System and method for passive location storage

• US 8,498,805 B2
• Filed: 12/24/2010
• Issued: 07/30/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: IDTP Holdings Incorporated (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Joong, Donald, Lebidoff, Adela, Gavita, Edoardo
• Primary Examiner(s): Badii, Behrang
• Application Number:
  US12/978,470
• Publication Number:
  US 20120330544A1
• Time in Patent Office: 949 Days
• Field of Search: 701/408, 701/469, 701/36, 382/103, 382/104, 340/573.1, 340/457, 340/539.11, 340/539.32, 340/937, 235/443, 307/10.1, 380/104
• US Class Current: 701/408
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3605 Destination input or retrieval
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3685 the POI's being parking facilities
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/52 Determining velocity

Abstract

A system and method for automatically storing a geographic position, without requiring user interaction, makes use of the ability of a location-aware mobile device to detect its state of motion using velocity or type of movement information. A transition between motion states is used to determine a parking location of a vehicle.

Claims

1. A method for storing a parking location by a mobile device with access to a memory, the method comprising:

detecting a first motion state, which is a driving state;

detecting a second motion state, which includes all natural human movements;

detecting a third motion state, which is a stopped state where the location remains unchanged for a period of time associated with the transition between the first motion state and the second motion state;

storing, in the memory, a geographic position associated with the stopped state as the parking location.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the steps of detecting includes determining a velocity of the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein at least one of the steps of detecting further includes comparing the determined velocity to a predetermined threshold.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the steps of detecting includes determining a movement type of the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to the step of storing, the step of determining if the geographic position is a valid parking location.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the valid parking location is determined by geo-fencing.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to the step of storing, the step of requesting an input from a user confirming whether to store the parking location.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of retrieving, from the memory, the stored parking location after receiving a request for retrieval from a user.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of retrieving the stored parking location includes selecting a parking location from a plurality of stored parking locations using a current geographic position of the mobile device.

10. A mobile device comprising:

a motion detector, the motion detector for detecting a first motion state which is a driving state, for detecting a second motion state which includes all natural human movement, and for detecting a third motion state which is a stopped state where the location remains unchanged for a period of time, the third motion state associated with a transition between the first motion state and the second motion state; and

a memory for storing a geographic position associated with the stopped state as a parking location.

11. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the motion detector is configured to determine at least one of a velocity of the mobile device and a movement type of the mobile device.

12. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the motion detector is configured to compare at least one of the determined velocity and the determined movement type to a predetermined threshold.

13. The mobile device of claim 10, further comprising, prior to storing the geographic position, the mobile device determining if the geographic position is a valid parking location.

14. The mobile device of claim 10, further comprising, prior to storing the geographic position, the mobile device requesting an input from a user confirming whether to store the parking location or not.

15. The mobile device of claim 10, further comprising, the mobile device retrieving, from the memory, the stored parking location after receiving a request for retrieval from a user.

16. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the mobile device is configure to select the stored parking location from a plurality of stored parking locations using a current geographic position of the mobile device.