Enhanced database information for urban navigation

• US 8,577,597 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2012
• Issued: 11/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Garin, Lionel Jacques
• Primary Examiner(s): ARTHUR JEANGLAUD, GERTRUDE
• Application Number:
  US13/619,171
• Publication Number:
  US 20130013187A1
• Time in Patent Office: 417 Days
• Field of Search: 701/409, 701/412, 701/430, 701/438, 701/447, 701/450, 701/454, 701/468, 701/526
• US Class Current: 701/409
• 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: G01S 19/08 providing integrity information, e.g. health of satellites or quality of ephemeris data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/22 Multipath-related issues
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/28 Satellite selection
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/42 Determining position

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are provided for estimating position location of a mobile device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

with a mobile device;

estimating an across-pathway position location of said mobile device by comparing an expected satellite positioning system (SPS) satellite reception pattern and an observed SPS satellite reception pattern, and

estimating an along-pathway position location of said mobile device based, at least in part, on at least one SPS signal acquired from at least one satellite, wherein said at least one SPS signal is received line-of-sight (LOS) by said mobile device.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

with said mobile device, accessing an enhanced database comprising enhanced database information for a plurality of point locations corresponding to said estimated along-pathway position location, said enhanced database further comprising SPS signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, further comprising:

with said mobile device, for each of said plurality of point locations, determining said expected SPS satellite reception pattern based, at least in part, on said SPS signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein said plurality of point locations are geographically distributed within at least one pathway, wherein at least a portion of the at least one pathway extends in an along-pathway direction and an across-pathway direction, and wherein said at least one pathway is adjacent to at least one object.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein said at least one pathway comprises a street and said at least one object comprises at least one of a building and/or a structure.

6. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein at least a portion of said plurality of point locations is geographically distributed in a grid.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein said portion of said grid is aligned with at least one of an along-pathway direction and/or an across-pathway direction.

8. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein said grid is non-uniform in at least one direction.

9. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein determining said expected SPS satellite reception pattern comprises:

with said mobile device, for each of said plurality of point locations, using a mask function operatively enabled to establish expected azimuth/elevation information associated with at least one of a potential line-of-sight (LOS) SPS signal reception, and/or a potential non-line-of-sight (NLOS) SPS signal reception.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein said enhanced database information comprises geographical coordinates for each of said plurality of point locations and said SPS signal visibility mask information comprises said mask function for each of said plurality of point locations.

11. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein accessing said enhanced database information comprises:

with said mobile device, reading said enhanced database information from at least one computer-readable medium.

12. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein accessing said enhanced database information comprises:

with said mobile device, receiving said enhanced database information over at least one communication link.

13. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein accessing said enhanced database information comprises:

with said mobile device, accessing an electronic map stored in a memory of said mobile device.

14. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein determining said expected SPS satellite reception pattern further comprises:

with said mobile device, determining said expected SPS satellite reception pattern based, at least in part, on estimated SPS satellite positions.

15. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein said estimated SPS satellite positions are determined by said mobile device based, at least in part, on ephemeris information associated with said SPS satellites.

16. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein comparing said expected SPS satellite reception pattern and said observed SPS satellite reception pattern comprises:

with said mobile device, identifying said estimated across-pathway position location as corresponding to one of said plurality of point locations based, at least in part, on at least one probabilistic attribute.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is operatively used in at least one of a Bayesian network calculation and/or hidden Markov chain calculation.

18. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is associated with at least one of a previous estimated across-pathway position location, and/or a previous estimated along-pathway position location.

19. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is associated with at least one of a time attribute and/or a measured mobile device movement attribute.

20. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is associated with at least one estimated SPS satellite position.

21. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein estimating said along-pathway position location further comprises:

with said mobile device, for each of said at least one SPS signal acquired from said single satellite, estimating a pseudorange between said satellite and said mobile device.

22. A method comprising:

with a mobile device;

estimating an across-pathway position location of said mobile device by comparing an expected satellite positioning system (SPS) satellite reception pattern and an observed SPS satellite reception pattern, and

establishing said observed SPS satellite reception pattern based, at least in part, on SPS signal reception determination of a LOS/NLOS detector within said mobile device.

23. The method as recited in claim 22, wherein said SPS signal reception determination of said LOS/NLOS detector is probabilistic.

