Method and system to calculate an approximate location of a mobile station in a recurrent route

• US 7,561,068 B1
• Filed: 11/16/2007
• Issued: 07/14/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Denker, John Stewart, Katseff, Howard Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Bugg, George A
• Application Number:
  US11/985,626
• Time in Patent Office: 606 Days
• Field of Search: 340/994, 3409951-99528, 340/988, 701117-119, 701200-300, 455/404.2, 4554561-4566, 455/457
• US Class Current: 340/988
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station
• 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 system for calculating the approximate location of a mobile station along a recurrent route is disclosed. In an embodiment for the method in accordance with the principles of the present invention, the method for storing reference data includes decoding a first unique identifier for a cell in communication with the mobile station at a first location and a first time, storing the first unique identifier and the first time, decoding, upon handoff to a next cell, at a second location and at a second time, a second unique identifier for the next cell, and storing the second cell identifier and the second time. In a method for calculating an estimated time of arrival at the endpoint of a segment for a mobile station traveling along a recurrent route of travel, the method includes detecting the startpoint of one of the plurality of segments at a first time, and calculating an estimated time of arrival at the endpoint of the segment. In an embodiment of a system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the system includes a mobile station, a first cellular base station, a second cellular base station, a database, and a processor.

Claims

1. A method for training a mobile station location identification system for calculating the approximate location of the mobile station along a recurrent route that crosses a boundary between a first cell coverage area and a second cell coverage area located between a startpoint of the recurrent route and an endpoint of the recurrent route, the method comprising:

detecting a start of a trip at the startpoint of the recurrent route at a first time;

storing in the mobile station the first time and a value representing the startpoint;

detecting the mobile station crossing the boundary between the first cell coverage area and the second cell coverage area at a second time;

storing in the mobile station the second time and a value associated with the location along the recurrent route of the mobile station crossing the boundary;

detecting an end of the trip at the endpoint of the recurrent route at a third time; and

storing in the mobile station the third time and a value representing the endpoint.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

calculating a travel time for travel between the startpoint and the boundary, comprising subtracting the second time from the first time to yield a travel time from the startpoint to the boundary.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

storing in the mobile station the travel time for travel between the startpoint and the boundary.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

calculating a travel time for travel between the boundary and the endpoint, comprising subtracting the third time from the second time to yield a travel time from the boundary to the endpoint.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

storing in the mobile station the travel time for travel between the boundary and the endpoint.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

calculating a travel time for travel between the startpoint and the endpoint, comprising subtracting the third time from the first time to yield a travel time from the startpoint to the endpoint.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

storing in the mobile station the travel time for travel between the startpoint and the endpoint.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

calculating an average travel time for travel between the startpoint and the endpoint, comprising adding a plurality of travel times for travel between the startpoint and the endpoint and dividing by the number of the plurality of travel times.

9. A method for calculating the approximate location of a mobile station along a recurrent route that crosses a boundary between a first cell coverage area and a second cell coverage area located between a startpoint of the recurrent route and an endpoint of the recurrent route, the method comprising:

a) detecting the start of a trip along a recurrent route at a start time;

b) storing in the mobile station the start time and a value representing the startpoint;

c) calculating an approximate location of the mobile station along the recurrent route, the calculating step comprising;

i) retrieving a stored travel time for travel along the recurrent route from a database, wherein the stored travel time is derived using a method comprising;

A) detecting a start of a trip at the startpoint of the recurrent route at a first time;

B) storing in the mobile station the first time and a value representing the startpoint;

C) detecting the mobile station crossing the boundary between the first cell coverage area and the second cell coverage area at a second time;

D) storing in the mobile station the second time and a value associated with the location along the recurrent route of the mobile station crossing the boundary;

E) detecting an end of the trip at the endpoint of the recurrent route at a third time;

F) storing in the mobile station the third time and a value representing the endpoint;

G) calculating a travel time for travel between the startpoint and the endpoint, comprising subtracting the third time from the first time to yield a travel time from the startpoint to the endpoint; and

H) storing in the mobile station the travel time for travel between the startpoint and the endpoint;

ii) calculating the approximate location of the mobile station by comparing the time elapsed from the start time to an average location of the mobile station along the recurrent route for the same time elapsed during previous trips.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the database is located in the mobile station.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the database is located in a server.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the approximate location of the mobile station along the recurrent route is calculated at the mobile station.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the stored travel time includes statistical data to use in the calculation of the approximate location of the mobile station along the recurrent route.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the statistical data include variance due to time of day in stored travel times for travel along the recurrent route.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the statistical data includes variance due to day of year in stored travel times for travel along the recurrent route.

16. A system for calculating an approximate location of a mobile station along a recurrent route that crosses a boundary between a first cell coverage area and a second cell coverage area located between a startpoint of the recurrent route and an endpoint of the recurrent route, the system comprising:

a first cellular base station configured to provide cellular coverage to the mobile station in the first cell coverage area including the startpoint of the recurrent route;

a second cellular base station configured to provide cellular coverage to the mobile station in the second cell coverage area including the endpoint of the recurrent route;

a database configured to store a previously measured time of travel of the mobile station from the startpoint to the endpoint of the recurrent route, the previously measured time of travel having been calculated by a method including adding (1) a time elapsed for the mobile station to travel from the startpoint to the boundary between the first and second cell coverage areas, and (2) a time elapsed for the mobile station to travel from the boundary between the first and second cell coverage areas to the endpoint of the recurrent route; and

a processor located in the mobile station and configured to automatically calculate the approximate location of the mobile station at a particular time along the recurrent route of travel between the startpoint and the endpoint using the previously measured time of travel stored in the database.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the approximate location is calculated in terms of time to reach the endpoint of the recurrent route.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the approximate location is calculated in terms of time from the startpoint of the recurrent route.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the database is located in the mobile station.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the database is located in a server.