Post-deployment calibration for wireless position determination

• US 8,768,344 B2
• Filed: 12/21/2009
• Issued: 07/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Naguib, Ayman Fawzy, Aggarwal, Alok, Guo, Jin
• Primary Examiner(s): Bost, Dwayne
• Assistant Examiner(s): STERNBANE, LAURENCE J
• Application Number:
  US12/643,676
• Publication Number:
  US 20100159958A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,653 Days
• Field of Search: 455/67.11, 455/423, 455/424, 455/456.1, 455/456.5, 455/456.6
• US Class Current: 455/424
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/021 Calibration, monitoring or correction G01S5/0252 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0242 Determining the position of transmitters to be subsequently used in positioning G01S5/0289 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/04 Arrangements for maintaining operational condition

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses are directed to calibrating a misconfigured wireless access point. One method may include receiving a position of mobile station(s) and wireless signal model measurements derived from packets exchanged between the mobile station(s) and a plurality of wireless access points, receiving positions and/or identities of the plurality of wireless access points used in determining the position of the mobile station(s), comparing a position of the mobile station(s) with wireless signal model measurements, and identifying a misconfigured wireless access point based upon the comparing. Another method may include receiving positions associated with a plurality of wireless access points, determining a position of a mobile station based upon a wireless signal model, comparing the position of the mobile station and the wireless signal model with the positions associated with the plurality of wireless access points, and determining whether at least one wireless access point is misconfigured.

Claims

1. A method for identifying a misconfigured wireless access point, comprising:

receiving positions associated with at least four wireless access points at a mobile station;

determining a position of the mobile station based upon a wireless signal model;

comparing the position of the mobile station and the wireless signal model with the positions associated with the at least three wireless access points;

determining that at least one wireless access point of the at least four wireless access points is misconfigured; and

identifying the at least one misconfigured wireless access point by;

determining a plurality of test positions of the mobile station, wherein each test position is determined based upon removing from consideration a different wireless access point from the at least four wireless access points; and

comparing the plurality of test positions to identify the misconfigured wireless access point.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the wireless signal model measurements include round trip time (RTT), received signal strength and/or angle of arrival (AoA) information associated with exchanged packets.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the comparing comprises:

computing distances between the mobile station and the plurality of wireless access points;

comparing the computed distances and distances based upon at least one wireless signal model; and

combining the comparisons to determine at least one misconfigured wireless access point from the plurality of wireless access points.

4. A method for identifying a misconfigured wireless access point, comprising:

receiving positions associated with a plurality of three or fewer wireless access points at a mobile station;

determining a position of the mobile station based upon a wireless signal model;

comparing the position of the mobile station and wireless signal model measurements associated with the wireless signal model with the positions associated with the plurality of wireless access points; and

determining that at least one of the plurality of wireless access points is misconfigured by providing the position of the mobile station and wireless signal model measurements to a back end network to identify the misconfigured wireless access point.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the positions associated with the wireless access points are received over beacon signals provided by the plurality of wireless access points and/or provided by the back end network.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the positions associated with the wireless access points are determined from an annotated map.

7. A method for identifying a misconfigured wireless access point, comprising:

receiving positions associated with a plurality of wireless access points at a mobile station;

determining a position of the mobile station based upon a wireless signal model;

comparing the position of the mobile station and wireless signal model measurements associated with the wireless signal model with the positions associated with the plurality of wireless access points, wherein comparing includes;

computing distances between the mobile station and the plurality of wireless access points based on the wireless signal model measurements; and

comparing the computed distances and geometric distances between the mobile station and the plurality of wireless access points based upon the wireless signal model;

determining whether at least one wireless access point is misconfigured based on results of comparing the computed distances and geometric distances between the mobile station and the plurality of wireless access points based upon the wireless signal model; and

determining angle of arrival information of a misconfigured wireless access point as a trigger to initially isolate the position of the misconfigured wireless access point.

8. A mobile station having functionality for identifying a misconfigured wireless access point, comprising:

a wireless transceiver;

a processing unit coupled to the wireless transceiver; and

a memory coupled to the processing unit, wherein the memory stores executable instructions and data for causing the processing unit to;

receive positions associated with a plurality of wireless access points,

determine a position of the mobile station based upon a wireless signal model,

compare the position of the mobile station and the wireless signal model with the positions associated with the plurality of wireless access points,

determine whether at least one wireless access point is misconfigured, and

identify the at least one wireless access point that is misconfigured by;

determining that a number of wireless access points from which positions were received exceeds three,

determining a plurality of test positions of the mobile station based upon removing a different wireless access point from the plurality of wireless access points, and

comparing the plurality of test positions to identify the at least one misconfigured wireless access point.

9. The mobile station according to claim 8, wherein the positions associated with the wireless access points are received over beacon signals provided by the plurality of wireless access points and/or provided by the back end network.

10. The mobile station according to 9, wherein the positions associated with the wireless access points are determined from an annotated map.

11. The mobile station according to claim 8, wherein the wireless signal model measurements include round trip time (RTT), received signal strength and/or angle of arrival (AoA) information associated with exchanged packets.

12. The mobile station according to claim 8, wherein the instructions for comparing further comprises instructions for causing the processing unit to:

compute distances between the mobile station and the plurality of wireless access points,

compare the computed distances and distances based upon at least one wireless signal model, and

combine the comparisons to determine at least one misconfigured wireless access point from the plurality of wireless access points.

