Optimizing Battery Life and Network Resources During Position Location Tracking Scenario

• US 20090312032A1
• Filed: 06/13/2008
• Published: 12/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Strauss, Nir, Bornstein, Gilad, Eitan, Alecsander
• Granted Patent: US 8,620,393 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.100
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/48 by combining or switching between position solutions derived from the satellite radio beacon positioning system and position solutions derived from a further system
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/01 Determining conditions which influence positioning, e.g. radio environment, state of motion or energy consumption
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• 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 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

An apparatus and method for optimizing battery life and network resources during position tracking is disclosed. The position of a target being tracked is compared with a predefined geofence boundary. If the position of the target is far from the geofence boundary, position fix of the target is calculated using low quality of service (QoS) parameters. If the position of the target is not far from the geofence boundary, position fix of the target is calculated using high quality of service (QoS) parameters.

Claims

1. A method for optimizing battery life and network resources during position tracking comprising:

defining a geofence center and a geofence boundary;

receiving geofence network information associated with an area defined by the geofence boundary;

obtaining mobile station network information;

comparing the mobile station network information to the geofence network information;

incrementing a skip counter if the mobile station network information is not within the geofence network information;

comparing the skip counter to a maximum skip value; and

calculating a position fix using low quality of service parameters if the skip counter exceeds the maximum skip value.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising outputting the position fix.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the low quality of service parameters comprise non-SPS-based pseudoranges.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the low quality of service parameters comprise non-SPS-based pseudoranges.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a position report if the skip counter does not exceed the maximum skip value.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining an updated mobile station network information for comparing to the maximum skip value a second time if the skip counter does not exceed the maximum skip value.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the maximum skip value is configurable.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the mobile station network information relates to a mobile station device, and the maximum skip value is configurable according to a distance between the mobile station device and the geofence boundary.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining if the position fix is within the area defined by the geofence boundary.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising informing that the position fix has entered the area defined by the geofence boundary.

11. A method for optimizing battery life and network resources during position tracking comprising:

defining a geofence center and a geofence boundary;

receiving geofence network information associated with an area defined by the geofence boundary;

obtaining mobile station network information;

comparing the mobile station network information to the geofence network information;

recovering a last real position fix if the mobile station network information is within the geofence network information;

calculating a distance radius and referencing the distance radius to the last real position fix to define a circle;

determining if the circle is far from the geofence boundary; and

calculating a position fix using quality of service parameters.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the quality of service parameters are low quality of service parameters if the circle is far from the geofence boundary.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the quality of service parameters are high quality of service parameters if the circle is not far from the geofence boundary.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising outputting the position fix.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising outputting the position fix.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the low quality of service parameters comprise non-SPS-based pseudoranges.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the low quality of service parameters comprise non-SPS-based pseudoranges from at least one of inertial sensors, Mobile Switching Center (MSC) ID, CDMA zone, roaming list, AFLT, RFID, Bluetooth or Zigbee systems.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the high quality of service parameters comprise SPS-based pseudoranges.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein at least one of the SPS-based pseudoranges is from a pseudolite.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the high quality of service parameters comprise non-SPS-based pseudoranges.

21. The method of claim 11 further comprising determining if the position fix is within the area defined by the geofence boundary.

22. The method of claim 21 further comprising informing that the position fix has entered the area defined by the geofence boundary.

23. A position tracking device comprising:

a processor with programmable instructions for defining a geofence center and a geofence boundary and for calculating a position fix;

a receiving unit for receiving geofence network information associated with an area defined by the geofence boundary, and for receiving mobile station network information; and

a comparator unit for comparing the mobile station network information to the geofence network information.

24. The position tracking device of claim 23 further comprising a skip counter to keep count of the number of times the mobile station network information is not within the geofence network information.

25. The position tracking device of claim 24 wherein the processor calculates the position fix using low quality of service parameters.

26. The position tracking device of claim 23 wherein the programmable instructions includes instructions for recovering a last real position fix if the mobile station network information is within the geofence network information.

27. The position tracking device of claim 26 wherein the programmable instructions includes instructions for calculating a distance radius and referencing the distance radius to the last real position fix to define a circle.

28. The position tracking device of claim 27 wherein the programmable instructions includes instructions for determining if the circle is far from the geofence boundary.

29. The position tracking device of claim 28 wherein the processor calculates the position fix using low quality of service parameters if the circle is far from the geofence boundary.

30. The position tracking device of claim 28 wherein the processor calculates the position fix using high quality of service parameters if the circle is not far from the geofence boundary.

31. A computer-readable medium including program code stored thereon, comprising:

program code to define a geofence center and a geofence boundary;

program code to receive geofence network information associated with an area defined by the geofence boundary;

program code to obtain mobile station network information;

program code to compare the mobile station network information to the geofence network information;

program code to increment a skip counter if the mobile station network information is not within the geofence network information;

program code to compare the skip counter to a maximum skip value; and

program code to calculate a position fix using low quality of service parameters if the skip counter exceeds the maximum skip value.

32. A computer-readable medium including program code stored thereon, comprising:

program code to define a geofence center and a geofence boundary;

program code to receive geofence network information associated with an area defined by the geofence boundary;

program code to obtain mobile station network information;

program code to compare the mobile station network information to the geofence network information;

program code to recover a last real position fix if the mobile station network information is within the geofence network information;

program code to calculate a distance radius and referencing the distance radius to the last real position fix to define a circle;

program code to determine if the circle is far from the geofence boundary; and

program code to calculate a position fix using quality of service parameters.