Methods and apparatus for determining locations of devices in confined spaces

• US 9,661,473 B1
• Filed: 06/17/2016
• Issued: 05/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2016
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm Docketing (Qualcomm, Inc.), Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Jarvis, Murray, Velic, Marko, Tarlow, Benjamin
• Primary Examiner(s): Rampuria, Sharad
• Application Number:
  US15/185,393
• Time in Patent Office: 340 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561-457
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/043 using ambient awareness, e.g. involving buildings using floor or room numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings

Abstract

A location device (e.g., realized at one or more of a mobile device and/or a location server) includes a wireless transceiver, one or more location sensors and a floor-plan of a venue. The location device determines a plurality of hypothetical locations of a mobile device in the venue in response to data sets provided by the one or more location sensors. The data sets are associated with obstacle indication values calculated for the venue or for regions of the venue including locations corresponding to the data sets. The obstacle indication values indicate the proximity or orientation of the obstacle edges in the region or in the venue. The location device refines the one or more hypothetical locations based on the obstacle indication values to provide an estimate of the current location of the mobile device.

Claims

1. A mobile device, comprising:

a processor;

a wireless transceiver;

at least one location sensor comprising a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver, the wireless transceiver,

an infrared transceiver, an ultrasonic transceiver or a near-field communication (NFC) receiver, or

one or more pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR) sensors, or any combination thereof; and

memory comprising a floor-plan of a venue,

wherein the processor is configured to;

obtain multiple location data sets representing respective different instants from the at least one location sensor of the mobile device;

obtain a plurality of obstacle indication values, wherein each of the plurality of obstacle indication values,

for each of the multiple location data sets, is derived from the floor-plan;

determine a plurality of hypothetical locations of the mobile device in the venue based on the multiple location data sets; and

determine a current location of the mobile device based on the plurality of hypothetical locations and the plurality of obstacle indication values;

wherein the plurality of obstacle indication values for the multiple location data sets include;

respective mean-free-path (MFP) scores, determined based on the floor-plan,

for the plurality of hypothetical locations, each MFP score including a respective measure of proximity of at least some of obstacles in the floor-plan to a respective hypothetical location, or

cardinal axes data describing respective cardinal axes in a portion of the floor-plan corresponding to the respective ones of the multiple location data sets,

the cardinal axes being approximately parallel to, or perpendicular to, at least one edge of at least one obstacle in the portion of the floor-plan.

2. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the wireless transceiver comprises a WiFi transceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver, an ultra-wideband (UWB) transceiver, a Zigbee transceiver, a near-field communication (NFC) transceiver, or a cellular transceiver, or any combination thereof.

3. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the processor configured to determine the current location of the mobile device is configured to:

apply a particle filter to a plurality of hypothetical states, wherein the plurality of hypothetical states comprise the plurality of hypothetical locations of the mobile device;

generate a probability distribution over the plurality of hypothetical states and the plurality of obstacle indication values; and

determine the current location of the mobile device from the generated probability distribution.

4. The mobile device of claim 3, wherein the processor configured to apply the particle filter and determine the current location of the mobile device is configured to:

determine an initial one of the plurality of hypothetical states of the mobile device from an initial location data set of the multiple location data sets, the initial location data set providing an initial absolute location and an uncertainty relative to the initial absolute location;

model the initial absolute location and uncertainty as an initial probability distribution;

sample the initial probability distribution to define a plurality of particles as the plurality of hypothetical states;

apply the particle filter to the defined plurality of particles to propagate the plurality of particles through the floor-plan based on location data sets subsequent to the initial location data set;

determine respective weights for each of the plurality of particles, each of the weights including a respective MFP score for a respective subsequent location data set corresponding to the respective one of the plurality of particles;

determine an updated probability distribution of a state of the mobile device from the propagated and weighted plurality of particles; and

determine the current location of the mobile device based on the updated probability distribution of the state of the mobile device.

