a potential line-of-sight (LOS) SPS signal reception, and/or a potential non-line-of-sight (NLOS) SPS signal reception.

82. An apparatus comprising:

memory having stored therein enhanced database information for a plurality of point locations, and satellite positioning system (SPS) signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations; and

at least one processing unit operatively coupled to said memory and enabled to estimate an across-pathway position location of a mobile device by comparing an expected SPS satellite reception pattern and an observed SPS satellite reception pattern.

83. The apparatus as recited in claim 82, wherein said at least one processing unit is further operatively enabled to:

estimate an along-pathway position location of said mobile device based, at least in part, on at least one SPS signal acquired from at least one satellite, wherein said at least one SPS signal is received line-of-sight (LOS) by said mobile device; and

determine said expected SPS satellite reception pattern for each of said plurality of point locations based, at least in part, on said SPS signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations.

84. The apparatus as recited in claim 83, wherein said plurality of point locations are geographically distributed within at least one pathway, wherein at least a portion of the at least one pathway extends in an along-pathway direction and an across-pathway direction, and wherein said at least one pathway is adjacent to at least one object.

85. The apparatus as recited in claim 83, wherein said at least one processing unit is further operatively enabled to establish expected azimuth/elevation information for each of said plurality of point locations, said expected azimuth/elevation information being associated with at least one of a potential line-of-sight (LOS) SPS signal reception, and/or a potential non-line-of-sight (NLOS) SPS signal reception.

86. The apparatus as recited in claim 82, wherein said at least one processing unit is further operatively enabled to establish said observed SPS satellite reception pattern based, at least in part, on a LOS/NLOS SPS signal reception determination.

87. The apparatus as recited in claim 86, wherein said LOS/NLOS SPS signal reception determination is probabilistic.

88. The apparatus as recited in claim 82, wherein said at least one processing unit is further operatively enabled to determine said expected SPS satellite reception pattern based, at least in part, on estimated SPS satellite positions.

89. The apparatus as recited in claim 88, wherein said estimated SPS satellite positions are determined based, at least in part, on ephemeris information associated with said SPS satellites.

90. The apparatus as recited in claim 82, wherein said at least one processing unit is further operatively enabled to identify said estimated across-pathway position location as corresponding to one of said plurality of point locations based, at least in part, on at least one probabilistic attribute.

91. The apparatus as recited in claim 90, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is operatively used in at least one of a Bayesian network calculation and/or hidden Markov chain calculation.

92. The apparatus as recited in claim 90, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is associated with at least one of a previous estimated across-pathway position location, and/or a previous estimated along-pathway position location.

93. The apparatus as recited in claim 92, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is associated with at least one of a time attribute, a measured mobile device movement attribute, and/or at least one estimated SPS satellite position.

94. The apparatus as recited in claim 83, wherein said at least one processing unit is further operatively enabled to estimate a pseudorange between each of said different satellites said and said mobile device.

95. An article comprising:

a computer readable medium having computer implementable instructions stored thereon which if implemented by one or more processing units operatively enables the one or more processing units to;

access satellite signal visibility mask information associated with at least one satellite enabled to transmit an RF signal; and

establish enhanced database information associated with at least, a plurality of point locations based, at least in part, on said satellite signal visibility mask information.

96. The article as recited in claim 95, wherein said at least one satellite comprises a satellite positioning system (SPS) space vehicle (SV) and said satellite signal visibility mask information comprises SPS signal visibility mask information.

97. The article as recited in claim 96, further comprising computer implementable instructions which if implemented by one or more processing units operatively enable the one or more processing units to:

access three-dimensional geographical information associated with a region;

establish said plurality of point locations geographically distributed within at least one open area portion of said region; and

establish said SPS signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations based, at least in part, on said three-dimensional geographical information.

98. The article as recited in claim 97, wherein said three-dimensional geographical information Identifies said at least one open area and at least a height associated with at least one object adjacent said at least one open area.

99. The article as recited in claim 97, wherein at least a portion of said plurality of point locations is geographically distributed in a grid, and wherein said at least one area comprises at least a pathway, and wherein at least a portion of said grid is aligned with at least one of an along-pathway direction and/or an across-pathway direction.

100. The article as recited in claim 96, further comprising computer implementable instructions which if implemented by one or more processing units operatively enable the one or more processing units to establish expected azimuth/elevation information associated with at least one of a potential line-of-sight (LOS) SPS signal reception, and/or a potential non-line-of-sight (NLOS) SPS signal reception.

101. An article comprising:

a computer readable medium having computer implementable instructions stored thereon which if implemented by one or more processing units operatively enables the one or more processing units to estimate an across-pathway position location of a mobile device by comparing an expected satellite positioning system (SPS) satellite reception pattern-and an observed SPS satellite reception pattern.

102. The article as recited in claim 101, further comprising computer implementable instructions which if implemented by one or more processing units operatively enable the one or more processing units to:

estimate an along-pathway position location of said mobile device based, at least in part, on at least two SPS signals acquired from different satellites, wherein each of said at least two SPS signals is received line-of-sight (LOS) by said mobile device;

access enhanced database information for said plurality of point locations corresponding to said estimated along-pathway position location, and SPS signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations; and

determine said expected SPS satellite reception pattern for each of said plurality of point locations based, at least in part, on said SPS signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations.

103. The apparatus as recited in claim 102, wherein said plurality of point locations are geographically distributed within at least one pathway, wherein at least a portion of the at least one pathway extends in an along-along-pathway direction and an across-pathway direction, and wherein said at least one pathway is adjacent to at least one object.

104. The apparatus as recited in claim 101, further comprising computer implementable instructions which if implemented by one or more processing units operatively enable the one or more processing units to establish expected azimuth/elevation information for each of said plurality of point locations, said expected azimuth/elevation information being associated with at least one of a potential line-of-sight (LOS) SPS signal reception, and/or a potential non-line-of-sight (NLOS) SPS signal reception.

105. The apparatus as recited in claim 101, further comprising computer implementable instructions which if implemented by one or more processing units operatively enable the one or more processing units to establish said observed SPS satellite reception pattern based, at least in part, on a LOS/NLOS SPS signal reception determination.

106. The apparatus as recited in claim 105, wherein said LOS/NLOS SPS signal reception determination is probabilistic.

107. The apparatus as recited in claim 101, further comprising computer implementable instructions which if implemented by one or more processing units operatively enable the one or more processing units to determine said expected SPS satellite reception pattern based, at least in part, on estimated SPS satellite positions.

108. The apparatus as recited in claim 101, further comprising computer implementable instructions which if implemented by one or more processing units operatively enable the one or more processing units to identify said estimated across-pathway position location as corresponding to one of said plurality of point locations based, at least in part, on at least one probabilistic attribute.

109. The apparatus as recited in claim 108, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is operatively used in at least one of a Bayesian network calculation and/or hidden Markov chain calculation.

110. The apparatus as recited in claim 109, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is associated with at least one of a previous estimated across-pathway position location, a previous estimated along-pathway position location, and/or at least one estimated SPS satellite position.