Utilizing magnetic field based navigation

• US 9,078,104 B2
• Filed: 06/26/2013
• Issued: 07/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IndoorAtlas Oy
• Original Assignee: IndoorAtlas Oy
• Inventors: Haverinen, Janne
• Primary Examiner(s): Holloway, Jason
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bendidi, Rachid
• Application Number:
  US13/927,854
• Publication Number:
  US 20130310069A1
• Time in Patent Office: 741 Days
• Field of Search: 701/525, 701/467, 455/404.2, 455/411, 455/419, 455/421, 455/422.1, 455/424, 455/456.1, 455/456.2, 455/456.5, 455/456.6, 455/557, 455/461, 455/465, 455/67.11
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/08 involving use of the magnetic field of the earth
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/206 specially adapted for indoor navigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/026 using orientation information, e.g. compass
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

There is provided a solution comprising detecting that a positioning device is within a predetermined control area associated with a building, acquiring a first sequence of magnetic field measurements carried out by the positioning device, wherein the first sequence represents at least one of the magnitude and the direction of Earth'"'"'s magnetic field; determining that an operational environment of the positioning de-vice has changed between an indoor environment and an outdoor environment when a at least one predetermined criterion with respect to the first sequence is met; and causing actuation of a predetermined software function in or with respect to the positioning device when the operational environment of the positioning device has changed.

Claims

1. An indoor location estimation and/or tracking system, comprising a cellular phone and a database server, each comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, wherein the respective at least one memory and the respective computer program code are configured, with the respective at least one processor, to cause the respective apparatus to perform specific actions,

wherein the cellular phone is caused to:

perform Earth'"'"'s magnetic field, EMF, vector measurements in a building, wherein the EMF vector represents magnitude and direction of the earth'"'"'s magnetic field affected by the local structures of the building; and

wirelessly transmit the measured EMF vectors to the database server, wherein the database server stores an indoor EMF map comprising EMF vector strength and direction at any given location in the building,

wherein prior to location estimation of the cellular phone, a bias and/or a scaling factor of the measured EMF vectors is determined based on a difference between the measured EMF vectors and true magnetic field vectors at the location or location hypothesis of the cellular phone; and

wherein the database server is caused to;

receive the measured EMF vectors;

apply the determined bias and/or the determined scaling factor in the location estimation and/or tracking of the cellular phone;

determine a location estimate of the cellular phone in the building based on (i) the determined bias and/or the determined scaling factor, (ii) the received EMF vectors, and (iii) the indoor EMF map; and

communicate the location estimate to the cellular phone, thereby initializing the cellular phone with the location estimate.

2. The indoor location estimation and/or tracking system of claim 1, wherein the database server is caused to:

acquire motion estimate of the cellular phone from at least one motion sensor coupled to the cellular phone; and

determine a motion model on the basis of the motion estimate; and

apply the motion model for at least one location hypothesis of the cellular phone in order to determine the location estimate of the cellular phone.

3. The indoor location estimation and/or tracking system of claim 1, wherein the database server is caused to:

acquire motion data of the cellular phone from at least one motion sensor coupled to the cellular phone, wherein the cellular phone has an arbitrary three-dimensional orientation;

perform orientation adjustment of the cellular phone from the frame of reference of the cellular phone to a predetermined frame of reference, wherein the adjustment is based at least partly on the known direction of the gravitational force and the received motion data; and

correct the received EMF vector on the basis of the orientation adjustment, wherein the received EMF vector is originally measured in the frame of reference of the cellular phone having the arbitrary three-dimensional orientation.

4. The indoor location estimation and/or tracking system of claim 3, wherein the database server is further caused to:

determine the amount of rotation about the orthogonal horizontal coordinate axes by applying the known direction of the gravitational force and the motion data.

5. The indoor location estimation and/or tracking system of claim 1, determine the magnitude of the received EMF vector with respect to the horizontal plane projection and the magnitude of a vertical component of the received EMF vector.

