Method and apparatus for determining locations of access points

• US 9,432,964 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2013
• Issued: 08/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Garin, Lionel Jacques, Zhang, Xiaoxin
• Primary Examiner(s): McGue, Frank J
• Application Number:
  US13/831,403
• Publication Number:
  US 20130307723A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,265 Days
• Field of Search: 342/458
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 48/04 Particle-shaped making granules B29B9/00
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 48/05 Filamentary, e.g. strands
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 48/17 the components having different colours
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 48/21 the layers being joined at their surfaces
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 48/28 Storing of extruded material, e.g. by winding up or stacking
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 48/40 using two or more parallel screws or at least two parallel non-intermeshing screws, e.g. twin screw extruders
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 48/49 using two or more extruders to feed one die or nozzle
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 11/06 using intensity measurements
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/46 the supplementary measurement being of a radio-wave signal type
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/021 Calibration, monitoring or correction G01S5/0252 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0249 Determining position using measurements made by a non-stationary device other than the device whose position is being determined
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0284 Relative positioning
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/06 Position of source determined by co-ordinating a plurality of position lines defined by path-difference measurements G01S5/12 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/14 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/003 locating network equipment

Abstract

Methods, systems, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for determining locations of access points (AP) are presented. Techniques are described for determining relative and absolute locations of APs. In one embodiment, a device may send and receive messages to one or more APs for from various locations for determining the distance between the device and the AP. The device may additionally keep track of its own displacement for the purposes of determining the location of the one or more APs. In one embodiment, the device also determines the turnaround calibration factor (TCF) for the AP that compensates for the processing time at the AP may also be used for increasing the accuracy of the determination of the location of the AP.

Claims

1. A method for determining location of access points (AP), the method comprising:

obtaining, at a mobile device, a first plurality of distance-related measurements associated with a first location, comprising at least a first distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the first location and a first AP and a second distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the first location and a second AP;

obtaining, at the mobile device, a second plurality of distance-related measurements associated with a second location, comprising at least a third distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the second location and the first AP and a fourth distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the second location and the second AP;

determining, at the mobile device, a relative change in location associated with a movement of the mobile device from the first location to the second location; and

determining, by the mobile device, a relative location of the first AP compared with the second AP by determining an inter-distance measurement of the first AP and the second AP, based at least in part on the first plurality of distance-related measurements, the second plurality of distance-related measurements and the relative change in location.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining, at the mobile device, an absolute location of the second AP from a server or a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS);

determining, by the mobile device, the absolute location of the first AP, based at least in part on the absolute location of the second AP and the inter-distance measurement of the first AP and the second AP; and

sending, by the mobile device, to the server the absolute location of the first AP.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

sending, by the mobile device, the absolute location of the first AP to a server, wherein the server combines the absolute location of the first AP with previously stored AP location data to create an updated first AP location for communicating the first AP location to a second mobile device.

4. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

combining, by the mobile device, the absolute location of the first AP with received signal strength indication (RSSI) measurements to create an AP map.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of distance-related measurements and the second plurality of distance-related measurements comprise round trip time (RTT) measurements between the mobile device and each AP.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of distance-related measurements and the second plurality of distance-related measurements comprise received signal strength indication (RSSI) measurements.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising using a turnaround calibration factor (TCF) for each AP in determining, by the mobile device, the inter-distance measurement of the first AP and the second AP, wherein TCF for an AP comprises turn-around time of the AP between reception of a packet and retransmission of a response packet.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the turn-around time of the AP comprises at least processing time of the AP for responding to a request from the mobile device.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the TCF for at least the first AP is determined by the mobile device, and determining the TCF comprises:

obtaining, at the mobile device, at least three distance-related measurements between the mobile device and the first AP, wherein each of the at least three distance-related measurements are obtained at different locations;

obtaining, at the mobile device, TCF-related location information of the mobile device each time one of the at least three distance-related measurements is obtained; and

determining, by the mobile device, the TCF of the first AP, based at least in part on the at least three distance-related measurements and the TCF-related location information of the mobile device obtained during each time the at least three distance-related measurements are obtained.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the relative change in location associated with the movement of the mobile device comprises at least determining, by the mobile device, relative locations based on a pedometer or/and an inertial sensor operated by the mobile device.

11. A mobile device, comprising:

a transceiver configured to;

obtain a first plurality of distance-related measurements associated with a first location, comprising at least a first distance-related measurement between a mobile device at the first location and a first AP and a second distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the first location and a second AP; and

obtain a second plurality of distance-related measurements associated with a second location, comprising at least a third distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the second location and the first AP and a fourth distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the second location and the second AP;

a processor configured to;

determine a relative change in location associated with a movement of the mobile device from the first location to the second location; and

determine a relative location of the first AP compared with the second AP by determining an inter-distance measurement of the first AP and the second AP, based at least in part on the first plurality of distance-related measurements, the second plurality of distance-related measurements and the relative change in location.

