MOBILE MAPPING IN UNDERGROUND OR SHIELDED ENVIRONMENTS

• US 20140336920A1
• Filed: 05/10/2013
• Published: 11/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: BURRELL, Douglas James Arthur, GONDOSCH, Robert Michael Philip
• Granted Patent: US 8,935,089 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/409
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/206 specially adapted for indoor navigation
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/00 Near-field transmission systems, e.g. inductive or capacitive transmission systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/77 for interrogation

Abstract

A method for providing location information such as a map in an underground or shielded environment entails storing first near-field communication (NFC) data obtained by reading a first NFC tag at a first location, reading a second NFC tag at a second location, obtaining map data for an area encompassing the first and second locations, and displaying a map showing the first location and the second location.

Claims

1. A method for providing location information, the method comprising:

storing first near-field communication (NFC) data obtained by reading a first NFC tag at a first location;

reading a second NFC tag at a second location;

obtaining map data for an area encompassing the first and second locations; and

displaying a map showing the first location and the second location.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein obtaining the map data comprises downloading the map data from a map server by connecting to a Wi-Fi router to access the map server.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2 wherein each NFC tag comprises login credentials for accessing the Wi-Fi router.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3 wherein each NFC tag on a floor comprises login credentials for a floor-specific Wi-Fi router acting as a wireless access point for the floor.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein reading the first NFC tag and reading the second NFC tag comprise reading the NFC tags that are affixed to structural columns in an underground parking garage.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein reading the first NFC tag and reading the second NFC tag comprise reading the NFC tags that are disposed at each parking space in an underground parking garage.

12. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 1 wherein reading the first NFC tag and reading the second NFC tag comprise reading the NFC tags that are disposed at each parking space in an underground parking garage.

7. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions in code which when loaded into a memory and executed by a processor of a mobile device cause the mobile device to:

store first near-field communication (NFC) data obtained by reading a first NFC tag at a first location;

read a second NFC tag at a second location;

obtain map data for an area encompassing the first and second locations; and

display a map showing the first location and the second location.

8. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 7 wherein the code that causes the mobile device to obtain the map data comprises code to cause the mobile device to download the map data from a map server by connecting to a Wi-Fi router to access the map server.

9. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 8 wherein each NFC tag comprises login credentials for accessing the Wi-Fi router.

10. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 9 wherein each NFC tag on a floor comprises login credentials for a floor-specific Wi-Fi router acting as a wireless access point for the floor.

11. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 7 wherein reading the first NFC tag and reading the second NFC tag comprise reading the NFC tags that are affixed to structural columns in an underground parking garage.

13. A mobile device for providing location information, the mobile device comprising:

a near-field communication (NFC) reader for reading an NFC tag affixed to a location;

a processor for determining NFC tag data from the NFC tag;

a wireless transceiver for transmitting the NFC tag data to a server and for receiving map data for an area corresponding to the location; and

a display for displaying a map of the location.

14. The mobile device as claimed in claim 13 comprising a memory for storing first NFC tag data read from a first NFC tag and for transmitting the first NFC tag data along with second NFC tag data in response to reading the second NFC tag data to thereby obtain the map data of the map showing locations of both the first and second NFC tags.

15. The mobile device as claimed in claim 14 wherein the processor determines login credentials from one or both of the first and second NFC tags and transmits the login credentials to a Wi-Fi router for accessing the map server.

16. The mobile device as claimed in claim 13 comprising a digital camera for taking a photo of a parking sign, reading a QR code or barcode, and wherein the processor extracts location-identifying data from the sign, QR code or barcode and instructs the transceiver to send the location-identifying data to the map server.

17. The mobile device as claimed in claim 13 wherein the processor is configured to detect that a vehicle in which the mobile device has been travelling has been parked by monitoring accelerometer data of an accelerometer of the mobile device and wherein the processor is configured to generate a prompt to remind a user to read a nearby NFC tag to store the location of the vehicle.

18. The mobile device as claimed in claim 13 wherein the processor is configured to automatically store GPS coordinates of a garage or shielded environment when the processor detects that the mobile device has emerged from the garage or shielded environment and wherein the processor is configured to obtain a GPS position to store the location of the garage.

19. The mobile device as claimed in claim 18 wherein the processor is configured to automatically switch from a street map view to an underground garage map view when detecting that the mobile device has re-entered the garage and has lost the GPS position fix.

20. The mobile device as claimed in claim 19 wherein the processor is configured to predict entry into an underground garage, and to pre-emptively download a map of the underground garage.