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US 12,120,578 B2Granted
Systems and methods for civic location determination for mobile devices
AssigneeQUALCOMM Incorporated
InventorStephen William Edge
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Embodiments described herein provide means by which a civic location of a target mobile device may be determined using crowdsourced information from other mobile devices. The information can include information regarding Access Points (APs) and/or other access nodes obtained by the other mobile devices, as well as respective locations of the other mobile devices. A server, for example, can use this information to determine a coverage heatmap for each AP. Coverage heatmaps can be used, along with civic location information, to determine a civic location of a target mobile device based on the target mobile device's detection and possible measurements of wireless signals from one or more of the APs.
Claims31
A method of determining a civic location of a mobile device performed by a location server, the method comprising:
- receiving information regarding one or more Access Points (APs) from the mobile device, the information including an identity of each AP of the one or more APs;
- determining a location of the mobile device based on the information and a coverage heatmap for each AP of the one or more APs, wherein:
- determining the location of the mobile device based on the information and the coverage heatmap for each AP of the one or more APs comprises:
- determining a plurality of candidate locations for the mobile device;
- determining a probability of correspondence of each candidate location of the plurality of candidate locations to an actual location of the mobile device;
- and
- selecting, as the location, a candidate location of the plurality of candidate locations with a maximum probability of correspondence to the actual location of the mobile device;
- and wherein the coverage heatmap for each AP of the one or more APs indicates:
- a geographic area or geographic volume within which wireless signals from a respective AP can be received, and
- a density of mobile device locations within the geographic area or geographic volume at which additional mobile devices received wireless signals from the respective AP, wherein reports from the additional mobile devices regarding reception of the wireless signals are received by the location server;
- and
- determining the civic location of the mobile device based on the location.
9 more elements
A method of obtaining a civic location of a mobile device, performed by the mobile device, the method comprising:
- detecting wireless signals from one or more Access Points (APs);
- obtaining information regarding the one or more APs, the information including an identity of each AP of the one or more APs and first signal measurements for at least one AP of the one or more APs;
- sending the information to a location server;
- and
- responsive to sending the information to the location sever, receiving the civic location of the mobile device from the location server, wherein the civic location is determined based on:
- the information sent to the location server, including the first signal measurements, and
- a coverage heatmap of the at least one AP of the one or more APs, wherein:
- the coverage heatmap for the at least one AP of the one or more APs includes statistics for second signal measurements obtained by additional mobile devices at a plurality of locations within a geographic area or geographic volume within which wireless signals from the at least one AP of the one or more APs can be received, and
- the civic location is determined further based on a determined probability that each candidate location in a plurality of candidate locations corresponds to an actual location of the mobile device, based on a correspondence of the first signal measurements to statistics for the second signal measurements for each candidate location.
6 more elements
A server for determining a civic location of a mobile device, the server comprising:
- a communication interface;
- a memory;
- and
- one or more processors communicatively coupled with the memory and the communication interface and configured to:
- receive, via the communication interface, information regarding one or more Access Points (APs) from the mobile device, the information including an identity of each AP of the one or more APs;
- determine a location of the mobile device based on the information and a coverage heatmap for each AP of the one or more APs, wherein:
- to determine the location of the mobile device based on the information and the coverage heatmap for each AP of the one or more APs, the one or more processors are configured to:
- determine a plurality of candidate locations for the mobile device;
- determine a probability of correspondence of each candidate location of the plurality of candidate locations to an actual location of the mobile device;
- and
- select, as the location, a candidate location of the plurality of candidate locations with a maximum probability of correspondence to the actual location of the mobile device;
- and wherein the coverage heatmap for each AP of the one or more APs indicates:
- a geographic area or geographic volume within which wireless signals from a respective AP can be received, and
- a density of mobile device locations within the geographic area or geographic volume at which additional mobile devices received wireless signals from the respective AP, wherein reports from the additional mobile devices regarding reception of the wireless signals are received by the location server;
- and
- determining the civic location of the mobile device based on the location.
13 more elements
A mobile device comprising:
- a communication interface;
- a memory;
- and
- one or more processors communicatively coupled with the memory and the communication interface and configured to:
- detect, with the communication interface, wireless signals from one or more Access Points (APs);
- obtain information regarding the one or more APs, the information including an identity of each AP of the one or more APs and first signal measurements for at least one AP of the one or more APs;
- send, via the communication interface, the information to a location server;
- and
- responsive to sending the information to the location sever, receive, via the communication interface, a civic location of the mobile device from the location server, wherein the civic location is determined based on:
- the information sent to the location server, including the first signal measurements, and
- a coverage heatmap of the at least one AP of the one or more APs, wherein:
- the coverage heatmap for the at least one AP of the one or more APs includes statistics for second signal measurements obtained by additional mobile devices at a plurality of locations within a geographic area or geographic volume within which wireless signals from the at least one AP of the one or more APs can be received, and
- the civic location is determined further based on a determined probability that each candidate location in a plurality of candidate locations corresponds to an actual location of the mobile device, based on a correspondence of the first signal measurements to statistics for the second signal measurements for each candidate location.
