Classifying the position of a wireless device

• US 8,509,806 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2010
• Issued: 08/13/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: West, Earle, West, Nathan E.
• Primary Examiner(s): DOAN, KIET M
• Application Number:
  US12/967,747
• Publication Number:
  US 20120149388A1
• Time in Patent Office: 973 Days
• Field of Search: 342/386, 342/457, 342/357.64, 342/450, 342/357.25, 342/357.29, 342/357.31, 455/411, 455/456.5, 455/456.2, 455/426.1, 455/427, 455/517, 455/456.1, 370/203, 370/300, 370/390, 370/281, 370/508, 709/224, 709/230, 706/12
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0252 Radio frequency fingerprinting
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/022 with dynamic range variability
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/025 using location based information parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications

Abstract

Aspects describe using mobile device telemetry data with location reports from a small fraction of reporting devices to pre-compute a set of categorizing formulas that can quickly assign devices of unknown latitude, longitude, and/or altitude to specific values of latitude, longitude, and/or altitude. The described aspects perform a large percentage of complicated calculations in advance of a particular device of unknown location presenting itself on the radio network. Thus, the categorizing formulas can be applied to categorize the device into a particular range of latitude, longitude, and/or altitude with minimal delays. Various aspects relate to enabling an efficient and highly scalable implementation of mobile device advertising, social networking, and other applications that may reply in rapid, real time delivery of “WITHIN” or NOT WITHIN a “fenced-in” region or geography or shape of space.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining, by a system including a processor, a set of separating hyperplanes using historical data of known timing measurements and associated location information received from a plurality of location aware mobile devices;

receiving, by the system, a reported time measurement from a non-location aware device, wherein location information is not received from the non-location aware device;

applying, by the system, the reported time measurement from the non-location aware device to the set of separating hyperplanes, wherein the set of separating hyperplanes divides a field of interest into ranges of geographic coordinates; and

determining, by the system, a location of the non-location aware device as a function of the applying;

wherein the applying comprises;

receiving a collection of timing offset measures from the non-location aware device; and

assigning a location value to the non-location aware ˜

device, wherein the location value comprises location information representative of a location with respect to a geographic coordinate.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the set of separating hyperplanes comprises:

receiving telemetry data from the plurality of location aware mobile devices; and

determining a set of categorizing formulas based on the telemetry data and the associated location information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the applying comprises comparing the timing offset measurement with the set of separating hyperplanes, the determining the location comprises determining a classification of the one timing offset measurement based on the comparing, and the classification provides an indication of the location of the non-location aware device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retaining, by the system, the set of separating hyperplanes; and

updating, by the system, the set of separating hyperplanes based on satisfaction of a defined condition.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the location comprises determining a least squares solution that positions a separating hyperplane of the set of separating hyperplanes between points that are in defined proximity to a boundary of the separating hyperplane.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the applying comprises classifying the reported time measurement according to a classification operation that provides respective bounds for upper and lower limits of latitude, longitude, and altitude.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the location comprises evaluating a latitude, a longitude, and an altitude of the non-location aware device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the set of separating hyperplanes comprises mapping, based on a kernel function, a set of measurements received from a location aware mobile device of the plurality of location aware mobile devices to a set of measurements of a higher dimension.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising estimating, by the system, an error for a separating hyperplane in the set of separating hyperplanes.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the location comprises:

classifying time differences of the known timing measurements; and

determining the location of the non-location aware device is within a defined proximity of a point of interest based on the classifying.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of separating hyperplanes divides the field of interest into the ranges of geographic coordinates as a function of timing measurement differences for pairs of base station devices in the field of interest.

12. A system, comprising:

a memory to store computer-executable instructions; and

a processor, communicatively coupled to the memory, that facilitates execution of the computer-executable instructions to perform operations, comprising;

identifying a set of separating hyperplanes using historical data of known timing measurements and associated location information received from a plurality of location aware mobile devices;

receiving a reported time measurement from a non-location aware device, wherein location information is not received from the non-location aware device;

applying the reported time measurement from the non-location aware device to the set of separating hyperplanes;

determining a location of the non-location aware device as a function of the reported time measurement being applied;

receiving a set of timing offset measurements from the non-location aware device; and

assigning an altitude to the non-location aware device.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving power measurements from the plurality of location aware mobile devices; and

calculating a set of categorizing formulas as a function of the timing offset measurements and the power measurements.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise solving a least squares optimization equation based on a positioning of a separating hyperplane of the set of separating hyperplanes between points that are determined to be near a boundary of the separating hyperplane.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise determining an error for a hyperplane in the set of separating hyperplanes.

16. A tangible computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause a system including a processor to perform operations, comprising:

creating a set of hyperplanes based on historical timing measurements and location information received from a plurality of location aware devices;

receiving, from a non-location aware device, a time measurement, wherein location information is not received from the non-location aware device;

determining a location of the non-location aware device based on a comparison of the time measurement to the set of hyperplanes, wherein the set of hyperplanes divides a field of interest into ranges of geographic coordinates as a function of timing measurement differences for pairs of base station devices in the field of interest;

receiving a set of timing offset measurements from the non-location aware device; and

assigning an altitude to the non-location aware device.

17. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

combining telemetry data received from the plurality of location aware devices with the location information; and

computing a set of categorizing formulas based on the telemetry data and the location information.

18. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

evaluating a latitude, a longitude, and an altitude of the non-location aware device; and

transmitting the latitude, the longitude and the altitude to another computing device.