Distributed method and system for determining the position of a mobile device using long-range signals and calibrating the position using short-range signals

• US 9,338,606 B2
• Filed: 09/08/2014
• Issued: 05/10/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Golba LLC
• Original Assignee: Golba LLC
• Inventors: Moshfeghi, Mehran
• Primary Examiner(s): DOAN, KIET M
• Application Number:
  US14/480,583
• Publication Number:
  US 20150057017A1
• Time in Patent Office: 610 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/456.6, 455/450, 455/410, 455/456.2, 342/457, 342/363, 342/463, 342/378
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0009 Transmission of position information to remote stations involving assistance data G01S5/0236
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/021 Calibration, monitoring or correction G01S5/0252 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0236 Assistance data, e.g. base station almanac
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02585 at least one of the measurements being a non-radio measurement
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0712 the arrangement being capable of triggering distinct operating modes or functions dependent on the strength of an energy or interrogation field in the proximity of the record carrier active means for hindering electromagnetic reading or writing G06K19/07336
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3224 Transactions dependent on location of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/409 Device specific authentication in transaction processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/73 for taking measurements, e.g. using sensing coils
• 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 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/30 Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for improving the carbon footprint of the management of residential or tertiary loads, i.e. smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the buildings sector, including also the last stages of power distribution and the control, monitoring or operating management systems at local level
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method and system is described where a plurality of position reference devices use short-range wireless communication protocols to transmit positioning assistance data to nearby mobile devices, and the mobile devices use the assistance data to model errors and re-calibrate their positioning systems. The short-range communication methods include NFC, RFID, Bluetooth®, short-range 802.11, Wi-Fi Direct, and high frequency focused beams such as 60 GHz. The position reference devices are passive or active NFC tags, passive or active RFID tags, other devices that include such tags as their components, Bluetooth®-enabled devices, 60 GHz-enabled devices, and 802.11 access points that can lower their transmit power. The reference devices are located at various indoor and outdoor locations such as smart posters, kiosks, ATM machines, malls, store checkout counters, store security gates, wireless access points, cellular base-stations, tollbooths, traffic lights, and street lamp posts.

Claims

1. A method of determining a position of a mobile device and calibrating a positioning system of the mobile device, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of signals from a plurality of transmitting devices;

using the positioning system of the mobile device, setting the position of the mobile device to a position calculated based on the received signals;

receiving a position of a position reference device using near field communication (NFC) electromagnetic coupling in an NFC mode, wherein the mobile device provides an electromagnetic field and the position reference device responds by modulating and backscattering the position of the position reference device;

setting the position of the mobile device from said calculated position to the position of the position reference device; and

calibrating the positioning system of the mobile device such that the calculated position of the mobile device using the positioning system coincides with the received position of the position reference device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein calibrating the positioning system of the mobile device comprises:

calculating a correction factor for the positioning system of the mobile device using the position of the reference device; and

applying the correction factor to the position calculated based on the received signals.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising iteratively waiting for a predetermined amount of time and performing said receiving of a plurality of signals and said setting the position of the mobile device to a position calculated based on the received signals until further position from a position reference device is received.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving a transmission power level of the position reference device, wherein calibrating the positioning system of the mobile device comprises:

determining a distance of the position reference device and the mobile device based on a difference between the transmission power level of the position reference device and a power level of signals received from the position reference device; and

using the position of the position reference device to calibrate the positioning model only when the distance is less than a predetermined threshold.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the position reference device is a first position reference device, the method further comprising:

receiving positioning assistance data from a second position reference device, the positioning assistance data received from the second position reference device comprising a pre-stored or calculated position of the second position reference device and at least one of the second position reference device identification (ID), a type of the second position reference device, an indication whether the second position reference device is stationary or moving, a short-range communication protocol supported by the second position reference device and an associated transmission power level, a timestamp indicating when a reference position associated with the second position reference device was calibrated, and position assistance data for a set of positioning methods supported by the second position reference device; and

