Method and apparatus for location determination

A method for determining location, the method comprising:

• sensing movement of an electronic device with at least one inertial sensor of the electronic device during a predetermined timeframe in a presence of GPS signals;
• automatically calculating a moving velocity and/or a traveling distance of the electronic device as a function of the measured movement;
• automatically determining an error value in the calculated moving velocity and/or traveling distance by comparison with the GPS signals;
• sensing further movement of an electronic device with at least one sensor of the electronic device in an absence of the GPS signals;
• and
• automatically calculating a further moving velocity and/or a further traveling distance of the electronic device in the absence of the GPS signals by compensating the further measured acceleration as a function of the error value.

A portable electronic device, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• an inertial sensor;
• a global positioning satellite (GPS) antenna;
• memory;
• and
• one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including:
• instructions for measuring a movement of an electronic device with the inertial sensor;
• instructions for calculating a moving velocity and/or a traveling distance of the electronic device as a function of the measured movement;
• instructions for determining an error value in the calculated moving velocity and/or traveling distance by comparing with obtained GPS position data;
• and
• instructions for determining a further moving velocity and/or a further traveling distance of the electronic device as a function of a further measured movement and the error value in absence of a GPS signal.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions for determining a location of a portable electronic device with an inertial sensor and a global positioning satellite (GPS) antenna, the encoded instructions comprising:

• instructions for measuring a movement of an electronic device with the inertial sensor;
• instructions for calculating a moving velocity and/or a traveling distance of the electronic device as a function of the measured movement;
• instructions for determining an error value in the calculated moving velocity and/or traveling distance by comparing with obtained GPS position data;
• and
• instructions for determining a further moving velocity and/or a further traveling distance of the electronic device as a function of a further measured movement and the error value in absence of a GPS signal.

A navigation system comprising:

• an electronic device comprised of one or more processors, an inertial sensor, a global positioning satellite (GPS) antenna, a non-transitory memory component;
• and
• one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory component and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including:
• instructions for measuring a movement of an electronic device with the inertial sensor;
• instructions for calculating a moving velocity and/or a traveling distance of the electronic device as a function of the measured movement;
• instructions for determining an error value in the calculated moving velocity and/or traveling distance by comparing with obtained GPS position data;
• and
• instructions for determining a further moving velocity and/or a further traveling distance of the electronic device as a function of a further measured movement and the error value in absence of a GPS signal.