24. An apparatus for use in a mobile device, the apparatus comprising:

means for estimating an across-pathway position location of said mobile device by comparing an expected satellite positioning system (SPS) satellite reception pattern and an observed SPS satellite reception pattern; and

means for estimating an along-pathway position location of said mobile device based, at least in part, on at least one SPS signal acquired from at least one satellite, wherein said at least one SPS signal is received line-of-sight (LOS) by said mobile device.

25. The apparatus as recited in claim 24, and further comprising:

means for accessing an enhanced database comprising enhanced database information for a plurality of point locations corresponding to said estimated along-pathway position location, said enhanced database further comprising SPS signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations.

26. The apparatus as recited in claim 25, and further comprising:

means for determining said expected SPS satellite reception pattern, for each of said plurality of point locations, based, at least in part, on said SPS signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations.

27. The apparatus as recited in claim 26, wherein said plurality of point locations are geographically distributed within at least one pathway, wherein at least a portion of the at least one pathway extends in an along-pathway direction and an across-pathway direction, and wherein said at least one pathway is adjacent to at least one object.

28. The apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein said at least one pathway comprises a street and said at least one object comprises at least one of a building and/or a structure.

29. The apparatus as recited in claim 25, wherein at least a portion of said plurality of point locations is geographically distributed in a grid.

30. The apparatus as recited in claim 29, wherein said portion of said grid is aligned with at least one of an along-pathway direction and/or an across-pathway direction.

31. The apparatus as recited in claim 29, wherein said grid is non-uniform in at least one direction.

32. The apparatus as recited in claim 26, and further comprising:

means for establishing expected azimuth/elevation information, for each of said plurality of point locations, associated with at least one of a potential line-of-sight (LOS) SPS signal reception, and/or a potential non-line-of-sight (NLOS) SPS signal reception.

33. The apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein said enhanced database information comprises geographical coordinates for each of said plurality of point locations and said SPS signal visibility mask information comprises a mask function for each of said plurality of point locations.

34. The apparatus as recited in claim 25, and further comprising at least one of:

means for reading said enhanced database information from at least one computer-readable medium;

means for receiving said enhanced database information over at least one communication link; and

/or

means for accessing an electronic map stored in a memory of said mobile device.

35. The apparatus as recited in claim 26, and further comprising:

means for determining said expected SPS satellite reception pattern based, at least in part, on estimated SPS satellite positions.

36. The apparatus as recited in claim 25, and further comprising:

means for identifying said estimated across-pathway position location as corresponding to one of said plurality of point locations based, at least in part, on at least one probabilistic attribute.

37. The apparatus as recited in claim 36, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is associated with at least one of a previous estimated across-pathway position location, and/or a previous estimated along-pathway position location.

38. An apparatus for use in a mobile device, the apparatus comprising:

means for estimating an across-pathway position location of said mobile device by comparing an expected satellite positioning system (SPS) satellite reception pattern and an observed SPS satellite reception pattern; and

means for establishing said observed SPS satellite reception pattern based, at least in part, on SPS signal reception determination of a LOS/NLOS detector within said mobile device.

39. The apparatus as recited in claim 38, wherein said SPS signal reception determination of said LOS/NLOS detector is probabilistic.

40. A mobile device comprising:

a satellite positioning signal (SPS) receiver; and

a processing unit to;

estimate an across-pathway position location of said mobile device by comparing an expected SPS satellite reception pattern and an observed SPS satellite reception pattern; and

estimate an along-pathway position location of said mobile device based, at least in part, on at least one SPS signal acquired from at least one satellite, wherein said at least one SPS signal is received line-of-sight (LOS) by said SPS receiver.

41. The mobile device as recited in claim 40, and further comprising:

memory, and said processing unit to further access an enhanced database stored in said memory comprising enhanced database information for a plurality of point locations corresponding to said estimated along-pathway position location, said enhanced database further comprising SPS signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations.

42. The mobile device as recited in claim 41, said processing unit to further:

determine said expected SPS satellite reception pattern, for each of said plurality of point locations, based, at least in part, on said SPS signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations.

43. The mobile device as recited in claim 42, wherein said plurality of point locations are geographically distributed within at least one pathway, wherein at least a portion of the at least one pathway extends in an along-pathway direction and an across-pathway direction, and wherein said at least one pathway is adjacent to at least one object.

44. The mobile device as recited in claim 43, wherein said at least one pathway comprises a street and said at least one object comprises at least one of a building and/or a structure.

45. The mobile device as recited in claim 41, wherein at least a portion of said plurality of point locations is geographically distributed in a grid.

46. The mobile device as recited in claim 45, wherein said portion of said grid is aligned with at least one of an along-pathway direction and/or an across-pathway direction.

