Method and system for determining position of an inertial computing device in a distributed network

• US 9,301,103 B1
• Filed: 04/20/2015
• Issued: 03/29/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Palantir Technologies Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Palantir Technologies Incorporated
• Inventors: Thompson, James
• Primary Examiner(s): Holloway, Jason
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bendidi, Rachid
• Application Number:
  US14/690,905
• Time in Patent Office: 344 Days
• Field of Search: 701/400, 701/445, 701/468, 701/469, 701/472, 701/482, 701/483, 701/485, 701/491, 701/492, 701/495, 701/500, 701/501, 701/433, 701/434, 701/530, 701/541, 340/901, 340/902, 340/932.2, 340/988, 340/426.1, 340/425.5, 340/426.7, 340/426.9, 340/426.2, 340/426.21, 340/445, 340/995.13, 342/357.27, 342/357.31, 342/357.34, 342/357.43, 342/357.44, 342/357.58, 342/357.59, 342/357.63, 342/357.66, 342/357.74, 379/137, 379/201.01, 379/266.01, 455/422.1, 455/456.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/188 for accumulated errors, e.g. by coupling inertial systems with absolute positioning systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/0062 in RFID [Radio Frequency Identification] Systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/77 for interrogation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/026 using orientation information, e.g. compass
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• 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

A system for retrieving information about a position of an inertial computing device (ICD) for use in an application, which includes a network of local positioning docks (PDs), each capable of docking an ICD by restricting three dimensions of a physical position of the ICD near one of the PDs; a database capable of storing information about the positions of the PDs within the network; a calculator capable of determining, based on a position of a positioning dock (PD), the position of the ICD; and an application programming interface (API) connected to the database and capable of outputting the position of a PD to the ICD.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a database configured to store, for each of a plurality of positioning docks each configured to allow docking of a mobile computing device in respective fixed positions;

information indicative of an estimation of the fixed position in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the positioning dock; and

a unique identifier associated with the positioning dock; and

a processor configured to;

receive a first indication of a first unique identifier associated with a first positioning dock of the plurality of positioning docks at which the mobile computing device is or was docked;

receive a second indication of a second unique identifier associated with a second positioning dock of the plurality of positioning docks at which the mobile computing device is or was docked after being docked with the first positioning dock;

receive position data indicative of a movement of the mobile computing device between docking with the first positioning dock and docking with the second positioning dock;

access, using the first indication of the first unique identifier, and from the database, the information indicative of the estimation of the fixed position in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the first positioning dock;

access, using the second indication of the second unique identifier, and from the database, the information indicative of the estimation of the fixed position in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the second positioning dock;

calculate, based on the received position data and the information indicative of the estimations of the fixed positions in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the respective first and second positioning docks, an updated estimation of the fixed position in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the second positioning dock; and

store, in the database, the updated estimation of the fixed position in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the second positioning dock.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein at least some of the plurality of positioning docks are mounted within a moving environment such as a car, phone, or boat.

3. The system of claim 2, further comprising a reference-positioning device that tracks inertial positioning of the moving environment to provide a reference for its motion.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein each of at least some of the plurality of positioning docks includes a sticker displaying the respective associated unique identifiers, the sticker useable by an operator of the mobile computing device to manually enter the unique identifiers into the mobile computing device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein each of at least some of the plurality of positioning docks includes a graphical encoding including the respective associated unique identifiers, the graphical encoding detectable with an imaging device of the mobile computing device.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein each of at least some of the plurality of positioning docks is configured to relay identifying information, including an indication of the respective associated unique identifiers, to the mobile computing device through a magnetometer.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein each of at least some of the plurality of positioning docks includes an RFID tag useable to be scanned by the mobile computing device to obtain the respective associated unique identifiers.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first indication or the second indication is received from the mobile computing device, and wherein global positioning system coordinates of the mobile computing device are used to provide the at least one of the first indication or the second indication.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the stored estimations of the fixed positions in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the respective positioning docks comprise at least one of:

