Accuracy analysis of wireless base station location

• US 8,219,112 B1
• Filed: 11/26/2008
• Issued: 07/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Ji, Zhengrong, Jain, Ravi, Lee, Steven John, Youssef, Adel Amin, Chu, Michael Jesse
• Primary Examiner(s): Bost, Dwayne
• Assistant Examiner(s): PHAM, TIMOTHY X
• Application Number:
  US12/324,486
• Time in Patent Office: 1,322 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0244 Accuracy or reliability of position solution or of measurements contributing thereto
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/003 locating network equipment

Abstract

A method and system for accuracy analysis of wireless base station location is provided. In one embodiment, data from a set of mobile devices using a wireless base station is collected. A location of a wireless base station is estimated based on locations of the mobile devices (i.e. points) in the collected set. To provide a more accurate location estimation for the wireless base station, the estimated location is analyzed for accuracy based on the collected data. A confidence score is calculated using a weight function with weights for the collected data based on factors, such as, collection size, platform types of the mobile devices, quality, temporal diversity and/or spatial diversity of points corresponding to the mobile devices, etc. An estimated location of the wireless base station may be adjusted based on the calculated confidence score. An estimated coverage region of the wireless base station may be also estimated and adjusted.

Claims

1. A method for analyzing accuracy of an estimation of a wireless base station location comprising:

collecting data from a set of mobile devices using the wireless base station;

obtaining a location of each mobile device in the set of mobile devices;

estimating, on a processing device, a location of the wireless base station according to the obtained locations of the set of mobile devices;

determining a weight based on a platform diversity of types of mobile devices;

determining a confidence score using a weight function according to the determined weight; and

analyzing accuracy of the estimated location of the wireless base station based on the determined confidence score.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adjusting the estimated location of the wireless base station according to the analyzed accuracy of the estimated location.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

estimating a coverage region of the wireless base station according to the obtained locations of the set of mobile devices; and

analyzing accuracy of the estimated coverage region of the wireless base station according to the collected data.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

adjusting the estimated coverage region of the wireless base station according to the analyzed accuracy of the estimated coverage region.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein estimating a location of the wireless base station according to the obtained locations of the set of mobile devices comprises:

calculating a centroid of the obtained locations of the set of mobile devices; and

assigning the centroid as the estimated location of the wireless base station.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a weight based on a platform diversity of types of mobile devices comprises:

determining a weight based on the platform diversity of types of mobile devices and a size of the collected data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a platform diversity of types of mobile devices comprises:

calculating a weight according to types of platforms of the mobile devices.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a platform diversity of types of mobile devices comprises:

calculating a weight according to a temporal diversity of the collected data.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a platform diversity of types of mobile devices comprises:

calculating a weight according to a spatial diversity of the collected data.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a platform diversity of types of mobile devices comprises:

calculating a weight according to a quality of the collected data.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the analyzed accuracy of the estimated location on a storage device.

12. A system of accuracy analysis of wireless base station location comprises:

an accuracy analyzer configured to analyze the accuracy of an estimated location of a wireless base station, wherein the accuracy analyzer further comprises;

a mobile device data collection module configured to collect data from a set of mobile devices using the wireless base station;

a wireless base station location estimation module configured to estimate a location of the wireless base station according to the data collected by the mobile device data collection module; and

an accuracy-analyzing module configured to;

determine, by a weight calculating unit, a weight based on a platform diversity of types of mobile devices,

determine a confidence score using a weight function according to the determined weight, and

analyze accuracy of the estimated location of the wireless base station based on the determined confidence score.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the mobile device data collection module comprises:

a mobile device location estimation module configured to estimate a location of a mobile device.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the wireless base station location estimation module is further configured to estimate a coverage region of the wireless base station according to the data collected by the mobile device data collection module.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the accuracy-analyzing module comprises:

a location-adjusting unit configured to adjust the estimated location of the wireless base station according to the confidence score calculated by the confidence scoring unit.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the location-adjusting unit is further configured to adjust an estimated coverage region of the wireless base station according to the confidence score calculated by the confidence scoring unit.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the weight calculation unit is further configured to calculate a weight according to the size of the data collected by the mobile device data collection module for the wireless base station.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the weight calculation unit is further configured to calculate a weight according to platform types of the mobile devices corresponding to the data collected by the mobile device data collection module for the wireless base station.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein the weight calculation unit is further configured to calculate a weight based on a temporal diversity of the data collected by the mobile device data collection module for the wireless base station.

20. The system of claim 12, wherein the weight calculation unit is further configured to calculate a weight based on a spatial diversity of the data collected by the mobile device data collection module for the wireless base station.

21. The system of claim 12, wherein the weight calculation unit is further configured to calculate a weight based on a quality of the data collected by the mobile device data collection module for the wireless base station.

22. The system of claim 12, wherein the accuracy analyzer is further configured to obtain a location of a mobile device.