METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WIRELESS LOCATION TRACKING

• US 20130288713A1
• Filed: 12/23/2011
• Published: 10/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Fu, Jin, Yang, Rongzhen, Yin, Hujun
• Granted Patent: US 9,560,487 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02524 Creating or updating the radio-map
• 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 and apparatus for wireless location tracking by a wireless device. In one embodiment of the invention, the wireless device has logic to determine the information of a plurality of specific location points and to determine the location of the wireless device based on the information of the plurality of specific location points. The specific location points are selected from a target area where the wireless device is located. By selecting the specific location points in the target area, it allows hidden Access Points (APs) or Base Stations (BSs) to be detected and measured and it increases the accuracy of the tracking of the wireless device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining information of a plurality of specific location points; and

determining a location of a wireless device based on the information of the plurality of specific location points.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the location of the wireless device based on the information of the plurality of specific location points comprises:

determining a plurality of relative degree values for each of the plurality of specific location points with respect to the location of the wireless device; and

determining a subset of specific location points from the plurality of specific location points, wherein each specific location point in the subset of specific location points has a relative degree value higher or equal to the other specific location points that are not in the subset of specific location points.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the location of the wireless device based on the information of the plurality of specific location points further comprises:

determining a plurality of weight circles for each specific location point of the subset of specific location points;

for each weight circle, accumulating the relative degree values of each specific location point within the weight circle; and

determining the location of the wireless device based at least on the accumulated relative degree values of each specific location point for each weight circle.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the information of the plurality of the specific location points into a database.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the database comprises an Extensible Markup Language (XML) database.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the information of the plurality of the specific location points comprises one or more of, a latitude, a longitude, an altitude, and wireless information, of each of the plurality of the specific location points.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the wireless information of each of the plurality of the specific location points comprises one or more of, a Media Access Control (MAC) address, a vendor identification, a service set identifier (SSID), a channel number, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a first time of first detection, a second time of last detection, of each of the plurality of the specific location points.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless device is operable at least in part with one of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, a IEEE 802.16m standard, a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution standard, a Bluetooth standard, and a ultra wideband standard.

9. An apparatus comprising:

logic to;

obtain information of a plurality of specific location points; and

determine a location of the apparatus based on the information of the plurality of specific location points.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the logic to determine the location of the apparatus based on the information of the plurality of specific location points is to:

determine a plurality of relative degree values for each of the plurality of specific location points with respect to the location of the apparatus; and

determine a subset of specific location points from the plurality of specific location points, wherein each specific location point in the subset of specific location points has a relative degree value higher or equal to the other specific location points that are not in the subset of specific location points.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the logic to determine the plurality of relative degree values for each of the plurality of specific location points with respect to the location of the apparatus is to determine a key control parameter for each of the plurality of specific location points based on a Received Signal Strength (RSS) of each Access Point (AP) associated with each of the plurality of specific location points;

and wherein the logic to determine the plurality of relative degree values for each of the plurality of specific location points with respect to the location of the apparatus is to determine the plurality of relative degree values for each of the plurality of specific location points with respect to the location of the apparatus based on a normalization factor and the key control parameter for each of the plurality of specific location points.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the logic to determine the location of the apparatus based on the information of the plurality of specific location points is further to:

determine a plurality of weight circles for each specific location point of the subset of specific location points;

for each weight circle, accumulate the relative degree values of each specific location point within the weight circle; and

determine the location of the wireless device based at least on the accumulated relative degree values of each specific location point for each weight circle.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the logic to determine the plurality of weight circles for each specific location point of the subset of specific location points is to:

determine the plurality of weight circles for each specific location point of the subset of specific location points based on a rule that if two specific location points of the subset of specific location points are less than a minimum distance, only one weight circle is determined for one of the two specific location points that has a higher relative degree value.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the information of the plurality of the specific location points comprises one or more of, a latitude, a longitude, an altitude, and wireless information, of each of the plurality of the specific location points.

15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the wireless information of each of the plurality of the specific location points comprises one or more of, a Media Access Control (MAC) address, a vendor identification, a service set identifier (SSID), a channel number, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a first time of first detection, a second time of last detection, of each of the plurality of the specific location points.

16. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the information of the plurality of the specific location points are stored in an Extensible Markup Language (XML) database.

17. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the apparatus is operable at least in part with one of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, a IEEE 802.16m standard, a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution standard, a Bluetooth standard, and a ultra wideband standard.

18. A system comprising:

a memory module;

logic coupled with the memory module to;

obtain information of a plurality of specific location points; and

determine a location of the system based on the information of the plurality of specific location points.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the logic to determine the location of the system based on the information of the plurality of specific location points is to:

determine a plurality of relative degree values for each of the plurality of specific location points with respect to the location of the system; and

determine a subset of specific location points from the plurality of specific location points, wherein each specific location point in the subset of specific location points has a relative degree value higher or equal to the other specific location points that are not in the subset of specific location points.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the logic to determine the plurality of relative degree values for each of the plurality of specific location points with respect to the location of the system is to determine a key control parameter for each of the plurality of specific location points based on a Received Signal Strength (RSS) of each Access Point (AP) associated with each of the plurality of specific location points;

and wherein the logic to determine the plurality of relative degree values for each of the plurality of specific location points with respect to the location of the system is to determine the plurality of relative degree values for each of the plurality of specific location points with respect to the location of the system based on a normalization factor and the key control parameter for each of the plurality of specific location points.

21. The system of claim 18, wherein the logic to determine the location of the system based on the information of the plurality of specific location points is further to:

determine a plurality of weight circles for each specific location point of the subset of specific location points;

for each weight circle, accumulate the relative degree values of each specific location point within the weight circle; and

determine the location of the wireless device based at least on the accumulated relative degree values of each specific location point for each weight circle.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the logic to determine the plurality of weight circles for each specific location point of the subset of specific location points is to:

determine the plurality of weight circles for each specific location point of the subset of specific location points based on a rule that if two specific location points of the subset of specific location points are less than a minimum distance, only one weight circle is determined for one of the two specific location points that has a higher relative degree value.

23. The system of claim 18, wherein the information of the plurality of the specific location points comprises one or more of, a latitude, a longitude, an altitude, and wireless information, of each of the plurality of the specific location points.

24. The system of claim 18, wherein the wireless information of each of the plurality of the specific location points comprises one or more of, a Media Access Control (MAC) address, a vendor identification, a service set identifier (SSID), a channel number, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a first time of first detection, a second time of last detection, of each of the plurality of the specific location points.

25. The system of claim 18, wherein the information of the plurality of the specific location points are stored in an Extensible Markup Language (XML) database.

26. The system of claim 18, wherein the apparatus is operable at least in part with one of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, a IEEE 802.16m standard, a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution standard, a Bluetooth standard, and a ultra wideband standard.