Estimating the geographical position of an apparatus based on its proximity to other apparatuses

• US 9,161,162 B2
• Filed: 12/29/2010
• Issued: 10/13/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Liu, Dong, Yang, Hao
• Primary Examiner(s): Kasraian, Allahyar
• Application Number:
  US13/995,258
• Publication Number:
  US 20130273943A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,749 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561-457
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

An example apparatus, such as a position server, is caused to receive proximity information from a number of mobile apparatuses located remote from the apparatus, and receive observed current locations from at least some but not all of the mobile apparatuses. The apparatus is also caused to determine a proximity relation between certain ones of the number of mobile apparatuses, where the proximity is reflected by the proximity information received from the mobile apparatuses. And the apparatus is caused to calculate an estimate of a current location of at least one of the one or more remaining mobile apparatuses as a function of the proximity relation between certain ones of the number of mobile apparatuses, and as a function of the observed current locations of the one or more mobile apparatuses.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least;

receive proximity information from a plurality of mobile apparatuses located remote from the apparatus, the proximity information received from each of the plurality of mobile apparatuses indicating any other mobile apparatuses in proximity of a respective one of the plurality of mobile apparatuses;

receive geographical location information from at least some but not all of the plurality of mobile apparatuses, the geographical location information received from each mobile apparatus of the at least some of the plurality of mobile apparatuses including an observed current location of the respective mobile apparatus;

determine a proximity relation between certain ones of the plurality of mobile apparatuses, proximity of the certain ones of the plurality of mobile apparatuses to one another being reflected by the proximity information received from the plurality of mobile apparatuses from which geographical location information was received and one or more remaining mobile apparatuses from which geographical location information was not received; and

calculate an estimate of a current location of at least one of the one or more remaining mobile apparatuses from which geographical location information was not received as a function of the proximity relation between the certain ones of the plurality of mobile apparatuses, and as a function of the observed current locations of the plurality of mobile apparatuses from which geographical location information was received.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the proximity information received from each mobile apparatus identifies any other mobile apparatuses discovered by the mobile apparatus as being in proximity of the mobile apparatus.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein being configured to cause the apparatus to determine a proximity relation between certain ones of the plurality of mobile apparatuses includes being configured to cause the apparatus to, for at least one mobile apparatus, relate the mobile apparatus and any other mobile apparatuses identified in the proximity information received from the mobile apparatus.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the proximity information received from each mobile apparatus identifies any access points discovered by the mobile apparatus as being in proximity of the mobile apparatus.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein being configured to cause the apparatus to determine a proximity relation between certain ones of the plurality of mobile apparatuses includes being configured to cause the apparatus to relate at least one and another of the mobile apparatuses in an instance in which the proximity information received from the respective mobile apparatuses identifies at least one common access point.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, being configured to cause the apparatus to calculate an estimate of a current location of at least one of the one or more remaining mobile apparatuses from which geographical location information was not received includes being configured to cause the apparatus to solve an optimization problem including an objective function and a set of constraints.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the objective function is defined to minimize the sum of absolute values of acceleration of the plurality of mobile apparatuses at a plurality of time instances, and wherein the set of constraints are defined to match the observed current locations of the at least some of the plurality of mobile apparatuses, and the proximity relation between certain ones of the number of mobile apparatuses.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein being configured to cause the apparatus to calculate an estimate of a current location of at least one of the one or more remaining mobile apparatuses from which geographical location information was not received includes being configured to cause the apparatus to solve an optimization problem including an objective function without any constraints.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the objective function is defined to maximize probabilities of a number of random events, including that the observed current locations are accurate, and that the proximity relation between certain ones of the number of mobile apparatuses is accurate.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further:

prepare a request for transmission to at least one of the plurality of mobile apparatuses, the apparatus being caused to receive at least one of proximity information or geographical information from the respective at least one of the plurality of mobile apparatuses in response to the request.

11. A method comprising:

receiving proximity information from a plurality of apparatuses, the proximity information received from each of the plurality of apparatuses indicating any other apparatuses in proximity of a respective one of the plurality of apparatuses;

receiving geographical location information from at least some but not all of the plurality of apparatuses, the geographical location information received from each apparatus of the at least some of the plurality of apparatuses including an observed current location of the respective apparatus;

determining a proximity relation between certain ones of the plurality of apparatuses, proximity of the certain ones of the plurality of apparatuses to one another being reflected by the proximity information received from the plurality of apparatuses from which geographical location information was received and one or more remaining apparatuses from which geographical location information was not received; and

calculating an estimate of a current location of at least one of the one or more remaining apparatuses from which geographical location information was not received as a function of the proximity relation between the certain ones of the plurality of apparatuses, and as a function of the observed current locations of the plurality of apparatuses from which geographical location information was received.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the proximity information received from each apparatus identifies any other apparatuses discovered by the apparatus as being in proximity of the apparatus.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein determining a proximity relation between certain ones of the plurality of apparatuses includes, for at least one apparatus, relating the apparatus and any other apparatuses identified in the proximity information received from the apparatus.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the proximity information received from each apparatus identifies any access points discovered by the apparatus as being in proximity of the apparatus.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein determining a proximity relation between certain ones of the plurality of apparatuses includes relating at least one and another of the apparatuses in an instance in which the proximity information received from the respective apparatuses identifies at least one common access point.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein calculating an estimate of a current location of at least one of the one or more remaining apparatuses from which geographical location information was not received includes solving an optimization problem including an objective function and a set of constraints.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the objective function is defined to minimize the sum of absolute values of acceleration of the plurality of apparatuses at a plurality of time instances, and wherein the set of constraints are defined to match the observed current locations of the at least some of the plurality of apparatuses, and the proximity relation between certain ones of the number of apparatuses.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein calculating an estimate of a current location of at least one of the one or more remaining apparatuses from which geographical location information was not received includes solving an optimization problem including an objective function without any constraints.

19. The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising:

preparing a request for transmission to at least one of the plurality of apparatuses, wherein at least one of receiving proximity information or receiving geographical information includes receiving proximity information or receiving geographical information from the respective at least one of the plurality of apparatuses in response to the request.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable storage medium and computer-readable program code portions being configured to, with at least one processor, cause an apparatus to at least:

receive proximity information from a plurality of mobile apparatuses located remote from the apparatus, the proximity information received from each of the plurality of mobile apparatuses indicating any other mobile apparatuses in proximity of a respective one of the plurality of mobile apparatuses;

receive geographical location information from at least some but not all of the plurality of mobile apparatuses, the geographical location information received from each mobile apparatus of the at least some of the plurality of mobile apparatuses including an observed current location of the respective mobile apparatus;

determine a proximity relation between certain ones of the plurality of mobile apparatuses, proximity of the certain ones of the plurality of mobile apparatuses to one another being reflected by the proximity information received from the plurality of mobile apparatuses from which geographical location information was received and one or more remaining mobile apparatuses from which geographical location information was not received; and

calculate an estimate of a current location of at least one of the one or more remaining mobile apparatuses from which geographical location information was not received as a function of the proximity relation between the certain ones of the plurality of mobile apparatuses, and as a function of the observed current locations of the plurality of mobile apparatuses from which geographical location information was received.