US 9,432,964 B2Granted

Method and apparatus for determining locations of access points

AssigneeQUALCOMM Incorporated

InventorsLionel Jacques Garin, Xiaoxin Zhang

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Abstract

Methods, systems, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for determining locations of access points (AP) are presented. Techniques are described for determining relative and absolute locations of APs. In one embodiment, a device may send and receive messages to one or more APs for from various locations for determining the distance between the device and the AP. The device may additionally keep track of its own displacement for the purposes of determining the location of the one or more APs. In one embodiment, the device also determines the turnaround calibration factor (TCF) for the AP that compensates for the processing time at the AP may also be used for increasing the accuracy of the determination of the location of the AP.

Claims28

Dependent claims

A method for determining location of access points (AP), the method comprising:

obtaining, at a mobile device, a first plurality of distance-related measurements associated with a first location, comprising at least a first distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the first location and a first AP and a second distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the first location and a second AP;
obtaining, at the mobile device, a second plurality of distance-related measurements associated with a second location, comprising at least a third distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the second location and the first AP and a fourth distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the second location and the second AP;
determining, at the mobile device, a relative change in location associated with a movement of the mobile device from the first location to the second location;
and
determining, by the mobile device, a relative location of the first AP compared with the second AP by determining an inter-distance measurement of the first AP and the second AP, based at least in part on the first plurality of distance-related measurements, the second plurality of distance-related measurements and the relative change in location.

2 more elements

A mobile device, comprising:

a transceiver configured to:
obtain a first plurality of distance-related measurements associated with a first location, comprising at least a first distance-related measurement between a mobile device at the first location and a first AP and a second distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the first location and a second AP;
and
obtain a second plurality of distance-related measurements associated with a second location, comprising at least a third distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the second location and the first AP and a fourth distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the second location and the second AP;
a processor configured to:
determine a relative change in location associated with a movement of the mobile device from the first location to the second location;
and
determine a relative location of the first AP compared with the second AP by determining an inter-distance measurement of the first AP and the second AP, based at least in part on the first plurality of distance-related measurements, the second plurality of distance-related measurements and the relative change in location.

5 more elements

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium, wherein the non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprises instructions executable by a processor, the instructions comprising instructions to:

obtain, at the mobile device, a first plurality of distance-related measurements associated with a first location, comprising at least a first distance-related measurement between a mobile device at the first location and a first AP and a second distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the first location and a second AP;
obtain, at the mobile device, a second plurality of distance-related measurements associated with a second location, comprising at least a third distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the second location and the first AP and a fourth distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the second location and the second AP;
determine, by the mobile device, a relative change in location associated with a movement of the mobile device from the first location to the second location;
and
determine, by the mobile device, a relative location of the first AP compared with the second AP by determining an inter-distance measurement of the first AP and the second AP, based at least in part on the first plurality of distance-related measurements, the second plurality of distance-related measurements and the relative change in location.

2 more elements

A mobile device, comprising:

means for obtaining a first plurality of distance-related measurements associated with a first location, comprising at least a first distance-related measurement between a mobile device at the first location and a first AP and a second distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the first location and a second AP;
means for obtaining a second plurality of distance-related measurements associated with a second location, comprising at least a third distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the second location and the first AP and a fourth distance-related measurement between the mobile device at the second location and the second AP;
means for determining a relative change in location associated with a movement of the mobile device from the first location to the second location;
and
means for determining a relative location of the first AP compared with the second AP by determining an inter-distance measurement of the first AP and the second AP, based at least in part on the first plurality of distance-related measurements, the second plurality of distance-related measurements and the relative change in location.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 13/831,403Filed 14 Mar 2013 · us provisional application
Priority: 21 May 2012
Published: US 2013/0307723 A121 Nov 2013
Granted: 30 Aug 2016
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification10 codes

H04W 64/003
Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management: locating network equipment
G01S 5/0249
Using radio waves: determining position using measurements made by a non-stationary device other than the device whose position is being determined
G01S 5/0284
Using radio waves: relative positioning
G01S 5/06
Using radio waves: position of source determined by co-ordinating a plurality of position lines defined by path-difference measurements

Family

Application61/649,915Us provisional application · filed 21 May 2012
US 2013/0307723 A1Pre-grant publication · published 21 Nov 2013
US 9,432,964 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

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