Method and system for selecting and providing a relevant subset of Wi-Fi location information to a mobile client device so the client device may estimate its position with efficient utilization of resources
First Claim
1. In a Wi-Fi positioning system comprising a reference database of Wi-Fi access point information recorded in a computer-readable medium and containing information about Wi-Fi access points within a large target region, a method of selecting and providing, to at least one mobile client device equipped with Wi-Fi communication logic, a subset of Wi-Fi access point information from said reference database to be used by the client device to estimate its position, wherein the subset is tailored to include information about Wi-Fi access points in a subdivision of the large target region based on the proximity of the client device to the selected subdivision, the method comprising:
- providing a set of geographical regions, each geographical region being a subdivision of the large target region, and each geographical region containing a plurality of the Wi-Fi access points;
selecting at least one relevant geographical region from the set of geographical regions based on the proximity of the mobile device to the relevant geographical region;
selecting from the reference database a subset of Wi-Fi access points that are contained in the at least one relevant geographic region; and
providing to the mobile client device information from said reference database about the subset of Wi-Fi access points that are located within the at least one relevant geographical region, the information including identifiers for corresponding Wi-Fi access points in the relevant geographical region and including estimated geographic locations of the corresponding Wi-Fi access points so the mobile client device may subsequently estimate its position using the estimated geographic location of at least one of the Wi-Fi access points in the relevant geographical region.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems for selecting and providing a relevant subset of Wi-Fi location information to a mobile client device so the client device may estimate its position with efficient utilization of resources.
A method of providing a relevant subset of information to a client device is based in part on scanning for Wi-Fi access points within range of the client device, using a Wi-Fi database that covers a large target region to retrieve information about these access points, using this information to estimate the position of the mobile client device, selecting a limited region in the vicinity of the estimated location of the client device, and providing information about Wi-Fi access points within this limited region to the client. For efficient transfer and maintenance of data, the target region may be divided into a hierarchy of fixed geographical tiles.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. In a Wi-Fi positioning system comprising a reference database of Wi-Fi access point information recorded in a computer-readable medium and containing information about Wi-Fi access points within a large target region, a method of selecting and providing, to at least one mobile client device equipped with Wi-Fi communication logic, a subset of Wi-Fi access point information from said reference database to be used by the client device to estimate its position, wherein the subset is tailored to include information about Wi-Fi access points in a subdivision of the large target region based on the proximity of the client device to the selected subdivision, the method comprising:
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providing a set of geographical regions, each geographical region being a subdivision of the large target region, and each geographical region containing a plurality of the Wi-Fi access points; selecting at least one relevant geographical region from the set of geographical regions based on the proximity of the mobile device to the relevant geographical region; selecting from the reference database a subset of Wi-Fi access points that are contained in the at least one relevant geographic region; and providing to the mobile client device information from said reference database about the subset of Wi-Fi access points that are located within the at least one relevant geographical region, the information including identifiers for corresponding Wi-Fi access points in the relevant geographical region and including estimated geographic locations of the corresponding Wi-Fi access points so the mobile client device may subsequently estimate its position using the estimated geographic location of at least one of the Wi-Fi access points in the relevant geographical region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification