Method and apparatus for identification of points of interest within a predefined area

• US 8,977,494 B2
• Filed: 04/09/2014
• Issued: 03/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Gupta, Rajarshi, Jeong, Min-Wook
• Primary Examiner(s): Tarcza, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): ALHARBI, ADAM MOHAMED
• Application Number:
  US14/249,269
• Publication Number:
  US 20140222334A1
• Time in Patent Office: 335 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 701/489
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/02 Indoor
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/09 for tracking people
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0018 Transmission from mobile station to base station
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/013 Identifying areas in a building
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/017 Detecting state or type of motion
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02 using radio waves using satellite radio beacon systems for determining position G01S19/00

Abstract

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a system and method for identification of points of interest within a predefined area. Location estimates for substantially stationary mobile devices may be utilized to determine locations of one or more points of interest. Location estimates for mobile devices in motion may be utilized to determine locations of one or more corridors.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

accessing two or more location estimates for two or more mobile devices within a predefined area;

correlating the two or more location estimates in time and space to determine a set of location estimates for two or more mobile devices in motion;

determining two or more vectors at least partially from the set of location estimates for the two or more mobile devices in motion, at least a first vector of the two or more vectors to be determined based, at least in part, on two or more successive location estimates for a first mobile device in motion of the two or more mobile devices in motion;

determining at least one cluster based, at least in part, on the two or more vectors;

identifying, by a processor, one or more corridors within the predefined area based at least in part on the at least one cluster; and

storing at least one or more locations of the one or more corridors in a memory.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein individual ones of the two or more location estimates have corresponding time stamps.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining at least the first vector based at least in part on a distance between a first location estimate of the two or more successive location estimates and one or more subsequent location estimates for the first mobile device in motion.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising grouping the two or more vectors into one or more clusters.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising determining a magnitude and a direction of a cluster vector for at least one of the one or more clusters.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the direction of the cluster vector is determined based at least in part on vector addition of the two or more vectors, the vector addition comprising flipping respective directions of at least one of the two or more vectors to account for movement of the two or more mobile devices in motion in opposing directions along the one or more corridors.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising annotating one or more electronic maps associated with the predefined area to indicate at least one of the one or more corridors.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting a message to the two or more mobile devices to request transmission of the two or more location estimates for the two or more mobile devices in response to determining the two or more mobile devices are located within a specified portion of the predefined area.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting a message to the two or more mobile devices to request transmission of the two or more location estimates for the two or more mobile devices in response to two or more motion sensors of the two or more mobile devices-indicating that the two or more mobile devices are in motion.

3. A method comprising:

accessing one or more location estimates for one or more mobile devices within a predefined area, wherein individual ones of the one or more location estimates have corresponding time stamps;

correlating the one or more location estimates in time and space to determine a set of location estimates for the one or more mobile devices in motion;

identifying, by a processor, one or more corridors within the predefined area based at least in part on the set of location estimates;

storing at least one or more locations of the one or more corridors in a memory;

determining a distance between a first location estimate for a particular mobile device for an individual associated with a first time stamp and a second location estimate associated with a second time stamp; and

determining whether the distance exceeds a predefined minimum threshold distance.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising determining that the particular mobile device was in motion at times associated with the first location estimate and the second location estimate in response to the distance exceeding the predefined minimum threshold distance.

12. A method comprising:

accessing one or more location estimates for one or more mobile devices within a predefined area;

correlating the one or more location estimates in time and space to determine a set of location estimates for the one or more mobile devices in motion;

identifying, by a processor, one or more corridors within the predefined area based at least in part on the set of location estimates;

storing at least one or more locations of the one or more corridors in a memory; and

ranking the one or more corridors based at least in part on a popularity index of the one or more corridors among the one or more mobile devices in motion.

13. An apparatus, comprising:

a receiver to receive signals from a network;

a processor configured to;

access two or more location estimates for two or more mobile devices within a predefined area;

correlate the two or more location estimates in time and space to determine a set of location estimates for two or more mobile devices in motion;

determine two or more vectors at least partially from the set of location estimates for the two or more mobile devices in motion, at least a first vector of the two or more vectors to be determined based, at least in part, on two or more successive location estimates for a first mobile device in motion of the two or more mobile devices in motion;

determine at least one cluster based, at least in part, on the two or more vectors;

identify one or more corridors within the predefined area based at least in part on the at least one cluster; and

store at least one or more locations of the one or more corridors in a memory.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the two or more location estimates are associated with two or more time stamps.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor is adapted to determine the two or more vectors associated with the set of location estimates based at least in part on a distance between individual ones of the two or more location estimates and one or more successively determined location estimates for the two or more mobile devices in motion.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the processor is adapted to group two one or more vectors into one or more clusters.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor is adapted to determine a magnitude and a direction of a cluster vector associated with at least one of the one or more clusters.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processor is adapted to determine the direction of the cluster vector based at least in part on vector addition of the two or more vectors, the vector addition comprising flipping respective directions of at least one of the two or more vectors to account for movement of the two or more mobile devices in motion in opposing directions along the one or more corridors.

