System and method for estimating the probability of movement of access points in a WLAN-based positioning system
First Claim
1. A method of estimating the likelihood of a Wi-Fi enabled device being located within an estimated geographical area, the method comprising:
- identifying at least one Wi-Fi access point in range of the Wi-Fi enabled device based on signals received by the Wi-Fi enabled device transmitted by the at least one Wi-Fi access point;
consulting a reference database to determine for the at least one Wi-Fi access point from which signals were received a last-known estimated position of each of the at least one Wi-Fi access point and time information associated with each of said last known positions for describing the age of each said last-known position relative to other information in the reference database;
estimating a likelihood that the at least one Wi-Fi access point has moved from its corresponding last-known position based on a number of Wi-Fi access points from which signals were received and the associated time information; and
inferring the likelihood of the Wi-Fi enabled device being located within an estimated geographical area based, at least in part, on the likelihood that the at least one Wi-Fi access point has moved from its corresponding last-known position.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods of and systems for estimating the probability of movement of access points in a WLAN-based positioning system are provided. Disclosed are methods to quantify the probability that a particular location estimate of a mobile device made by a Wi-Fi based positioning system is correct to within an arbitrary accuracy. Implementations use observed access point cluster size, age information for access point location determination, and/or the probability that one or more access points detected by the mobile device have relocated based on historic information about the movement of a collection of access points to make the probability determinations.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method of estimating the likelihood of a Wi-Fi enabled device being located within an estimated geographical area, the method comprising:
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identifying at least one Wi-Fi access point in range of the Wi-Fi enabled device based on signals received by the Wi-Fi enabled device transmitted by the at least one Wi-Fi access point; consulting a reference database to determine for the at least one Wi-Fi access point from which signals were received a last-known estimated position of each of the at least one Wi-Fi access point and time information associated with each of said last known positions for describing the age of each said last-known position relative to other information in the reference database; estimating a likelihood that the at least one Wi-Fi access point has moved from its corresponding last-known position based on a number of Wi-Fi access points from which signals were received and the associated time information; and inferring the likelihood of the Wi-Fi enabled device being located within an estimated geographical area based, at least in part, on the likelihood that the at least one Wi-Fi access point has moved from its corresponding last-known position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of estimating the likelihood of a Wi-Fi enabled device being located within an estimated geographical area, the method comprising:
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extracting information from signals received by the Wi-Fi enabled device transmitted by at least one Wi-Fi access point in range of the Wi-Fi enabled device, the signals identifying each of the at least one Wi-Fi access points from which signals were received; consulting a reference database to determine for at least one of the Wi-Fi access points from which signals were received a set of information identifying a corresponding set of Wi-Fi access points from which signals are expected to be received when the Wi-Fi enabled device receives signals from the at least one Wi-Fi access point of the plurality; and estimating the likelihood of the Wi-Fi enabled device being located within an estimated geographical area based on a comparison of the information identifying Wi-Fi access points from which signals were received, the number of Wi-Fi access points from which signals were received, and the set of information identifying the corresponding set of Wi-Fi access points from which signals are expected to be received. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of estimating the likelihood of a Wi-Fi enabled device being located within an estimated geographical area, the method comprising:
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extracting information from signals received by the Wi-Fi enabled device transmitted by a plurality of Wi-Fi access points in range of the Wi-Fi enabled device, the signals identifying each of the plurality of Wi-Fi access points which signals were received; consulting a reference database to determine if the identity of each of the plurality of the identified Wi-Fi access points from which signals were received are present in the reference database; estimating a likelihood that a Wi-Fi access points has moved from a corresponding last-known position based on the number of Wi-Fi access point from which signals were received and for which identities are present in the reference database and based on time information associated with the Wi-Fi access points from which signals were received for describing the age of the signals received from the Wi-Fi access points relative to other information in the reference database; and inferring the likelihood of the Wi-Fi enabled device being located within an estimated geographical area based on the likelihood that a Wi-Fi access point has moved from a corresponding last-known position. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification