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Wireless location using signal fingerprinting and other location estimators

DC
  • US 9,237,543 B2
  • Filed: 04/24/2007
  • Issued: 01/12/2016
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/09/1996
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A method for estimating, for a mobile unit M of a plurality of mobile units that wirelessly communicate with a network providing wireless communication with the mobile units, a geographical location, L, of the mobile unit M using an instance, I, of wireless location related data, the wireless location related data obtained from measurements of wireless signals communicated between the mobile unit M and at least some of a plurality of communication devices, wherein each of said communication devices has one or more of a transmitter and a receiver for wireless communication with the mobile unit M, comprising performing the following by computational machinery:

  • obtaining location data for the mobile unit M, wherein the location data includes one or more location estimates of the geographical location L of the mobile unit M, and wherein for determining at least one of the location estimates, (A1)-(A3) following are accessed;

    (A1) a non-transient machine data storage having data for a plurality of data sets, wherein, for each geographical location, G, of a plurality geographical locations, there is one of the data sets having (i) and (ii) following;

    (i) a representation of the geographical location G, and(ii) wireless signal transmission related information indicative of a wireless signal transmitted from one of a first location and a second location, and received at the other of the first and second locations;

    wherein the wireless signal transmission related information includes data indicative of one or more wireless signal effects of one or more objects along a wireless transmission path of the wireless signal, wherein the objects affect the wireless signal prior to being received at the other location, and wherein the geographical location G designates one of the first and second locations;

    (A2) a similarity determining computational machine that determines location related information for locating the mobile unit M, the location related information dependent upon and determined using a similarity or extent of similarity, between;

    (i) instances of the wireless signal transmission related information, and (ii) data for an instance of the wireless location related data for a location of the mobile unit M;

    wherein the similarity or extent of similarity, is provided by the similarity determining computational machine;

    wherein the location related information is also dependent upon the similarity determining computational machine using the representations of the geographical locations G of the data sets having the instances of the wireless signal transmission related information, the instances used in determining the similarity or extent of similarity;

    wherein first location related data for the location L is obtained, the first location related data dependent on and determined using an instance, K, of the location related information, wherein the instance K is obtained from the similarity determining computational machine when data, D, indicative of the instance I of the wireless location related data, is input to the similarity determining computational machine, the data D for instantiating at least part of the data of (A2)(ii) above;

    wherein the first location related data includes a value determined using a machine computed discrepancy or consistency between;

    (1) the instance I of the wireless location related data, and (2) at least one of (2-1) and (2-2) following;

    (2-1) instances, J, of the instances of the wireless signal transmission related information used in determining the instance K of the location related information, and (2-2) location indicative data derived from the instances J;

    (A3) second location related data including data for at least one of (a) and (b) following;

    (a) a change between;

    a spatial position, of the mobile unit M, and a previous spatial position of the mobile unit M;

    wherein the change is determined independently of wireless signal measurements, WSM, that are both;

    (a-1) communicated between the mobile unit M and any one or more of the communication devices, and (a-2) used for computing an estimate of the location L of the mobile unit M; and

    (b) one or more corresponding location estimates of the mobile unit M, wherein one of the corresponding location estimates is determined using signal related data obtained from a wireless signal transmission, ST, received by the mobile unit M, the transmission ST from one of the communication devices which is not supported on the Earth'"'"'s surface, the signal related data providing signal timing information;

    wherein the obtaining further includes determining the at least one location estimate using and dependent upon at least one of the first location related data and the second location related data; and

    outputting resulting information related to the geographical L location of the mobile unit M, wherein said resulting information is obtained using said location data.

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