Acquisition of navigation assistance information for a mobile station

• US 9,229,089 B2
• Filed: 06/10/2010
• Issued: 01/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Do, Ju-Yong, Farmer, Dominic Gerard
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Mahendra
• Application Number:
  US12/813,351
• Publication Number:
  US 20110306323A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,035 Days
• Field of Search: 455/412.1, 455/414.1, 455/456.1, 455/456.2, 455/456.3, 455/41.2, 455/41.1, 455/457, 342/357.42, 342/357.64, 342/357.43, 701/470, 701/300
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0236 Assistance data, e.g. base station almanac

Abstract

Navigation assistance information for a mobile station is acquired based on a feature descriptor of an image of a visual beacon captured by the mobile station. The navigation assistance information includes locations of neighboring visual beacons, locations of wireless positioning resources; user environmental context information. The navigation assistance information may then be used to assist in navigating within the local environment. The visual beacon may be an artificial feature, such as a QR code or other type of matrix or bar code or a natural feature, such as a statute or architectural detail. The mobile station may request navigation assistance by transmitting the feature descriptor to a server. The server retrieves the navigation assistance information from a database based on the feature descriptor and optionally location information, which may also be provided in the navigation assistance request, and transmits the navigation assistance information to the mobile station.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

imaging a visual beacon within an environment with a mobile station;

generating, with a processor, at least one feature descriptor for the visual beacon;

obtaining, with the processor, locations of neighboring visual beacons associated with the feature descriptor, the neighboring visual beacons being different than the visual beacon imaged with the mobile station; and

using the locations of neighboring visual beacons with the processor to assist in navigating within the environment by updating the mobile station position during navigation based on a location of a neighboring visual beacon of the neighboring visual beacons when the neighboring visual beacon is imaged by the mobile station.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the visual beacon is one of an artificial visual beacon in which data is encoded and a natural visual beacon in which data is not encoded.

3. The method of claim 1, further obtaining, with the processor, information including a size and type of the neighboring visual beacons.

4. The method of claim 1, further obtaining, with the processor, locations of wireless positioning resources associated with the feature descriptor, wherein the wireless positioning resources transmit wireless signals and comprise at least one of a satellite positioning system, Femtocell, WiFi, and cellular signal access points, and wherein the locations of wireless positioning resources is used with the processor to further assist in navigating within the environment.

5. The method of claim 4, further obtaining, with the processor, at least one of signal type, signal power level, number of channels, frequency and time offset, and corresponding wireless channel characteristics, and tracking statistics including at least one of accuracy, continuity, integrity, and availability of the wireless positioning resources.

6. The method of claim 1, further obtaining, with the processor, environmental context associated with the feature descriptor, wherein the environmental context comprises at least one of a description of the environment type, and a description of surrounding materials, wherein the environmental context is used with the processor to further assist in navigating within the environment.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising using the locations of neighboring visual beacons to assist in locating and imaging a neighboring visual beacon.

8. The method of claim 4, further comprising using the locations of wireless positioning resources to assist in determining a current position using a wireless positioning resource.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising using the user environmental context for adjusting navigation processing.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein adjusting the navigation processing comprises at least one of adjusting a rate of position acquisition, adjusting a state of a navigation filter, and determining positioning sources to be used in the navigation processing.

11. The method of claim 1, further obtaining, with the processor, user context associated with the feature descriptor, wherein the user context comprises statistics of previous user information and wherein statistics of previous user information include at least one of average reported user speed, standard deviation of reported user speed, average reported user dwell time, and standard deviation of reported user dwell time, and wherein the user context is used with the processor to further assist in navigating within the environment.

38. The method of claim 1, wherein using the locations of the neighboring visual beacons with the processor to assist in navigating within the environment comprises minimizing amassed errors while navigating within the environment using the locations of the neighboring visual beacons.

12. A method comprising:

receiving, with a processor, a navigation assistance request from a mobile station, the navigation assistance request including at least one feature descriptor of a visual beacon imaged by the mobile station;

retrieving, with the processor, locations of other visual beacons neighboring the visual beacon and that are different than the visual beacon, the neighboring other visual beacons being associated with the feature descriptor; and

transmitting to the mobile station a navigation assistance message that includes locations of the neighboring other visual beacons in response to the navigation assistance request, the locations of the neighboring other visual beacons transmitted to enable the mobile station to navigate within the environment by updating the mobile station position during navigation based on a location of a neighboring visual beacon of the neighboring visual beacons when the neighboring visual beacon is imaged by the mobile station.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the navigation assistance request further includes location information, wherein retrieving the locations of the neighboring other visual beacons comprises searching a database based on the feature descriptor and the location information.

14. The method of claim 12, further transmitting a size and type of the neighboring other visual beacons in response to the navigation assistance request.

15. The method of claim 12, further retrieving with the processor locations of wireless positioning resources associated with the feature descriptor, wherein the wireless positioning resources and comprises at least one of a satellite positioning system, Femtocell, WiFi, and cellular signal access points, wherein the navigation assistance message further includes the locations of wireless positioning resources.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the navigation assistance information further includes at least one of signal type, signal power level, number of channels, frequency and time offset, and corresponding wireless channel characteristics, and tracking statistics including at least one of accuracy, continuity, integrity, and availability of the wireless positioning resources.

17. The method of claim 12, further retrieving with the processor environmental context associated with the feature descriptor, wherein the environmental context comprises at least one of a description of the environment type, and a description of surrounding materials, wherein the navigation assistance message further includes the environmental context.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving a second navigation assistance request that includes at least one feature descriptor of a second visual beacon;

searching a database based on the feature descriptor for the second visual beacon; and

storing the feature descriptor for the second visual beacon in the database when the second feature descriptor is not found in the database.

