Showing uncertainty of location

• US 8,560,236 B1
• Filed: 06/20/2008
• Issued: 10/15/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Zahir, Asif, Rice, Daniel S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Danneman, Paul
• Application Number:
  US12/143,514
• Time in Patent Office: 1,943 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 701/533
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3407 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles

Abstract

The subject matter of this specification can be embodied in, among other things, a computer-implemented method that includes identifying one or more previous locations for a mobile electronic device; identifying a plurality of possible travel routes for the mobile electronic device; determining possible locations for the mobile electronic device along the possible travel routes based on determined travel speed information for areas near the previous locations; and providing information for one or more indications of the possible locations to a user.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by a location server, a request to identify likely locations of a possessor of a mobile electronic device;

determining, by the location server and for each of a plurality of possible travel routes, one or more likely locations for the mobile electronic device along the respective possible travel route, based on one or more known past speeds, one or more known past locations of the mobile electronic device, and one or more elapsed times since the past speeds and past locations were known;

assigning, by the location server, a probability to each of the likely locations along the plurality of possible travel routes;

adjusting, by the location server and for each of one or more of the likely locations, the probability associated with the likely location based on one or more characteristics associated with the possessor of the mobile device; and

after adjusting the probability, providing a map of at least some of the likely locations, wherein the map includes one or more curves that connect likely locations with equal probabilities.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining, for each of a plurality of possible travel routes, one or more likely locations for the mobile electronic device along the respective possible travel route further comprises:

determining a geographic area in which the mobile electronic device is likely to be found;

identifying a plurality of possible travel routes within the geographic area; and

determining, for each of the plurality of possible travel routes, the one or more likely locations for the mobile electronic device along the respective possible travel route.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein identifying a plurality of possible travel routes comprises identifying a plurality of possible travel routes from a tree model, wherein a root of the tree model comprises a last known location of the mobile electronic device, and branches of the tree model comprise the plurality of possible travel routes in the geographic area.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the geographic area exhibits a predetermined geometric shape.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining one or more likely locations for the mobile electronic device along the respective possible travel route further comprises determining one or more likely locations for the mobile electronic device along the respective possible travel route based on a speed limit of the respective possible travel route.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining one or more likely locations for the mobile electronic device along the respective possible travel route further comprises determining one or more likely locations for the mobile electronic device along the respective possible travel route based on a variance of the speed limit of the respective possible travel route.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more characteristics includes past traffic statistics data.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more characteristics includes data associated with past travel routines of the possessor of the mobile electronic device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more characteristics includes a contact list of the possessor of the mobile electronic device, wherein the contact list comprises location information associated with one or more of the likely locations.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more known past speeds, the one or more known past locations, and the one or more elapsed times of the mobile electronic device are determined based on at least one of GPS positioning, cellular telephone tower triangulation, WiFi positioning, and peer-to-peer location detection.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising periodically updating the likely locations to reflect likely movement of the mobile electronic device over time.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein providing a representation of the likely locations further comprises providing map information for displaying zones near a last known location of the mobile electronic device reflecting degrees of likelihood that the device is within each of the zones.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations of:

receiving a request to identify likely locations of a possessor of a mobile electronic device;

determining, for each of a plurality of possible travel routes, one or more likely locations for the mobile electronic device along the respective possible travel route, based on one or more known past speeds, one or more known past locations of the mobile electronic device, and one or more elapsed times since the past speeds and past locations were known;

assigning a probability to each of the likely locations along the plurality of possible travel routes;

adjusting, for each of one or more of the likely locations, the probability associated with the likely location based on one or more characteristics associated with the possessor of the mobile device; and

after adjusting the probability, providing a map of at least some of the likely locations, wherein the map includes one or more curves that connect likely locations with equal probabilities.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein determining, for each of a plurality of possible travel routes, one or more likely locations for the mobile electronic device along the respective possible travel route further comprises determining one or more likely locations for the mobile electronic device along the respective possible travel route based on a speed limit of the respective possible travel route.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein determining, for each of the a plurality of possible travel routes, one or more likely locations for the mobile electronic device along the respective possible travel route further comprises determining one or more likely locations for the mobile electronic device along the respective possible travel route based on a variance of the speed limit of the respective possible travel route.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein providing a representation of the likely locations further comprises providing map information for displaying zones near a last known location of the mobile electronic device reflecting degrees of likelihood that the device is within each of the zones.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the one or more characteristics includes one or more of past traffic statistics data, data associated with past travel routines of the possessor of the mobile electronic device, or a contact list of the possessor of the mobile electronic device, wherein the contact list comprises location information associated with one or more of the likely locations.

18. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory computer readable medium coupled to the one or more processors having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

receiving a request to identify likely locations of a possessor of a mobile electronic device;

determining, for each of a plurality of possible travel routes, one or more likely locations for the mobile electronic device along the respective possible travel routes, based on one or more known past speeds, one or more known past locations of the mobile electronic device, and one or more elapsed times since the past speeds and past locations were known;

assigning a probability to each of the likely locations along the plurality of possible travel routes;

adjusting, for each of one or more of the likely locations, the probability associated with the likely location based on one or more characteristics associated with the possessor of the mobile device; and

after adjusting the probability, providing a map of at least some of the likely locations, wherein the map includes one or more curves that connect likely locations with equal probabilities.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein determining, for each of a plurality of possible travel routes, one or more likely locations for the mobile electronic device along the respective possible travel route further comprises determining one or more likely locations for the mobile electronic device along the respective possible travel route based on a speed limit of the respective possible travel route.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein determining, for each of a plurality of possible travel routes, one or more likely locations for the mobile electronic device along the respective possible travel route further comprises determining one or more likely locations for the mobile electronic device along the respective possible travel route based on a variance of the speed limit of the respective possible travel route.

21. The system of claim 18, wherein providing a representation of the likely locations further comprises providing map information for displaying zones near a last known location of the mobile electronic device reflecting degrees of likelihood that the device is within each of the zones.

22. The system of claim 18, wherein the one or more characteristics includes one or more of past traffic statistics data, data associated with past travel routines of the possessor of the mobile electronic device, or a contact list of the possessor of the mobile electronic device, wherein the contact list comprises location information associated with one or more of the likely locations.