Post-deployment calibration for wireless position determination

• US 9,002,349 B2
• Filed: 09/13/2013
• Issued: 04/07/2015
• 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:
  US14/027,024
• Publication Number:
  US 20140018065A1
• Time in Patent Office: 571 Days
• Field of Search: 455/67.11, 455/423, 455/424, 4554561-4566
• 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:

determining, based on signals received from a plurality of wireless access points, a plurality of test positions of a mobile station by determining a position of the mobile station for each of a plurality of subsets of the signals received from the plurality of wireless access points, each of the plurality of subsets of the signals received from the plurality of wireless access points being unique and excluding one of the signals received from the plurality of wireless access points, wherein the plurality of wireless access points comprises four or more wireless access points, wherein the determining the position of the mobile station is based on trilateration, round trip time (RTT), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), Time-of-arrival (TOA), Angle of Arrival (AoA) or any combination thereof; and

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

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining the position of the mobile station using the signals received from the plurality of wireless access points; and

determining that at least one of the plurality of wireless access points is misconfigured by comparing the position of the mobile station with wireless signal model information.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the wireless signal model information includes position information associated with the plurality of wireless access points.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein comparing the plurality of test positions to identify the misconfigured wireless access point comprises:

identifying a test position of the plurality of test positions that is inconsistent with other test positions of the plurality of test positions; and

identifying a wireless access point of the plurality of wireless access points associated with the test position that is inconsistent with the other test positions.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending information identifying the misconfigured wireless access point to a location server.

6. An apparatus for identifying a misconfigured wireless access point, comprising:

means for determining, based on signals received from a plurality of wireless access points, a plurality of test positions of a mobile station by determining a position of the mobile station for each of a plurality of subsets of the signals received from the plurality of wireless access points, each of the plurality of subsets of the signals received from the plurality of wireless access points being unique and excluding one of the signals received from the plurality of wireless access points, wherein the plurality of wireless access points comprises four or more wireless access points, wherein the determining the position of the mobile station is based on trilateration, round trip time (RTT), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), Time-of-arrival (TOA), Angle of Arrival (AoA) or any combination thereof; and

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

7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising:

means for determining the position of the mobile station using the signals received from the plurality of wireless access points; and

means for determining that at least one of the plurality of wireless access points is misconfigured by comparing the position of the mobile station with wireless signal model information.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the wireless signal model information includes position information associated with the plurality of wireless access points.

9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the means for comparing the plurality of test positions to identify the misconfigured wireless access point further comprises:

means for identifying a test position of the plurality of test positions that is inconsistent with other test positions of the plurality of test positions; and

means for identifying a wireless access point of the plurality of wireless access points associated with the test position that is inconsistent with the other test positions.

10. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising:

means for sending information identifying the misconfigured wireless access point to a location server.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-readable instructions for identifying a misconfigured wireless access point by being configured to cause a computer to:

determine, based on signals received from a plurality of wireless access points, a plurality of test positions of a mobile station by determining a position of the mobile station for each of a plurality of subsets of the signals received from the plurality of wireless access points, each of the plurality of subsets of the signals received from the plurality of wireless access points being unique and excluding one of the signals received from the plurality of wireless access points, wherein the plurality of wireless access points comprises four or more wireless access points, wherein the determining the position of the mobile station is based on trilateration, round trip time (RTT), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), Time-of-arrival (TOA), Angle of Arrival (AoA) or any combination thereof; and

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

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, further comprising instructions configured to cause the computer to:

determine the position of the mobile station using the signals received from the plurality of wireless access points; and

determine that at least one of the plurality of wireless access points is misconfigured by comparing the position of the mobile station with wireless signal model information.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 wherein the wireless signal model information includes position information associated with the plurality of wireless access points.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions configured to cause the computer to compare the plurality of test positions to identify the misconfigured wireless access point further comprise instructions configured to cause the computer to:

identify a test position of the plurality of test positions that is inconsistent with other test positions of the plurality of test positions; and

identify a wireless access point of the plurality of wireless access points associated with the test position that is inconsistent with the other test positions.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, further comprising instructions configured to cause the computer to:

send information identifying the misconfigured wireless access point to a location server.

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

a receiver configured to receive signals from a plurality of wireless access points; and

a processor configured to determine, based on signals received from a plurality of wireless access points, a plurality of test positions of the mobile station by determining a position of the mobile station for each of a plurality of subsets of the signals received from the plurality of wireless access points, each of the plurality of subsets of the signals received from the plurality of wireless access points being unique and excluding one of the signals received from the plurality of wireless access points, the processor being further configured to compare the plurality of test positions to identify the misconfigured wireless access point, wherein the plurality of wireless access points comprises four or more wireless access points, wherein the determining the position of the mobile station is based on trilateration, round trip time (RTT), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), Time-of-arrival (TOA), Angle of Arrival (AoA) or any combination thereof.

17. The mobile station of claim 16 wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine the position of the mobile station using the signals received from the plurality of wireless access points; and

determine that at least one of the plurality of wireless access points is misconfigured by comparing the position of the mobile station with wireless signal model information.

18. The mobile station of claim 17 wherein the wireless signal model information includes position information associated with the plurality of wireless access points.

19. The mobile station of claim 16 wherein the processor being configured to compare the plurality of test positions to identify the misconfigured wireless access point is further configured to:

identify a test position of the plurality of test positions that is inconsistent with other test positions of the plurality of test positions; and

identify a wireless access point of the plurality of wireless access points associated with the test position that is inconsistent with the other test positions.

20. The mobile station of claim 16 wherein the processor is further configured to:

send information identifying the misconfigured wireless access point to a location server.