Server for updating location beacon database

• US 7,414,988 B2
• Filed: 10/28/2005
• Issued: 08/19/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Skyhook Wireless Incorporated (Liberty Broadband Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Skyhook Wireless Incorporated (Liberty Broadband Corp.)
• Inventors: Alizadeh-Shabdiz, Farshid, Morgan, Edward James, Shean, Michael George, Jones, Russel Kipp
• Primary Examiner(s): Pérez-Gutiérrez; Rafael
• Assistant Examiner(s): Patel; Nimesh
• Application Number:
  US11/261,898
• Publication Number:
  US 20060095348A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,026 Days
• Field of Search: 370/328, 340/572.4, 342/357.02, 455/456.5, 455/456.6, 455/456.1, 707/6, 707/16, 711/165, 708/160
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/13 Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/14 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/46 the supplementary measurement being of a radio-wave signal type
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0205 Details
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/021 Calibration, monitoring or correction G01S5/0252 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0226 Transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0242 Determining the position of transmitters to be subsequently used in positioning G01S5/0289 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02526 using non-dedicated equipment, e.g. user equipment or crowd-sourcing
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0284 Relative positioning
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0875 Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/18 Network planning tools
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/003 locating network equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/10 Small scale networks; Flat hierarchical networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 : WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 : adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 : Access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 : Pattern matching access

Abstract

A location beacon database and server, method of building location beacon database, and location based service using same. Wi-Fi access points are located in a target geographical area to build a reference database of locations of Wi-Fi access points. At least one vehicle is deployed including at least one scanning device having a GPS device and a Wi-Fi radio device and including a Wi-Fi antenna system. The target area is traversed in a programmatic route to avoid arterial bias. The programmatic route includes substantially all drivable streets in the target geographical area and solves an Eulerian cycle problem of a graph represented by said drivable streets. While traversing the target area, Wi-Fi identity information and GPS location information is detected. The location information is used to reverse triangulate the position of the detected Wi-Fi access point; and the position of the detected access point is recorded in a reference database.

Claims

1. A Wi-Fi location server, comprising:

a database of Wi-Fi access points for at least one target area having a radius on the order of tens of miles, said database being recorded in a computer-readable medium and including database records for substantially all Wi-Fi access points in the target area, each record including identification information for a corresponding Wi-Fi access point and calculated position information for the corresponding Wi-Fi access point, wherein said calculated position information is obtained from recording multiple readings of the Wi-Fi access point at different locations around the Wi-Fi access point so that the multiple readings have reference symmetry relative to other Wi-Fi access points in the target area and so that the calculation of the position of the Wi-Fi access point avoids arterial bias in the calculated position information; and

computer-implemented logic to add records to the database for newly-discovered Wi-Fi access points said computer logic including logic to recalculate position information for Wi-Fi access points previously stored in the database to utilize position information for the newly-discovered readings of previously stored Wi-Fi access points.

2. The server of claim 1 further including computer-implemented clustering logic to identify position information based on error prone GPS information.

3. The server of claim 2 wherein the clustering logic includes logic to determine a weighted centroid position for all position information reported for an access point and logic to identify position information that exceeds a statistically-based deviation threshold amount away from the centroid position and excludes such deviating position information from the database and from influencing the calculated positions of the Wi-Fi access points.