13. A mobile station having functionality for identifying a misconfigured wireless access point, comprising:

a wireless transceiver;

a processing unit coupled to the wireless transceiver; and

a memory coupled to the processing unit, wherein the memory stores executable instructions and data for causing the processing unit to;

receive positions associated with a plurality of wireless access points,

determine a position of the mobile station based upon a wireless signal model,

compare the position of the mobile station and the wireless signal model with the positions associated with the plurality of wireless access points,

determine that at least one wireless access point is misconfigured, and

identify the at least one misconfigured wireless access point, the instructions to identify the at least one misconfigured wireless access point including instructions to;

determine if a number of wireless access points is less than or equal to three, and

provide the position of the mobile station and wireless signal model measurements to a back end network to identify the misconfigured wireless access point.

14. A mobile station having functionality for identifying a misconfigured wireless access point, comprising:

a wireless transceiver;

a processing unit coupled to the wireless transceiver; and

a memory coupled to the processing unit, wherein the memory stores executable instructions and data for causing the processing unit to;

receive positions associated with a plurality of wireless access points,

determine a position of the mobile station based upon a wireless signal model,

compare the position of the mobile station and the wireless signal model with the positions associated with the plurality of wireless access points,

determine whether at least one wireless access point is misconfigured, and

determine an angle of arrival information of the misconfigured wireless access point as a trigger to initially isolate the position of a misconfigured wireless access point.

15. A mobile station for identifying a misconfigured wireless access point, comprising:

means for receiving positions associated with a plurality of wireless access points;

means for determining a position of the mobile station based upon a wireless signal model;

means for comparing the position of the mobile station and the wireless signal model with the positions associated with the plurality of wireless access points;

means for determining whether at least one wireless access point is misconfigured; and

means for identifying the at least one misconfigured wireless access point if at least one wireless access point is misconfigured, the means for identifying including;

means for determining that a number of wireless access points from which positions were received exceeds three;

means for determining a plurality of test positions of the mobile station, wherein each test position is determined based upon removing a different wireless access point from the plurality of wireless access points; and

means for comparing the plurality of test positions to identify the misconfigured wireless access point.

16. The mobile station according to claim 15, wherein the positions associated with the wireless access points are received over beacon signals provided by the plurality of wireless access points and/or provided by the back end network.

17. The mobile station according to claim 16, wherein the positions associated with the wireless access points are determined from an annotated map.

18. The mobile station according to claim 15, wherein the wireless signal model measurements include round trip time (RTT), received signal strength and/or angle of arrival (AoA) information associated with exchanged packets.

19. The mobile station according to claim 15, further comprising:

means for computing distances between the mobile station and the plurality of wireless access points;

means for comparing the computed distances and distances based upon at least one wireless signal model; and

means for combining the comparisons to determine at least one misconfigured wireless access point from the plurality of wireless access points.

20. A mobile station for identifying a misconfigured wireless access point, comprising:

means for receiving positions associated with a plurality of wireless access points;

means for determining a position of the mobile station based upon a wireless signal model;

means for comparing the position of the mobile station and the wireless signal model with the positions associated with the plurality of wireless access points;

means for determining whether at least one wireless access point is misconfigured; and

means for determining angle of arrival information of the misconfigured wireless access point as a trigger to initially isolate the position of a misconfigured wireless access point.

21. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions, which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations, the instructions comprising:

instructions to receive positions associated with a plurality of wireless access points;

instructions to determine a position of a mobile station based upon a wireless signal model;

instructions to compare the position of the mobile station and the wireless signal model with the positions associated with the plurality of wireless access points; and

instructions to determine whether at least one wireless access point is misconfigured, and

instructions to identify the at least one wireless access point that is misconfigured, the

instructions to identify the at least one wireless access point including;

instructions to determine if a number of wireless access points from which positions were received exceeds three,

instructions to determine a plurality of test positions of the mobile station,

wherein each test position is determined based upon removing a different wireless access point from the plurality of wireless access points, and

compare the plurality of test positions to identify the at least one misconfigured wireless access point.

22. A mobile station having functionality for identifying a misconfigured wireless access point, comprising:

means for receiving positions associated with a plurality of three or fewer wireless access points at a mobile station;

means for determining a position of the mobile station based upon a wireless signal model;

means for comparing the position of the mobile station and wireless signal model measurements associated with the wireless signal model with the positions associated with the plurality of wireless access points; and

means for determining that at least one of the plurality of wireless access points is misconfigured by providing the position of the mobile station and wireless signal model measurements to a back end network to identify the misconfigured wireless access point.

23. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving positions associated with a plurality of three or fewer wireless access points at a mobile station;

determining a position of the mobile station based upon a wireless signal model;

comparing the position of the mobile station and wireless signal model measurements associated with the wireless signal model with the positions associated with the plurality of wireless access points; and

determining that at least one of the plurality of wireless access points is misconfigured by providing the position of the mobile station and wireless signal model measurements to a back end network to identify the misconfigured wireless access point.

24. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving positions associated with a plurality of wireless access points;

determining a position of the mobile station based upon a wireless signal model;

comparing the position of the mobile station and wireless signal model measurements with the positions associated with the plurality of wireless access points;

determining whether at least one wireless access point is misconfigured; and

determining angle of anival information of the misconfigured wireless access point as a trigger to initially isolate the position of a misconfigured wireless access point.