Location determination using historical data

• US 8,270,998 B2
• Filed: 05/29/2007
• Issued: 09/18/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Suryanarayana, Lalitha, Patron, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Bost, Dwayne
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zhang, Edward
• Application Number:
  US11/807,459
• Publication Number:
  US 20070232329A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,939 Days
• Field of Search: 370/338, 455/456.1, 455/456.2, 455/457, 455/552.1, 455/553.1, 455436-442
• US Class Current: 455/456.5
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0269 Inferred or constrained positioning, e.g. employing knowledge of the physical or electromagnetic environment, state of motion or other contextual information to infer or constrain a position
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0295 Proximity-based methods, e.g. position inferred from reception of particular signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

Systems and methods for determining a location based on historical data are disclosed. Generally, a location determination component receives a request for information from a wireless device, where the request is associated with at least two network access points (NAPs). The location determination component determines which of the at least two NAPs has a greater precedence and estimates a current location of the wireless device based on a known location of the current NAP and a known location of a previously-current NAP associated with the wireless device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a request at an intelligent location determination server for information from a wireless device, the request for information being associated with at least two network access points (NAPs), where the at least two NAPs are part of a plurality of NAPs each having a known location and a unique identifier, the plurality of NAPs comprising shorter-range NAPs and longer-range NAPs;

determining at the intelligent location determination server which of the at least two NAPs has a greater precedence and assigning the NAP having greater precedence as a current NAP; and

determining at the intelligent location determination server an estimated current location of the wireless device based on the known location of the current NAP and a known location of a previously-current NAP for the wireless device from a history database, wherein the history database tracks a sequence of NAPs accessed by the wireless device;

wherein the estimated current location is biased toward the previously-current NAP when the current NAP is one of the longer-range NAPs and the previously-current NAP is located outside of a range of the current NAP; and

wherein the estimated current location is within the range of the current NAP and not within a range of the previously-current NAP when the current NAP is one of the longer-range NAPs and the previously-current NAP is located within the range of the current NAP.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the shorter-range NAPs located within a range of one of the longer-range NAPs is assigned a higher precedence than the one of the longer-range NAPs.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein each shorter-range NAP has a higher precedence than each longer-range NAP.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating the history database with the estimated current location.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating the history database with the current NAP.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating the history database with NAP-to-NAP transition information.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting the estimated current location to the wireless device.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for an intelligent location determination server, the computer-readable storage medium comprising a set of instructions for determining a location based on historical data, the set of instructions to direct a processor to perform acts of:

receiving a request for information from a wireless device, the request for information being associated with at least two network access points (NAPs), where the at least two NAPs are part of a plurality of NAPs each having a known location and a unique identifier, the plurality of NAPs comprising shorter-range NAPs and longer-range NAPs;

determining which of the at least two NAPs has a greater precedence and assigning the same as a current NAP; and

determining an estimated current location of the wireless device based on the known location of the current NAP and a known location of a previously-current NAP for the wireless device from a history database, wherein the history database tracks a sequence of NAPs accessed by the wireless device;

wherein the estimated current location is biased toward the previously-current NAP when the current NAP is one of the longer-range NAPs and the previously-current NAP is located outside of a range of the current NAP; and

wherein the estimated current location is within the range of the current NAP and not within a range of the previously-current NAP when the current NAP is one of the longer-range NAPs and the previously-current NAP is located within the range of the current NAP.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein each of the shorter-range NAPs located within a range of one of the longer-range NAPs is assigned a higher precedence than the one of the longer-range NAPs.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein each shorter-range NAP has a higher precedence than each longer-range NAP.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, further comprising a set of instructions to direct the processor to perform the act of:

updating the history database with the estimated current location.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, further comprising a set of instructions to direct the processor to perform the act of:

updating the history database with the current NAP.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, further comprising a set of instructions to direct the processor to perform the act of:

updating the history database with NAP-to-NAP transition information.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, further comprising a set of instructions to direct the processor to perform the act of:

transmitting the estimated current location to the wireless device.

15. A system for determining a location based on historical data, the system comprising:

a location determination component operative to receive a request for information from a wireless device, the request for information being associated with at least two network access points (NAPs), to determine which of the at least two NAPs has a greater precedence, and to determine an estimated current location of the wireless device based on a known location of a current NAP and a known location of a previously-current NAP for the wireless device from a history database;

wherein that at least two NAPs are part of a plurality of NAPs each having a known location and a unique identifier, the plurality of NAPs comprising shorter-range NAPs and longer-range NAPs;

wherein the location determination component biases the estimated current location toward the previously-current NAP when the current NAP is one of the longer-range NAPs and the previously-current NAP is located outside of a range of the current NAP; and

wherein the estimated current location is within a range of the current NAP and not within a range of the previously-current NAP when the current NAP is one of the longer-range NAPs and the previously-current NAP is located within the range of the current NAP.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein each of the shorter-range NAPs located within a range of one of the longer-range NAPs is assigned a higher precedence than the one of the longer-range NAPs.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein each shorter-range NAP has a higher precedence than each longer-range NAP.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the location determination component is further operative to update the history database with the estimated current location.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the location determination component is further operative to update the history database with the current NAP.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the location determination component is further operative to transmit the estimated current location to the wireless device.