Floor level determination

• US 9,936,342 B2
• Filed: 08/18/2015
• Issued: 04/03/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Huang, Joseph Ding-Jiu, Tay, Darin
• Primary Examiner(s): Raymond, Edward
• Application Number:
  US14/829,575
• Publication Number:
  US 20160356593A1
• Time in Patent Office: 959 Days
• Field of Search: 702150, 702182-185
• 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 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer program product for determining a building floor level are described. A mobile device can use wireless signal sources and location fingerprint data to determine a level of a building floor on which the mobile device is located. The location fingerprint data can include or be associated with a list and a count of wireless signal sources previously detected on each floor. The mobile device can compare the list and count with wireless signal sources detected by the mobile device, and use results of the comparison to configure a statistical filter that determines a location of the mobile device. The mobile device can then determine the location, including a building floor level, using the statistical filter.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a mobile device, floor survey data for a venue that includes a plurality of floors, the floor survey data comprising a respective list of signal sources previously detected by a survey device at each floor, wherein each list is associated with respective statistical data representing a likely number of signal sources detected by the survey device;

determining a respective probability score for each floor of the venue, including comparing a set of signal sources detected by the mobile device with each list of signal sources and determining each probability score based on a degree of match between the detected signal sources and each respective list, the degree of match being determined by the mobile device based on the likely numbers of signal sources;

configuring a statistical filter, including determining a number of candidate locations for the floor according to the probability score; and

determining, by the mobile device, a floor level in the venue on which the mobile device is located using the statistical filter and candidate locations on the floors in the venue.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each signal source is a radio frequency (RF) signal transmitter, the statistical filter is a particle filter, and the candidate locations are particles of the particle filter.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the statistical data representing a likely number comprises a minimum number of signal sources detected by the survey device and an average number of signal sources detected by the survey device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein comparing the set of detected signal sources with each list comprises, for each list:

determining a number of matching signal sources, the matching signal sources being signal sources that are in the list and the set of detected signal sources; and

comparing the number of matching signal sources with the minimum number of signal sources and the average number of signal sources.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining a respective probability score for each floor of the venue comprises:

designating a first marginal probability value for the floor upon determining that the number of matching signal sources is greater than or equal to the average number of signal sources;

designating a second marginal probability value for the floor upon determining that the number of matching signal sources is less than the average number of signal sources but greater than or equal to the minimum number; and

designating a third marginal probability value for the floor upon determining that the number of matching signal sources is less than the minimum number, wherein the first marginal probability value is higher than the second marginal probability value, and the second marginal probability value is higher than the third marginal probability value.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first marginal probability value is one, and the third marginal probability value is zero.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring the statistical filter according to the probability scores comprises:

computing a respective probability score for each floor based on the marginal probability values using Bayes'"'"' rule; and

designating, for the statistical filter, a number of candidate locations for a floor corresponding to the probability score for the floor, wherein a higher probability score corresponds to a higher number of candidate locations.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the number of candidate locations for a floor further corresponds to a size of the floor, wherein a larger size corresponds to a higher number of candidate locations for filtering.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the number of candidate locations for a floor further corresponds to a location estimate, wherein a larger size corresponds to a proportionally higher number of candidate locations.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a change of floors based on a current floor level estimation and a likelihood of transiting from a current floor to a next floor.

11. A mobile device, comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

receiving, by a mobile device, floor survey data for a venue that includes a plurality of floors, the floor survey data comprising a respective list of signal sources previously detected by a survey device at each floor, wherein each list is associated with respective statistical data representing a likely number of signal sources detected by the survey device;

determining a respective probability score for each floor of the venue, including comparing a set of signal sources detected by the mobile device with each list of signal sources and determining each probability score based on a degree of match between the detected signal sources and each respective list, the degree of match being determined by the mobile device based on the likely numbers of signal sources;

configuring a statistical filter, including determining a number of candidate locations for the floor according to the probability score; and

determining, by the mobile device, a floor level in the venue on which the mobile device is located using the statistical filter and candidate locations on the floors in the venue.

12. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein each signal source is a radio frequency (RF) signal transmitter, the statistical filter is a particle filter, and the candidate locations are particles of the particle filter.

13. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the statistical data representing a likely number comprises a minimum number of signal sources detected by the survey device and an average number of signal sources detected by the survey device.

14. The mobile device of claim 13, wherein comparing the set of detected signal sources with each list comprises, for each list:

determining a number of matching signal sources, the matching signal sources being signal sources that are in the list and the set of detected signal sources; and

comparing the number of matching signal sources with the minimum number of signal sources and the average number of signal sources.

15. The mobile device of claim 14, wherein determining a respective probability score for each floor of the venue comprises:

designating a first marginal probability value for the floor upon determining that the number of matching signal sources is greater than or equal to the average number of signal sources;

designating a second marginal probability value for the floor upon determining that the number of matching signal sources is less than the average number of signal sources but greater than or equal to the minimum number; and

designating a third marginal probability value for the floor upon determining that the number of matching signal sources is less than the minimum number, wherein the first marginal probability value is higher than the second marginal probability value, and the second marginal probability value is higher than the third marginal probability value.

16. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the first marginal probability value is one, and the third marginal probability value is zero.

17. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein configuring the statistical filter according to the probability scores comprises:

computing a respective probability score for each floor based on the marginal probability values using Bayes'"'"' rule; and

designating, for the statistical filter, a number of candidate locations for a floor corresponding to the probability score for the floor, wherein a higher probability score corresponds to a higher number of candidate locations.

18. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the number of candidate locations for a floor further corresponds to a size of the floor, wherein a larger size corresponds to a higher number of candidate locations for filtering.

19. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the number of candidate locations for a floor further corresponds to a location estimate, wherein a larger size corresponds to a proportionally higher number of candidate locations.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors of a mobile device to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by a mobile device, floor survey data for a venue that includes a plurality of floors, the floor survey data comprising a respective list of signal sources previously detected by a survey device at each floor, wherein each list is associated with respective statistical data representing a likely number of signal sources detected by the survey device;

determining a respective probability score for each floor of the venue, including comparing a set of signal sources detected by the mobile device with each list of signal sources and determining each probability score based on a degree of match between the detected signal sources and each respective list, the degree of match being determined by the mobile device based on the likely numbers of signal sources;

configuring a statistical filter, including determining a number of candidate locations for the floor according to the probability score; and

determining, by the mobile device, a floor level in the venue on which the mobile device is located using the statistical filter and candidate locations on the floors in the venue.