12. The mobile device of claim 11, further configured to:

obtain an absolute location of the second AP from a server or a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS);

determine the absolute location of the first AP, by the processor, based at least in part on the absolute location of the second AP and the inter-distance measurement of the first AP and the second AP; and

send the absolute location of the first AP to the server.

13. The mobile device of claim 12 further comprising:

sending the absolute location of the first AP to a server for combining the absolute location of the first AP with previously stored AP location data to create an updated first AP location, and for communicating the updated first AP location to a second mobile device.

14. The mobile device of claim 12, further configured to:

combine the absolute location of the first AP with received signal strength indication (RSSI) measurements to create an AP map.

15. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the first plurality of distance-related measurements and the second plurality of distance-related measurements comprise round trip time (RTT) measurements between the mobile device and each AP.

16. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the first plurality of distance-related measurements and the second plurality of distance-related measurements comprise received signal strength indication (RSSI) measurements.

17. The mobile device of claim 11, further comprising using a turnaround calibration factor (TCF) for each AP in determining the inter-distance measurement of the first AP and the second AP, by the processor, wherein TCF for an AP comprises turn-around time of the AP between reception of a packet and retransmission of a response packet.

18. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the turn-around time of the AP comprises at least processing time by the AP for responding to a request from the mobile device.

19. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the TCF for at least the first AP is determined by the mobile device, and the mobile device is configured to determine the TCF by:

obtaining at least three distance-related measurements between the mobile device and the first AP, wherein each of the at least three distance-related measurements are obtained at different locations;

obtaining TCF-related location information of the mobile device each time one of the at least three distance-related measurements is obtained; and

determining the TCF of the first AP, based at least in part on the at least three distance-related measurements and the TCF-related location information of the mobile device obtained during each time the at least three distance-related measurements are obtained.

20. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the relative change in location associated with the movement of the mobile device is configured to at least determine relative locations based on a pedometer or/and an inertial sensor operated by the mobile device.

21. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium, wherein the non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprises instructions executable by a processor, the instructions comprising instructions to:

obtain, at the mobile device, a first plurality of distance-related measurements associated with a first location, comprising at least a first distance-related measurement between a mobile device at the first location and a first AP and a second distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the first location and a second AP;

obtain, at the mobile device, a second plurality of distance-related measurements associated with a second location, comprising at least a third distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the second location and the first AP and a fourth distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the second location and the second AP;

determine, by the mobile device, a relative change in location associated with a movement of the mobile device from the first location to the second location; and

determine, by the mobile device, a relative location of the first AP compared with the second AP by determining an inter-distance measurement of the first AP and the second AP, based at least in part on the first plurality of distance-related measurements, the second plurality of distance-related measurements and the relative change in location.

22. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 21, further configured to:

obtain, by the mobile device, an absolute location of the second AP from a server or a or a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS);

determine, by the mobile device, the absolute location of the first AP, based at least in part on the absolute location of the second AP and the inter-distance measurement of the first AP and the second AP; and

send, the absolute location of the first AP from the mobile device to the server.

23. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein the first plurality of distance-related measurements and the second plurality of distance-related measurements comprise round trip time (RTT) measurements between the mobile device and the first AP.

24. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 21, further comprising using a turnaround calibration factor (TCF) for each AP in determining the inter-distance measurement of the first AP and the second AP, wherein TCF for an AP comprises turn-around time of the AP between reception of a packet and retransmission of a response packet.

25. A mobile device, comprising:

means for obtaining a first plurality of distance-related measurements associated with a first location, comprising at least a first distance-related measurement between a mobile device at the first location and a first AP and a second distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the first location and a second AP;

means for obtaining a second plurality of distance-related measurements associated with a second location, comprising at least a third distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the second location and the first AP and a fourth distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the second location and the second AP;

means for determining a relative change in location associated with a movement of the mobile device from the first location to the second location; and

means for determining a relative location of the first AP compared with the second AP by determining an inter-distance measurement of the first AP and the second AP, based at least in part on the first plurality of distance-related measurements, the second plurality of distance-related measurements and the relative change in location.

26. The mobile device of claim 25, further comprising:

means for obtaining an absolute location of the second AP from a server or a or a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS);

means for determining the absolute location of the first AP, based at least in part on the absolute location of the second AP and the inter-distance measurement of the first AP and the second AP; and

means for sending the absolute location of the second AP to the server.

27. The mobile device of claim 25, wherein the first plurality of distance-related measurements and the second plurality of distance-related measurements comprise round trip time (RTT) measurements.

28. The mobile device of claim 25, further comprising using a turnaround calibration factor (TCF) for each AP in determining the inter-distance measurement of the first AP and the second AP, wherein TCF for an AP comprises turn-around time of the AP between reception of a packet and retransmission of a response packet.