Determining a position of a terminal

• US 9,523,762 B2
• Filed: 08/06/2015
• Issued: 12/20/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Wirola, Lauri Aarne Johannes, Laine, Tommi Antero, Raitoharju, Matti Samuli, Sirola, Niilo Torsten
• Primary Examiner(s): MAPA, MICHAEL Y
• Application Number:
  US14/819,687
• Publication Number:
  US 20150338502A1
• Time in Patent Office: 502 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.2, 4554141-4142, 4554561-457, 455/421, 340/539.13
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02521 using a radio-map
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/12 by co-ordinating position lines of different shape, e.g. hyperbolic, circular, elliptical or radial
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/14 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location

Abstract

It is disclosed an apparatus, a method and a computer program for determining a position of a terminal. It is checked if an intersection of all areas of a set of areas that are associated with one or more communication nodes and represent and/or limit possible positions of a terminal is potentially non-empty. Each of the areas is associable with a respective bounding box. The intersection is defined to be potentially non-empty if an intersection of all of the bounding boxes would be non-empty. A position of the terminal is determined in dependence on a result of the checking if the intersection of all areas of the set of areas is potentially non-empty.

Claims

1. An apparatus for determining a position of a terminal, said apparatus comprising:

a processor, and

a memory, said memory storing a program comprising program code, said memory and said program configured to, with said processor, cause said apparatus, when said program is executed on said processor, to perform checking whether an intersection of all areas of a set of areas that are associated with one or more communication nodes and represent and/or limit possible positions of a terminal is potentially non-empty, wherein each of said areas represents a coverage area of a communication node, wherein each of said areas is associable with a respective bounding box that is one of a rectangle and a rectangular cuboid, wherein said intersection is defined to be potentially non-empty when an intersection of all of said bounding boxes would be non-empty, and

further configured to cause said apparatus, when said program is executed on said processor, to perform determining a position of said terminal in dependence on a result of the checking whether said intersection of all areas of said set of areas is potentially non-empty, wherein said determining said position of said terminal is performed by determining a focus area and by determining said position of said terminal based on said focus area, wherein said position of said terminal is determined based on a weighted sum of positions that are distributed within said focus area, and wherein at least an initially used definition of weights to be multiplied by said positions in said weighted sum of positions depends on said result of said checking whether said intersection of all areas of said set of areas is potentially non-empty.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said memory and said program are configured to, with said processor, cause said apparatus, when said program is executed on said processor, to perform said checking whether an intersection of all areas of said set of areas is potentially non-empty based on a coordinate system, which defines a first axis and a second axis being orthogonal to the first axis, by:

determining, for each area in said set of areas, the largest coordinate component with respect to the first axis and selecting the smallest of these largest coordinate components as a first value;

determining, for each area in said set of areas, the smallest coordinate component with respect to the first axis and selecting the largest of these smallest coordinate components as a second value;

determining, for each area in said set of areas, the largest coordinate component with respect to the second axis and selecting the smallest of these largest coordinate components as a third value;

determining, for each area in said set of areas, the smallest coordinate component with respect to the second axis and selecting the largest of these smallest coordinate components as a fourth value; and

considering said intersection to be potentially non-empty when said first value is larger than or equal to the second value and said third value is larger than or equal to the fourth value.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said memory and said program are configured to, with said processor, cause said apparatus, when said program is executed on said processor, to perform at least one of determining at least said focus area in dependence on said result of said checking whether said intersection of all areas of said set of areas is potentially non-empty, determining, in case that said intersection of all areas of said set of areas is found to be potentially non-empty, said focus area to represent said intersection of all of said bounding boxes associable with said areas of said set of areas, and determining, in case that said intersection of all areas of said set of areas is not found to be potentially non-empty, said focus area by:

excluding one or more areas from said set of areas to obtain a reduced set of areas;

checking whether an intersection of all areas of said reduced set of areas is potentially non-empty, wherein each of said areas of said reduced set of areas is associable with a respective bounding box, and wherein said intersection is defined to be potentially non-empty when an intersection of all of said bounding boxes associable with said areas of said reduced set of areas would be non-empty; and

determining, in case that said intersection of all areas of said reduced set of areas is found to be potentially non-empty, said focus area to represent said intersection of all of said bounding boxes associable with said areas of said reduced set of areas.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said memory and said program are configured to, with said processor, cause said apparatus, when said program is executed on said processor, to perform determining, in case that said intersection of all areas of said set of areas is not found to be potentially non-empty, said focus area based on a coordinate system, which defines a first axis and a second axis being orthogonal to the first axis, by:

choosing a variable n equal to 2;

selecting, as a first value, the n-th smallest coordinate component with respect to said first axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the largest coordinate component with respect to said first axis;

selecting, as a second value, the n-th largest coordinate component with respect to said first axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the smallest coordinate component with respect to said first axis;

