Visual OCR for positioning

• US 9,080,882 B2
• Filed: 03/02/2012
• Issued: 07/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Gupta, Rajarshi, Das, Saumitra Mohan, Chao, Hui
• Primary Examiner(s): Lu, Tom Y
• Application Number:
  US13/411,085
• Publication Number:
  US 20130230208A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,229 Days
• Field of Search: 382/103
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/206 specially adapted for indoor navigation
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3602 Input other than that of destination using image analysis, e.g. detection of road signs, lanes, buildings, real preceding vehicles using a camera
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/16 using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/63 Scene text, e.g. street names
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/10 Character recognition

Abstract

A mobile device can receive OCR library information associated with a coarse position. The coarse position can be determined by the mobile device, or by a network server configured to communicate with the mobile device. A camera on the mobile device can obtain images of human-readable information in an area near the coarse position. The view finder image can be processed with an OCR engine that is utilizing the OCR library information to determine one or more location string values. A location database can be searched based on the location string values. The position of the mobile device can be estimated and displayed. The position estimated can be adjusted based on the proximity of the mobile device to other features in the image.

Claims

1. A mobile device for providing position information, comprising:

an image capture module;

a memory configured to store a received Optical Character Recognition (OCR) library information and a local information, the OCR library information and the local information being based on a coarse location of the mobile device, wherein the OCR library information includes a character feature file and the local information includes one or more feature dimensions;

a processor programmed to;

send the coarse location of the mobile device;

receive the OCR library information and the local information;

calculate a location string value in an image obtained by the image capture module based on the received OCR library information;

determine a zone of influence based on the location string value;

determine a boundary of one or more features in the image; and

determine a position based on the zone of influence, the boundary of the one or more features in the image, and the one or more feature dimensions included in the local information.

2. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to calculate a plurality of location string values in one or more images obtained by the image capture module based on the received OCR library information, and determine the zone of influence based on the plurality of location string values.

3. The mobile device of claim 1, comprising a graphical display, wherein the processor is programmed to output a graphical map of the position to the graphical display.

4. The mobile device of claim 3, wherein the graphical map includes a point of interest associated with the position.

5. A method for using a camera to determine the position of a mobile device, comprising:

receiving OCR library information based on a coarse location of the mobile device, wherein the OCR library information includes a character feature file;

receiving local information based on the coarse location of the mobile device, wherein the local information includes one or more feature dimensions;

obtaining an image including human-readable location information and at least one feature;

utilizing the OCR library information to determine a location string value based on the human-readable location information in the image;

determining a zone of influence based on the location string value;

determining a boundary of the at least one feature; and

determining a position of the mobile device based on the zone of influence, the boundary of the at least one feature, and the one or more feature dimensions included in the local information.

6. The method of claim 5 comprising utilizing the OCR library information to determine a plurality location string values based on the human-readable location information in the image and determining the zone of influence based on the plurality of location string values.

7. The method of claim 5 comprising determining a plurality of boundaries of one or more features, and determining the position of the mobile device based on the zone of influence, the plurality of boundaries, and the one or more feature dimension included in the local information.

8. A location assistance application embodied on a non-transient computer-readable storage medium for enabling a distributed computer system, comprising:

an OCR library code segment configured to store OCR library information associated with a coarse position, wherein the OCR library information is configured to constrain a result generated by an OCR engine; and

a position information database code segment configured to store local information associated with at least one location string value generated by the OCR engine, wherein the local information includes one or more feature dimensions of objects disposed at or near the coarse position.

9. The location assistance application of claim 8 comprising a measurements code segment configured to store measurement information associated with one or more wireless transmitting devices.

10. A method of providing local information to a mobile device, comprising:

determining OCR library information and local information based on a coarse location of the mobile device, wherein the OCR library information includes a word list and a character feature file, and the local information includes one or more feature dimensions;

sending the OCR library information and the local information to the mobile device;

receiving at least one location string value from the mobile device, wherein the at least one location string value is included in the word list;

receiving a relative position information from the mobile device, wherein the relative position information is associated with one or more feature dimensions in the local information;

determining position information based on the at least one location string value and the relative position information; and

sending the position information to the mobile device.

11. The method of claim 10 comprising receiving coarse location information from the mobile device.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the OCR library information includes a character feature file.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the OCR library information includes fixed formatting rules.

14. A system for determining a location of a mobile device, comprising:

a memory;

a processor programmed to;

determine a coarse location of the mobile device;

compute a local information data package based on the coarse location of the mobile device, wherein the local information data package includes one or more zones of influence and feature dimension information associated with each of the zones of influence; and

send the local information data package to the mobile device.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the feature dimension information includes a height and a width dimension for a room identifier.

16. The system of claim 14 wherein the feature dimension information includes a height from floor dimension for the room identifier.

17. The system of claim 14 wherein the processor is programmed to:

receive an image file from the mobile device;

analyze the image for feature dimension information;

determine a position of the mobile device based on the a feature boundary in the image; and

send the position to the mobile device.

18. The system of claim 14 wherein the local information data package includes OCR library information.

19. The system of claim 14 wherein the processor is programmed to send the local information data package in response to a request sent from the mobile device.

20. A position detecting mobile device, comprising:

means for determining a coarse position of the mobile device;

means for capturing position reference information;

means for receiving a location information data package based on the coarse position of the mobile device, wherein the location information data package includes one or more zones of influence and one or more feature dimensions;

means for utilizing the location information data package and the captured position reference information to determine a fine position of the mobile device; and

means for displaying the fine position.

21. The position detecting mobile device of claim 20 wherein the position reference information is an image including human readable text, and the location information data package includes OCR library information.

22. The position detecting mobile device of claim 20 wherein the position reference information is an image of an area, wherein the image includes at least a room identifier and the fine position is determined based on a height and a width of the room identifier.

23. The position detecting mobile device of claim 20 wherein the position reference information is an electromagnetic signal and the location information data package includes a location and detection range of a transmitter that is a source of the electromagnetic signal.

24. The position detecting mobile device of claim 20 wherein the means for determining the coarse position of the mobile device includes a previous SPS location result.

25. A location assistance system for use in a mobile device network, comprising:

means for determining a coarse position information for a mobile device;

means for storing OCR library information and local information associated with the coarse position information, wherein the OCR library information includes a character feature file and the local information includes one or more feature dimensions; and

means for sending a local information data package to the mobile device, wherein the local information data package includes OCR library information and local information associated with the coarse position information.

26. The location assistance system of claim 25 comprising:

means for receiving at least one location string value from the mobile device;

means for receiving relative position information from the mobile device;

means for determining position information based on the at least one location string value and the relative position information; and

means for providing the position information to the mobile device.

27. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having data stored therein representing software executable by a computer, the software including instructions to determine a position of a mobile device, the storage medium comprising:

instructions for capturing position reference information;

instructions for receiving a location information data package based on a coarse position of the mobile device, wherein the location data package includes one or more zones of influence and one or more feature dimensions;

instructions for utilizing the location information package and the captured position reference information to determine a fine position of the mobile device; and

instructions for displaying the fine position.

28. The storage medium of claim 27 wherein the position reference information is an image of an area including a room identifier with human readable text, and the location data package includes OCR library information.

29. The storage medium of claim 27 further comprising instructions for detecting a range to the room identifier, wherein the range is based on a dimension associated with the room identifier and the one or more feature dimensions included in the location data package.

30. The storage medium of claim 27 further comprising instructions for determining the coarse position of the mobile device.