47. The mobile device as recited in claim 45, wherein said grid is non-uniform in at least one direction.

48. The mobile device as recited in claim 42, said processing unit to further:

establish expected azimuth/elevation information, for each of said plurality of point locations, associated with at least one of a potential line-of-sight (LOS) SPS signal reception, and/or a potential non-line-of-sight (NLOS) SPS signal reception.

49. The mobile device as recited in claim 48, wherein said enhanced database information comprises geographical coordinates for each of said plurality of point locations and said SPS signal visibility mask information comprises a mask function for each of said plurality of point locations.

50. The mobile device as recited in claim 42, said processing unit to further:

determine said expected SPS satellite reception pattern based, at least in part, on estimated SPS satellite positions.

51. The mobile device as recited in claim 41, said processing unit to further:

identify said estimated across-pathway position location as corresponding to one of said plurality of point locations based, at least in part, on at least one probabilistic attribute.

52. The mobile device as recited in claim 51, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is associated with at least one of a previous estimated across-pathway position location, and/or a previous estimated along-pathway position location.

53. A mobile device comprising:

a satellite positioning signal (SPS) receiver; and

a processing unit to;

estimate an across-pathway position location of said mobile device by comparing an expected SPS satellite reception pattern and an observed SPS satellite reception pattern; and

establish said observed SPS satellite reception pattern based, at least in part, on SPS signal reception determination of a LOS/NLOS by said SPS receiver.

54. The mobile device as recited in claim 53, wherein said SPS signal reception determination of said LOS/NLOS is probabilistic.

55. An article comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein computer implementable instructions executable by one or more processing units of a mobile device to;

estimate an across-pathway position location of said mobile device by comparing an expected SPS satellite reception pattern and an observed SPS satellite reception pattern; and

estimate an along-pathway position location of said mobile device based, at least in part, on at least one SPS signal acquired from at least one satellite, wherein said at least one SPS signal is received line-of-sight (LOS) by said mobile device.

56. The article as recited in claim 55, said computer implementable instructions being further executable by said one or more processing units to:

access an enhanced database stored in said memory comprising enhanced database information for a plurality of point locations corresponding to said estimated along-pathway position location, said enhanced database further comprising SPS signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations.

57. The article as recited in claim 56, said computer implementable instructions being further executable by said one or more processing units to:

determine said expected SPS satellite reception pattern, for each of said plurality of point locations, based, at least in part, on said SPS signal visibility mask information for each of said plurality of point locations.

58. The article as recited in claim 57, wherein said plurality of point locations are geographically distributed within at least one pathway, wherein at least a portion of the at least one pathway extends in an along-pathway direction and an across-pathway direction, and wherein said at least one pathway is adjacent to at least one object.

59. The article as recited in claim 58, wherein said at least one pathway comprises a street and said at least one object comprises at least one of a building and/or a structure.

60. The article as recited in claim 56, wherein at least a portion of said plurality of point locations is geographically distributed in a grid.

61. The article as recited in claim 57, said computer implementable instructions being further executable by said one or more processing units to:

establish expected azimuth/elevation information, for each of said plurality of point locations, associated with at least one of a potential line-of-sight (LOS) SPS signal reception, and/or a potential non-line-of-sight (NLOS) SPS signal reception.

62. The article as recited in claim 61, wherein said enhanced database information comprises geographical coordinates for each of said plurality of point locations and said SPS signal visibility mask information comprises a mask function for each of said plurality of point locations.

63. The article as recited in claim 57, said computer implementable instructions being further executable by said one or more processing units to:

determine said expected SPS satellite reception pattern based, at least in part, on estimated SPS satellite positions.

64. The article as recited in claim 56, said computer implementable instructions being further executable by said one or more processing units to:

identify said estimated across-pathway position location as corresponding to one of said plurality of point locations based, at least in part, on at least one probabilistic attribute.

65. The article as recited in claim 64, wherein said at least one probabilistic attribute is associated with at least one of a previous estimated across-pathway position location, and/or a previous estimated along-pathway position location.

66. An article comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein computer implementable instructions executable by one or more processing units of a mobile device to;

estimate an across-pathway position location of said mobile device by comparing an expected SPS satellite reception pattern and an observed SPS satellite reception pattern; and

establish said observed SPS satellite reception pattern based, at least in part, on SPS signal reception determination of a LOS/NLOS by said mobile device.

67. The article as recited in claim 66, wherein said SPS signal reception determination of said LOS/NLOS is probabilistic.