5. The mobile device of claim 3, wherein the processor configured to apply the particle filter and determine the current location of the mobile device is configured to:

determine an initial hypothetical state of the mobile device from an initial location data set of the multiple location data sets that provides an initial absolute location and an uncertainty relative to the initial absolute location;

model the initial absolute location and uncertainty as an initial probability distribution;

sample the initial probability distribution to define a plurality of particles as the plurality of hypothetical states;

apply the particle filter to the defined plurality of particles to propagate the plurality of particles through the floor-plan based on location data sets subsequent to the initial location data set, wherein heading values indicated by the subsequent location data sets are corrected to conform to respective cardinal axes for respective portions of the floor-plan corresponding to the subsequent location data sets;

determine respective weights for each of the plurality of particles;

determine an updated probability distribution of a state of the mobile device from the propagated and weighted plurality of particles; and

determine the current location of the mobile device based on the updated probability distribution of the state of the mobile device.

6. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the processor configured to determine the current location of the mobile device based on the plurality of hypothetical locations and the plurality of obstacle indication values is configured to:

optimize at least one cost function defined based on the plurality of hypothetical locations and the plurality of obstacle indication values.

7. The mobile device of claim 6, wherein the processor configured to optimize the at least one cost function is configured to:

determine at least one initial hypothetical location of the mobile device from an initial location data set of the multiple location data sets, the initial location data set providing an initial absolute location and an uncertainty relative to the initial absolute location;

apply the multiple location data sets to the at least one initial hypothetical location to define at least one hypothetical path through the floor-plan, the at least one hypothetical path generated based on the plurality of hypothetical locations, and to define at least one cost function term, of the at least one cost function, for each of the at least one hypothetical path based on the MFP scores and the respective ones of the multiple location data sets corresponding to the at least one hypothetical path;

optimize the at least one cost function to determine at least one cost value for the at least one hypothetical path; and

determine the current location of the mobile device as an end point of a hypothetical path with a lowest cost value.

8. The mobile device of claim 7, wherein the processor configured to optimize the at least one cost function and determine the current location of the mobile device is configured to:

determine at least one initial hypothetical location of the mobile device from an initial location data set of the multiple location data sets, the initial location data set providing an initial absolute location and an uncertainty relative to the initial absolute location;

apply the multiple location data sets to the at least one initial hypothetical location to define at least one hypothetical path through the floor-plan, the at least one hypothetical path generated based on the plurality of hypothetical locations, and to define at least one cost function term, of the at least one cost function, for each of the at least one hypothetical path based on the cardinal axes data for the multiple location data sets used to define the at least one hypothetical path;

optimize the at least one cost function to determine at least one cost value for the at least one hypothetical path; and

determine the current location of the mobile device as an end point of a hypothetical path with a lowest cost value.

9. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the wireless transceiver of the mobile device is configured to receive the floor-plan from a location server.

10. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the floor-plan is divided into a plurality of regions, and wherein each region is associated with a respective one of the plurality of obstacle indication values.

11. A method, comprising:

obtaining, by a mobile device, multiple location data sets from at least one location sensor of a mobile device corresponding to respective different instants,

wherein the at least one location sensor comprises a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver, a wireless transceiver, an infrared transceiver, an ultrasonic transceiver or a near-field communication (NFC) receiver, or one or more pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR) sensors, or any combination thereof;

obtaining, by the mobile device, a plurality of obstacle indication values,

derived from a floor-plan of a venue, for the respective multiple location data sets;

determining, by the mobile device, a plurality of hypothetical locations of the mobile device in the venue based on the multiple location data sets; and

determining, by the mobile device, a current location of the mobile device based on the plurality of hypothetical locations and the plurality of obstacle indication values;

wherein the plurality of obstacle indication values for the multiple location data sets include;

respective mean-free-path (MFP) scores, determined based on the floor-plan,

for the plurality of hypothetical locations, each MFP score including a respective measure of proximity of at least some of obstacles in the floor-plan to a respective hypothetical location, or

cardinal axes data describing respective cardinal axes in a portion of the floor-plan corresponding to the respective ones of the multiple location data sets,

the cardinal axes being approximately parallel to, or perpendicular to, at least one edge of at least one obstacle in the portion of the floor-plan.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of hypothetical locations are included in a plurality of hypothetical states of the mobile device, and wherein determining the current location of the mobile device comprises:

