Indoor/outdoor coverage detection based on sensor inputs
AssigneeT-Mobile USA, Inc.
InventorsJong Sung Yoon, Jie Hui, Michael Mitchell, Zhuoqing Morley Mao, Yunhan Jia, Chao Kong
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Abstract
Techniques are disclosed for determining whether a mobile device is located indoors or outdoors. In some embodiments, a mobile device may utilize a fusion of the information from multiple sensors, such as a RGB sensor, a proximity sensor, a light intensity sensor, and a WiFi radio, to determine whether the mobile device is located indoors or outdoors.
Claims20
A method for determining whether a mobile device is located indoors or outdoors, comprising:
- determining whether a time of day for the mobile device corresponds to day time or night time;
- and
- in response to determining that the time of day for the mobile device corresponds to day time,
- determining whether the mobile device has an image sensor that is accessible;
- determining whether the mobile device has a proximity sensor that is accessible;
- in response to determining that the mobile device has the image sensor that is accessible and the proximity sensor that is accessible, determining whether the proximity sensor indicates that a distance between the mobile device and an object observable by the proximity sensor is above a predetermined threshold distance;
- and
- in response to determining that the proximity sensor indicates that the distance between the mobile device and the object observable by the proximity sensor is above the predetermined threshold distance, determining whether the mobile device is located indoors or outdoors based on the image sensor of the mobile device.
A system, comprising:
- at least one processor;
- and
- at least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor when the system is operational, the at least one memory bearing processor-executable instructions that, upon execution by the at least one processor, cause the system at least to:
- determine whether a time of day for the system corresponds to day time or night time;
- in response to determining that the time of day for the system corresponds to day time, and in response to determining that the system has an image sensor that is accessible, determine whether a proximity sensor of the system indicates that the system is covered;
- and
- in response to determining that the proximity sensor of the system indicates that the system is covered, determining whether the system is located indoors or outdoors based on the image sensor of the system.
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of a mobile device, bearing computer-executable instructions that, when executed upon a computing device, cause the mobile device at least to:
- determine whether a time of day for the mobile device corresponds to day time or night time;
- in response to determining that the time of day for the mobile device corresponds to day time, and in response to determining that the mobile device has an image sensor that is accessible, determine whether a proximity sensor of the mobile device indicates that the mobile device is covered;
- and
- in response to determining that the proximity sensor of the mobile device indicates that the mobile device is covered, determining whether the mobile device is located indoors or outdoors based on the image sensor of the mobile device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.