6. The indoor location estimation and/or tracking system of claim 1, wherein there is a plurality of location hypotheses for the cellular phone inside the building, and wherein the database server is further caused to:

perform the orientation adjustment with respect to the vertical coordinate axis by;

determine the direction of a true magnetic field vector for each location hypothesis of the cellular phone, wherein the direction of the true magnetic field vector for each location hypothesis is based on the EMF map at the location corresponding to the given location hypothesis of the cellular phone, and wherein the predetermined magnetic field map is defined in a frame of reference of the floor plan of the building; and

adjust the direction of the received EMF vector from the frame of reference of the cellular phone to the frame of reference of the floor plan of the building at least partly on the basis of the direction of the true indoor magnetic field vector, wherein the received EMF vector is originally measured in the frame of reference of the cellular phone having the arbitrary three-dimensional orientation.

7. The indoor location estimation and/or tracking system of claim 6, wherein the database server is further caused to:

compare the received, orientation adjusted EMF vector or a computed feature vector thereof to a known EMF vector or to a computed feature vector thereof at each location hypothesis, wherein the known EMF vector is acquired from the EMF map;

determine, for each location hypothesis, a probability that the tested location hypothesis is a correct location hypothesis on the basis of the comparison; and

update the probability distribution represented by the probabilities at the plurality of location hypotheses.

8. The indoor location estimation and/or tracking system of claim 7, wherein the database server is caused to:

repeat the steps of claim 7 as long as a certain threshold with respect to accuracy or characteristics of the probability distribution is met; and

determine the location estimate of the cellular phone among one of the plurality of location hypotheses on the basis of the probability distribution.

9. The indoor location estimation and/or tracking system of claim 1, wherein the database server is further caused to:

acquire a location estimate of a cellular phone, wherein the location estimate is acquired on the basis of an indoor non-magnetic field based location discovery system; and

select a part of the EMF map on the basis of the location estimate of the cellular phone, wherein the selected part includes the indoor EMF map for the area in which the cellular phone currently is; and

apply the selected part of the indoor EMF map in an EMF map -based location estimation and/or tracking of the cellular phone.

10. The indoor location estimation and/or tracking system of claim 9, wherein the database server is caused to:

receive, from the cellular phone, measurement information related to radio frequency signals detected by the cellular phone; and

determine a location estimate of the cellular phone on the basis of the received information and an indoor base station based location discovery system.

11. The indoor location estimation and/or tracking system of claim 1, wherein the true magnetic field vector is obtained from the EMF map of the building and/or from information received by the cellular phone from a low range communication unit.

12. A cellular phone for use in an indoor location estimation and/or tracking system, the cellular phone comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the cellular phone to:

perform Earth'"'"'s magnetic field, EMF, vector measurements in a building, wherein the EMF vector represents magnitude and direction of the earth'"'"'s magnetic field affected by the local structures of the building;

wirelessly transmit the measured EMF vectors to the database server, wherein the database server stores an indoor EMF map comprising EMF vector strength and direction at any given location in the building, wherein prior to location estimation of the cellular phone, a bias and/or a scaling factor of the measured EMF vectors is determined based on a difference between the measured EMF vectors and true magnetic field vectors at the location or location hypothesis of the cellular phone, and wherein the determined bias and/or the determined scaling factor is applied in the location estimation and/or tracking of the cellular phone;

determine a location estimate of the cellular phone in the building based on (i) the determined bias and/or the determined scaling factor, (ii) the received EMF vectors, and (iii) the indoor EMF map; and

receive the location estimate from the database server, thereby initializing the cellular phone with the location estimate.

13. A database server for use in an indoor location estimation and/or tracking system, the database server comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the database server to:

receive Earth'"'"'s magnetic field, EMF, vectors measured by a cellular phone in a building, wherein the EMF vector represents magnitude and direction of the earth'"'"'s magnetic field affected by the local structures of the building, wherein prior to location estimation of the cellular phone, a bias and/or a scaling factor of the measured EMF vectors is determined based on a difference between the measured EMF vectors and true magnetic field vectors at the location hypothesis of the cellular phone, and wherein the determined bias and/or the determined scaling factor is applied in the location estimation and/or the tracking of the cellular phone;

determine a location estimate of the cellular phone in the building based on (i) the determined bias and/or the determined scaling factor, (ii) the received EMF vectors, and (iii) an indoor EMF map, wherein the database server stores the indoor EMF map comprising EMF vector strength and direction at any given location in the building; and

communicate the location estimate to the cellular phone, thereby initializing the cellular phone with the location estimate.