Methods and systems for determining location using a cellular and WLAN positioning system by selecting the best WLAN PS solution

• US 8,638,725 B2
• Filed: 06/11/2013
• Issued: 01/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Skyhook Wireless Incorporated (Liberty Broadband Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Skyhook Wireless Incorporated (Liberty Broadband Corp.)
• Inventors: Alizadeh-Shabdiz, Farshid
• Primary Examiner(s): SMITH, MARCUS
• Application Number:
  US13/914,850
• Publication Number:
  US 20130288708A1
• Time in Patent Office: 231 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0244 Accuracy or reliability of position solution or of measurements contributing thereto
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0263 by combining or switching between positions derived from two or more separate positioning systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

The disclosed subject matter relates to a method and system for increasing the accuracy of a WLAN based position estimate using cellular positioning information. In some embodiments, the method can include determining a set of possible WLAN location solutions for a WLAN and cellular enabled device based on one or more WLAN access points, obtaining cellular measurements from at least one cell tower, and determining the best WLAN location solution from the set of possible WLAN location solutions using the cellular measurements. In one embodiment, the method can include using the cellular measurements from the at least one cell tower to provide a cellular based location estimate for the WLAN and cellular enabled device.

Claims

1. A method of increasing the accuracy of a resulting location estimate for a WLAN and cellular enabled device using cellular positioning information, the method comprising:

identifying at least one wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (WLAN AP) in signal range of a WLAN and cellular enabled device based on wireless signals received by the WLAN and cellular enabled device transmitted by the at least one WLAN AP;

retrieving an estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP stored in a reference database;

determining a cellular-based location estimate for the WLAN and cellular enabled device based at least in part on cellular measurements received from at least one cell tower by the WLAN and cellular enabled device;

comparing the cellular-based location estimate to the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP retrieved from the reference database to determine whether a distance between the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP and an estimated location of the at least one cell tower exceeds a pre-determined threshold;

upon the condition that the distance between the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP retrieved from the reference database and the estimated location of the at least one cell tower exceeds the pre-determined threshold, inferring that the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP is inaccurate; and

rejecting the at least one WLAN AP that is inferred to have an inaccurate estimated location when determining the resulting location estimate for the WLAN and cellular enabled device based at least on the cellular-based location estimate.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing the cellular-based location estimate to the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP retrieved from the reference database comprises:

determining a distance between the at least one WLAN AP and the cellular-based location estimate; and

determining whether the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP is within an expected error of the cellular-based location estimate.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising,

determining a WLAN-based location estimate for the WLAN and cellular enabled device based at least in part on the wireless signals received by the WLAN and cellular enabled device transmitted by the at least one WLAN AP;

and

upon the condition that the distance between the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP retrieved from the reference database and the estimated location of the at least one cell tower is within the pre-determined threshold, determining the resulting location estimate for the WLAN and cellular enabled device from the cellular-based location estimate using the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP.

4. The method of claim 3,

wherein the at least one WLAN AP includes at least one WLAN access point cluster of a plurality of WLAN APs;

and

wherein the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP stored in the reference database includes a plurality of estimated locations corresponding to an estimated location of a plurality of WLAN APs in the at least one WLAN access point cluster.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising weighting the at least one WLAN access point cluster according to a distance from a plurality of estimated locations corresponding to the plurality of WLAN APs in the at least one WLAN access point cluster to the cellular-based location estimate for use in determining the resulting location estimate for the WLAN and cellular enabled device.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising selecting estimated locations corresponding to the plurality of WLAN APs in the at least one WLAN access point cluster having a small distance to the cellular-based location estimate for use in determining the resulting location estimate for the WLAN and cellular enabled device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the small distance is on the order of a hundred meters.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the pre-determined threshold is an order of magnitude greater than a coverage area of the at least one cell tower.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the pre-determined threshold is on the order of tens of kilometers away from the estimated location of the at least one cell tower.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP stored in the reference database to correspond to an updated location of the WLAN AP.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the cellular measurements include a cell ID of the at least one cell tower.

12. A system for increasing the accuracy of a location estimate for a WLAN and cellular enabled device using cellular positioning information, the system comprising:

a positioning module comprising;

a wireless local area network (WLAN) module for receiving wireless signals transmitted by at least one WLAN access point (WLAN AP);

a cellular positioning module for receiving cellular measurements from at least one cell tower; and

logic located in the positioning module configured to

identify at least one WLAN AP in signal range of a WLAN and cellular enabled device based at least in part on the wireless signals;

retrieve an estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP stored in a reference database;

determine a cellular-based location estimate for the WLAN and cellular enabled device based at least in part on the cellular measurements;

compare the cellular-based location estimate to the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP retrieved from the reference database to determine whether a distance between the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP and an estimated location of the at least one cell tower exceeds a pre-determined threshold;

upon the condition that the distance between the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP retrieved from the reference database and the estimated location of the at least one cell tower exceeds the pre-determined threshold, infer that the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP is inaccurate; and

reject the at least one WLAN AP that is inferred to have an inaccurate estimated location when determining the resulting location estimate for the WLAN and cellular enabled device based at least on the cellular-based location estimate.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the logic configured to compare the cellular-based location estimate to the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP retrieved from the reference database comprises logic configured to

determine a distance between the at least one WLAN AP and the cellular-based location estimate;

and

determine whether the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP is within an expected error of the cellular-based location estimate.

14. The system of claim 12,

wherein the at least one WLAN AP includes at least one WLAN access point cluster of a plurality of WLAN APs;

and

wherein the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP stored in the reference database includes a plurality of estimated locations corresponding to an estimated location of a plurality of WLAN APs in the at least one WLAN access point cluster.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising logic configured to weight the at least one WLAN access point cluster according to the distance from a plurality of estimated locations corresponding to the plurality of WLAN APs in the at least one WLAN access point cluster to the cellular-based location estimate for use in the logic configured to determine the resulting location estimate for the WLAN and cellular enabled device.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP retrieved from the reference database is inferred to be inaccurate if the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP is an order of magnitude larger than the pre-defined threshold from the estimated location of the at least one cell tower.

17. The system of claim 12, further comprising logic configured to determine the resulting location estimate for the WLAN and cellular enabled device from cellular-based location estimate using the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP retrieved from the reference database, upon the condition that the distance between the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP retrieved from the reference database and the estimated location of the at least one cell tower is within the pre-determined threshold.

18. The system of claim 17,

wherein the at least one WLAN AP includes at least one WLAN access point cluster of a plurality of WLAN APs;

and

wherein the estimated location of the at least one WLAN AP stored in the reference database includes a plurality of estimated locations corresponding to an estimated location of a plurality of WLAN APs in the at least one WLAN access point cluster.

19. The system of claim 18, further comprising logic configured to weight the at least one WLAN access point cluster according to a distance from a plurality of estimated locations corresponding to the plurality of WLAN APs in the at least one WLAN access point cluster to the cellular-based location estimate for use in the logic configured to determine the resulting location estimate for the WLAN and cellular enabled device.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising logic configured to select estimated locations corresponding to the plurality of WLAN APs in the at least one WLAN access point cluster having a small distance to the cellular-based location estimate for use in the logic configured to determine the resulting location estimate for the WLAN and cellular enabled device.