15. An apparatus, comprising:

a receiver to receive signals from a network;

a processor configured to;

access one or more location estimates for one or more mobile devices within a predefined area based at least in part on the signals, wherein individual ones of the one or more location estimates have corresponding time stamps;

correlate the one or more location estimates in time and space to determine a set of location estimates for the one or more mobile devices in motion;

identify one or more corridors within the predefined area based at least in part on the set of location estimates; and

store at least one or more locations of the one or more corridors in a memory;

determine a distance between a first location estimate, having a first time stamp, for a particular mobile device for an individual and a second location estimate, having a second time stamp; and

determine whether the distance exceeds a predefined minimum threshold distance.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor is adapted to determine that the particular mobile device was in motion at times associated with the first location estimate and the second location estimate in response to the distance exceeding the predefined minimum threshold distance.

21. An apparatus, comprising:

means for accessing two or more location estimates for two or more mobile devices within a predefined area;

means for correlating the two or more location estimates in time and space to determine a set of location estimates for two or more mobile devices in motion;

means for determining two or more vectors at least partially from the set of location estimates for the two or more mobile devices in motion, at least a first vector of the two or more vectors to be determined based, at least in part, on two or more successive location estimates for a first mobile device in motion of the two or more mobile devices in motion;

means for determining at least one cluster based, at least in part, on the two or more vectors;

means for identifying one or more corridors within the predefined area based at least in part on the at least one cluster; and

means for storing at least one or more locations of the one or more corridors.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the two or more location estimates are associated with one or more time stamps.

23. An apparatus comprising:

means for accessing one or more location estimates for one or more mobile devices within a predefined area, wherein individual ones of the one or more location estimates have corresponding time stamps;

means for correlating the one or more location estimates in time and space to determine a set of location estimates for the one or more mobile devices in motion;

means for identifying one or more corridors within the predefined area based at least in part on the set of location estimates;

means for storing at least one or more locations of the one or more corridors;

means for determining a distance between a first location estimate, having a first time stamp, for a particular mobile device for an individual and a second location estimate, having a second time stamp; and

means for determining whether the distance exceeds a predefined minimum threshold distance.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising means for determining that the particular mobile device was in motion at times associated with the first location estimate and the second location estimate in response to the distance exceeding the predefined minimum threshold distance.

25. An article, comprising:

a non-transitory storage medium comprising machine-readable instructions executable by a special purpose apparatus to;

access two or more location estimates for two or more mobile devices within a predefined area;

correlate the two or more location estimates in time and space to determine a set of location estimates for two or more mobile devices in motion;

determine two or more vectors at least partially from the set of location estimates for the two or more mobile devices in motion, at least a first vector of the two or more vectors to be determined based, at least in part, on two or more successive location estimates for a first mobile device in motion of the two or more mobile devices in motion;

determine at least one cluster based, at least in part, on the two or more vectors;

identify one or more corridors within the predefined area based at least in part on the at least one cluster; and

store at least one or more locations of the one or more corridors in a memory.

26. The article of claim 25, wherein the two or more location estimates are associated with one or more time stamps.

27. An article, comprising:

a non-transitory storage medium comprising machine-readable instructions executable by a special purpose apparatus to;

access one or more location estimates for one or more mobile devices within a predefined area, wherein individual ones of the one or more location estimates have corresponding time stamps;

correlate the one or more location estimates in time and space to determine a set of location estimates for the one or more mobile devices in motion;

identify one or more corridors within the predefined area based at least in part on the set of location estimates;

store at least one or more locations of the one or more corridors in a memory;

determine a distance between a first location estimate, having a first time stamp, for a particular mobile device for an individual and a second location estimate, having a second time stamp; and

determine whether the distance exceeds a predefined minimum threshold distance.

28. The article of claim 27, wherein the machine-readable instructions are further executable by the special purpose apparatus to determine whether the particular mobile device was in motion at times corresponding to the first time stamp and the second time stamp in response to the distance exceeding the predefined minimum threshold distance.