applying a particle filter to the plurality of hypothetical states to generate a probability distribution over the plurality of hypothetical states and the plurality of obstacle indication values; and

determining the current location of the mobile device from the generated probability distribution.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the plurality of obstacle indication values for the plurality of hypothetical locations include mean-free-path (MFP) scores, determined based on the floor-plan, for the plurality of hypothetical locations, each MFP score including a respective measure of proximity of at least one obstacle in the floor-plan to a respective hypothetical location, and wherein applying the particle filter to generate the probability distribution comprises:

determining an initial one of the plurality of hypothetical states of the mobile device from an initial location data set of the multiple location data sets, the initial location data set providing an initial absolute location and an uncertainty relative to the initial absolute location;

modeling the initial absolute location and uncertainty as an initial probability distribution;

sampling the initial probability distribution to define a plurality of particles as the plurality of hypothetical states;

applying the particle filter to the defined plurality of particles to propagate the plurality of particles through the floor-plan based on location data sets subsequent to the initial location data set;

determining respective weights for each of the plurality of particles, each of the weights including a respective MFP score for a respective subsequent location data set corresponding to the respective one of the plurality of particles; and

determining, as the generated probability distribution, an updated probability distribution of a state of the mobile device from the propagated and weighted plurality of particles.

14. The method claim 12, wherein each obstacle indication values for the respective ones of the plurality of hypothetical locations is associated with cardinal axes data representative of respective cardinal axes in a portion of the floor-plan including the respective ones of the plurality of hypothetical locations, the cardinal axes being approximately parallel to, or perpendicular to, at least one edge of at least obstacle in the portion of the floor-plan, and wherein applying the particle filter to generate the probability distribution and determining the current location of the mobile device comprises:

determining an initial hypothetical state of the mobile device from an initial location data set of the multiple location data sets that provides an initial absolute location and an uncertainty relative to the initial absolute location;

modeling the initial absolute location and uncertainty as an initial probability distribution;

sampling the initial probability distribution to define a plurality of particles as the plurality of hypothetical states;

applying the particle filter to the defined plurality of particles to propagate the plurality of particles through the floor-plan based on location data sets subsequent to the initial location data set, wherein heading values indicated by the subsequent location data sets are corrected to conform to the respective cardinal axes for respective portions of the floor-plan corresponding to the subsequent location data sets;

determining respective weights for each of the plurality of particles; and

determining, as the generated probability distribution, an updated probability distribution of the state of the mobile device from the propagated and weighted plurality of particles.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the current location of the mobile device based on the plurality of hypothetical locations and the plurality of obstacle indication values comprises:

optimizing at least one cost function defined based on the plurality of hypothetical locations and the plurality of obstacle indication values; and

determining the current location of the mobile device based on a smallest cost value determined from the optimized at least one cost function.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of obstacle indication values for the multiple location data sets include mean-free-path (MFP) scores determined based on the floor-plan, each MFP score including a respective measure of proximity of at least some of obstacles in the floor-plan to one of the plurality of hypothetical locations, and wherein optimizing the at least one cost function comprises:

determining at least one initial hypothetical location of the mobile device from an initial location data set of the multiple location data sets, the initial location data set providing an initial absolute location and an uncertainty relative to the initial absolute location;

applying the multiple location data sets to the at least one initial hypothetical location to define at least one hypothetical path through the floor-plan, the at least one hypothetical path generated based on the plurality of hypothetical locations, and to define at least one cost function term, of the at least one cost function, for each of the at least one hypothetical path based on the MFP scores and the respective ones of the multiple location data sets corresponding to the at least one hypothetical path; and

optimizing the at least one cost function to determine at least one cost value for the at least one hypothetical path.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein each of the plurality of obstacle indication values for the plurality of hypothetical locations includes cardinal axes data representative of respective cardinal axes in a portion of the floor-plan including the respective ones of the plurality of hypothetical locations, the cardinal axes being approximately parallel to, or perpendicular to, at least one edge of at least obstacle in the portion of the floor-plan, and wherein optimizing the at least one cost function comprises:

determining at least one initial hypothetical location of the mobile device from an initial location data set of the multiple location data sets, the initial location data set providing an initial absolute location and an uncertainty relative to the initial absolute location;

applying the multiple location data sets to the at least one initial hypothetical location to define at least one hypothetical path through the floor-plan, the at least one hypothetical path generated based on the plurality of hypothetical locations, and to define at least one cost function term, of the at least one cost function, for each of the at least one hypothetical path based on the cardinal axes data for the plurality of hypothetical locations; and

optimizing the at least one cost function to determine at least one cost value of the at least one hypothetical path.

