Collecting positioning reference data

• US 9,955,309 B2
• Filed: 01/23/2012
• Issued: 04/24/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Provenance Asset Group LLC
• Inventors: Wirola, Lauri Aarne Johannes
• Primary Examiner(s): Magloire, Vladimir
• Assistant Examiner(s): Syed, Majid
• Application Number:
  US14/372,170
• Publication Number:
  US 20140335894A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,283 Days
• Field of Search: 701469, 701533, 4554561
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/206 specially adapted for indoor navigation
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02525 Gathering the radio frequency fingerprints
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0278 involving statistical or probabilistic considerations G01S5/0252, G01S5/0294 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

It is inter alia disclosed to obtain or generate a plurality of sets of positioning reference data, at least one set of positioning reference data of the plurality of set of positioning reference data comprising a respective position information obtained or generated based on position-related information from at least one sensor, and comprising a respective signal characteristic representation associated with at least one received signal from at least one wireless coverage providing entity.

Claims

1. A method performed by an apparatus, said method at least comprising:

generating or obtaining a radio map, comprising a plurality of sets of positioning reference data, wherein at least one set of positioning reference data of the plurality of sets of positioning reference data comprises;

a respective position information obtained or generated based on position-related information from at least one sensor, and

a respective signal characteristic representation of signal strength associated with at least one received signal from at least one wireless coverage providing entity, the respective signal characteristic further comprising an identifier of the at least one wireless coverage providing entity,

the method further comprising,

obtaining at least a first manual position information and a second manual position information, each of which is associated with at least one position information received from a user interface, and

correcting at least one position information of a set of positioning reference data of said plurality of sets of positioning reference data based on said at least a first manual position information and a second manual position information, said correcting comprising;

estimating a trajectory representation between said first manual position information and said second manual position information using indoor map information, wherein the estimated trajectory information is a shortest route between the first manual position information and the second manual position information that matches the indoor map and does not violate a barrier of the indoor map, and

correcting said at least one position information based on the estimated trajectory representation.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said estimating a trajectory representation is based on the position information of at least one set of positioning reference data obtained or generated between the first manual position information and the second manual position information.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said at least one set of positioning reference data is generated or obtained further based on indoor map information.

4. The method according to claim 3, comprising checking whether a respective position information of a set of positioning reference data does not match with the indoor map information, and if the checking yields a positive result, correcting said respective position information based on the indoor map information.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein said indoor map information comprises probability distribution information associated with indoor information.

6. The method according to claim 1, comprising obtaining an initial direction information.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said at least one sensor represents an inertial sensor.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein said generating or obtaining the plurality of sets of position reference data is performed in predetermined time intervals and/or performed distance-based and/or after a predetermined number of steps is counted.

9. The method according to claim 1, comprising determining a route in an indoor environment based on indoor map information, wherein the route is configured to guide a user through the indoor environment in order to generate or obtain said plurality of sets of positioning reference data when the user walks the route.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein said at least one position information is corrected to a position, on the indoor map, that is accessible by a user for walking and that is nearest to a position indicated by the at least one position information.

10. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer executable computer program code stored thereon, which when executed by a processor causes an apparatus to:

generate or obtain a radio map, comprising a plurality of sets of positioning reference data, wherein at least one set of positioning reference data of the plurality of sets of positioning reference data comprises;

a respective positioning information obtained or generated based on position-related information from at least one sensor, and

a respective characteristic representation of signal strength associated with at least one received signal from at least one wireless coverage providing entity, the respective signal characteristic further comprising an identifier of the at least one wireless coverage providing entity,

and further causes the apparatus to;

obtain at least a first manual position information and a second manual position information, each of which is associated with at least one position information received from a user interface, and

correct at least one position information of a set of positioning reference data of said plurality of sets of positioning reference data based on said at least a first manual position information and a second manual position information,

said correcting comprising;

estimating a trajectory representation between said first and second manual position information using indoor map information, wherein the estimated trajectory information is a shortest route between the first manual position information and the second manual position information that matches the indoor map and does not violate a barrier of the indoor map, and

correcting said at least one position information based on the estimated trajectory representation.

18. The computer program product according to claim 10, wherein said at least one position information is corrected to a position, on the indoor map, that is accessible by a user for walking and that is nearest to a position indicated by the at least one position information.

11. An apparatus, comprising at least one processor;

and at least one memory including computer program code, said at least one memory and said computer program code configured to, with said at least one processor, cause said apparatus at least to;

generate or obtain a radio map, comprising a plurality of sets of positioning reference data, wherein at least one set of positioning reference data of the plurality of sets of positioning reference data comprises;

a respective position information obtained or generated based on position-related information from at least one sensor, and

a respective signal characteristic representation of signal strength associated with at least one received signal from at least one wireless coverage providing entity, the respective signal characteristic further comprising an identifier of the at least one wireless coverage providing entity,

wherein said apparatus is further caused to;

obtain at least a first manual position information and a second manual position information, each of which is associated with at least one position information received from a user interface, and

correct at least one position information of a set of positioning reference data of said plurality of sets of positioning reference data based on said at least a first manual position information and a second manual position information,

said correction comprising;

estimation of a trajectory representation between said first manual position information and said second manual position information using indoor map information, wherein the estimated trajectory information is a shortest route between the first manual position information and the second manual position information that matches the indoor map and does not violate a barrier of the indoor map, and

correction of said at least one position information based on the estimated trajectory representation.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said estimation of a trajectory representation is based on the position information of at least one set of positioning reference data obtained or generated between the first manual position information and the second manual position information.

13. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said at least one set of positioning reference data is generated or obtained further based on indoor map information.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, comprising checking whether a respective position information of a set of positioning reference data does not match with the indoor map information, and if the checking yields a positive result, correcting said respective position information based on the indoor map information.

15. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said indoor map information comprises probability distribution information associated with the indoor information.

16. The apparatus according to claim 11, comprising obtaining an initial direction information.

19. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said at least one position information is corrected to a position, on the indoor map, that is accessible by a user for walking and that is nearest to a position indicated by the at least one position information.