SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTINUOUS AND INCREMENTAL LOCATION TRACKING OF A SMARTPHONE BASED ON SITUATION-AWARE CONTROL OF THE LEVEL OF BACKGROUND SENSING
First Claim
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1. A method for continuously and incrementally tracking the location of a smartphone, said method comprising:
- entering said Stationary state for the location tracking background process running in the smartphone;
requesting the OS a location sample of the smartphone;
initiating walking start detection using the sensors of the smartphone;
keeping in said Stationary state, if negative, and, thus, continuously monitoring the accelerometer of said smartphone for said walking start detection;
entering said Walking state, if positive, thus contextually starting said Dead Reckoning calculation having last known location as starting point;
continuously doing said Dead Reckoning calculation, whenever in said Walking state;
requesting the operating system of the smartphone a new location sample, whenever in said Walking state and said location accuracy estimated by said Dead Reckoning calculation is worse than said given accuracy threshold;
ignoring said new location sample from the operating system of the smartphone if its accuracy is worse then said estimated location accuracy;
entering said Stationary state whenever said walking stop detection is true;
continuously accelerometer monitoring, whenever in said Stationary state, for said walking start detection, thus, if positive, entering said Walking state;
continuously monitoring accelerometer of the smartphone, whenever in said Stationary state, for said road movement detection, thus, if positive, entering said Moving sub-state of said state “
Inside a Vehicle”
;
regularly requesting the operating system a new location sample in said given update rate whenever in said Moving sub-state;
continuously monitoring the accelerometer of the smartphone, whenever in said state “
Inside a Vehicle”
, for said walking start detection, thus, if positive, entering said Walking state; and
continuously monitoring the accelerometer of the smartphone, whenever in said state “
Inside a Vehicle”
, for said road movement detection, thus, if positive, entering said Moving sub-state or, if negative, entering said Stationary sub-state of said state “
Inside a Vehicle”
.
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Abstract
The invention comprises a method for controlling the level of background reading of the sensors of a smartphone in order to continuously and incrementally track its location in an energy-efficient manner based on the situations its user faces habitually.
More specifically, the present invention can be regarded as a new approach for continuous and incremental location tracking of a personal mobile device that best balances energy consumption with location accuracy during daily routine activities of a given user.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. A method for continuously and incrementally tracking the location of a smartphone, said method comprising:
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entering said Stationary state for the location tracking background process running in the smartphone; requesting the OS a location sample of the smartphone; initiating walking start detection using the sensors of the smartphone; keeping in said Stationary state, if negative, and, thus, continuously monitoring the accelerometer of said smartphone for said walking start detection; entering said Walking state, if positive, thus contextually starting said Dead Reckoning calculation having last known location as starting point; continuously doing said Dead Reckoning calculation, whenever in said Walking state; requesting the operating system of the smartphone a new location sample, whenever in said Walking state and said location accuracy estimated by said Dead Reckoning calculation is worse than said given accuracy threshold; ignoring said new location sample from the operating system of the smartphone if its accuracy is worse then said estimated location accuracy; entering said Stationary state whenever said walking stop detection is true; continuously accelerometer monitoring, whenever in said Stationary state, for said walking start detection, thus, if positive, entering said Walking state; continuously monitoring accelerometer of the smartphone, whenever in said Stationary state, for said road movement detection, thus, if positive, entering said Moving sub-state of said state “
Inside a Vehicle”
;regularly requesting the operating system a new location sample in said given update rate whenever in said Moving sub-state; continuously monitoring the accelerometer of the smartphone, whenever in said state “
Inside a Vehicle”
, for said walking start detection, thus, if positive, entering said Walking state; andcontinuously monitoring the accelerometer of the smartphone, whenever in said state “
Inside a Vehicle”
, for said road movement detection, thus, if positive, entering said Moving sub-state or, if negative, entering said Stationary sub-state of said state “
Inside a Vehicle”
. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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Specification