39. The method of claim 12, further retrieving, with the processor, user context associated with the feature descriptor, wherein the user context comprises statistics of previous user information and wherein statistics of previous user information include at least one of average reported user speed, standard deviation of reported user speed, average reported user dwell time, and standard deviation of reported user dwell time, and wherein the navigation assistance message further includes the user context.

19. A mobile station comprising:

a camera being operable to image a visual beacon within an environment;

a processor connected to the camera, wherein the processor is configured

to generate at least one feature descriptor of an image of a visual beacon from the camera;

to obtain locations of neighboring visual beacons associated with the feature descriptor, the neighboring visual beacons being different than the visual beacon imaged with the camera; and

to use the locations of the neighboring visual beacons to assist in navigating within the environment by updating the mobile station position during navigation based on a location of a neighboring visual beacon of the neighboring visual beacons when the neighboring visual beacon is imaged by the mobile station.

20. The mobile station of claim 19, further comprising a wireless transceiver, wherein the processor is configured to obtain the locations of neighboring visual beacons by being configured to transmit a navigation assistance request on the wireless transceiver that includes the feature descriptor and the locations of the neighboring visual beacons is received by the wireless transceiver.

21. The mobile station of claim 20, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain locations of wireless positioning resources associated with the feature descriptor, wherein the wireless positioning resources transmit wireless signals, and the processor is further configured to assist in determining a current position using a wireless positioning resource.

22. The mobile station of claim 19, wherein the visual beacon is one of an artificial visual beacon in which data is encoded and a natural visual beacon in which data is not encoded.

23. The mobile station of claim 19, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain information including a size and type of neighboring visual beacons.

24. The mobile station of claim 21, wherein the wireless positioning resources comprises at least one of a satellite positioning system, Femtocell, WiFi, and cellular signal access points.

25. The mobile station of claim 24, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain at least one of signal type, signal power level, number of channels, frequency and time offset, and corresponding wireless channel characteristics, and tracking statistics including at least one of accuracy, continuity, integrity, and availability of the wireless positioning resources.

26. The mobile station of claim 19, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain environmental context associated with the feature descriptor, wherein the environmental context comprises at least one of a description of the environment type, and a description of surrounding materials, wherein the processor is further configured to use the environmental context to assist in navigating within the environment.

27. The mobile station of claim 26, further comprising a display connected to the processor;

wherein the environmental context further comprises a map of the environment and the processor is configured to display the map of the environment on the display to assist in locating a neighboring visual beacon.

28. The mobile station of claim 26, wherein the processor is further configured to use the environmental context for adjusting navigation processing.

29. The mobile station of claim 28, wherein adjusting the navigation processing comprises at least one of adjusting a rate of position acquisition, adjusting a state of a navigation filter, and determining positioning sources to be used in the navigation processing.

40. The mobile station of claim 19, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain user context associated with the feature descriptor, wherein the user context comprises statistics of previous user information, wherein statistics of previous user information include at least one of average reported user speed, standard deviation of reported user speed, average reported user dwell time, and standard deviation of reported user dwell time, and wherein the processor is further configured to use the user context to assist in navigating within the environment.

30. A system for accessing and updated positional information for a mobile station comprising:

means for generating at least one feature descriptor of a visual beacon within an environment based on an image of the visual beacon;

means for obtaining locations of neighboring visual beacons associated with the feature descriptor, the neighboring visual beacons being different than the imaged visual beacon; and

means for using the locations of the neighboring visual beacons to assist in navigating within the environment by updating the mobile station position during navigation based on a location of a neighboring visual beacon of the neighboring visual beacons when the neighboring visual beacon is imaged by the mobile station.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the means for obtaining the locations of the neighboring visual beacons comprises a means for transmitting a navigation assistance request that includes the feature descriptor of the visual beacon and a means for receiving the locations of neighboring visual beacons.

32. The system of claim 30, wherein the means for obtaining the locations of neighboring visual beacons comprises a database of locations of visual beacons and a means for searching for the database based on the feature descriptor.

33. The system of claim 30, further comprising means for obtaining a size and type of neighboring visual beacons.

34. The system of claim 30, further comprising means for obtaining wireless positioning resources associated with the feature descriptor, wherein the wireless positioning resources transmit wireless signals and comprises at least one of a satellite positioning system, Femtocell, WiFi, and cellular signal access points, and at least one of signal type, signal power level, number of channels, frequency and time offset, and corresponding wireless channel characteristics, and tracking statistics including at least one of accuracy, continuity, integrity, and availability of the wireless positioning resources, and further comprising means for using the locations of wireless positioning resources to further assist in navigating within the environment.

35. The system of claim 30, further comprising means for obtaining environmental context associated with the feature descriptor, wherein the environmental context comprises at least one of a description of the environment type, and a description of surrounding materials, and further comprising means for using the environmental context to further assist in navigating within the environment.

41. The system of claim 30, further comprising means for obtaining user context associated with the feature descriptor, wherein the user context comprises statistics of previous user information, wherein statistics of previous user information include at least one of average reported user speed, standard deviation of reported user speed, average reported user dwell time, and standard deviation of reported user dwell time, and further comprising means for using the user context to further assist in navigating within the environment.

36. A non-transitory computer-readable medium including program code stored thereon, comprising:

program code to determine at least one feature descriptor from an image of a visual beacon;

program code to obtain locations of neighboring visual beacons associated with the feature descriptor, the neighboring visual beacons being different than the imaged visual beacon; and

program code to use the locations of the neighboring visual beacons to assist in navigating within the environment by updating the mobile station position during navigation based on a location of a neighboring visual beacon when the neighboring visual beacon of the neighboring visual beacons is imaged by the mobile station.

37. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 36, further comprising program code to transmit a navigation assistance request that includes the feature descriptor of the visual beacon.