selecting, as a third value, the n-th smallest coordinate component with respect to said second axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the largest coordinate component with respect to said second axis;

selecting, as a fourth value, the n-th largest coordinate component with respect to said second axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the smallest coordinate component with respect to said second axis;

checking whether said first value is larger than or equal to the second value and said third value is larger than or equal to the fourth value;

forming said focus area as a rectangle the sides of which are defined by said first and second value with respect to said first axis and by said third and fourth values with respect to said second axis, when said first value is larger than or equal to the second value and said third value is larger than or equal to the fourth value; and

increasing n and repeating said selecting and checking otherwise, until a focus area is formed.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said memory and said program are configured to, with said processor, cause said apparatus, when said program is executed on said processor, to perform determining, in case that said intersection of all areas of said set of areas is not found to be potentially non-empty, said focus area based on a coordinate system, which defines a first axis and a second axis being orthogonal to the first axis, by:

when a first value representing the smallest coordinate component with respect to said first axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the largest coordinate component with respect to said first axis is larger than or equal to a second value representing the largest coordinate component with respect to said first axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the smallest coordinate component with respect to said first axis, maintaining said first value and said second value, and otherwise;

choosing a variable n equal to 2;

checking whether the n-th smallest coordinate component with respect to said first axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the largest coordinate component with respect to said first axis is larger than or equal to the n-th largest coordinate component with respect to said first axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the smallest coordinate component with respect to said first axis;

when the checking is positive, maintaining said n-th smallest coordinate component as said first value and maintaining said n-th largest coordinate value as said second value,

when the checking is negative, incrementing n and repeating the checking, until said first and second value can be maintained;

when a third value representing the smallest coordinate component with respect to said second axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the largest coordinate component with respect to said second axis is larger than or equal to a fourth value representing the largest coordinate component with respect to said second axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the smallest coordinate component with respect to said second axis, maintaining said third value and said fourth value, and otherwise;

choosing a variable m equal to 2;

checking whether the m-th smallest coordinate component with respect to said second axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the largest coordinate component with respect to said second axis is larger than or equal to the m-th largest coordinate component with respect to said second axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the smallest coordinate component with respect to said second axis;

when the checking is positive, maintaining said m-th smallest coordinate component as said third value and maintaining said m-th largest coordinate value as said fourth value,

when the checking is negative, incrementing m and repeating the checking, until said third and fourth value can be maintained;

forming said focus area as a rectangle the sides of which are defined by said first and second value with respect to said first axis and by said third and fourth values with respect to said second axis.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said memory and said program are configured in a way that, in case that said intersection of all areas of said set of areas is found to be potentially non-empty, a definition of said weights to be multiplied by said positions in said weighted sum of positions is at least initially used that causes only weights that are to be multiplied by positions that are inside all areas of said set of areas or inside all areas of a pre-defined sub-set of said set of areas to be non-zero.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said memory and said program are configured in a way that, in case that all of said weights that are to be multiplied by said positions in said weighted sum of positions would be zero according to said at least initially used definition, an alternative definition of said weights to be multiplied by said positions in said weighted sum of positions is used that also allows weights that are to be multiplied by positions that are not inside all areas of said set of areas or not inside all areas of said pre-defined sub-set of said set of areas to be non-zero.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said memory and said program are configured in a way that, in case that said intersection of all areas of said set of areas is not found to be potentially non-empty, a definition of said weights to be multiplied by said positions in said weighted sum of positions is used that also allows weights that are to be multiplied by positions that are not inside all areas of said set of areas or not inside all areas of a pre-defined sub-set of said set of areas to be non-zero.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said memory and said program are configured in a way that weights to be multiplied by said positions in said weighted sum of positions depend on a distance-related measurement of said terminal the position of which is to be determined with respect to a communication node.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said apparatus is embodied as at least one of a module, a portable electronic device and an apparatus comprising at least one of a user interface and an antenna.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of said areas is one of an ellipse, a circle, a polygon, an ellipsoid, a sphere and a polyhedron.

12. A method for determining a position of a terminal, said method comprising:

checking whether an intersection of all areas of a set of areas that are associated with one or more communication nodes and represent and/or limit possible positions of a terminal is potentially non-empty, wherein each of said areas represents a coverage area of a communication node, wherein each of said areas is associable with a respective bounding box that is one of a rectangle and a rectangular cuboid, wherein said intersection is defined to be potentially non-empty when an intersection of all of said bounding boxes would be non-empty, and

determining a position of said terminal in dependence on a result of the checking when said intersection of all areas of said set of areas is potentially non-empty, wherein said determining of said position of said terminal comprises;