18. The method of claim 11 wherein each hypothetical location is associated with a first obstacle indication value indicating a mean-free-path length in a portion of the floor-plan including the hypothetical location, and a second obstacle indication value describing respective cardinal axes in the portion of the floor-plan, the cardinal axes being approximately parallel to, or perpendicular to, at least one edge of at least one object in the portion of the floor-plan.

19. An apparatus comprising:

means for obtaining multiple location data sets representing respective different instants from at least one location sensor of a mobile device, wherein the at least one location sensor comprises a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver,

a wireless transceiver, an infrared transceiver, an ultrasonic transceiver or a near-field communication (NFC) receiver, or one or more pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR) sensors, or any combination thereof;

means for obtaining a plurality of obstacle indication values,

wherein each of the plurality of obstacle indication values, for each of the multiple location data sets, is derived from a floor-plan of a venue;

means for determining a plurality of hypothetical locations of the mobile device in the venue based on the multiple location data sets; and

means for determining a current location of the mobile device based on the plurality of hypothetical locations and the plurality of obstacle indication values;

wherein the plurality of obstacle indication values for the multiple location data sets include;

respective mean-free-path (MFP) scores, determined based on the floor-plan,

for the plurality of hypothetical locations, each MFP score including a respective measure of proximity of at least some of obstacles in the floor-plan to a respective hypothetical location, or

cardinal axes data describing respective cardinal axes in a portion of the floor-plan corresponding to the respective ones of the multiple location data sets,

the cardinal axes being approximately parallel to, or perpendicular to, at least one edge of at least one obstacle in the portion of the floor-plan.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the means for determining the current location of the mobile device comprises:

means for applying a particle filter to a plurality of hypothetical states, wherein the plurality of hypothetical states comprise the plurality of hypothetical locations of the mobile device;

means for generating a probability distribution over the plurality of hypothetical states and the plurality of obstacle indication values; and

means for determining the current location of the mobile device from the generated probability distribution.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the plurality of obstacle indication values for the multiple location data sets include respective mean-free-path (MFP) scores, determined based on the floor-plan, for the plurality of hypothetical locations, each MFP score including a respective measure of proximity of at least some of obstacles in the floor-plan to a respective hypothetical location, and wherein the means for applying the particle filter and the means for determining the current location of the mobile device comprise:

means for determining an initial one of the plurality of hypothetical states of the mobile device from an initial location data set of the multiple location data sets, the initial location data set providing an initial absolute location and an uncertainty relative to the initial absolute location;

means for modelling the initial absolute location and uncertainty as an initial probability distribution;

means for sampling the initial probability distribution to define a plurality of particles as the plurality of hypothetical states;

means for applying the particle filter to the defined plurality of particles to propagate the plurality of particles through the floor-plan based on location data sets subsequent to the initial location data set;

means for determining respective weights for each of the plurality of particles, each of the weights including a respective MFP score for a respective subsequent location data set corresponding to respective ones of the plurality of particles;

means for determining an updated probability distribution of a state of the mobile device from the propagated and weighted plurality of particles; and

means for determining the current location of the mobile device based on the updated probability distribution of the state of the mobile device.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein each of the plurality of obstacle indication values for the respective ones of the multiple location data sets includes data describing respective cardinal axes in a portion of the floor-plan corresponding to the respective ones of the multiple location data sets, the cardinal axes being approximately parallel to, or perpendicular to, at least one edge of at least one obstacle in the portion of the floor-plan, and wherein the means for applying the particle filter and the means for determining the current location of the mobile device comprise:

means for determining an initial hypothetical state of the mobile device from an initial location data set of the multiple location data sets that provides an initial absolute location and an uncertainty relative to the initial absolute location;

