Location determination utilizing environmental factors
First Claim
1. An apparatus for controlling an operation based upon a determined location of a user, comprising:
- a receiver associated with the user for sensing and measuring a plurality of physical parameters present at the location of the receiver;
an input arrangement for receiving reference data sets of physical parameters corresponding to known locations;
a database for storing the known locations with the corresponding reference data sets of physical parameters;
means for correlating the measured physical parameters with the reference data sets to identify at least one best match therebetween; and
means for controlling the operation based upon the identity of the at least one best match, wherein at least one of the measured physical parameters and at least one of the reference data sets include a non-radio physical parameter.
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for determining the geographic location of a user incorporates the sensing of a plurality of physical environmental parameters at the user'"'"'s location. The parameter values are compared to corresponding parameter values associated with known locations, and a best-fit correlation is established. The identity of the determined location may be displayed to the user, or may be used to control a location-based operation, such as the unlocking of a safe, the transmission of an entry password, or the disabling of a piece of equipment. Persistence weighting values for different environmental parameters may be applied to improve the reliability of the correlation.
-
Citations
21 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for controlling an operation based upon a determined location of a user, comprising:
-
a receiver associated with the user for sensing and measuring a plurality of physical parameters present at the location of the receiver; an input arrangement for receiving reference data sets of physical parameters corresponding to known locations; a database for storing the known locations with the corresponding reference data sets of physical parameters; means for correlating the measured physical parameters with the reference data sets to identify at least one best match therebetween; and means for controlling the operation based upon the identity of the at least one best match, wherein at least one of the measured physical parameters and at least one of the reference data sets include a non-radio physical parameter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
6. An apparatus for determining a location of a user, comprising:
-
a receiver associated with the user for sensing and measuring a plurality of physical parameters present at the location of the receiver; an input arrangement for receiving reference data sets of physical parameters corresponding to known locations; a database for storing the known locations with the corresponding reference data sets of physical parameters; means for correlating the measured physical parameters with the reference data sets to identify at least one best match therebetween; and a display for presenting to the user the known locations associated with the at least one best match as a prediction of the location of the receiver and hence the user, wherein at least one of the measured physical parameters and at least one of the reference data sets include a non-radio physical parameter. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
17. A method of determining a predicted location of a user, comprising the steps of:
-
receiving a reference value of a physical parameter associated with a known location; obtaining a value for different types of selected physical parameters at a user'"'"'s location; and comparing and correlating, at the user'"'"'s location, the value of the selected physical parameter to the corresponding reference value to determine a location associated with a best fit between the value of the selected physical parameter and the reference value, wherein the selected physical parameter and the reference value include a non-radio physical parameter. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
-
Specification