determining a focus area; and

determining said position of said terminal based on said focus area, wherein said position of said terminal is determined based on a weighted sum of positions that are distributed within said focus area, and wherein at least an initially used definition of weights to be multiplied by said positions in said weighted sum of positions depends on said result of said checking whether said intersection of all areas of said set of areas is potentially non-empty.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein said checking whether an intersection of all areas of said set of areas is potentially non-empty is based on a coordinate system, which defines a first axis and a second axis being orthogonal to the first axis, and comprises:

determining, for each area in said set of areas, the largest coordinate component with respect to the first axis and selecting the smallest of these largest coordinate components as a first value;

determining, for each area in said set of areas, the smallest coordinate component with respect to the first axis and selecting the largest of these smallest coordinate components as a second value;

determining, for each area in said set of areas, the largest coordinate component with respect to the second axis and selecting the smallest of these largest coordinate components as a third value;

determining, for each area in said set of areas, the smallest coordinate component with respect to the second axis and selecting the largest of these smallest coordinate components as a fourth value; and

considering said intersection to be potentially non-empty when said first value is larger than or equal to the second value and said third value is larger than or equal to the fourth value.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein, in case that said intersection of all areas of said set of areas is not found to be potentially non-empty, said determining of said focus area comprises:

excluding one or more areas from said set of areas to obtain a reduced set of areas;

checking whether an intersection of all areas of said reduced set of areas is potentially non-empty, wherein each of said areas of said reduced set of areas is associable with a respective bounding box, and wherein said intersection is defined to be potentially non-empty when an intersection of all of said bounding boxes associable with said areas of said reduced set of areas would be non-empty; and

determining, in case that said intersection of all areas of said reduced set of areas is found to be potentially non-empty, said focus area to represent said intersection of all of said bounding boxes associable with said areas of said reduced set of areas.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein, in case that said intersection of all areas of said set of areas is not found to be potentially non-empty, said focus area is determined based on a coordinate system, which defines a first axis and a second axis being orthogonal to the first axis, and said determining of said focus area comprises:

choosing a variable n equal to 2;

selecting, as a first value, the n-th smallest coordinate component with respect to said first axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the largest coordinate component with respect to said first axis;

selecting, as a second value, the n-th largest coordinate component with respect to said first axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the smallest coordinate component with respect to said first axis;

selecting, as a third value, the n-th smallest coordinate component with respect to said second axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the largest coordinate component with respect to said second axis;

selecting, as a fourth value, the n-th largest coordinate component with respect to said second axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the smallest coordinate component with respect to said second axis;

checking whether said first value is larger than or equal to the second value and said third value is larger than or equal to the fourth value;

forming said focus area as a rectangle the sides of which are defined by said first and second value with respect to said first axis and by said third and fourth values with respect to said second axis, when said first value is larger than or equal to the second value and said third value is larger than or equal to the fourth value; and

increasing n and repeating said selecting and checking otherwise, until a focus area is formed.

16. The method according to claim 12, wherein, in case that said intersection of all areas of said set of areas is not found to be potentially non-empty, said focus area is determined based on a coordinate system, which defines a first axis and a second axis being orthogonal to the first axis, and said determining of said focus area comprises:

when a first value representing the smallest coordinate component with respect to said first axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the largest coordinate component with respect to said first axis is larger than or equal to a second value representing the largest coordinate component with respect to said first axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the smallest coordinate component with respect to said first axis, maintaining said first value and said second value, and otherwise;

choosing a variable n equal to 2;

checking whether the n-th smallest coordinate component with respect to said first axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the largest coordinate component with respect to said first axis is larger than or equal to the n-th largest coordinate component with respect to said first axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the smallest coordinate component with respect to said first axis;

when the checking is positive, maintaining said n-th smallest coordinate component as said first value and maintaining said n-th largest coordinate value as said second value,

when the checking is negative, incrementing n and repeating the checking, until said first and second value can be maintained;

when a third value representing the smallest coordinate component with respect to said second axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the largest coordinate component with respect to said second axis is larger than or equal to a fourth value representing the largest coordinate component with respect to said second axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the smallest coordinate component with respect to said second axis, maintaining said third value and said fourth value, and otherwise;

choosing a variable m equal to 2;

checking whether the m-th smallest coordinate component with respect to said second axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the largest coordinate component with respect to said second axis is larger than or equal to the m-th largest coordinate component with respect to said second axis from a set containing, for each area in said set of areas, the smallest coordinate component with respect to said second axis;

when the checking is positive, maintaining said m-th smallest coordinate component as said third value and maintaining said m-th largest coordinate value as said fourth value,

when the checking is negative, incrementing m and repeating the checking, until said third and fourth value can be maintained;

forming said focus area as a rectangle the sides of which are defined by said first and second value with respect to said first axis and by said third and fourth values with respect to said second axis.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium having a program comprising:

program code for performing the method according to claim 12, when said program is executed on a processor.

18. The method according to claim 12, wherein each of said areas is one of an ellipse, a circle, a polygon, an ellipsoid, a sphere and a polyhedron.