10 more elements
A device for determining a civic location of a mobile device, the method comprising:
- means for receiving information regarding one or more Access Points (APs) from the mobile device, the information including an identity of each AP of the one or more APs;
- means for determining a location of the mobile device based on the information and a coverage heatmap for each AP of the one or more APs, wherein:
- means for determining the location of the mobile device based on the information and the coverage heatmap for each AP of the one or more APs comprises:
- means for determining a plurality of candidate locations for the mobile device;
- means for determining a probability of correspondence of each candidate location of the plurality of candidate locations to an actual location of the mobile device;
- and
- means for selecting, as the location, a candidate location of the plurality of candidate locations with a maximum probability of correspondence to the actual location of the mobile device;
- and wherein the coverage heatmap for each AP of the one or more APs indicates:
- a geographic area or geographic volume within which wireless signals from a respective AP can be received, and
- a density of mobile device locations within the geographic area or geographic volume at which additional mobile devices received wireless signals from the respective AP, wherein reports from the additional mobile devices regarding reception of the wireless signals are received by a location server;
- and
- means for determining the civic location of the mobile device based on the location.
9 more elements
A device for obtaining a civic location of a mobile device, the device comprising:
- means for detecting wireless signals from one or more Access Points (APs);
- means for obtaining information regarding the one or more APs, the information including an identity of each AP of the one or more APs and first signal measurements for at least one AP of the one or more APs;
- means for sending the information to a location server;
- and
- means for receiving, responsive to sending the information to the location sever, the civic location of the mobile device from the location server, wherein the civic location is determined based on:
- the information sent to the location server, including the first signal measurements, and
- a coverage heatmap of the at least one AP of the one or more APs, wherein:
- the coverage heatmap for the at least one AP of the one or more APs includes statistics for second signal measurements obtained by additional mobile devices at a plurality of locations within a geographic area or geographic volume within which wireless signals from the at least one AP of the one or more APs can be received, and
- the civic location is determined further based on a determined probability that each candidate location in a plurality of candidate locations corresponds to an actual location of the mobile device, based on a correspondence of the first signal measurements to statistics for the second signal measurements for each candidate location.
6 more elements
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for determining a civic location of a mobile device, the instructions comprising code for:
- receiving information regarding one or more Access Points (APs) from the mobile device, the information including an identity of each AP of the one or more APs;
- determining a location of the mobile device based on the information and a coverage heatmap for each AP of the one or more APs, wherein:
- determining the location of the mobile device based on the information and the coverage heatmap for each AP of the one or more APs comprises:
- determining a plurality of candidate locations for the mobile device;
- determining a probability of correspondence of each candidate location of the plurality of candidate locations to an actual location of the mobile device;
- and
- selecting, as the location, a candidate location of the plurality of candidate locations with a maximum probability of correspondence to the actual location of the mobile device;
- and wherein the coverage heatmap for each AP of the one or more APs indicates:
- a geographic area or geographic volume within which wireless signals from a respective AP can be received, and
- a density of mobile device locations within the geographic area or geographic volume at which additional mobile devices received wireless signals from the respective AP, wherein reports from the additional mobile devices regarding reception of the wireless signals are received by a server;
- and
- determining the civic location of the mobile device based on the location.
9 more elements
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for obtaining a civic location of a mobile device, the instructions comprising code for:
- detecting wireless signals from one or more Access Points (APs);
- obtaining information regarding the one or more APs, the information including an identity of each AP of the one or more APs and first signal measurements for at least one AP of the one or more APs;
- sending the information to a location server;
- and
- receiving, responsive to sending the information to the location sever, the civic location of the mobile device from the location server, wherein the civic location is determined based on:
- the information sent to the location server, including the first signal measurements, and
- a coverage heatmap of the at least one AP of the one or more APs, wherein:
- the coverage heatmap for the at least one AP of the one or more APs includes statistics for second signal measurements obtained by additional mobile devices at a plurality of locations within a geographic area or geographic volume within which wireless signals from the at least one AP of the one or more APs can be received, and
- the civic location is determined further based on a determined probability that each candidate location in a plurality of candidate locations corresponds to an actual location of the mobile device, based on a correspondence of the first signal measurements to statistics for the second signal measurements for each candidate location.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.