respective estimations of absolute positions and orientations, or respective estimations of relative positions and orientations.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the position data indicative of the movement of the mobile computing device is received from the mobile computing device.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the position data indicative of the movement of the mobile computing device is obtained based on at least one of:

gyroscope position and orientation data provided by a gyroscope of the mobile computing device, accelerometer position and orientation data provided by an accelerometer of the mobile computing device, or compass position and orientation data provided by a compass of the mobile computing device.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the information indicative of the estimations of the fixed positions in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the respective positioning docks is useable to determine estimated positions and orientations of any of a plurality of mobile computing devices.

13. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

an application programming interface in communication with the database and configured to provide, to the mobile computing device, the information indicative of the estimations of the fixed positions in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the respective positioning docks.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

calculate, based on the received position data and the information indicative of the estimation of the fixed position in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the first positioning dock, an estimated position of the mobile computing device.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the estimated position of the mobile computing device includes an estimated position and orientation of the mobile computing device.

16. A computer-implemented method comprising:

by one or more computer processors executing software instructions;

communicating with a database configured to store, for each of a plurality of positioning docks each configured to allow docking of a mobile computing device in respective fixed positions;

information indicative of an estimation of the fixed position in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the positioning dock; and

a unique identifier associated with the positioning dock;

receiving a first indication of a first unique identifier associated with a first positioning dock of the plurality of positioning docks at which the mobile computing device is or was docked;

receiving a second indication of a second unique identifier associated with a second positioning dock of the plurality of positioning docks at which the mobile computing device is or was docked after being docked with the first positioning dock;

receiving position data indicative of a movement of the mobile computing device between docking with the first positioning dock and docking with the second positioning dock;

accessing, using the first indication of the first unique identifier, and from the database, the information indicative of the estimation of the fixed position in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the first positioning dock;

accessing, using the second indication of the second unique identifier, and from the database, the information indicative of the estimation of the fixed position in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the second positioning dock;

calculating, based on the received position data and the information indicative of the estimations of the fixed positions in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the respective first and second positioning docks, an updated estimation of the fixed position in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the second positioning dock; and

storing, in the database, the updated estimation of the fixed position in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the second positioning dock.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein the information indicative of the estimations of the fixed positions in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the respective positioning docks is useable to determine estimated positions and orientations of any of a plurality of mobile computing devices.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 16 further comprising:

by an application programming interface in communication with the database, providing, to the mobile computing device, the information indicative of the estimations of the fixed positions in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the respective positioning docks.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing software instructions that, in response to execution by one or more hardware computer processors, configure the one or more hardware computer processors to perform operations comprising:

communicating with a database configured to store, for each of a plurality of positioning docks each configured to allow docking of a mobile computing device in respective fixed positions;

information indicative of an estimation of the fixed position in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the positioning dock; and

a unique identifier associated with the positioning dock;

receiving a first indication of a first unique identifier associated with a first positioning dock of the plurality of positioning docks at which the mobile computing device is or was docked;

receiving a second indication of a second unique identifier associated with a second positioning dock of the plurality of positioning docks at which the mobile computing device is or was docked after being docked with the first positioning dock;

receiving position data indicative of a movement of the mobile computing device between docking with the first positioning dock and docking with the second positioning dock;

accessing, using the first indication of the first unique identifier, and from the database, the information indicative of the estimation of the fixed position in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the first positioning dock;

accessing, using the second indication of the second unique identifier, and from the database, the information indicative of the estimation of the fixed position in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the second positioning dock;

calculating, based on the received position data and the information indicative of the estimations of the fixed positions in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the respective first and second positioning docks, an updated estimation of the fixed position in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the second positioning dock; and

storing, in the database, the updated estimation of the fixed position in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the second positioning dock.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the software instructions configure the one or more hardware computer processors to further perform operations comprising:

calculating, based on the received position data and the information indicative of the estimation of the fixed position in which the mobile computing device may be docked with the first positioning dock, an estimated position of the mobile computing device.