means for modelling the initial absolute location and uncertainty as an initial probability distribution;

means for sampling the initial probability distribution to define a plurality of particles as the plurality of hypothetical states;

means for applying the particle filter to the defined plurality of particles to propagate the plurality of particles through the floor-plan based on location data sets subsequent to the initial location data set, wherein heading values indicated by the subsequent location data sets are corrected to conform to respective cardinal axes for respective portions of the floor-plan corresponding to the subsequent location data sets;

means for determining respective weights for each of the plurality of particles;

means for determining an updated probability distribution of a state of the mobile device from the propagated and weighted plurality of particles; and

means for determining the current location of the mobile device based on the updated probability distribution of the state of the mobile device.

23. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the plurality of obstacle indication values for the plurality of hypothetical locations include mean-free-path (MFP) scores determined based on the floor-plan, each MFP score including a respective measure of proximity of at least some of obstacles in the floor-plan to one of the plurality of hypothetical locations, and wherein the means for determining the current location of the mobile device comprises:

means for determining at least one initial hypothetical location of the mobile device from an initial location data set of the multiple location data sets, the initial location data set providing an initial absolute location and an uncertainty relative to the initial absolute location;

means for applying the multiple location data sets to the at least one initial hypothetical location to define at least one hypothetical path through the floor-plan, the at least one hypothetical path generated based on the plurality of hypothetical locations, and to define at least one cost function term, of at least one cost function, for each of the at least one hypothetical path based on the MFP scores and the respective ones of the multiple location data sets corresponding to the at least one hypothetical path;

means for optimizing the at least one cost function to determine at least one cost value for the at least one hypothetical path; and

means for determining the current location of the mobile device as an end point of a hypothetical path with a lowest cost value.

24. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein each obstacle indication values for the multiple location data sets includes cardinal axes data representative of respective cardinal axes in a portion of the floor-plan corresponding to the respective one of the multiple location data sets, the cardinal axes being approximately parallel to, or perpendicular to, at least one edge of at least one obstacle in the portion of the floor-plan, and wherein the means for determining the current location of the mobile device comprises:

means for determining at least one initial hypothetical location of the mobile device from an initial location data set of the multiple location data sets, the initial location data set providing an initial absolute location and an uncertainty relative to the initial absolute location;

means for applying the multiple location data sets to the at least one initial hypothetical location to define at least one hypothetical path through the floor-plan, the at least one hypothetical path generated based on the plurality of hypothetical locations, and to define at least one cost function term, of at least one cost function, for each of the at least one hypothetical path based on the cardinal axes data for the multiple location data sets used to define the at least one hypothetical path;

means for optimizing the at least one cost function to determine at least one cost value for the at least one hypothetical path; and

means for determining the current location of the mobile device as an end point of a hypothetical path with a lowest cost value.

25. A non-transitory computer readable media programmed with instructions, executable on a processor, to:

obtain multiple location data sets representing respective different instants from at least one location sensor of a mobile device,

wherein the at least one location sensor comprises a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver, a wireless transceiver, an infrared transceiver, an ultrasonic transceiver or a near-field communication (NFC) receiver, or one or more pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR) sensors, or any combination thereof;

obtain a plurality of obstacle indication values,

wherein each of the plurality of obstacle indication values, for each of the multiple location data sets, is derived from a floor-plan of a venue;

determine a plurality of hypothetical locations of the mobile device in the venue based on the multiple location data sets; and

determine a current location of the mobile device based on the plurality of hypothetical locations and the plurality of obstacle indication values;

wherein the plurality of obstacle indication values for the multiple location data sets include;

respective mean-free-path (MFP) scores, determined based on the floor-plan,

for the plurality of hypothetical locations, each MFP score including a respective measure of proximity of at least some of obstacles in the floor-plan to a respective hypothetical location, or

cardinal axes data describing respective cardinal axes in a portion of the floor-plan corresponding to the respective ones of the multiple location data sets,

the cardinal axes being approximately parallel to, or perpendicular to, at least one edge of at least one obstacle in the portion of the floor-plan.