determining whether to set the position of the mobile device to the position of the second position reference device based on the positioning assistant data received from the second position reference device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the position of the position reference device is received from the position reference device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the position of the position reference device is received from a position server communicatively coupled to the mobile device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a transmit power and an operating frequency of the position reference device is changed to adjust an operating range of the position reference device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning system of the mobile device measures one of a (i) single trip Time Of Arrival (TOA), (ii) round-trip TOA, (iii) Time Difference Of Arrival (TDOA), and (iv) Angle Of Arrival (AOA) of the received signals to calculate the position of the mobile device, wherein calibrating the positioning system comprises reducing an effect of errors comprising at least one of clock drifts, multipath propagation, synchronization errors, and measurement errors in calculating the position of the mobile device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device receives positioning assistance data from the position reference device using near field communication (NFC) in a peer-to-peer (P2P) mode, wherein the position reference device and the mobile device each comprises a power source, NFC antenna circuits, and NFC coils, wherein the mobile device and the position reference device each turn off a corresponding RF field by turning off power from the corresponding power source to the corresponding NFC antenna circuits and the corresponding NFC coils when receiving data.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the position reference device is located in one of a smart poster, a kiosk, an ATM machine, a mall, a store check out counter, a store security gate, a wireless access point, a cellular base-station, a toll booth, a traffic light, and a street lamp post.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is one of a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop, a tablet, a digital video camera, a video game player, a wireless headset, a wireless mouse, a wireless keyboard, a pager, an external hard drive, a toy, an electronic book reader, a sensor, a CD/DVD/cassette/MP-3 player, an electronic appliance, and an automobile.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device comprises a graphical user interface, the method further comprising:

receiving a selection through the graphical user interface to perform manual position re-calibration requiring a user approval to set the position of the mobile device; and

receiving an approval for setting the position of the mobile device before setting the position of the mobile device to the position of the position reference device.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device comprises a graphical user interface, the method further comprising:

prior to receiving the position of the position reference device, receiving a list of approved position reference devices through the graphical user interface; and

determining that the position reference device is in the list of approved position reference devices before setting the position of the mobile device to the position of the position reference device.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device comprises a graphical user interface, wherein the position reference device is a first position reference device, the method further comprising:

receiving a list of disapproved position reference devices through the graphical user interface;

receiving a position of a second position reference device; and

ignoring the position received from the second position reference device when the second position reference device is in the list of disapproved position reference devices.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device comprises a graphical user interface, wherein the position reference device is a first position reference device, the method further comprising:

receiving a set of approved position reference device types through the graphical user interface;

receiving positioning assistance data from a second position reference device, the positioning assistance data received from the second position reference device comprising a type of the second position reference device and a position of the second position reference device; and

setting the position of the mobile device to the position of the second position reference device when the type of the second position reference device matches a type in the set of approved position reference device types.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein a position reference device type comprises at least one of a stationary type, a moving type, and an indication of a communication protocol supported by the position reference device and the associated transmission power level.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device comprises a graphical user interface, the method further comprising:

receiving a command through the graphical user interface to disable positioning calibration;

disabling positioning calibration in response to the receiving of the command; and

ignoring any positioning assistance data received from position reference devices while positioning calibration is disabled.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device comprises a graphical user interface, wherein the position reference device is a first position reference device, the method further comprising:

receiving a set of time intervals for positioning re-calibration through the graphical user interface;

receiving positioning assistance data from a second position reference device, the positioning assistance data received from the second position reference device comprising a position of the second position reference device; and

setting the position of the mobile device to the position of the second position reference device when a time the positioning assistance data is received from the second position reference device is within the set of time intervals for positioning re-calibration.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device comprises a graphical user interface, wherein the position reference device is a first position reference device, the method further comprising:

receiving a set of regions for positioning re-calibration through the graphical user interface;

receiving a position a second position reference device from the second position reference device; and

setting the position of the mobile device to the position of the second position reference device only when the position of the second position reference device is within a region in the set of regions specified for positioning re-calibration.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device comprises a graphical user interface, the method further comprising displaying the position of the mobile device on the graphical user interface.